Monogatari Series: Bakemonogatari? What exactly does that mean?

Monogatari Series is hands down one of my favorite anime.  The animation is splendid, the characters are excellently developed, the story is gripping, and I just love everything about it.  One thing in particular that makes the anime so special for me though is it's ability to permeate every facet of my life.  It's crammed full of symbolism and thoughtful writing that constantly comes up in my mind when I read, view or play other things; the themes and ideas played with in Monogatari have firmly rooted themselves within myself and I consider them often whenever reflecting upon myself or on something else, and I often am reminded of it when I see other things.

Bakemonogatari more or less translates to "monster story".  To be succinct, it's about Koyomi Araragi, a student at Naoetsu High School who finds his life is dramatically altered over spring break when he happens to be turned into a vampire.  With the assistance of Meme Oshino, he cures his problem, but unbeknownst to him it was only the beginning.  The different arcs in Bakemonogatari introduce a good majority of the main characters of the series as he encounters them and endeavors to solve the supernatural ailments plaguing them, issues that seem to have manifested for the same reasons that he had become a vampire...

Shinobu.  Otherwise known as Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, King of the Apparitions, was incredibly powerful when she came to Araragi's town, and only because of him is she still alive.  Her arrival stimulates the events that would befall the other characters.  Such as...

The crab god that Hitagi Senjougahara encounters 

The snail and Mayoi Hachikuji,

 Suruga Kanbaru and the demonic apparition, of a monkey, 

Sengoku Nadeko and the snake, 

and Hanekawa Tsubasa and the cat 

...All apparitions anthropomorphically personified as different animals, all operating in different ways that reflect upon the nature of people and, in particular, the afflicted in question.  Senjougahara''s desires to purge her mind of the troubles in her household has her weight stolen; both literally and metaphorically.  Hachikuji is lost, and couldn't find her way home, no matter how hard she tried.  Kanbaru made a wish, but deep down the apparition read into another inclination of hers.  Nadeko, apparently the victim, is plagued by a snake-like apparition threatening her life, and Hanekawa's stress culminates into a reflection of her other self, a Black Hanekawa, with the physical appearance of a kemonomimi.  Araragi's endeavors to help them don't just involve purging evil spirits or putting the dead to rest; more often than not he has to help those who are in trouble learn and grow as people regarding themselves, face their secrets and regret in some way, to face the problem they have and ultimately overcome it.  The apparitions need to be believed in to have power, and this power often comes from the fear and misgivings of people cornered by themselves.  The monsters can only be defeated once they face the monsters inside themselves.

As Meme Oshino said: "People have to save themselves.  One person saving another is impossible."