During the story, Araragi finds himself helping girls involved with a variety of apparitions, ghosts, beasts, spirits, and other supernatural phenomena, which often serve as proxies for their emotional and mental issues.

While most of the narrative focuses on his multiple relationships and encounters, the series often centers on his own personal life as it tackles his origins as a vampire, most notably the Kizumonogatari prequel story.

In the anime television series and film adaptations, Araragi was voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya who found the character hard to emulate as a result of his multiple narrations, monologues and interactions.

Araragi appears in the Monogatari light novels by Nisio Isin; the author said that the protagonist was meant to be a "stud" and abandon his desires and lose his propensity for love.

[1] However, the novel was re-written in the form of romantic comedy elements with a major focus on Araragi's relationship with his love interest Hitagi Senjougahara.

The vampire Shinobu Oshino was kept in secret until Nisemonogatari where she is revealed to his sidekick after several scenes where she remains silent without major activities in the narrative.

His relationships with his mentor Meme Oshino, his first love interest Tsubasa Hanekawa and Shinobu's original vampire persona, Kiss-Shot, were written to have a major impact on his life.

[7] For the final fight between Araragi and Kiss-Shot, staff members at studio Shaft wanted to stay away from Isin's commentary as a torture in every move and instead animate a black comedy as a result of the several gruesome sequences.

In developing the protagonist, the staff came into thinking of it as a story about how Araragi has his set of values and ethics that he has spent 17 years building up completely overturned.

In contrast to the TV series, Kizumonogatari has no monologues, so it was essential for Kamiya to understand Araragi's inner thoughts as well as the subtle emotions behind his eye movements and breathing patterns.

Being eleven years older during the recording when compared to his debut, Kamiya said the character of Araragi would be missing a sense of freshness because his acting chops have improved over time.

THEM Anime Reviews praised Araragi's relationship with all the characters he helps to solve a problem, comparing the protagonist with Kyon from the Haruhi Suzumiya series.

[28][29] While finding the main couple appealing, Rice Digital lamented how Senjougahara is not present in most episodes, leaving the reviewer with the desire to develop them more.

[31] Although the interactions between Araragi and the rest to be the main selling point of the series, Comic Book Resources was against Suruga Kanbaru being portrayed lesbian, and claimed that women needing to be saved by a male did not age well years after the novels' release.

[32] In a further analysis of the series, Anime News Network criticized Araragi's relationship with his sisters, Karen and Tsukihi, which come across as "creepy and wrong".

[33] The writer further highlights an infamous scene from Nisemonogatari where Araragi uses a toothbrush on Karen's teeth, which is portrayed in "excruciating detail, framed romantically, overtly sexually, with groaning noises".

[35] In general, Comic Book Resources said that out of several events in the franchise, Araragi deciding to stay as a vampire does not make sense as he will remain young forever and outlive Senjougahara.

[36] The character's origins in Kizumonogatari were praised by Anime News Network for exploring his first meeting with Hanekawa and transformation into a vampire with the film using less words than the TV series to convey emotions.

[39] Otaku USA praised the fastpaced fight sequences for how appealing they make Araragi in the films when compared to the TV series while further exploring his first meetings with Hanekawa.

[40] University of Valle commented that Araragi's design is noteworthy for often changing between costumes which are considered fashionable in Japan in contrast to Hanekawa and Kiss-Shot who always wear the same outfit.

[41] Diponegoro University said the interactions between Araragi and Hanekawa were easier to understand to Japanese users due to hidden messages in some of the former's words which include dajare which contradicts the protagonist's attempts of being antisocial.

[42] Manga author Tatsuki Fujimoto said he was a fan of Kizumonogatari and its protagonists which inspired the final fight between Denji and Makima in Chainsaw Man.

This led to several fourth wall breaking jokes in later novels where the protagonist continues insisting his story ended despite already given written an adult as he encounters new people in need to be saved.