Tokyo Anime Award
In April 2008, an anime adaptation of Nisio Isin's novel "Bakemonogatari" was announced. Shinbo served as director with Tatsuya Oishi, who made his series directorial debut, and aired 15 episodes from 2009 to 2010. Akio Watanabe, with whom Shinbo had worked with on "Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko" and "Le Portrait de Petit Cossette", was brought onto the project as character designer and chief animation director. "Bakemonogatari" received cult fame and was widely praised for its aesthetics upon its initial release, and is regarded by some critics as the series that pushed Shaft "into fame", with writers from Funimation describing it as a "hit." Whereas most of the studio's works prior to "Bakemonogatatari" have been described as being light-hearted comedies (such as the "Hidamari Sketch" franchise, "Pani Poni Dash", and ""), the series was described as being more "episodic" and darker in nature. Stylistically, "Bakemonogatari" was praised and is considered to be a "visually striking" production by various critics, and in 2017, the Tokyo Anime Award Festival selected "Bakemonogatari" as the best anime of 2009. The series was also an immediate financial success, as indicated by the 6th BD release breaking records for the number of copies sold on its first day.