I only picked this back up recently so the events before episode 3 are a bit foggy. BUT.

The wordplay here is pretty clever, but the fact that there is a language barrier makes it difficult for there to be much resolution to any of it. Blond-guy's explanation of a "name with too much significance" toward the end, for instance. I followed it, but my lack of familiarity with Japanese as a language precluded an "ahhh, that's pretty cool!" reaction from me. So the visual direction is what's making this most enjoyable. The quick cuts during a conversation, sudden surreal animation/zoom-ins, etc. It's Shaft being funny. I'm getting a kick out of it. Probably because visual language often doesn't have barriers.

Ararararagi knocking out the kid a second time had me lol'ing. Unripened fruit, what the actual [radio edit]. Him and his blond dude friend are my faves so far.

Also laughed when the glasses-girl seemed to, what, momentarily hypnotize the kid? Is that what happened? Shades of magical realism here, in addition to Protagonist's bite marks healing, ofc.

I've figured out what irks me about this show so far: expansion. Or just taking topics to their logical conclusion in drawn-out conversations.

Like, the ghost-girl reveal was a neat little twist, but what a way to belabor the point. In how many ways can you have two characters say "she's not there" and "but I have to do something because she's not there?" So often it just takes topics and goes on these spiraling tangents. Which isn't bad as a rule; some of my favorite David Foster Wallace works employ that technique ("Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" is all about that). But I don't think anime does it well. It's too dramatized/declarative and some of the inherent humor that makes such tangents enjoyable is lost.

But still, I liked the deadpan girl's rationale for not pointing out that the Ghost-Kid wasn't there at first. And ofc I'm interested to see if this escalates. Especially since Glasses-Girl seemed to be able to see Ghost-Kid, whereas the other girl didn't.

Responding to four a bit here too, but yeah, the animation is definitely fun. And I had basically the same reaction to "unripe fruit" as you did.

You're picking up on a few details in a good way, so I won't comment on that. 8D

While I think the writing is roughest in Bakemonogatari, and I remember being slightly dissatisfied with that conclusion as well, I think what you hit on as "expansion" is definitely one of the trademark things that doesn't change over the series. The execution definitely improves, but give it til the end of Bakemonogatari/this season at least.
I think there's definitely a fine line between retreading ground/not introducing new ideas and exploring all the facets of the conversation/someone's character, and it's not always balanced successfully.
Keep an eye out for it, anyway! I'm glad you're watching it again =o

The fight vs Boros was really well done. The second half probably feels a little out of place for anime only watchers because it really just sets up a bunch of stuff for future stories and anime only watchers probably won't see a lot of it.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the adaptation, though. It rightfully focused on the fight scenes because that's what benefits most by adding animation to the series. It came at the expense of some smaller gags/world building/character building scenes from the manga and webcomic getting cut, which is unfortunate but that's what happens in an adaptation. I also feel like some of the jokes and gags work better in the manga format because it lets them use space as a build up rather than time.

The next arc is really where the series hits it's stride but it's only complete in one of the three versions of the story. The Boros arc is really a big worldbuilding arc because it introduces a ton more heroes and the way the Hero Association works. It's the best place they could end the anime at but it's also a bit awkward I think? Though I suppose it could just leave the viewer eager for more.