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This... was actually more garbage than the first movie. Wow.

The amount of changes, deviations and omissions from the novel was staggering. The lack of monologues tears this one to pieces because nothing gets the appropriate context and explanation to actually tie things together.

The CG animation was jarring as ever, even more so. In many scenes the exaggerated character animations actually made things look like old 90s attempts at having Disney-like 2D animation co-exist with live action actors in a live action world. Heck, they even put in a section that could be taken on its own, stripped of dialogue, and aired on TV ... as an advertisement for the Coca Cola Company. Product placement to the max, hope it paid well.

The movie, like the first, tried to go through the moves but lacked every bit of soul and essence that the novel, and even the original Bakemonogatari adaptation had. It was a constant stream of animation bloat, especially during the action scenes. There was so much excess fat around it that things felt distracting, all over the place and so over the top that it got ridiculous. And then even with that bloat, the final fight against Guillotine Cutter was shorter than the credit roll, whereas in the novel, there was so much back and forth, so much tension and excitement coming from Araragi's inner turmoil that it engaged the reader. Here it just... threw more CG animation at you and was done with it.

No, this was a terrible movie. The pacing was completely off, there was no room to build tension, character development was almost entirely scrapped for all but Hanekawa and Araragi, and even that was diminished by changes and omissions. Heck, they didn't even care that Araragi goes up in flames when exposed to sunlight. The amount of scenes set at dawn, in the open was stupid. Nevermind Hanekawa's shouting having an echo... in an open air environment.

And what is it with Shaft's apparent obsession of showing you what's happening five to ten seconds from now, just to immediately cut back to fill in the blank space between then and before? I know Shaft tries to be flashy, but my god is that irritating and pointless. That is something I'd expect from somebody trying to impress his teacher in movie editing classes, not from established veterans. It really felt like the studio is too enamored with their own animation wank than the idea of adapting something they literally announced what, five years ago? Was supposed to be out 4 years ago? That paired with the very, very liberal attempt at adapting the light novel makes this a farce, and I'm surprised how many perfect rating it's getting from folks. It really makes me wonder if I watched the correct movie, to be honest.

After putting it off for so long and reading (and listening to) the Light Novel a few months ago, I am utterly disappointed and shocked by this first part of Kizumonogatari.

The amount of inconsistencies not just with the light novel original but also depictions and styles from the rest of the animated series is staggering. CG and hyperrealistic backdrops everywhere, and evencharacters are CG-animated in places.

Environments were changed for the heck of it, with no real point to them. Instead of having a localized lack of electricity around Kiss-shot on the street, we get almost a full-blown outage, just that she's lying in the subway ... with all the lights around her working just fine. Nevermind the kilometer-long blood trail leading to her. Or how Araragi is cornered by the Vampire Hunters in a highly industrialized area instead of a suburb. Or how he doesn't just step out of the cram school and burns, but has to take a minutes-long walk looking at crows before lighting up, then falling off the building, then crashing around the place some more.

This entire thing is overchoreographed to the point of silliness. Not the good silliness of the rest of the series, but just one that feels needlessly padded.

The worst part however is the almost complete lack of Araragi's inner monologues. Instead we see him walking silently. Walking. Running. Screaming. Where the novel and the other animated adaptations build him up as an interesting character through his monologues, this one has barely any of that. As a result the voice acting is so sparse, they could have squeezed all of it easily into a single episode of Bakemonogatari. For a movie about three times as long, that is ludicrous.

There are some good scenes towards the end, with a bunch of dialogue, but that just reinforces how empty the first 30-45 minutes feel. It had me bored, not engaged like the rest, or indeed the novel. If this is the product of years and years of work and movie-like budgets, I am honestly wondering where the money went.
A three parter of 1-hour movies definitely doesn't seem necessary, or even plausible, when about half of what was shown here could have been condensed (or, rather, not blown up the way it was). This screems of padding and milking a popular license, nothing else.

Here's hoping parts 2 and 3 will be better. I have my doubts, though. I can only recommend reading the novel, officially released in English by now, or getting the audiobook (also in English) if you'd like a more familiar experience. The movie, at least as far as this first part is concerned, is dreadful.

I'll keep this short, just like the show itself.

My expectations when adding this anime to my planning-to-watch list were rather low, yet I wanted to know what was to get a TV sequel. The description did not say much about the show, other than it is a supposed "feel-good"-anime.
Tonight I felt so-so and looked for something short to take off my list, and I remembered Tamayura.

The feel-good promise was no lie at all. Even during the first few minutes, Tamayura managed to make me smile. It introduced likeable, simple characters that complimented each other in ways that made their interactions pleasant and heartwarming to watch.

This ... is no anime to watch if you desire action, non-stop die-hard comedy or show-off characters.
There is character development in Tamayura, despite its short runtime, with Fu at the story's center. Her photographs are what connects all the characters in the show, and just as magically as the Tamayura appear on her pictures, smiles will appear on the audience's faces.

I did not expect the clumsy, photo-loving "Potte" to actually fill me with positive energy, yet her pictures had exact that refilling effect. Tamayura achieved exactly what it set out to do. It delivers a warm and fuzzy story you can easily connect with, giving you more than enough opportunity to relax.