Tsukimonogatari

What a way to cap off the year of 2014. Tsukimonogatari may be only 4 episodes but these captures the point of the series quite well. In retrospect, we get Araragi with his presence in this show that is well felt in the beginning. To top things off, these four episodes captures the very essence of what the Monogatari franchise should be. Produced with Shaft at the steering wheel and a mission to adapt the novel, Tsukimonogatari is quite something that ought to be remembered.

Of course, any fan familiar with the Monogatari franchise should know its unorthodox style. Tsukimonogatari is no different despite being just ... four episodes; or to be more precisely called ‘Yotsugi Doll’. Why? Well a particular character going by the name Yotsugi Ononoki with no real personality could be described as such. A doll is after all without any real feelings although they can be a symbolism for innocence, playfulness, and youth. Taking a few steps back though, the first episode of Tsukimonogatari introduces Araragi who is in his college years. However, he is more busy with his sisters especially Tsukihi who he has a rather peculiar “battle” in the baths. All seems silly at first until Araragi discovers something wrong at the glance of himself in the mirror. By no doubt, the first episode sets the stage for the remainder of this series and in a fashionable way at that.

What follows is the ingenious dialogues of what Monogatari is all about as well as the overall tone of the story. It’s both well directed and a pleasure to relieve another chance at the stages of the final season. Here, we are also introduced to Shinobu once again. For those who don’t remember her, she is the vampire girl that sucks on his blood daily. The reason for this is explained and also creates the theory of Araragi’s newfound problem in the second episode. It gets to the point where characters such as Kagenui Yozuru is involved along with her familiar. While they seem like characters (and even described by Kagenui as actors on the stage), it’s their stellar performance that makes them worthwhile to remember. It helps bring to life the story that crafts the style of Monogatari. Through word plays and clever dialogues along with effective comedy timing, the series becomes fine calibrated entertainment. Not only does it create appealing entrances and exits but the character interactions are first class with their expressions. There’s not a dull moment with timing and precision being part of the formula of success. This is even emphasized with the soundtrack and OST that specifically markets its creativity. At the same time, there’s clear intelligence to the writing with every dialogue that fits to the story’s purpose.

Another aspect of the series is its ability to command attention. One event leads to another that creates a thrilling feel for the audience to anticipate what’s to come next. It’s through the appealing setup that makes the series stands out with dangerous adversaries with their motives. While it seems stereotypical at first, there’s still no doubt about complex performance of the characters. Not only does it shine through their roles, but the show also explains the story fairly well through unique ways. Like I mentioned before, Tsukimonogatari is about storytelling and no story is complete without a background. In this series, that background is not just thrown into the audience face like an auto-pilot info dump. Instead, it mixes unique word plays and engrossing scenarios to tell the story. And true to its style, the series also delivers its conclusion through with everything it has set up. The finale of the series sparks the climax but not before we get even more nicely textured dialogues. Some of these evokes various feelings such as fear, angry, and hatred. At the same time, there’s a moving experience that can be felt through these episodes and in particular with the finale. Everything comes together and even Araragi realizes what has happened that leaves him a bit stunned. Indeed, the series tells the anti-thesis of a doll and what it’s truly like for someone without a real personality; perhaps something as Ononoki is far from a human.

Despite with all the events going on in these four episodes, I still find it interesting how it’s able to squeeze in comedy. While this may be a mixed bag for is some, I have no doubt about the way the series is handled in an attempt to exaggerate Araragi’s relationship with his sister. There’s honesty there too with how Araragi’s emotions becomes evident after realizing the danger they are in. Furthermore, these episodes also has bits of lighthearted moments at the end to give the audience a bit of ease.

Anyone familiar with Daiki Konno would also easily recognize his artistic talents which is clearly shown in the first episode. The surrealistic backgrounds along with Shaft’s zany and idiosyncratic style is also hard to miss. Along with the background symbolism, this series’ artwork is a testament of what unorthodox is all about; and I do say that in a good way. Character designs also gives off a feeling of fresh air especially with Ononoki’s doll-like appearance and behavior. Similarly, Araragi returns in full force with not 1, 3, 6, but an 8-pack! It’s hard to miss any of the fan service since they are all over the screen to be quite honest. Half of the first episode takes place in the bathroom with Araragi and his sister being nearly fully naked. Not to mention the rest, we also have other suggestive camera angles that will raise some eyebrows. Still, this shouldn’t be new or a surprise at all given the way Shaft handles this adaptation.

What may surprise you though is the powerful soundtrack. Each scene in every episode has a bit of it to keep up the momentum. Somehow, the soundtrack is also able to carry through this whole series wherever it goes. Regardless where the setting is or what event takes place, it tells of a cinematic grace with a pensive style to convey the story. It’s also hard to not let yourself be indulged by the dialogues of this series as the words spoken are wild, perspective to the point, yet able to remain intact all the way through. Finally, the OP and ED songs are cleverly decorated. The opening song “Orange Mint” has a catchy tone and in all respects decently coordinated by its illustrative tones. Similarly, ClariS returns with their performance that although isn’t groundbreaking still has an attractive appeal.

Looking back at these four episodes, I have no shadow of a doubt that the Final Season will be an upcoming saga of the coming ages. These four episodes tells more than just a story. It’s the kind of uncompromising adaptation that we don’t see too often these days. Tsukimonogatari may be only four episodes but is richly imaginative with brilliant characters and a well-developed story. Director Shinbou Akiyuki once again shows the world his talent with this adaptation and the future is looking brighter than ever.

Wow coming into Tsukimonogatari i knew i was gonna get a different vibe from Hana from the start. The reason i liked tsuki more than hana is because hana seemed liked a conclusion and conclusions aren't really "fun" per say, they are just to wrap everything up. With Tsuki we are getting more plot progression and ALOT of foreshadowing. Honestly for those who don't know even the littlest hints of spoilers these foreshadowing will go over your head. When Oshino Ouji states that "the more u lose the more you mature" it just gave me chills cuz after seeing hana (which is the last part ... of the story, for now who knows what nisio wants to do) we realize how mature Araragi has become. To the point where he is still Araragi but you can tell there was a great deal of maturity (thx god his character is always there ie. lifting Ononoki's skirt). Also the ending with interactions with Teori and Araragi. Thats all i gotta say i know if i say more ppl will hate me for spoiling an essential part of the series and i will be exterminated from existence by hate messages. Without spoiling it lemme just say, you really gotta read into what he is actually saying. Cause there is a lot of meaning in it.

For being Ononoki's arc it did a decent job at progressing her character. With every arc we sense more growth with the characters at hand. You don't see Ononoki as just a doll anymore but more as a human, or monster. However you want to look at it. I was beginning to doubt her involvement in all of this because of how much screen time the fire sisters were getting. But the fire sisters were an important asset to this arc so it made sense.

Now the fan service. You truly can't have SHAFT directing something without giving u top notch fan service. THANK U SHAFT FOR MAKING THE FIRE SISTERS SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL. I doubted fire sister lovers for the longest and giving no mind to them. But god damn. GOD DAMN. GOD DAAAAAAAAMN. (Beyonce flow).

Shinobu is great as always, seeing her cute face makes me wanna rip my cock off because i'd rather rub my non-existent genitalia on her pussy and make sweet lesbian love to her because no dick in this world is worthy of Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade's vagina.

Overall i would say this arc is one of the stronger arcs in the gatari series. And Nisio never fails to be soooo fucking anticlimactic with that ending. Its cute that we got to see Hitagi at the end. Moreover SHAFT really did do this arc justice. The music felt fresh, the art was amazing, the transition scenes changed from the traditional style but it fit this arc. Also, the backgrounds, honestly the most detailed and colorful backgrounds this series has gotten in a while. Im really glad they changed the vibe from hana but it just shows that hana was meant to look that way. It was a conclusion after all. I rated it a 9/10 on mal but honestly it deserves a 9.5 or higher. It didn't just match my hype like hana did but it actually exceeded my expectation.

After spending alot of time without touching the 'monogatari' suffix, I decided it was time to get my daily dose of insanity by watching Tsukimonogatari. It was kind of a good decision, I guess.

I'll start with the bad points.

Tuskimonogatari (and probably the entire franchise, if that's the right word) has a problem with keeping the viewer's attention, I've come to acknowledge. This is something I've talked to my friends about, and they all share the same problem that is getting lost in the middle of the dialogue only to rewind so they don't miss any important information. It is like this because the pace ... of the show (even though it hardly involves action and/or a very fluid animation) is very fast. The dialogues come in what I like to call "concrete walls", masses of words that never stop coming, and the screenplay is always showing interesting scenarios and viewpoints (for our pleasure or displeasure) that drags the attention away from the information. I think the execution could be alot more interesting if there were pauses between the dialogues.
And I am not mentioning this because I watch subtitled anime, but it certainly doesn't help.

This is a show that starts off without giving much time sense. It's easy for MAL users to understand when it was set by looking at the prequels and sequels, but as a layman it's difficult to situate yourself and acknowledge what has happened and what has not - that's something that also kept my attention off the dialogue while I was searching for clues.

Let’s talk about the first episode, now. It shares a common problem with Nisemonogatari with the pointless fanservice it delivers – one entire episode was gone just to get Araragi’s toe broken while the whole conflict could’ve been delivered with much less screentime and filler (like a tripping scene, for example). All of that so we could spend some time with Tsukihi, an overall bad character, to develop almost nothing. I also take points away for this anime not being a family show. Screw society, I wanna watch this with my friends and family.
I’m not even going to mention how confused I was by the last episode. Not all of it was confusing, but some of it. And hell, it was nothing to be proud about. The show speculated as heck.

I’ll start off with the good points by saying how unpredictable this show is. I think it’s Shaft’s specialty to mess up with people’s minds, and it delivers. Oh, it delivers.
It’s refreshing to get more screenplay on the solid and interesting characters of the series (like Shinobu and Yotsugi, even though the doll-girl is the protagonist here). We got to see a lot of story development and a little character development, something that was pretty lacking in the entire –monogatari series. I’d say Tsukimonogatari did a very good job at situating the entire story, similar as Second Season did, but better.
The art and animation are amazing, as always; I think the sound work could do one thing better. The music playing in the background serves its purpose to add a feeling to the atmosphere/scene, but it’s nothing amazing and the viewers could never recognize the songs if not while watching the show. At least, I couldn’t. It serves much more as an ambient sound for the scene than as a theme that could define the identity of the show.

It was a good installment, probably the best of all of them. And it was enjoyable. I’m looking forward to end this madness as soon as possible.

Much like with western entertainment, there are certain TV series and movies that stand out not just as promising installments of new or existing franchises, but also as popular events that a large portion of the community with wait in massive anticipation for. In the world of anime, the "events" that captures the most attention are new additions to the Monogatari series, an anime that began back in 2009 and is continuously pumping out sequels to this day. However, during the past year, the formula for how new entries into this franchise are premiered has ... changed drastically. Rather than being part of the regular seasonal lineup, new Monogatari arcs are now released in large chunks, with one entire story being contained in each of these chunk. So, does the newest entry into the Monogatari franchise live up to its household name?

Before diving into the actual story, I want to briefly give praise to Shinbo and Studio Shaft for finally recognizing a formula that works best for Monogatari, and that is giving us a single adaptation of one of the novels all at once. With a story as complicated and complex as Monogatari, pacing out each story over the course of four to six weeks felt incredibly prolonged and not very engaging because it practically requires a recap every time a new episode came out. However, by releasing it in feature length film-sized chunks, we can get the entire story all at once, making the loss of certain details over time less acute. This might sound like a very minor detail, but presentation is hugely important, especially with something as eclectic as Monogatari, though I can't say with zero reservations that I would be all for continuing this formula for the rest of the franchise, as it would also mean that the hype levels would fluctuate uncontrollably over the course of releases.

Getting back to the matter of Tsukimonogatari specifically, I wouldn't say that this is one of the worst stories to come from the franchise, but coming off the heels of Hanamonogatari last summer makes it feel a bit weak by comparison, though there wasn't anything necessarily wrong with the main story of this arc. My biggest problem, however, lies in the introduction. While I did very much enjoy the beginning scene that contained a prolonged philosophical discussion about the nature of life and "not" life, despite taking up the entire first five minutes of this four-episode series, my true problem lies in what happens once the story actually begins, as we are treated to nearly fifteen minutes of what I can only describe as a self-congratulatory revel in Monogatari-style fan service. To put it bluntly: Araragi is messing around with his sisters' naked bodies again. While I wouldn't say that it reaches "toothbrush" levels of perversion, it still reminded me of a lot of things that I didn't like about Nisemonogatari.

Once we get into the meat of the story, however, Tsuki immediately kicks it into high gear, and we spend the rest of the series enveloped in the "talking heads"-style intense discussions and schemes of Araragi and the other characters. This one isn't so much a character study like Hana was, but instead has more emphasis on the actual story, and the thrill of following Araragi and the others as they plan and debate over the most minute of details is just as thrilling as it was way back in Bakemonogatari.

While the characters don't necessarily take center stage for this arc, there's still quite a bit of interesting development that occurs. Araragi surprisingly ends up getting more development than he's gotten since Nekomonogatari, as we watch him struggle with the changes in his vampiric powers and how that's affecting him on both a strategic level and an emotional one. Yotsugi Ononoki also takes on the main character role once again, and while I initially didn't really see them being able to do much with a character that wasn't very interesting in the first place, she ends up being surprisingly compelling, both for herself and for Araragi, and discussions centered around her that focus on what constitutes true life and the difference between true and artificial life give this series its trademark introspective edge. As for new faces, there is one new character named Tadatsuru, and while I can't go in detail into how he plays into the plot due to spoilers, I will say that despite his short appearance on-screen, he ended up being rather fascinating. Finally, we have Ougi Oshino, whom the series has been continuously teasing us with since the beginning of Second Season, and while her appearance is rather brief this time, much like in Hana, she still manages to interject a new perspective into the discussions being had.

As always, the animation was produced by Shaft, and, to be honest, there's very little need for me to discuss the animation by this point, assuming that those of you still reading are up-to-date on the series. The massive contrasts in color, surreal CG that manages to fit rather well despite being very obviously CG, random "black screen" cuts, and as many head tilts and you can snap your neck at are all still present, though in terms of symbolism, I still think Hana, while still a bit on the blatant side, did a much better job with attempting to convey the overall message of the story.

There is still no dub for this series, and, once again, this series stands as one of the few that I think would be significantly hindered by a dub, simply because of how much talking there actually is.

The soundtrack seems to be firmly stuck in the hands of Kei Haneoka now, who took over for Satoru Kōsaki starting with Hana, and while I wouldn't say that the soundtrack has changed significantly from its usual eclectic nature, it did feel a bit more "traditional" and less overtly stylized. I can't really complain about any of the tracks specifically, and some of them were actually rather moving, but I would certainly hate to see the usual Monogatari style soundtrack disappear completely. The opening theme "Orange Mint" was performed by Saori Hayami (VA for Ononoki) and opens with a techno-inspired song with the usual Monogatari flair that puts it a step above the average, while the ending theme "border" by ClariS plays us out with their usual energized J-pop sound.

Overall, while I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite stories from the franchise so far, Tsukimonogatari is yet another welcome addition into the franchise, though to be honest everything I'm saying right now is rather pointless when you think about it. If you like Monogatari as much as I do, then you probably already finished watching this new story before I could even post this review, and if you don't like Monogatari, then this is certainly not going to change your mind because it really is just more of the same.

Ill just make a simple, subtle and sweet review for Tsukimonogatari.
For those who wanna watch 4 episodes special, please watch all the previously made monogatari series first..or else you will very confused.

The events for tsukimonogatari takes place between the ending for Monogatari series season 2 and another 4 episodes special, Hanamonogatari. For this arc, it will centre around the cute yet emotionless and monotone girl, ononoki. During this post-climax arc, Araragi slowly adapts to his old lifestyle once again and starts going for a new beginning in his life with a new twist i guess. Inside this arc, you will see that brilliant animation sequence ... that SHAFT is known for and completely unorthodox but very refreshing. His cute fire sisters are also back on the big screen and will feature that sexy sexual innuendoes that monogari series is known for. not to mention the well written dialogue with sequences that surprise me everytime. Briefly what will happen in this 4 eps special is that Araragi will come to realise the consequence of his past heroics and at the same time learn more about what is there to being a true monster which is revolved around Ononoki where her past and personality is explained. Once you factor the great music theme plus shaft's animation sequence plus the well paced and addicting and flaring dialogues filled with quirks and meaning, yup a job well done by the director for making tsukimonogatari as great as the rest of the monogatari series. so do watch it now!

(This has been adapted from my reddit thread)

"To err is human" is a famous proverb that helps to explain the mistakes that people often make. It's only natural that, as humans, we trip up, we cause trouble, and we otherwise make life more difficult for ourselves and those around us. Making mistakes is common, but is only one facet to what makes us human. Personalities, actions, ideas, thoughts, emotions, understanding; these and many more complex areas form the basis for what it means to not only be considered a person but to also reveal just what being human actually entails. And for Tsukimonogatari, this delving ... into the nature of humanity is at its core, presenting the audience with yet another "classy" entry in the series.

STORY

Tsukimonogatari takes place before Hanamonogatari (Kanbaru's second tale) but after the events of Second Season. Getting ready to take the college entrance exams, Araragi enters his bathroom to clean himself. But upon looking in the mirror, he sees -- or more specifically, doesn't see -- something rather peculiar: he has lost his reflection.

Tsuki comes off as a culmination of everything that has made Monogatari the series that it is today. Concretely, it boils down to three different aspects: heavy dialogue, appropriate fan-service, and interesting characters. The majority of Monogatari contains more or less of each of these traits, but here with Tsuki, a fine balance is struck. The anime consists of one conversation to the next, usually switching up talking partners as it goes. The girls are cute, the situations are unique, and it's a combination of blatant and tasteful. And the characters involved are both old favorites, newcomers, and the underutilized. It mixes everything together, providing the execution it is also known for. Witty exchanges, Tsukihi's bath entrance, and Tadaratsu's fascinating characterization are small examples of the refined way in which Tsuki provides the audience with a higher-caliber journey.

Tsuki, like the iterations before it, is a character-driven anime. As such, the themes it explores are done so through its cast. To this end, the show contains two prominent ideas, one obvious and strong, the other slightly subtle and weak.

The weaker of the two is the notion of compensation. That the actions one performs "have an equal and opposite reaction." Everything requires an exchange. Buying food costs money, moving about uses oxygen, and writing a letter needs ink. Trivial instances, but it gets the point across; nothing comes free. Araragi learns this throughout the tale yet it's not as powerful a message as it could be. This stems from the cast's small relation to the topic. Namely, only Kagenui and Ougi give their outlook on the subject, but cannot directly relate to it in context. Kagenui brings up ideas about self-sacrifice and the effects it has on the soul, whereas Ougi talks about such sacrifice leading to newfound maturity. Interesting discussions that lose their edge because it is both not brought up enough during Tsuki and is drowned out by the stronger theme.

This "louder" motif being a look at what it means to be human. Where the case of compensation comes from a couple of characters, here the entire cast is involved. From the Fire Sisters and Shinobu to Senjougahara and Ononoki, everyone provides insight for Araragi and, subsequently, the viewer. People are complex beings: they make choices, they have ideals, they support others, and they act unexpectedly. Being human doesn't boil down to a single rule or phrase, because it's simply not that easy. Because it isn't just looking at what a human has to have to be human, but what constitutes a non-human to be one, too. Some of the characters are more "in-your-face" about it while others make one really think about who they are or what they represent. And since the dilemma involved revolves around this issue of being human and/or non-human, it makes sense that the main and supporting characters bring their own flavor to the thematic meal.

ANIMATION

If the Monogatari series is known for anything later in history, it will be in the art and direction it provided. To that end, SHAFT presents their signature style in full-force once more within Tsuki.

When it comes to the art of the anime, it's quite beautiful to see. Pieces are rife with detail, backgrounds are a mix of static and dynamic, and the composition of the shots vary widely. Colors pop and sag while the camera gives off pan-shots, extreme close-ups, or uncanny positions that just aren't possible with other formats. This continual changing of camera angles allows the conversations to go from monotonous to exciting. And on top of all this, a lot of what Tsuki offers is symbolic with good reason.

The scenes contain often strange elements and locations, but they almost always serve a purpose. As a small example, Kagenui and Araragi hold a conversation within an ice house; from the statues to the beds, everything is made of ice. It's two-fold; one, it fits the season of January/February, where their surroundings are frozen. Two, and more importantly, is in relation to the situation they find themselves. Not only to emphasize Araragi's missing reflection but also to demonstrate the feelings in the air. It feels "cold"; that is, distant, mysterious, and unpleasant. The conversation both embodies and takes place in an area that portrays the scenario being played out.

The character designs remain consistent. Karen and Tsukihi are sporting their track gear and kimono, respectively, Araragi's "ahoge" is in literal full-swing, and Shinobu gets a pretty new black dress. The new character, Tadatsuru, somehow comes off as one of the most unique yet, given his pale coloring and depicted aura.

As stated already, Tsuki (and the rest of the series) is filled with talking. A lot of it deals with characters standing opposite one another, discussing the predicament or what needs to be done next. Constant cuts and standing around leads to an okay amount of actual animation. When it is present, it's usually average to above-average.

CHARACTERS

Tsuki contains a medium sized cast that each plays their part and contribute to the main theme rather nicely. For the sake of brevity, I'll focus on my favorites or most important.

Towards the beginning of the anime, the Fire Sisters -- Karen "Bee" and Tsukihi "Phoenix" -- are given the spotlight. Karen is energetic and strong while Tsukihi is violent and shrewd. Their inclusion in the story isn't just for Araragi to be motivated or to give some fan-service. They're (albeit weirdly) compared to alarm clocks, and not just because they wake up their brother every morning. It's the first example of what it means to be human. Here, the metaphor should actually been taken literally; that is, the sisters have "alarming" and "time-sensitive" issues. Karen is fascinated with her dojo master and Tsukihi is worried about the fate of the group they've made. Most people have problems going on in their lives, problems that need to be taken care of swiftly. "Time waits for no man," and the same is true for Araragi's sisters. That is, part of being human is dealing with the issues one has in a timely manner.

Perhaps the most interesting character in the show, Tadatsuru has both an awkward introduction and a rather speedy removal. Indirect when speaking, his seemingly tangential way of saying what's on his mind makes it difficult to follow his train of thought. He has a strange affinity for origami, but this fits his character perfectly. Origami is beautiful, but quite technical. In other words, a set of rules must be followed in order to generate the desired result. And as Tadatsuru laments, he feels the same way. That he himself is just a piece of origami, a "pawn," having been forced to adhere to guidelines that have gotten him to the point he has found himself in now. All of this characterization brings about more connections to the overall theme. From Tadatsuru, Araragi learns that being human also means making one's own choices. Sticking to a role or abiding by the law are logical ventures, but having the will to do what one wants captures an innate part of what it means to be a person.

Ononoki is arguably the most important character in Tsukimonogatari. Emotionless and expressionless, her presumably empty self makes it easy to encapsulate her. She seems the most simple among the cast, but in reality, she's the most complex. Her doll-like attitude and "shikigami" background paint her as a non-human thing. But the conversations she holds and the actions she takes mean more than she is given credit for. She acts as the role model for Araragi, as someone who is designed to never be human, but imitates and acts like she is. She represents not the biological human but the philosophical one. Her friendship to him, ideas on morality, and rather obtuse solutions to the dilemmas at hand allow her to demonstrate a side to humanity that is difficult to see. And that is that just because something is labeled as inhuman doesn't mean that its humanity is completely lost.

Araragi is the vessel that takes in all of these thematic pieces. And all of the characters provide their view on being human. Senjougahara gives the notion that being human includes a physical aspect. Kagenui deplores narcissism but encourages helping others. Ougi debates whether a person can save or be saved. Even Shinobu imparts wisdom; respect for another, whether human or not. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Tsukimonogatari or any other form of media cannot possibly hold everything that defines humanity. Because it's unfathomably intricate. And while not all of the characters present profound messages, they do what they can to define the concept of humanity.

SOUND

The OP is rather unique. It flows onward, without high notes or melancholic instruments. It's a simple beat, with the "Ahh..."'s and catchy rhythm making it surprisingly fun to listen to.

The ED is, sadly, rather generic with the drum and vocals, ending the anime rather poorly.

The soundtrack is filled with an assortment of piano and violin pieces that help to set the mood correctly. Nothing major or moving, but they each serve their purpose.

Voice-acting has average to above-average work all-around. Props go to Hiroshi Kamiya for his continued work as Araragi, and to Yuka Iguchi as Tsukihi for having a rather adorable voice.

ENJOYMENT

If you're a fan of anime, then to some extent you know about the Monogatari series. While I personally don't absolutely love everything it contains, I often find that it executes what it sets out to do quite nicely. Here again, the comedy involved, the head-tilts, Araragi's underage-loving tendencies; I always found myself having a good time with whatever the show was dishing out.

With a show like this, the characters are pivotal when it comes to really caring about the anime. In this case, I'm not a huge fan of anyone (mainly) involved besides Araragi and Tsukihi. Hachikuji, Senjougahara, and Kaiki are my favorites, and not having them around doesn't destroy the experience but doesn't make it as fun for me as some of the other parts of the overall series.

With Tsukimonogatari, the train keeps rolling. A solid story, slick art, and interesting characters create a neat, little package that gives fans of the series more of what they wanted. As Araragi states, it's "the beginning of the end." While that end will eventually come, what is here now is more than satisfactory.

SUMMARY

Story: Good, some of the best "Monogatari", weak and strong themes

Animation: Great, great art and composition, nice character designs, good actual animation

Characters: Good, all more or less describe what it means to be human

Sound: Fine, good OP, bad ED, okay soundtrack, nice VA work

Enjoyment: Good, funny, SHAFT-y, but without my favorite characters

Final Score: 7/10

Long reviews may contain spoiler!!!

Short Review: (free spoiler)
Tsukimonogatari is a wonderful anime. It's a continuation of Monogatari 2nd, so I think all of you who see this anime knows the story's overall. The story revolves around Araragi and Ononoki, basically, with others will support the entire anime. Well, It's just 4 episodes with a combination of mystery, vampire, and ecchi (well, of course, especially that man of culture). However, I feel, also at least as good as their predecessor. If you are fans of the Ononoki Yotsugi, you most likely will love this OVA.

Anyway, in any case, you may think you will dislike it, I ... don't recommend and avoid this anime at all cost for those who hate to see a lot of ecchi and well, that sister. Of course, you must smart enough why you are here. You are watching the Monogatari series that obviously has unique story-telling + you have seen and watched Nisemonogatari. Besides things that I have written before, you most likely will like this anime.



Long Review: (may contain spoilers)
After watching Tsukimonogatari, I will write the review and break down what I think and feel for this anime.

Story & Plot (8/10)
Tsukimonogatari doesn't have to much offer for the story. Well, it isn't a problem because it's only 4 episodes long. However, this anime has a solid story and plot that as good as the prequel of this anime. The story-telling is unique to Monogatari, which is consistent from the start Monogatari. Mainly, you will see a dialogue between Koyomi with other people and occasionally see monologue.

Dialogue sometimes is complicated. For example, you will see it mostly in episodes 2 and 3. You must focus on understanding the topic and problem to get a picture of the main problem. However, the dialogue sometimes is funny and exciting, too, for example, mostly in episode 1 to the halfway of episode 2.

For those who fans with Ononoki Yostugi, this OVA will be one that most likely you enjoy watching. Moreover, if you fans with Kagenui Yozuru, who fight with Koyomi at Nisemonogatari, you will like this OVA.

Art & Animation (10+/10)
Well, I don't know, but for Tsukimonogatari, I feel that the art and animation are somewhat greater than previous anime. Anyway, the visualization is really excellent, too. Both the overall and detail is well composed. I quite enjoy the depiction that will help watcher to understand the anime better. You will get a lot of high-quality meme pictures and ideas from this OVA, especially Shinobu and Yostugi.

The opening animation is excellent and colorful. It combines the color gradation and motion, making you try to watch more that one time. Honestly, I really love that snow battle, despite it is very distractive. Lastly, you will get the finest quality of the fantastic that Fire Sister (you can say that fanservice, obviously). Watch it yourself, and you will know.

Sound & Music (10+/10)
OST is fantastic. It's really great to emphasize the ambiance and atmosphere, some of which are my favorite. The sounds are excellent and place in the right place, too. The voice actor is awesome, too, and I feel that no flaws from them. The because I really can't imagine when the VA of Ononoki singing the song, the result is Opening is unbelievable and unexpectedly catchy. The ending is top-notch, too, with ClariS singing "Border."

Character (10+/10)
This one that I really love. The anime is implicit and explicit development for most of the characters. You can see it really well in the anime, especially the Koyomi part. Telling in here will reveal a massive spoiler, but the one most I like and I will take for my life here is "the more you lose, the more mature you are." I feel that one of the best statements that I've seen so far, and I experience it in my real life, too. The next one is how Koyomi and pals handle the problem. It is really well executed in anime and gives a solid conclusion about the arc, too. Last, the event the character is developing is really well, don't hope that the man of culture will change to a non-pervert person.

Enjoyment and conclusion (9/10)
Gladly, I enjoy this one. The blend of music, sound, and art is really well. The fanservice is well synchronized with the story and memorable. Some of the scenes are really funny to watch. I even replayed the snowball fighting about 5 times (LOL) (笑). All of them are worth rewatch, especially to refresh the memory and understand some of the anime's plot hole that better explains.

Overall
I track my score for all episodes (4) and OP/ED
Episode - Score
(1) - 9.75 (for that family, imouto, and bath scenes)
(2) - 9.75 (for that hilarious pose, toy machine, and that crying face)
(3) - 9.5 (for that distraction of snow playing)
(4) - 10 (for that man of the culture and that quotes)
Total Raw Score: 38.5
Main Anime Score: 39/4 x 10 x 90% = 87.8
Opening & Ending Score: 105 x 10% = 10.5
Total Score is 98.3 that means overall score is 10

Hopefully, that you are helped by this review!!!

I have mixed feelings about this show.

It starts with a bait and switch. The first few minutes, or episode is typically used to make promises to the viewer about what the show is going to be about. Here we're told it's supposed about to be Yotsugi Ononoki, but she isn't really relevant to the narrative until the last 30 minutes. Just to put that into perspective, the show runs for about 95 minutes excluding the opening and credits. So she has about 1/3 of the time in this show.

This is compounded by the first 20 minutes being used up to continue Araragi's incestuous relationship with ... his other sister Tsukihi. It was already enough that we got a scene back in Nisemonogatari that was tantamount to oral sex with his sister Karen, but now we're being treated to the fact that this is just how the Araragi family rolls.

There is a little bit where Tsukihi does ask Araragi to apologize. I wish Studio Shaft would apologize for wasting this much time on something that is irrelevant in the long run to the entire narrative structure.

I will, however, give credit due to where it belongs. And that is the character of Yotsugi Ononoki. She is infinitely more interesting as a character than Araragi will ever be. Sad that viewers get so much of their time wasted focusing on Araragi and his deviant sexual behaviors.

I felt that Ononoki's trolling behavior was a plus. Also when Kagenui broke Araragi's fingers. That filled me with such schadenfreude because justice was done upon this child molesting dirtbag. Of course the characterization of Araragi is not focused so much on the fact that his fingers are broken, it's that he would not be able to grope Hanekawa's tits because they're broken.

Let's just stop. Hitagi Senjyogahara volunteered to put up with this idiot back in Bakemonogatari. It's not like Araragi doesn't have a girlfriend whose tits he could grope. She even said during their date that she'd give him her body. I'm not buying that she's not taking care of his needs. And this is when I stopped to think. When is there any other scenes of Araragi and Senjyogahara really doing anything together since Bakemonogatari? I'll get back to this in a moment.

There is a scene where Araragi is walking behind Ononoki and he takes the opportunity to lift her skirt up over her head and look at her panties. Ononoki, in her usual deadpan manner, says "wow." I felt this way too. And I took that to mean, "wow, I cannot believe you are so brazen. da fuq are you doing?" And as they continue on, he insists on walking in this same manner, her skirt held up high so he can continue to look.

And she just tells him he's a creep. This is really what he is. Araragi isn't defined by anything other than what he's willing to try to do to any female, be they family, dead, or whatever else. The narrative tries to portray him in a positive light, however. As some benevolent man that acts altruistically to help people out with their problems. This isn't true, however. Araragi never helps any males out. He only helps females out, and this is driven by his motivation to try to molest them. I had the displeasure of reading a recent reddit post where he won the category of "best guy." Da fuq? Those people that voted for him are out of their minds.

Leaving that, there's some pluses that there is some very interesting imagery, and I really liked the allusion to Sailor Moon in this show. It's how it should have been done. In past Monogatari shows that this series is linked to the allusions were done in a way to insult the intelligence of the viewer. The dialogue would simply beat you over the head that "yes, this is where this comes from, be it Evangelion, or whatever else." Here it's left up to the viewer to make the connection.

It's unfortunate that so much of this show was wasted on focusing on Koyomi Araragi. Monogatari as a whole would benefit if he was simply written out or killed off. Take it for what it's worth though. Here you have a fine show that is dragged down by one character in particular. He strikes such damaging blows that I cannot justify giving it a higher score.

I was a bit disappointed with Hanamonogatari so I thought long and hard (Yea, Yea..long and hard..so funny..hurr durr) on whether I should watch the next Monogatari series or not which was Tsukimonogatari. I'm pleased to say that Tsuki did not disappoint.

(There will be SPOILERS in my review)

[Story]: (8.5/10) (SPOILERS)
Tsukimonogatari is a sequel to Hanamonogatari but it does not take place after Hana. Tsuki chronologically takes place during the events of Monogatari Series: Second Season. Something weird is going on with Koyomi's body and he must find out why this is happening.

After watching Hanamonogatari, I didn't have it in me to watch Tsukimonogatari because ... I didn't want to spend another 5 or 6 days just to finish a short anime series. For those of you who didn't know, it took me approximately 6 days just to finish Hanamonogatari because the show bored me to death. However, it took me a day to finish Tsukimonogatari. The show wasn't as boring as Hana and it is a lot better than Hana. Let's get to the review shall we?

In the previous Monogatari shows, the girls gets affected by the aberrations and Araragi comes to the rescue by helping those girls and solving their mystery/problem. Well here, for the first time in the Monogatari series, Araragi is the character who gets affected, not by an aberration but by his own actions in the previous Monogatari shows. By actions, I mean him relying on his vampire powers and Shinobu to save the affected girls. By relying on his vampire powers, we see the consequences that goes along with using his vampire powers and what happens should he go full vampire.

In Tsukimonogatari, he learns how to deal with his problem without using his vampire powers which we have never seen before so it was nice to see how he deals with his problem as a normal human being with absolutely no powers and no regeneration to get him out of that situation (i.e no deus ex machine for him). However, Araragi is not alone on this one. He gets help from Yozuru and her familiar/walking corpse Yotsugi who played a major role in solving Araragi's problem.

Tsukimonogatari still retains the dialogue scenes and just like Hanamonogatari, it's 99% talking and 1% action. That action scene happens on the last episode. Unlike Hana, however, the dialogue scenes are way better and it's worth listening to again. Hana's dialogue scenes bored me to death because the conversation that the character had was dragged out and there wasn't any comic relief that existed in Second Season. In here, it was balanced. One half advances the plot and the other half is for humour. In other words, it's just like the Monogatari Series: Second Season's dialogue scenes. Why do I prefer the Second Season's dialogue scenes? There has to be a balance, that's why. You can't just have 99% dialogue scenes with no humour or no break. That's like reading a boring-ass philosophical book for 5 hours straight.

The fanservice......is back. I can't believe this. Why couldn't it be like Monogatari Series: Second Season where the fanservice was almost non-existant by the 2nd arc? Two kinds of fanservice occured in Tsuki. One is the incest scenes. "Nise" fans, rejoice because you get to see Araragi and Tsukihi in the bath together. Non-incest fans, say d'oh. The 2nd fanservice is that goddamn skirt flipping scene. It was pretty obvious that Yotsugi was bothered that her skirt was being held and flipped by Araragi while they were having a long conversation.

The pacing in Hanamonogatari was slow as hell so that's why I couldn't finish the show in less than a day or 2. Tsuki's pacing is back to normal, thank god. By normal, I mean it's exactly the same as Second Season's pacing which I found to be perfect. I never felt bored and 24 minutes passed by way too fast for each episode.
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[Art/Animation]: (10/10)
Compared to the previous Monogatari shows, there were some slight changes in the "Animation" department. I mean, the visual looks exactly the same as Second Season so what slight changes am I talking about? It's the flashing text. It has that childish look with cutout cardboard pieces and it fits with Yotsugi's creepy doll-ish character. Last thing that I want to talk about in this category is Yotsugi's character design. It's simply amazing and her poses and the peace signs she makes are somewhat creepy and weird at the same time. I think it adds hilarity to the show. Some might find it creepy and not funny at all. To each his/her own, I guess.
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[Sound]: (8/10)
The show's soundtrack did not disappoint me but I still think Second Season's soundtrack is way better. It's probably because I don't get that feeling when you hear a sick-ass soundtrack anymore or maybe it's because Tsuki's soundtrack is not as great as Second Season. It's definitely the latter. Now for the OP and ED theme song review.

The OP theme song is "Orange Mint" by Yotsugi Ononoki and the ED theme song is "border" by ClariS. The OP theme song is weird...and unique to say the least. The OP animation is like a huge brainf*ck and the singer for the Opening sounds like that famous monotonic real life anime girl. What's her face? Oh yea, she sounds like Hatsune Miku. The ED theme song....I love it simply because my favourite singer was singing the Ending.

The Voice Actors sounds great and the only VA that I want to give a shoutout to is Yotsugi's VA. Her performance and voice is simply amazing and the way she says "Peace" always cracks me up.
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[Character]: (9/10)
Simply put, all the main characters got a character development. Especially, Araragi and Yotsugi. I already talked about Araragi in the "Story" category so I'm going to talk more about Yotsugi. Yotsugi was a mysterious character to me when she was introduced in Nisemonogatari. As she makes more and more appearance in Second Season, I get to know her better but not to the point where I should start caring for that character but it was definitely getting to that point. In Tsuki, she gets more screentime and reveals more about her true self. After finishing Tsuki, it's safe to say that I definitely like her character.

Lastly, I also want to talk about Yozuru. I hated her and her guts because of one stupid reason. She was an antagonist. After watching Tsuki, I asked myself "Why do I exactly hate her character again?". I mean, she's not exactly a villian. It's just part of her beliefs to get rid of aberrations. Finally, the shows explains to us why Yozuru is always standing on some sort of thing or on Yotsugi's finger. Turns out it was the curse..That was an interesting revelation.

Did I say lastly? Yea, I was joking about that. I still have two more characters to talk about and that's Ougi and Tadatsuru. Ougi still remains one of the most mysterious characters in the Monogatari series. Who exactly is s/he? S/he randomly pops out of nowhere to give Araragi some tips or s/he's there because s/he just wants to talk to him. There's also the fact that s/he's wearing a female school uniform. Isn't Ougi a male? For now, I'm going to use the term "s/he" because it's still not properly explained as to who s/he really is. There was a hint in Hanamonogatari where Ougi says "Oh that's right, I'm a male now" which suggests that s/he can change genders..I think.

Lastly and I mean it this time. Tadatsuru is the antagonist for this arc. Not much is known about him except that he and Yozuru met before and he also has that curse that Yozuru has. He's also an Oddity specialist, just like Yozuru but what differs him and Yozuru is the fact that he captures oddities for himself. The guy's probably a creep. If there's more info about him then I would like to know because I might have missed some points about him.
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[Enjoyment]: (9/10)
After finishing Tsukimonogatari, I finally got that feeling again. The feeling that I got after finishing Second Season. What feeling you ask? The feeling of "wanting more". I didn't get that in Hana because I just wanted it to end. I enjoyed the humour, the dialogue scenes and the characters.
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[VERDICT]:
"Tsukimonogatari" is a great addition to the Monogatari Series. Unlike Hana, Tsuki felt like I was watching an expansion of Second Season with its return of great dialogue scenes, great story, great pacing, and great character development for the main characters. Tsukimonogatari is also the first in the series where Araragi is suffering from a problem and must solve that problem. The only flaw I found in this show is the return of the fanservice incest scenes from Nise.

[OVERALL]: (8.9/10)


Pros:
+Great Story
+Dialogue scenes similar to Second Season
+Outstanding and Unique Animation
+Soundtrack did not disappoint
+Weird and Unique OP theme song
+Great Character Development for the Main Characters
+Improved Pacing

Cons:
-Return of the fanservice incest scenes

The anime is very colourful and the colours are vibrant.
The characters have good character development and the characters are interesting.
However, Shinobu did not have enough screen time which makes me sad.
My favourite seen has to been the Arcade Scene because it was funny.
Other people might say the shower scene was the best as it was Ecchi.
The music was very good as it was very well played.
I don't like the fact that the entire show was played out at once like one movie.
Overall, I give Tsukimonogatari a 9.69/10! (Which rounds up to 10/10)

tl;dr: A solid Monogatari arc with especially good Araragi moments that feels like it’s the set up right before things get really moving.

Tsukimonogatari is an adaptation of the first novel of what is called the final season of Monogatari novels. Tsukimonogatari takes place in between Koimonogatari and Hanamonogatari, and as such while it doesn’t fill in the gaps left in the Monogatari Second Season, it’s very much right in the middle of things. The character that’s supposed to be focused on in this arc is Ononoki and she does have a reasonably prominent role in that we get background on her and some insight into ... her character. However, ultimately she feels more like support, as the plot impetus comes from Araragi rather than anything that has to do with her, and the focus placed on her seems more to be done with the intention of developing the relationship she has with Araragi than developing Ononoki herself.

On that note, this installment is a pretty solid Araragi arc. He’s been out of the spotlight for the past couple arcs so it’s especially amusing to see him just being Araragi with all the comedy that entails. In terms of matters of more substance, this arc also changes things for Araragi in terms of his abilities which will likely have major staying plot significance going forward, and also uses the opportunity to highlight how much Araragi has grown in such a way that it feels like we’re approaching a climax on his character arc. This arc also provides a lot of hints about what’s coming plot wise in the future, as well as suggesting that a lot of what had already happened in a seemingly disconnected way had actually happened for a reason with a central culprit behind it. Thus, rather than a complete arc, while it does tell somewhat of a complete story, it feels more like just setting the stage for what’s to come. Also, taking into account that gaps still exist before this, everything is still in flux at this point, but everything seems resolved as of Hanamonogatari, the overall timeline of where the remaining story will take place also seems to come into focus. And as an aside, Senjougahara also seems completely different here as compared to what we’ve seen of her previously in her interactions with Araragi in what seems to be a really positive change, so hopefully seeing how that came about is also something that feels worth anticipating. Thus, while the arc has a decent enough plot on it’s own, that it seems to be the final stop before finally getting into finally revealing all the mysteries that had been building up hanging over the series for what feels like forever is what truly makes this arc exciting.

The art and animation seem just as solid and unique as always. There’s a bit of change to the style with a larger emphasis on paper visual motifs which fits well with the plot and changes things up enough to keep the style interesting in and of itself. The OP and ED are pretty standard for Monogatari in that they’re good but I don’t really have anything to say about them that I haven’t already said multiple times in the past about prior ones.

"This is the story of the beginning of my end."
-Araragi Koyomi

Prequel Story: Kizumonogatari
First Story: Bakemonogatari
Second Story: Nisemonogatari
Third Story: Nekomonogatari Kuro
Fourth Story: Nekomonogatari Shiro
Fifth Story: Kabukimonogatari
Sixth Story: Otorimonogatari
... Seventh Story: Onimonogatari
Eight Story: Koimonogatari
Ninth Story: Hanamonogatari

And, finally, the grand tenth story being tsukimonogatari, nisioisin and shaft has proven us two great things.

One, this story is, for the lack of a better term, a gift from God to the anime world.
Two, Shinbo should reeeeeeaaaaallly get working on kizumonogatari any time soon.

After six years, 15 arcs, 65 episodes and about 1,300 minutes of showtime, monogatari series anime adaptation project is nearly its end.
So when I heard that the monogatari series was about to end, I just had one thing to say.

'Bout time.

I'd like to think of this as the beginning of the end of a six-year-long journey that I started because I was looking for good anime at the time, and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Well, after learning about different things such as 'the power of character', 'the strength of a loli', 'the eroticism found in toothbrush' among other things that I would have otherwise never even turned an eye on, monogatari series has now become almost a part of me.

So, as I review this anime, I will try to keep down my personal feelings towards this anime as mutual as possible.

Well this was certainly too long an intro. Let's get on with the review.

Story: 6

To be truthful, I really didn't find the point of this story.
How I feel about tsukimonogatari's story is like how I felt about nisemonogatari's story. It certainly was necessary to the monogatari: second season, but it seemed too polarized to the motifs and overall mood of the story of bakemonogatari, and thus make me disappointed, if anything.
It isn't to say that there was not a figment of story at all in tsukimonogatari, and neither was it filled with fanservices and the so-called 'moe' factors everywhere. There indeed was an acceptable storyline in tsukimonogatari, and it was not too horrible either.
But, when I rethink that this is a story that, chronologically, comes out after koimonogatari, I can't help but feel disappointed.
Of course, there is the idea of a 'tension-break'. Since the tensions of the series has been hyped severely throughout the entire monogatari: second season, the viewers' minds have to be relaxed before entering into the grand finale, which I pray to God Shaft's animating.
Still, since there was nothing noteworthy about the overall storyline, I give story segment a 6.

Art: 9

Oh, Shaft. You've come a loooooong way.
As usual, the animation style of Shaft was clearly shown throughout the animation as the characters' neck bent into weird angles, the zoom-ins and scene changes were incoherent but appropriate and the characters stood with one leg or danced Platinum Disco.
But the animation quality itself was as usual superb.
The animation of Shaft doesn't have to be talked about a lot. It can be just summarized with one line.
It's great.
Moving on.

Sound: 7

Ah yes, ClaRis, now more like...ClaKar though, since Risa retired and Karen (I can't stop thinking that this stage name was based on Araragi Karen in this...) came in.
And the character song by Ononoki Yotsugi.
And of course, the usual bgm by Kousaki Satoru.

Regarding the BGM, it was...well, it's getting tiring, listening to the same ost over and over and over and over and over again. Of course, it's still good, but I can't help but feel like it's a little overused.
It's not to say that there were some new BGM's here and there, but there were too few of those, and I hope that changes in owarimonogatari, or any other animation done by Shaft, for that matter.
For that, BGM gets a flat 5.

Next, OP/ED.
Claris and the character song was actually nicer than I thought they would be. The character song was not as catchy as the three legendary character songs of monogatari series, renai circulation, platinum disco and mousou express, but it certainly was good. It was catchy, and the voice actress of Yotsugi did actually amazingly, that I almost thought she used to be a singer before becoming a voice actress.
Claris, or ClaKar, or whatever, actually exceeded my expectations. I half-expected the new member to be not as good as the last one, but she fit her role perfectly as the replacement for Risa, and went on from being a replacement to being a respected member of Claris.
Of course, that's not to say that the OP/ED are without faults. Character songs are only admired to a selected number of people, and even if the number of people who enjoy the so-called 'moe' songs are a majority in the otaku subculture, it stands out that the song such as character songs or Claris-themed music are not admired to every member the subculture.

As for the voice acting, well, what can I say.
Shaft seems to have this 'circle' of voice actors/actresses that they use and use, and I took the liberty of calling it the 'Shaft Seiyuu Circle'. And one thing I like about SSC is that all the voice actors/actresses in it are, for the lack of a better term, AMAZING.
There's the voice actress that shook Japanimation subculture, Horie Yui, the voice actress who got the first place for 'which voice actress do you want to merry', Eri Kitamura, the most famous voice actor in asia (not proven), Kamiya Hiroshi, the voice actress with the greatest talent at creating characters, Iguchi Yuka, the voice actress with perhaps the biggest variation of voice acting, Saito Chiwa, the voice actress who voices a grown woman and a loli at the same time, Sakamoto Maaya, the voice actress who got famous through her amazing singing, Hikasa Yoko, the voice actress who voiced five minutes of monologue without mistake, NG, recuts or re-do's in Inou Battle wa Nichijou no Naka de, Hayama Saori.
And of course, perhaps the most famous voice actor/actress in the Japanimation industry, Hanazawa Kana.
I think I need to just say this out loud at the start from the next time. Shaft Voice Actors/actresses are AMAZING.
10/10, no doubt.

Character: 10

As usual, this is where Monogatari Series shines.
The author of the original light novel from which this anime series is adapted into is nisioisin (real name unknown), and he/she is indeed superb at creating characters. Nisioisin makes characters look and feel human, and make the characters stay faithful to their role until the end. The characters may develop, but then nisioisin makes sure that the characters get their developmental chapters.
There is not much to say. Tsukimonogatari's characters are adorable, lovable, attachable, realistic and reasonable set of characters, much more than I could ever hope them to be.
I can give no less than a 10 for character.

Enjoyment: 9

Well, this was fun.
Monogatari series, in my opinion, is a series meant for one purpose.
And that is entertainment.
While there may be some intriguing thoughts and plotlines that makes us startled, in the end, monogatari series, and i quote nisioisin, is written "with 100% out of hobby."

Overall: 8

If you are a monogatari fan, then...well, I don't actually understand why you are getting advice from me to watch this, but anyhow, I will be veeeeeeeery surprised if you found this not enjoyable.
If you are not a monoagatari series fan and has not watched even the first episode of bakemonogatari, I suggest you to HURRY UP AND WATCH IT because you are missing out perhaps a golden age of anime history.
Happy anime. Happy new year.
May you watch more and better anime as the years go by.

This franchise used to have between eleven and twenty six episodes at some point but the previous entry had five and this one has four, is it running out of content or what? Oh well, at least this means that I can finish them faster, and for an IP that I’m enjoying less and less each season, that’s a good thing.

Visually, it’s surprisingly a step back from the previous series, because the artwork is not as polished at points, and due to the use of some very clear places as backgrounds and very bright special effects, sometimes things seem unfinished or lacking lining or ... details. At least it’s the season with more movement when people talk, there are almost no still moments in it. There are also some interesting visual bits here and there such as Pac-Man references, or the change of the way the light novel passages are integrated, this time mostly shown as what looks like letters that were torn apart.

In terms of sound, the ending has cool visuals but it is the most basic and typical so far, as is the opening, both are just very generic jpop songs, though I like Saori Hayami’s singing voice, way more than her acting voice, even though her performance as Ononoki might be my favourite from her for feeling a bit different than her usual roles. There’s, however, an improvement on the background music, as this entry has the most intense one, filled with themes that seem like they belong in a horror anime instead of this series.

Anyways, the name of the arc and the cover made me think that this season was going to be about Ononoki, a character I kind of wanted to see more of since she was given some of the best dialogues in the franchise, although they are usually next to some of the worst as well. And to be fair, more information about her is revealed, which is in turn related to the past of the four big exorcists within the setting, while there are still some interesting conversations about her or between her and Araragi here and there, so I guess Tsukimonogatari more or less gives me what I wanted, albeit in very small doses and with a not very good presentation, since it is told instead of shown. It’s understandable though, since despite having an important role in the entry, it doesn’t really revolve around her.

Instead, it’s supposed to mean a big deal and change for Araragi, but it doesn’t really feel like it, since he takes it straight pretty much right away, and the tone is for the most part very lighthearted, thus the viewer doesn’t really buy the supposed urgency of the whole thing. Also, whatever tension it tries to build lacks any possible impact, result of releasing Hanamonogatari before it. That’s the big issue of doing that, whatever big or suspenseful event might take place from here on won’t have much of an effect on me, since I already know the outcome and that everyone is fine because of that season.

At least, I’m willing to accept that it’s a series that escalates in quality from less to more, as it has a plain horrible beginning full of all of the cancer from the previous worst moments in the franchise. Lots of meandering, pointless conversations, attempting to have dialogues about serious things while simultaneously presenting the most stupid imagery along with them, and the biggest amount of incestuous ecchi and comedy yet, which in turn feels out of character from what was shown on Nisemonogatari. Remember how Tsukihi reacted to Karen and Koyomi back then? Well, the roles are reversed now for fanservice sake.

At the very least, as it goes on, it shows Araragi the consequences of abusing his power and acting rashly, so it makes everything he did before feel important for him by giving him shortcomings or even some kind of ultimatum for using his abilities. Too bad Hanamonogatari was released right before it.

There is a newly introduced guy that goes away just as quickly as he appeared before even being flesh out and for the short amount of screen time he had, he was pretty uninteresting. How do you make a character voiced by Takehito Koyasu boring? Tsukimonogatari shows how. He is not giving much to do, because as he himself points out, he is a pawn in the big picture.

So at least the show ends with a message of not letting you be played around by someone else, as two characters do the exact opposite as some previous arcs while doing the same thing as the best ones, by having them being proactive and going against what seems to be the predetermined course of action, while also setting up what everyone plans to do about it, as well as having them realize who is the real main antagonist that was pulling the strings from behind the scenes the whole time. Oh, and there’s also a very cute second to last scene with Araragi and Senjougahara, the last scene is whatever, it even ruins what seemed to be a breaking point for the two protagonists of the arc.

As a whole, it begins being the worst arc in the franchise by far, but as it goes on it increases its quality considerably, though just like Nekomonogatari: Kuro, it feels more like a buildup for things to come, a transition entry from Second Season to Owarimonogatari, instead of its own thing. I didn’t find it to be straight up bad, but to me it was just another passable anime like Hanamonogatari, and a step back in quality from the best point in the series just like that show.

(8.5/10)

With the beginning of its third season, Monogatari takes on the task of giving a lot of the lesser known characters more... character.

With this one, we see the return of our favorite deadpan Loli, Ononoki and her minion Kagenui. Overall, I was pleased to see them get spotlighted in this challenging and entertaining episode.

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Story: 7

...
This episode started in a very jarring way, more specifically, it started more like a Nise/Bake episode, rather than a Season 2 episode. For one, we saw gratuitous fanservice once again.

In my Season two review i talked about how the fanservice has been completely left on the curb. In other words, there was almost none. It took a backseat to more focused storytelling, which made the show feel completely different.

I also talked about how I don't really watch this show to lubricate the love monkey, however, the removal of fanservice was missed. Mainly because a lot of those seasons provided the shows signature comedy which, surprisingly, I actually enjoyed. The sleazy "WTF" moments the show provided definitely played a key role in giving this show a distinct personality.

Plus, they were incredibly well animated. I also noted that in its second season they toned down a lot of the crazy art-direction, and while it was still phenomenal, it was less indulgent and in-your-face.

....

So all of that came back.

In the first episode we had a prolonged fanservice scene where Araragi being the creepy pedophile he is, sexually harassed his poor sister Tsukihi. However, to my surprise, this scene actually went somewhere.

Unlike a lot of the fanservice in Nise (less so in Bake), they generally went nowhere and were there to please fans and not be useful to the story. That fit the theme of "Fake", that Nise stood for.

Here, this scene played a vital role in the start of our story. After that, the story went full steam ahead into the catchy intro and story.

....

Not only that, the show thankfully introduced the titular character Ononoki into the fold within the second episode, which was a nice change of pace when compared to Nisemonogatari's habit of not actually including the arc's character-focus in the actual arc.

....

What i'm trying to say is that the story was like a blend between Bake/Nise's art direction and Season two's storytelling, which is actually something I really enjoyed.

Although the story gets a little muddled, specifically with its third episode's rambling nature, its still has a nice climax that I think i may need to rewatch to fully grasp the nature of it all.

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Art: 10


Its a ten. I mean, what do i have to say about it that you haven't heard before? This is the best looking Anime television show i've ever seen. It absolutely blows every other show away.

There's a lot of time and effort put into this shows animation and I feel like there is almost no reliance on still-frames to save budget.

Its as smooth as ever, and thankfully there's a beautiful focus on artistic and self-indulgent art-direction. Not only are the colors ludicrously vivid, but the extremely surreal backgrounds are back as well.

The first scene that i mentioned involving Araragi and Tsukihi's fanservice moment, takes place in Araragi's bath and its stunning. His bath continues to be one of the most jaw-droppingly surreal locations in the show.

Even in the rambling exposition of the second to third episode, the locations were glorious. There was a return to the train-tracks as well as the snow-swept environments where we see Shinobu and Ononoki build a bunch of snowmen.

Its as illustriously self-indulgent as ever and i missed that from the art direction.

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Sound: 7


As i mentioned, the intro sequence uses another original song and its surprisingly catchy and nice. It fits the deadpan theme of Ononoki's personality and uses a very synth-infused jingle to create a nice tone for the cold environments shown in these episodes.

That as well as the signature Monogatari musical spikes that serve to back each scene and dramatic realization, the sound is as solid as ever.

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Character: 7


I was never a fan of Karen or Tsukihi. They aren't ever really interesting and serve as simple cannon fodder in these episodes. They're very empty and I feel like whenever they're on screen all I can pay attention to are their generally cute and well-done character designs.

Everything they do and say isn't really interesting or relevant and it gave me flashbacks to Nise's word moments.

That being said, Ononoki and Kagenui absolutely carry this episodes.

I've loved Kagenui's design ever since she was introduced in Nise and I was absolutely ecstatic to see her back. She has a great character design, a menacing voice and personality, and serves as a looming threat or ally throughout this arc. Finding a bit more about her backstory was also interesting and her experiences with Gaen and Oshino was mentioned briefly enough to really prick your appetite for more lore.

....

Ononoki is as adorable as ever and quickly transitions from deadpan Loli with a nice character design to interesting deadpan Loli with a nice character design.

Her relationship with Araragi is THANKFULLY less sexual than most of the girls in the show, and this is in part due to her backstory which I will not spoil. Araragi's a huge perv, sure, but she thankfully serves as someone to play against that, which creates a unique environment for this show. I enjoyed that.

This and the ultimate climax into resolution for her was satisfying and somewhat melancholy. I'm not fully sold on the very final resolution for her, but regardless, I really enjoyed her starring in these episodes.

....

Araragi serves as a plot crux as well as more comedic relief than anything. Him and Shinobu follow more along with the story than really direct it into a certain direction.

Especially Shinobu, who seemed a bit more out of character than usual, being much more child-like. However, this may be explained by the entire concept of the story and her powers being nullified for the time being, however, i wasn't too sure whether that was explained or not.

I've said it like ten times already, but yeah, Araragi is just as pervy and pedophilic as usual. But at least he isn't just a self-insert.

....

(Tiny Spoilers if you care)

Senjougahara makes a small non-plot-oriented cameo in this episode. Its really really cute and well-done and shows a decent amount of character growth for her since the second season.

Although she isn't as snake-tongued as before; her relationship with Araragi is definitely more believable than it once was. Her ability to explain herself is also improving, which serves as a nice contrast to the way she originally was.

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Overall: 8


It was a very good arc for the show and definitely serves in my top 5 favorite arcs in the show.

It created a new favorite character for me. Also, it utilized the gorgeous snow environments perfectly, showcasing extremely pretty scenery when the exposition got a bit too heavy.

The climax was a bit confusing, but its most likely because the story itself was dense.

Overall, it was like season one and two combined into what i feel like is the show at its best. While this arc may not be at the highs of season 2's Hitagi End arc, it is definitely one of my favorite and i'm looking forward to watching it again when the time comes.

Peace Peace!

Tsukimonogatari is the doll arc of the Monogatari Series that once again features Koyomi Araragi, but revolves around Yotsugi Ononoki and Yozuru Kagenui. As with every arc, Tsukimonogatari builds these two characters masterfully.

I should mention that if you believe any amount of incest is too much incest; first of all, how did you make it this far? But, secondly, this is beyond that. The first episode is basically incestmonogatari, and it’s weird because it doesn’t do much for the story this time. Just a passing thought.

Yotsugi Ononoki is perhaps the most unrelatable character in the series, and it is obvious now that it ... is that way on purpose. Tsukimonogatari spends the first three episodes hinting at a humanization of Yotsugi but rips it out from under us (and Koyomi) in the end. This is a surprising move for the series and leaves the viewer (and Koyomi) unsettled.

Tsukimonogatari is one of the more philosophical arcs, focusing on the duality between monsters and humans. With both Koyomi and Yotsugi, there is a fine line in that duality. I would like to discuss this philosophical take in Tsukimonogatari but I believe it’d be too spoilery, so just watch it. It’s 4 episodes. We both know if you’re this far, you’re going to watch this. Thanks for reading the review regardless!

Tsukimonogatari - 8/10

Tsukimonogatari is a sequel of Hanamonogatari, even though it takes place before it chronologically.
This one is a lot more typical Monogatari than Hana, but it's all presented in such a way that aside from the pseudo-psychological dialogue and all that stuff, the normal dialogue between the characters shows you just how much did they change, and how much they were forced to change, for example Araragi through not being able to use his Vampire abilities anymore.
The art is kinda...cheaper i guess? Can't judge until we get that sweet Blu-Ray edit like usual.
The story kinda fails to focus on Yotsugi, even though it's ... named after her, basically like in 'Shinobu Time' in second season, most of the story is something completely different.
Then in the last episode it sets quite nicely in with what is to happen next, and prepares you for the ending that is going to be adapted soon.
What i really liked about it was the characters growing up, expanding, getting more depth, and the lore being twisted, alongside with all those mindfuck dialogues.
I guess the story fails to concentrate on Yotsugi, and the main happening here is the fact that Araragi can't use his vamp powers anymore, which killed my hype for the story.

Tsukimonogatari is the "Beginning of the End" to Monogatari. :(

While a short season, it was very delectable. Finally our favorite walking corpse girl gets some much needed focus, and as per tradition, she sings her own opening, which is very reminiscent of the Portal songs, in my opinion.

This time of round, the story isn't at all hard to understand, and it's rather straightforward. We move backwards again in the timeline, just after Hitagi End from Second Season. Since this is the start of Final Season, it provides more insight into how Araragi developed to the person we see him as in Hanamonogatari.

To sum up, this ... 4 episode season was cute, short, and blunt. Just like Ononoki.

Tsukimonogatari is the start of the third season of the Monogatari and features Ononoki in the main role for the first time. This arc is among the better arcs in Monogatari and helps to build a relationship between Ononoki and Araragi while he tries to save his sisters from Tadatsuru Teori, an oddity hunter, after slowly transforming more and more into a vampire.
The arc begins with Araragi awaking to his sisters who now wake him up because he refuses to use alarm clocks. They demand he spends February thirteenth studying for his college entrance exams. While Araragi is setting up a bath for Karen, he ... decides to get in before, but after fighting with Tsukihi over who will get in first, they decide to take the bath together. While washing Tsukihi’s hair, Araragi notices he no longer has a shadow and he runs into his room to ask Shinobu for help. Shinobu instructs him he must find Ononoki for help, who they are unable to find, but Gaen sends them a text with advice on where to find her. The two are able to find Ononoki in an arcade and have to win her out of the claw machine. Together they locate Yozuru who, with Ononoki’s help, determines that Araragi is becoming a vampire, but it isn’t too late. That night they find out that Karen and Tsukihi as well as Kanbaru were kidnapped by Teori and together Araragi and Ononoki venture to the shrine he is located at to save them. Ononoki sneaks in through the back of the shrine and blows Teori into pieces, saving the three as well as Araragi from Teori.
This is one of the better and more interesting Monogatari arcs. It seems bad when summarizing it, but it was very fun to watch and stood out from all the other Monogataris with this one having new card designs in between scenes to symbolize the chapters in the manga for example. Little details like this help it stand out and seem fresh in comparison to arcs like Hanamonogatari. As well as this, Tsukimonogatari features a way better opening song and credits song than Hanamonogatari and Nekomonogatari Black. The story of Araragi becoming a vampire is well done and very interesting to watch and is way better than some arcs before and made this one much more interesting than some before it.
As for the bad, there isn’t too much to complain about. At times it felt like the show wouldn’t end, while at others it went by super fast. When the four of them are gathered together and taking tests on Araragi the show feels extremely dragged out and takes away from the rest of this arc. As well as this, the animation is way less fluid than in prior arcs and the viewer can tell. It is similar to the animation of Bakemonogatari or Nisemonogatari, not Hanamonogatari. These were only a few things I noticed but I am sure one will see a lot more negatives while viewing for himself.
Overall the arc is shorter than most movies and was a fun, and quick watch. The story was really good and well done while the animations were not all too fluid and the dialogue seemed to drag out. It is definitely worth a watch, and a rewatch, but there is little to say about it due to its length being so short.

Now you might think that I am overrating this particular "monogatari" with a prefix of "tsuki" that states the premise of the story of what this "monogatari" (monogatari means story) will be about in the anime. Well because this anime, or to be as condescending as possible, "THIS FUCKING JAPANESE CARTOON!" is a mix of the uses of art, animation, a big references of literature work collections, logic (fallacy of red herring, valid argument etc. that was mentioned in the anime) and philosophy (human nature, chinese philsopher on the idea of human is good in nature or bad etc.) and so forth. But ofc, dont ... forget about the fan service. And plus, nudity, lolicon complex, (is that even a real word), king's or hero's harem in the western culture in the past are value as a form of an art, or not an unethical thing to do, rather than viewing them as obscenity. Now it's different tho with our implemented morality in the western culture. And we westerners are so ignorant about this, but the japanese culture view western country with much respect. And they are both inspired by western mythology, medivals, and some other shit. All im saying here is that this author specifically and some others are influnced by western's past culture that's all. That's why there are nudities without nipples or vagina being shown here. Unlike Highschool DxD and some other ecchi series that show tits.

Nevertheless, the monogatari series in its entirety is actually connected through every events that happen in each of the monogatari stories, but Gaen Izuko's preach (or the author's voice) in the Owarimonogatari and Koyomimonogatari tells you more about it. It's pretty vague, ambiguous and complicated to understand (because it's a theory, a spiritual one that this story runs by, and allusion to order, and unity theory that the universe runs by irl). And the author wanted to present the story as an argument rather than just an ordinary anime story with visuals and words. That's why the story are compartmentalize and disorganize as if it's in incoherence but not actually is; it's just to make people view this as an anime with argumentation to the given prefix or premise of the story that will present those arguments. And btw, the reasons the author uses text that pops up periodically in each section of their original light novel. These text are the essential words of the character's voice, analogy, connection of the current ideas or talks topic with their past (like in monogatari second season where kaiki talks to Medusa Sengoku about the topic of love, and he allude that conversation to the person he used to love), their thoughts during the conversation, or even them talking to another character instead of voicing it. They decided to put it as a pop up text since it's much faster to progress the story. And the one thing that you might notice about these monogatari series is that they touches different series of ontology, epistemology and metaphysical ideology fashioned by the author himself, or with an allusion to other well known philosopher's, or trite and common sayings through his story that was told since the past. Yes im kinda glorifying this anime because the author of this anime actually implement these elements within his story and making it seems intellectual, while at the same time, introducing us to the oblivion things that we sees in today's life, mythology, and so forth.

And guess what, the story in this are compact with philosophy.

The first was the philosophical theory of personal identity, authenticity, the roman's sayings of "when you're in rome, do what they do", the idea that the existence of the universal/oddities/nature aren't entirely dependent on humans etc. To further elaborate on that existence theory/idea, to be without an observers (us humans), there's just nothing to observe thus humans are only neccesary in existence to observe them. But without them they aren't going to make other existing things that's not us to cease its existence or some shit like that. Or how pretending to be a person from another country doesn't makes one a person of that country. You're just doing it to coexist and nothing else. Plus, they uses this concept to connect this idea with Ononoki (the stoic doll girl) being able to adapt and acts like a human. She's only doing it to coexist, but not to essentially become a human. Or in this context of the country example, if you're from japan, and wanted to become an american by living within their country, talk like them, acts like them. That doesn't equalize to make you change your entire nationality, or inherent DNA that makes identify you, and prove to you that you are a descendant from the Japanese blood. And they also tackles how religion are very narrow minded, as to take things based from reality into their mythical creatures and the apperance of a godly, or a deity like angels, or demonic entity. And some of the religion, in this case Japan, consider almost the entire thing on the earth's surface as a composition that makes up the entirety of the specific god. Like, this snake represent the snake god, this crab represent the crab god, this rock represent or a part of the rock god etc. So why is that, why does religion takes things from reality into the inreality to represent their godly beings and mythical creatures within their stories. And so forth. This is the abstract in the overall sense of Tsukimonogatari. It requires you to watch with disinterest to be able to digest what the author is arguing, with points, references etc. And it was one of the best sounding abstract in an anime that i've heard so far, in many other animes that i have watched.

Other ones are there, but the ones that touches me the most in this monogatari series, or Tsukimonogatari is the arguments about whether life are control by fate or not. And how personal identity conflicts you with what you want to do, or to be. For instance, for the new character, or a specialist that specilize in dolls and collecting them in the sense of his own aesthetics. Present his argument in a way where it goes against the idea of dictatorship, covering the idea that our lives are predetermined and we have no where to decide or to change because it was redirected by fate etc. If you're into philosophy, arguments, comedy, creativity that will weird you out, aesthetics in nudity (that's what the author beliefs, in the medieval and old art we also sees aesthetics in nudity as well), plays with semantics, japanese puns, using several western's literature (like monkey paw, or shakespeares), common sayings, english words and so forth to create their conversation within their dialogue. Then this is one of the must watch anime for you. There's not much actions but the art are pretty enticing and beautiful as fuck. The erratical poses, or the character's head angle might may you go. WTF IS THIS SHIT?! HOW DO YOU DO THAT?! AND WHAT'S THE FUCKING POINT OF DOING IT etc. Is just a common thing we sees in model show cases, or fashion show kinda thing, or posing for a picture. I guess SHAFT Studio find that this is pretty majestic and artsy kinda thing. So they just do it just for the art, or to represent their unique style of representing their aesthetics and shit. And that's the strength of this anime (dialogue, art, animation). And that's what attracts me the most about it as well when i first watch this anime. I drop it tho after watching bakemonogatari, then rewatch it again and fell in love with the series as i began to understands what this whole anime is all about. It's hard for westerners or foreigner to understands, since the brilliance of this anime can only be understood if you speak japanese, or know much about kanji and the puns that it progresses. The reasons that you might want to watch, the visuals and arts that will entice the viewer to go and check this anime out, and some of the bloody scene of the fight scene that you sees on the top 10 best anime best scene or some shit. Idk. Or seen it in an AMV.

To simplify, this anime is argumentative and philosophy/references heavy. With its unique art style and abundunce of background scenery and shit. This is prolly one of the msot addictive anime that i've seen so far. But for me, bakemonogtari is boring af. For this one, it's less boring, the music is not really that sleepy inducing, and there are less circling and more animation, pictures to keep us awake during the lengthy conversation between characters.

Feels like the weakest monogatari yet. Probably still watch it because it's monogatari, but if it were a standalone series I don't think there's enough going for it.

It devotes an entire episode to fanservice. This isn't new for monogatari; after all, Nise had the toothbrush scene. However, while the toothbrush scene had a weirdness and creativity which brought it up to art, there was nothing particularly interesting about the bath scene. There was no intensity to the dialog, or tension in the air. It just shows skin.

The heart of monogatari is the lengthy probative dialog. Dialog which boldly reveal auxiliary pieces of character which somehow ... connect to the problem at hand. Honestly, I didn't feel like the dialog was that strong in this arc. It felt too straightforward an explanation. Though, the random things happening in the background during dialogs were cute as hell.

The villain of the arc has basically 0 development and feels like a throwaway character. It makes the resolution weaker than it otherwise could be. But still, I think the final twist was good, and a good development of a character. The real conflict isn't the villain, after all.