Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season

Koyomi Araragi spent his last year of high school helping girls in his town resolve various supernatural afflictions. But now Araragi has departed for university, leaving his friends to fend for themselves against new problems and curses that plague them. Yotsugi Ononoki, once a human corpse and now a living doll, takes residence in Araragi's home, keeping watch over his sister Tsukihi, a girl harboring a mystical secret of her own. As part of her duties, Yotsugi fills Araragi's vacated role as occult expert, assisting others in town with their issues.

One of these girls, middle school student Nadeko Sengoku, slowly recovers from her own recent brushes with the paranormal. She avoids returning to school, instead spending time alone in her room and pursuing her dream of becoming a professional manga artist. In order to speed up Nadeko's quest for mastery of her craft, Yotsugi convinces her to create four copies of herself, each representing a distinct aspect of Nadeko's personality. However, the clones refuse to help Nadeko, instead escaping into the town and creating a chaotic mess. Now forced to grapple with her own fractured sense of identity, Nadeko sets out to capture them and resolve her inner conflict.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Oshino, Shinobu Main

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Araragi, Koyomi Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Sengoku, Nadeko Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Ononoki, Yotsugi Main

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicide-Master Main

Fukami, Rica Japanese

Senjougahara, Hitagi Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Hachikuji, Mayoi Supporting

Katou, Emiri Japanese

Kanbaru, Suruga Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Oshino, Ougi Supporting

Mizuhashi, Kaori Japanese

Araragi, Karen Supporting

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Shioya, Yoshiyuki Producer

Yodo, Akiko Producer

Ishikawa, Tatsuya Producer

Nishibe, Maho Producer

Reviews

Oct 19, 2024

Halalex

Recommended

The curtains finally close on the latest entry of the Monogatari Series. An installment in the franchise that, before airing, had many fans dreading the potential disappointment that it could’ve been due to recent troubles within the animation studio and the five-year hiatus the show had been on during this.

Thankfully, what we actually got in the end was a continuation of the series that, as far as I’ve understood, surpassed everyone's expectations (mine included). I'll be the first to admit that you could certainly feel the stiffness of the animation at times, but the oh-so-important style and direction of the franchise is unquestionably still ... there. If a couple of janky moments is what it costs to get a production like this, then I’d gladly pay the price any day of the week. It’s inspiring seeing Studio Shaft stay true to their form this far into the game, utilizing the myriad of possibilities that this medium provides you with to make some of the most visually engaging content in the industry.

I believe that it also helps that this season adapts some exceptional stories from the source material as well. I found myself thoroughly enjoying all three of them for completely different reasons, just as you’ve come to expect from this show.

-You get a single-episode story that’s just plain fun in the regular ol’ Nisioisin way.
-You also have a fantastically entertaining, yet deeply thought-provoking character introspective of someone whose story you thought had ended, yet had actually just begun.
-And lastly, the season finishes with a story that takes itself a bit more seriously, which in the process casually recontextualizes basically the whole series… yet again.

Outstanding stuff, it’s all there.

If there’s one last gripe with this season that I have to point out, it’d be the music. While all of the new tracks are genuinely great, they’re almost composed to a point where they kind of distract from the rest of the scene. Monogatari’s score has always been very “BGM:ish” due to its relatively low amount of physical action, and all of the dialogue doesn’t lend itself that well to the loud and attention-grabbing pieces that are heavily featured in these episodes. But that’s a very gratuitous nitpick, I just felt like I should have more to say about the continuation of my favorite anime.

All in all, I can't wait to see what's next in store for this franchise. Hopefully, they keep the ball rolling, and we have multiple seasons of amazing content ahead of us. In the meantime, let's hope they finally get to translating the rest of the visual novels.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 21, 2024

Supersonic_Pain

Recommended

(Warning: If you're someone who hasn't seen the rest of Monogatari, DO NOT WATCH THIS FIRST, go back to Bakemonogatari)

After five years, peak has returned

This, much to my chagrin, goes entirely out of order so even when all of Off and Monster Season is adapted, it's going to be hell for LN order followers. Before this, the biggest pain would've been to slot Hana in middle of Second Season but lol good luck following the Off and Monster Season LNs when this finishes.

This first cour focuses more or less on two characters: Yotsugi Ononoki (who, ironically, is only the deuteragonist in both arcs she's in) ... and Shinobu Oshino. As an Ononoki believer, I was excited for the first part and... less so for the second part. I like Shinobu but I'm mixed on when they dive into her past as Shinobu Time was the weakest arc of the otherwise almost flawless Second Season and Shinobu Mail dragged down the otherwise really good Owari S1.

...turns out I was right.

We start with a one-episode fun little side story about Tsukihi Araragi and her "plushie" Ononoki. As a taster to dip your toes back into the Monogatari pool, I think it works really well. It looks really good and is a blast to watch. Not only that but it isn't just a sugary sweet, it does have something to say about Tsukihi's character, which is nice to see.

Next is the peak of the season, for me, Nadeko Draw. The next chapter in Nadeko's story, having Nadeko "kill the past", so to speak, was a really fun way of showing Nadeko facing herself based on a fun, quirky problem which ends up solving itself so to speak. Looking back on the season, I think this is THE story that was worth telling. I almost feel unholy comparing it to the peak that is Tsubasa Tiger but that's the vibe I got from it.

We get a couple arcs focused on Shinobu's past which, as I expected, were the lowlight of the season.

First is the little half episode before Acerola Bon Appetit and idk, it just seems like the Ugly Barnacle from SpongeBob except it's the Beautiful Barnacle. It's nicely animated but I never really found a need to dig into Shinobu's past so this does nothing for me.

Speaking of which, Acerola Bon Appetit. I do like this arc on an aesthetic level but it just kind of pours more stuff on Shinobu's past that I didn't care to know. It's not like character ruining or anything but honestly, I would have preferred Shinobu just... be Shinobu. Why does she need to have been this perfect pretty pretty princess who was so perfect that everybody died? Deathtopia is probably the biggest new character we meet this cour and... she's fine. She's on the lower tier of Monogatari characters but she's not aggravating or anything. If she came back for future stuff, I wouldn't mind, but she's no Sodachi or anything.

Finally, we have Shinobu Mustard. I thought the mystery was kind of fun but the whole high school basketball team angle... like, I get it, but I never really connected with it. Not to mention it has a heavy serving of Izuko Gaen which honestly, I didn't mind her here, but I know there's at least a few people who don't like her so be warned. By the time the mystery was solved, it was just kind of a wet thud, although I appreciate how the "battle" ended. The main antagonist doesn't really get much characterization and what we get... eh? If she never appears again, it will not be a tragedy.

IMO, there were a lot of cool shots this season. The new director certainly breathes life into the series. I liked the Hachikuji rakugo scene and the Ononoki/first half is filled with a bunch of nice stuff. Overall, I think the Ononoki half hard carries this score but Shinobu Mustard is decent.

We only (as of the end of the ONA broadcast, time will tell if they go back and add more) got 2 new OPs and one was from a Shinobu arc so we only really got one banger. I think Caramel Ribbon Cursetard is easily the weakest of the three Nadeko OPs and I didn't really need Ononoki singing too even if I LOVE Orange Mint but it's still pretty good. I don't know what the title of the Shinobu Mustard OP is but we did get one. Idk why it sounds like The Godfather but it's probably the best """Shinobu""" OP. I can't imagine any Acerola OP would be better and idk if they're even going to bother doing Tsukihi Undo since it's one episode so... yeah.

Release the full version of Caramel Ribbon Cursetard, cowards

Speaking of songs, YOASOBI did the ED! It's good. I find most of the Monogatari EDs to be forgettable (although they cooked with the Neko Black one for some reason?) and for whatever it's worth, it's not forgettable as someone who only really hears YOASOBI when they contribute to an anime I watch.

I think at this point, unless something drastically changes, Monogatari is Monogatari is Monogatari. This deep in the game, you probably know how you feel about it if you're reading this and if you don't, you certainly will if you watch all of the preceding content.

This is certainly more Monogatari and whether that is a positive or negative statement can easily be gathered from your prior viewings.

I don't think it's peak like Bake or Kizu or Second Season but it's a very solid entry in one of the best anime ever made.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 19, 2024

CaptainKenshiro

Mixed Feelings

Funny

“As far as I know, there is still more stuff to be adapted, as the novels kept going (and keep going, I think?), but seeing how this entry had a fitting ending with no loose ends, I don’t think that seeing more is really necessary, and I’m not the only one it seems, seeing that nothing else of it was released for five years now.”

This is something that I wrote on my last Monogatari anime review, published on September last year, and then on December I finished and reviewed the manga. Meaning, I called this continuation to existence and every Monogatari fan out there owe ... it to me.

Jokes aside, this is a hard entry to judge, as it adapts two novels and one of them consists of lots of mini stories in an anthology-like manner. Yet the series does a good job in building and maintaining a continuity between them, and they also build themselves from previous events and character interactions, so it’s fine.

For half of the show the focus switches from Koyomi to the girls, which is good for giving them spotlight and continuing to flesh them out.

The first story about Tsukihi is mostly silly and about pretending, but it is also interesting for what it means, and to see Ononoki trying to keep doing her mission. Another nice detail is how the episode forms a sort of narrative loop with something so silly as eating ice cream. But the best things is how it uses previous events and apparitions in it, and how it builds up the following events with Ononoki and Nadeko.

There are questionable things in its writing, which Ononoki tries to excuse as not being much as she fucking up but rather all result of Tsukihi’s apparition. That could be considered bad or genius writing depending of how picky or casual you are, for me it was just ok.

The bad part is how Ononoki can’t notice the most logical things throughout the episode, and is another character the one that has to resolve the problem appearing out of nowhere. Also amnesia and a comical loop.

After that it comes an arc about Nadeko where they try to solve an issue looking for an easy way out, and it backfires, so there’s the good message in there. It also serves to flesh out her by having her both metaphorically and literally confronting and coming to terms with her past self, in different variants, and struggling as an artist and being pressured by her parents and time, now as a teenager.

And the best part is how she had to solve the problem almost completely by herself, and how there wasn’t any perverted content in it, and even the slightly more explicit stuff that you could count as such served the narrative, so it’s not fanservice. Overall I consider it to be one of the best arcs I’ve seen from the franchise.

Time seems to be an important topic in the “Off” part of the season, almost as it telling that a certain time is already off and it moved to a new one, or that characters are running out of time.

Not trying to overthink it, but visually the directing regularly matches an object or Ononoki spinning around more than usual while talking about trying to take advantage of time, with following shots of clocks running, so that brought the thought to my mind.

Speaking of visuals, this entry keeps the usual standard of the franchise, which is of course very high. The new designs for the characters are nice, the special effects with little CGI and the backgrounds are still trippy and dynamic to look at. The occasional changes in style are there although not as prominent. The occasional texts are no longer passages from the light novels and are not as long nor as quick, so they are easier to see and read. And the directing has something happening all the time to make up for the occasional lack of motion, which is in fact less than in previous installments, despite having less stuff happening in it.

What’s new is the lack of fanservice, perhaps because the entry isn’t a harem but since I always bitch about the ecchi, I was very pleased with this change. Also, since Nadeko is an important character, lots of moments implement sheets and manga as part of the visuals, and bookshelves used for stairs-like transitions, very creative. There is also some occasional live action footage for the backgrounds as well.

The sound remains the same, good sound effects, very good voice acting, the soundtrack didn’t impress me, the visuals and the lyrics of the ending are good but the song is a very happy pop tune of which I’m not fan of, and the background music sounds like synthwave. Not that I’m complaining, I like to listen to the genre from time to time, but it is still as unremarkable as the soundtrack of the franchise always was for me. The opening is a reference/update of that famous Nadeko opening that most people seem to like, so it was fine for what the arc goes for thematically.

The next arc is the short origin story of Kiss Shot, showing how some of her traits came to be, such as her name, way of speaking and laughing, and how she became a vampire. The story itself is like a classic dark fairy tale, and it perfectly represents the idea of how naming conventions determine so many characteristics of the supernatural creatures in this world and franchise.

At the same time, despite having a serious tone, the conflict feels very first world problem to me, and the characters don’t seem to take it that seriously for me to care. Plus when you think about it, it makes it seem like Kiss Shot never showed her real personality in the franchise in retrospect, but at least gave more meaning to some of her speech patterns during silly moments. Speaking of silly moments, that’s what the logic of the characters and the naming conventions in the arc were like to me.

Oh, and it builds upon previously shown information in Zoku Owarimonogatari, which I didn’t bother to review because I found very little to say about it besides it being a what if fanservice story that is even practically erased by the end of it so what’s the point?

Overall I found it to be a very unnecessary and mediocre arc that didn’t add nothing of interest. At least visually it was pretty great. It suffers from lacking motion but makes up for it with painting like illustrations, gothic aesthetics reminiscent of Castlevania or Shinbo’s earlier works like Le Portrait de Petit Cosette, a special short intro that was like a shadow play with even set pieces simulating an actual theater, though I think the whole thing was made in CGI, but still looked very cool.

Heck, even the scenes were separated in acts like in an actual play. And although there was no opening, the music was pretty immersive, except for the ending which remained the same as before and didn’t really fit one bit.

The next arc goes back to present time yet builds up right from the end of the previous one as it has Suicide Master meddling in Japan and being part of several attacks towards girls from the Naoetsu school.

In this arc Koyomi goes back to being the protagonist and the whole thing is once again played out as a mystery of sorts, plus it builds up good reasons for having several characters being involved in the conflict and having a specific role in it.

Unlike the previous arcs, the tone goes back to being somewhat humorous as it was the case with previous entries, but at least there is still absence of fanservice, so I don’t complain.

Even the aesthetics are closer to what the franchise has shown before the rest of this entry, both in visual presentation and music. But I have to praise the opening for going back to the ones you would expect from one about Shinobu, and for that jazzy theme. She always gets the best openings it seems.

What I don’t fancy much, was the conclusion. For such a big deal that the reunion between the two vampires seemed to be, it felt lacking to me, even when I understand their laughs now.

Also although the reasoning of the main characters to find out the villain seemed fine, I don’t think there was enough information or build up to how she got to know about them, and the villain herself was just an edgy, nihilistic, suicidal teenager that got defeated with one hit before not really feeling that she actually learned her lesson. Overall it was a fine arc but with a bit of a lacking resolution.

As a whole I found it to be an ok addition to the franchise, mostly for the aesthetics, the lack of fanservice, the girls being looked into without Araragi around, and for the Nadeko arc. But I want to be clear, if that arc wasn’t here, I would have considered the season to be overall mediocre.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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