At the very least, that's the conclusion the human mind reaches. - Araragi Koyomi(Monogatari Series - Second Season - Episode 17)
Monogatari series has always been weird, but in a good way. I mean, it's weird, but, it's not 'confusingly' weird. It's a first for me to find such a 'weird' series I seriously got hooked into. Oh yeah, unique is the perfect word for the monogatari series. More like, weirdly-unique. Many series have come before Monogatari which tried the same concept, but ended up leading its viewers into confusion.
Story : 10
Let's start off with the first arc: Nekmonogatari. Nekomonogatari is quite different from the previous seasons(remember the two-part OVA titled the same? This one's different from that, so worry not)Hanekawa Tsubasa's the one telling the story in these episodes unlike from other seasons which Araragi was the one telling the stories. As I've said, it's Nekomonagatari(Cat Story. As if you didn't know what Neko means) Araragi won't show up that much in this arc(not until the end of the arc), but, you'll get enough fan service from Senjougahara to compensate for it. The arc's heavily focused on Hanekawa, she'll deal with a new problem which will change her for the rest of the series. I don't want to spout some spoilers, so I'll stop with Nekomonagatari.
Second story is titled Twistory. Araragi's back on being the story teller. At the first scene, we're introduced to a new character, Oshino Oumi, a creepy girl with pitch-black eyes, although her appearance is just a cameo. The story's about Mayoi, though. And let me tell you, Hachikuji won't have that much of air-time even if the story is kinda about her. Well, Araragi will be telling the story again this time. He and Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade(Shinobu) will be the main stars in this arc. Oh yeah, throw in some Time Paradoxes on it too.
Otori Monogatari: Nadeko Medusa is the third arc featured in Monogatari season two. Pretty much like Nekomonagatari, Nadeko is telling this one, though. You'll pretty much enjoy Kana Hanazawa's calm and soft voice in this arc(I guarantee that). Oshino Ougi will once again make a cameo in this one. And Nadeko's yandere side will come out in this arc, so please do watch out! It'll leave you hanging, though, but not for long.
The fourth story happened around the time Hanekawa was telling the story, it's the first arc to be precise. Onimonogatari. And, this time, again, Araragi is back on being the story teller. The story starts with Araragi and Hachikuji witnessing "it". Yes, "it". A Darkness that can't be seen. Confusing, no? Well, Monogatari has always been confusing. And Ononoki Yotsugi finally gets her well-deserved air-time(Araragi's loli brigade just keeps on getting better, doesn't it?)! BANZAI!!! And finally, Shinobu's first servant will be introduced, the man who carried Heart Span(Shinobu's loooooooong sword) and Dream Span(a not-so-long sword) originally, not personally though. Shinobu's going to tell a story about him; a story 400 years ago. It's really good to hear about Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade's past, she never wanted to speak any of it in the previous seasons. The arc's ending one of the most shocking event ever in Monogatari.
5th and Final arc: Araragi and Senjougahara's Koi Monogatari; literally Love Story. This time we'll have a unique story teller, Kaiki Deishuu, an anti-hero character, the one who tricked Senjougahara from Bakemonogatari is telling us the story. I can't give you anymore details about this arc. You need to finish Nadeko's arc to understand what's happening. It may have a different story teller, but the arc's still focused on what happened in Nadeko's arc. We'll get to know Kaiki Deishuu even more at this arc. His decieving skills, his funny side, and definitely, his serious talking skills. I'm surprised by his last speech in episode 26; I didn't even knew this guy could spout that much sense! Bravo, Kaiki, bravo.
Monogatari has one of the past-paced stories I've ever watched. Sure, it'll raise a lot of questions because a lot of things aren't explained clearly. But the feeling of wanting to know what happened makes you want to watch more of it. Monogatari made it juuuuuuust right not to make it's viewers get annoyed with things they didn't know. Of course Monogatari didn't always offer answers in a silver platter to it's viewers.
Art : 9
Shaft has never failed to amuse me with it's art and tilting heads. Monogatari has one of the greatest art these days. Characters were fully detailed, backgrounds are cool. And the way they censor blood is gorgeously brilliant. Ever since the first season I've always noticed the unique background Monogotari has. And again, "weirdly-unique" becomes the very description of it. For example, in a particular scene, the backgrounds' color changes in a matter of few zoom-ins and zoom-outs. And Araragi's house is full of "weird" furnitures; it looks like a movie set filled with lots' of lamps(I don't know the details, though. Maybe his parents do like those lamps).
Characters : 10
This season, we get to know a lot more characters than the other seasons. The character that piqued my interest the most is Kaiki Deishuu(he's officialy my favorite character now). A guy who's an anti-hero, and a guy who gets away with just simply spouting lies. A perfect liar(its not wrong to idolize him, right?). A lot of characters are introduced in this season, most of them were present in the other seasons, but didn't get they're air-time like the Mains. Ononoki gets her air-time, Gaen Izuko is introduced, Oshino Ougi is introduced, as well.
Music : 8
I love how they made the third opening with a Yandere feel with it. "There's no escape from my love. "You're all that matters. There's only thing I want. Everything, everything, everything, everything." - Lyrics from the third OP. Woooohoooo! Yey for Yandere! Sengoku's really turning into a hardcore Yandere. Enough about Sengoku Nadeko's(Kana Hanazawa) cutesy yandere-like Opening, let's get on with Hanekawa Tsubasa's(Yui Horie) Insomnia Chocolate! As usual, Yu Horie adds another great OP theme. I love Kaiki's theme too, an uknown slow music. And as for the the other OSTs, they're fairly good, too.
Enjoyment : 9
Some anime sites identifies Monogatari as an ecchi series, well it's not entirely wrong though. Of course it's one of the many reasons why Monogatari is quite famous(they don't rely on 'Plots' to save their story though.). But I'm telling you, honestly, most shows today relies heavily on fan services to pull in viewers. Sure, you can tell it's part of the show. That's okay if the show is a harem, comedy, romcom, thingy type. But some overuse it(in fact, a lot of them do), making they're viewers think a panty shot is so common they won't even look at it twice. Sometimes it's better to not show someone's undies rather than showing them off like a badge. Personally, skin shots appeal to me more than breast groping, breast going into the face of the MC, breast here, breast there. But that's the market today. For some viewers, Fan service defeats Plot. Or as they say, 'Plots' defeats Plot(if you know what I mean.). Okay, sorry. I should be making a review about Monogatari, but, I'm spouting things about other shites. There's more to appreciate about Monogatari than the fan services they offer; having fan services from it should be considered a big bonus. Monogatari tends to have looooong conversations, which is not entirely wrong, since it was a light novel originally. But don't get me wrong though, they're long but they're not boring; they're not just nonsensical conversations.
Some episodes are entirely focused on dialouges, so don't blame yourself if you get pretty bored.
Overall : 9
I haven't read any Monogatari light novels other than Kizumonogatari(Story about Shinobu and Araragi's first encounter; and the first arc of the whole series). So I don't know if the light novels were like what happened in this season(but I think it's completely alike). What I mean is, the ones telling the story. In the past previous seasons, we only have Araragi as the story teller. Hanekawa Tsubasa, Sengoku Nadeko, and Kaiki Deishuu are story tellers in this season. This is the longest of the three seasons, too. Containing 26 episodes with 5 arcs on it; and two arcs ending with a shocker. Man, you'll shed a tear or two in one of the arcs who's ending is unexpected. Yes, I am biased. Who the heck cares? I gave it a 9 because I enjoyed it a lot. Yes, some parts were boring as f, but Kaiki's arc was enough for me to give the whole series a 9. Overall, you might not give Monogatari a score over 8, it's understandable. Like I've said, the season's pretty much focused on dialouges. It doesn't have the action scenes of the previous seasons. But Hanekawa's arc did have some great action scenes. With this, I've finally finished my review. Laters.
*** SPOlLER ALERT ***
WHY DID MAYOI HAD TO VANISH?! Mayoi's one of my favorite Loli, so it's kinda frustrating she's gone.
WHY DID KAIKI DIED?! I liked the guy, for God's sake! And he was killed by a little fucking brat! Even Sengoku Nadeko(snake-god) wasn't able to kill him! Why must every great character die when they've done something good?! Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh---!
* leaves computer and mumbles curses on the one who killed Kaiki *
