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.
