Bye Bye, All of Monogatari
More than three years along, and twenty separate blu-ray/DVD sets down, in June 2022 I finally reviewed Zoku Owarimonogatari, the concluding installment of NisiOisin’s Monogatari franchise’s anime incarnation. That’s one hundred episodes (including twelve shorts) over three “seasons”, plus three movies, all produced by Studio Shaft over the space of a decade, between July 3rd 2009 and June 22nd 2019. I started this journey back in May 2019, though I took a couple of extended breaks along the way, at least partly because it took until relatively recently for everything to become legally available on disc in the UK.
Embarking on a complete watch of Monogatari can be a frustrating experience for new fans. It’s difficult to know where to start, and even where to access the anime. There are multiple potential viewing order flowcharts, with good arguments for following several of them. In the US, physical releases are held to ransom by Aniplex USA and their obscene prices, whereas in the UK the blu-ray volumes from MVM frequently disappear from stock for long periods of time, excepting for the occasional reprint/re-release. I bought many of my volumes second-hand from either CEX or Amazon.
Even streaming is hit-and-miss, with certain segments completely unavailable anywhere (Nekomonogatari Black and Zoku Owarimonogatari), and those that are available are alternately split between Crunchyroll and Funimation, requiring a dual subscription even in these post-merger times. The movies remain exclusive to Amazon Prime Video, but require extra payment over and above the subscription fee.
Recently, I’ve been contributing articles to Anime News Network, and my latest was “The Skeptic’s Guide to Monogatari”, so titled because my experience with the franchise has had its ups and downs. Although Monogatari may be more or less mainstream in Japanese anime fandom, where NisiOisin is a celebrated and wildly successful author, I don’t think you can say the same in the West. It’s popular enough that both novels and anime have been widely released, but it’s a hard show to get into, to stick with, and to even access. To buy the Aniplex USA releases in their entirety costs thousands of dollars, the MVM releases hundreds of pounds.
Compared to ultra-popular franchises like Attack on Titan, Death Note, One Piece, Demon Slayer etc, Monogatari doesn’t have the same widespread name recognition, and its very unique Japanese-ness makes it impenetrable to those without a decent grounding in Japanese otaku culture. With its languid pacing, endless circular conversations, and relentlessly suggestive and transgressive fanservice, Monogatari is a lot to take in, and requires not only patience from the viewer, but a significant time buy-in and a lot of moral leeway.
The reason it took me three years to battle my way through the show, and to review it, was not only due to lack of legal access, but also sheer exhaustion. That makes it hard for me to recommend the franchise wholeheartedly. Do I regret my time with it? Absolutely not. Am I likely to watch it ever again? Honestly? I’m not sure. I’ve already watched the whole thing through twice over, and then pored over it in slow-mo for screenshots. With so many new anime shows released every season, plus my ever-growing anime blu-ray backlog of shame, I might never have the time.
As way of my final word on Monogatari, here’s a rundown, or an index, of every article I’ve ever written about the show. It’s been fun, especially at the beginning when I was very much in a “WTF am I even watching?” phase.
Monogatari Season 1:
I watched season one in fairly quick succession, little knowing how bad that would be for one’s health. Obviously, my deliberately overblown reaction to Nisemonogatari Part Two’s infamous “toothbrush scene” is a highlight that still makes me laugh to read it back even now, but I’m also still quite proud of my critique of Nisemonogatari Part One’s self-gratifyingly masturbatory nature.
Kizumonogatari Movies 1–3
Although the movies were released during the final season’s broadcast, the book they were based on was the second of the first season novels, released between Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari, so I think the movies should be watched along with the first season. Others disagree, but I think they’re wrong!
Overall, the Kizumonogatari movies are my favourite part of the franchise. The animation is incredible, the production design gorgeous, and the action spectacular. They’re not as colourful as the TV show, because of a conscious decision by the director to limit the palette, but this adds to the otherworldly and strange atmosphere. Taken altogether, I feel they’re overlong and self-indulgent. A special edition edit that combines all three while removing an hour of ponderousness would tighten the film magnificently. I doubt that would ever officially happen.
Monogatari Second Season
With its second season, Monogatari becomes thematically richer, and denser. This time there’s more of an overarching plot, though the tortured non-linear chronology may put more casual viewers off. Supposed leading man Koyomi Araragi is often sidelined during many of the arcs, and in fact in the original novels it’s often other characters who narrate the tales, with Araragi relegated to supporting status.
It’s difficult to know where to place Hanamonogatari. The novel was originally released as the third volume of the second season, however the anime version was adapted separately from the rest of the anime’s second season, and released later. I really didn’t like it much, but it does provide important closure to Suruga Kanbaru’s story. The rest of the second season is pretty good, even if the overarching story focuses on my least favourite character Nadeko Sengoku. We also meet sinister mischief maker Ougi Oshino, one of my favourite characters, so I guess that evens things out.
Monogatari Final Season
Starting with something of a damp squib with the relatively dull Tsukimonogatari, my enthusiasm for the franchise was temporarily squashed, so I decided to wait until the whole season was finally released on disc in the UK before completing my journey. It didn’t help that overall, I found most of the twelve short episodes of Koyomimonogatari insufferably dull.
However, the twenty-episode Owarimonogatari is absolute peak Monogatari. It’s well-paced (for Monogatari, anyway), emotionally resonant, and at times quietly devastating. Owarimonogatari saved the franchise for me, and is one of the reasons I now look back at the whole experience fondly. Final arc Zoku Owarimonogatari is a nice, if fairly unnecessary epilogue, but it’s still enjoyable. Overall, I think the final season is my favourite season, despite its two misfiring arcs.
Conclusion
So that’s that, then. Monogatari’s over and done with for me, unless Shaft decides to adapt the fourth and fifth book seasons, Off Season and Monster Season. It’s been a long ride, and although I’m relieved it’s over, I’m also a little sad. I haven’t finished reading the original novels, so if I feel a Monogatari-related itch, I’ll just grab one of those from my shelf. I do also recommend the Monogatari audiobooks by the way, but for some reason they’ve only released Bakemonogatari and Kizumonogatari from the first season, and Nekomonogatari White from the second. I don’t know if there are plans for adaptations of the missing first season books, or if further second season adaptations are planned.
This was my twenty-fifth Monogatari article. Much like Araragi at the end of Zoku Owarimonogatari, it’s time to move on with my life to new adventures! I hope you’ll join me on them.
