Reviews by Fernando Leonel Alba

Did you ever think about what a mix between Monster and Time of Eve would be like? It’s called Pluto and it’s a very good manga that’s getting an adaptation coming out in October. AI no Idenshi is not that series, but it’s the one that could have been, as it presents a setting with artificial people living among humans, blending in in ways that on occasions the rest can’t tell much difference, while also the main character initially wants to know more about an underground illegal seller of artificial brains, or well, more like, a “fixer” of them, and possibly the one who ruined his mom’s life.

But this anime is really neither, as it deliberately keeps any more info of the protagonist than that as a secret to build some mystery around him up until the last episode, and thus that plot point doesn’t really go anywhere in this season, and since the source material for this consists of three manga at the moment, I think it’s safe to say that it won’t get resolved for some good time.

What’s left of the series is a slice of life show exploring the interactions between humans and humanoids, in the likes of Eve no Jikan, only different because it came out in a different era. Since that other series is from 2008 to 2010, it was still showing some fear of technology, discrimination and indifference from humans to robots and some low level existential crisis for the androids since they did have a personality on their own on a specific place and would ponder about their relationships among themselves and with their human owners.

It’s not the same with AI no Idenshi, as it was made on a time where technology is much different and present everywhere and at any moment in everyday life, with the fear of it pretty much being a thing of the past. Thus, its approach ranges from the existential to one more laid back and more of “what daily uses or routines robots and artificial intelligence would have “on their own”?” type of deal. That’s not bad per se, but it is certainly lacking in theme exploration when compared with the previous work.

But that still doesn’t make it a not good anime, it would still be fine if it was a slice of life series with a small and recurring set of characters, like Eve no Jikan, but it isn’t, as it intends to show many different ones doing many different things, thus it can’t really flesh any of them properly. The most a character can get is one or even half an episode dedicated to themselves before being completely forgotten by the not plot in here, and even then, since the anime is more focused on what they do and how they do it, instead of the characters as themselves, there isn’t much characterization to speak of here either. Just take a look at the two mains, they don’t get the tiniest bit of fleshing up until the last two episodes, and even only a little bit of them is explored, and their backgrounds are revealed at almost the same time.

But even then it would still be fine it there was an ongoing plot that somehow tied the mini stories, but it isn’t, that was discarded very early on. Ok, it would still be fine as an episodic slice of life sci-fi series if the stories where fine on their own. And in that regard the show is a mixed bag because it loves to self-sabotage itself for some reason. Did you like how in the first episode the anime set up questions about how valuable your memories are and how much do they make you for who you are, even if only a fraction of them are lost for your overall sake? Well, the second one is going to be about two dudes running and surpassing your own limits purely by will even when you shouldn’t be able to, oh, and a non-binary person speaking ill of a whole sex and gender despite previously being their own. Did you like how in the third episode two people are so attached to two robots, one made for company and another one being a toy, that they can’t tell them apart from real people, and how one of the latter even has an identity crisis for retaining data of a previous owner? Well, the next one is going to have lots of different mini stories about horny teenagers using technology for their perverted fantasies.

And that’s the main problem of what and how the series is, even when disregarding everything that it could have been but isn’t, it’s a very mixed bag of mini stories where you can’t really know what level of quality you’ll get in the next episode, and even at its best, it would only be just decent, as its own approach doesn’t let it explore a concept on that much detail. Another issue is the tone, as AI no Idenshi is half the time a silly shounen comedy, thus almost no topic is looked into very seriously either. By comparison, Real Drive was also a lighthearted semi-episodic slice of life sci-fi series, but it knew when and how to explore its topics seriously, and it also had recurring characters and kind of a sort of an ongoing plot.

At some point the series even seems to run out of worthy stories to tell, and instead of dedicating one whole story per episode, it starts showing two or more on each one, thus amplifying all of its issues that I already mentioned. Not even the background stories of the two main characters get a whole one, they are shown together in the last two episodes, and it comes off as sudden and rushed. The final one is good in terms of themes and showing a connection between the protagonist and other characters, but is obviously not a conclusion for the series in the least, as there are still far more manga chapters to adapt, and the whole season ended in a way that made it feel as just a buildup for stuff to come.

It doesn’t help that the production and atmosphere of the series are also very average, with very plain looking artwork, backgrounds and special effects, simple and very limited character designs, and stiff animation, especially in the beginning, as well as just decent sound effects and music, but not the opening, which sucks. The series is half comical and half melancholic, and the intro seems to belong in Dimension W, screw that, the ending fits much better, I have a review coming out where I shit on unfitting songs. Even the voice acting feels off for some reason, I don’t know what it is but no character has a voice that’s completely fitting for them.

As a whole, it’s a very lukewarm and inconsistent episodic slice of life sci-fi series that doesn’t dedicate itself much to a point before moving to another, with an uneven tone and very forgettable characters. It’s kind of watchable for being a type of show that didn’t come out in what feels like a long time, but other than that, it has nothing against many others of its kind that you can find out there.

If you are one of the three people that have been reading my Monogatari reviews you might have noticed that each one of them more or less reflected my impressions about them, thus Bakemono’s was a setup for what was coming next, Nisemono’s was very short and without much content, while Neko: Kuro and Second Season got a much more detailed one to explain everything I thought about them. Meanwhile Hana and Tsuki got one closer to the one of the second series, and I bashed Koyomi as it rightfully deserves.

So, in true Monogatari fashion, let me go back to something I wrote right at the beginning of my Kizumonogatari review:

“Ah, fucking finally, the one entry that chronologically starts it all, and it focuses a lot on Araragi and Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, who so far remained mostly a good hearted pedophile with some serious incestuous tendencies, and a tryhard moe donut eater with a seemingly interesting backdrop that was only teased throughout the previous seasons.”

As you can tell by this paragraph, I did the mistake of skipping the first season of Owarimonogatari and going straight to that horrible Koyomimonogatari and the one I truly wanted to watch, Kizumonogatari, since I figured I would watch every entry before the two that finish everything together. Well, by doing that I wrote something which although it isn’t entirely inaccurate, it also omits how the two characters were more fleshed out during that particular series.

At the same time, in that review I wrote that it was good that Kizumonogatari’s release was delayed as much as it did because:

“If it came out after Bakemonogatari, it would feel like information about the characters was missing. By 2016, Koyomi, Hanekawa and Kiss-Shot were more or less explored or had their backgrounds revealed, especially Tsubasa, so it doesn’t feel like the movie trilogy it’s incomplete. Whatever it covers brings a proper closure of the past of the main cast just fine.”

Which would have made someone think that I did watch Owarimonogatari before because that paragraph is even more accurate after watching it. By the point that movie trilogy came out, along with what was shown here and the previous season, the characters felt all around complete.

Now, on to the present and the actual review

The first season of Owarimonogatari shares aspects with some previous series, it is split and needs another entry to feel complete like Neko: Kuro, and it only has two arcs like Nisemono, yet unlike the first, at the end of the day it still feels like its own thing with a beginning and an ending, and unlike the second, things move forward with an appropriate pacing, without making the important characters of a story to feel secondary and irrelevant despite being the focus of the plot.

The first arc shows the chronological first apparition of Ougi, sometime before the Nadeko arc of Second Season, and as soon as (she?) appears (she?) messes with Koyomi, making him face the past that he kept avoiding in what was written with the intention to represent suppression of painful memories, yet unfortunately at times felt more like the main character having an extremely bad memory for the sake of the plot.

Despite that, fleshing him out beyond his comical and archetypical role of a harem lead is definitely a good move and something that he really needed. It explains how he became a bleak and antisocial loner, which complements well with his development of that phase in Kizumonogatari into his personality of the rest of the franchise.

I mean, his backdrop story comes down to a kid that can’t accept that reality is not what he pictured it to be, so his actions come off as somewhat petty, but reminding myself that his whole world view more or less crumbled when he was very young and naïve definitely helped in making everything more acceptable. Showing this after the character already developed in the future events shown on the previous seasons or the exact next entries was also a good choice.

Besides him there’s also a little more screen time for Ougi, built up as the true antagonist of the whole franchise, and her different interactions with Araragi and the rest of the cast are pretty enjoyable and intense at times, allowing the protagonist to be more expressive without as many internal monologues, while everyone else is skeptical of (her?) intentions and actions, and even try to stop them.

There’s a newly introduced girl, Oikura, and what a messed up character with the most fucked up backdrop story by far. Much like Koyomi’s, her past in the school feels even pettier and her personality very exaggerated. As soon as her circumstances are shown, fortunately without an edgy approach, she becomes far easier to understand and tolerate.

The series makes a contrast between Araragi and Oikura while exploring them. His worldview crumbled and yet thanks to his circumstances, meeting the right people, and his own attitude, he powered through it and became a better person, when he is not acting like a degenerate. On the other hand, she didn’t have any of that, and went through much more serious stuff, so she pretty much became a mess and delved in self-pity and resolved to blame everyone else, much like Nadeko would do on a later arc that was shown in Second Season.

Having Hanekawa alongside Koyomi and being the one to confront her was a good move writing wise, because of both her personality and own character arc. Also, this one does a good job in setting up her actions in Hitagi End.

With all that said, I have to question the messages the arc sends, I doubt saying that is good to have someone to blame and hate for one’s own struggles for the sake of one’s own happiness, but at least the series itself turns against it at the end by having Oikura realize that she was the one on the wrong while hanging on a very thin line between sanity and insanity.

The other one is the usual of the franchise that you are the only one that can really help and save yourself and make your own happiness, which sounds really good on paper but just like Paranoia Agent, feels simplistic and not very empathetic, considering the circumstances of the characters, which in the case of Oikura become worse and worse.

The finale feels like a non-ending, as the girl gets a catharsis that even the series itself admits it’s quite anticlimactic, and it also doesn’t feel completely supported by the narrative. Despite having she realizing that she was wrong and that she has to stop blaming everyone else and make things better for herself, without a follow up to actually see that, it feels like something is missing.

And yet, somehow, it just…fits. The arc was quite distinctive for the usual pattern of the Monogatari series. Araragi can’t use his powers, he can’t rely on them to solve everything, there are no aberrations involved, it’s all about the mentality of the characters, the girl doesn’t want to be helped by Araragi, she doesn’t end joining his harem, she doesn’t try to solve her problems, nor self reflects enough nor gains a proper resolve and resolution at the end…and it fits, because she didn’t try that. If the arc somehow ended with everything being resolved and with a happy ending, it would make everything that led to it to feel superficial and the issues to be nowhere near as heavy as they were made out to be throughout the whole season at that point. So, it’s one of the saddest yet most fitting conclusions, based on the actions of the main girl.

Another thing I want to point out about this arc is the proper tone. Even though there are some comical moments they are mostly subtle and do not clash with the overall serious mood, some even feel like the characters have passive-aggressive interactions so they don’t end up fighting among themselves, AND THERE IS NO FANSERVICE IN IT, which was something extremely welcomed by me.

In terms of aesthetics, the arc goes back to what was done in Tsukimonogatari, which translates to good artwork and backgrounds, equally very little motions, and at times a bit too bright special effects, but overall a more polished version of that season in this regard.

The audio department, much like that series, has an electronic first opening and a typical jpop ending, in this case both with lyrics about two people being apart despite also being close, opening doors and trespassing borders, which fits what happens in it and the character Ougi (herself?). For some reason there are other two intros with Oikura as the main character instead of just one, and they are both among the best ones in the whole franchise in both music and visuals, and with lyrics that properly explores her mentality just like all the rest of them.

As for the soundtrack, just like in Tsukimonogatari, it is much more intense and suspenseful than the previous shows, and since this arc is far more serious, it is also a more fitting and improved version of it. Even the comical passive-aggressive interactions among characters give a high sense of tension thanks to it. Sound effects and voice acting are as good as ever, with the exceptional performance of Marina Inoue in what has to be her best and most distinctive one, properly managing different changes in tone and volume for Oikura.

As a whole it is an intense arc properly handled in terms of aesthetics, tone, pacing, character dynamics and resolution, although not as good in terms of how the messages are tied with the narrative, and the beginning isn’t on the same level that it ends up having as a whole.

The second arc is centered on Shinobu and it is essentially a resolution for her as Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade. Chronologically it takes place after Shinobu Time and around the same time as Tsubasa Tiger, from Second Season, so its ending leads directly to that arc.

Aesthetically it doesn’t have the bright special effects of the previous arc, so it’s an improvement. It combines the presentation of the inner thoughts and passages of the light novel of the characters from Tsukimonogatari and the Oikura story, much shorter, slower and easier for the eye to catch them than the earlier seasons. It also has its fair share of well animated action and CGI for a samurai armor and its powers that are well rendered. It also uses the style of Kiss-Shot’s past in Second Season for a moment.

Since unfortunately the arc begins with a very silly tone, the background music is inferior in the beginning but gets to the same level of quality at a midpoint when it takes itself seriously, and the opening is Mein Schatz, easily the best theme in the franchise.

The beginning of the arc is not good as it is very silly and has a lot of comedy and meandering, and even some fanservice, affecting the pacing and going a step back in terms of quality. Once it gets serious however, it explains the setting in a way that was not done before in the franchise, directly tying it with practically every past action of the characters, thus making them face their responsibility for what they have unwillingly done and retroactively making the weird happenings to the cast to make a bit more sense in-story, although it still doesn’t explain why everyone else in the town is clueless about what happens.

It has someone from Shinobu’s past as Kiss-Shot reappearing again and thus her having to stop running away from that character and face him, as Kanbaru tells her, in a scene that makes her seem more like the next protagonist of the franchise way more and way better than all of Hanamonogatari.

So, it reinforces the same message of the rest of the franchise of the characters being the only ones that can solve their problems, thus they have to face them. Like with the previous arc in the season, it’s a bit lost in the narrative since at the end it’s Koyomi who solves the conflict with dirty tricks, but it is an alright message as usual.

I also want to point out as a positive that Koyomi is put in a situation where he can’t be in three places at the same time solving the problems of everyone else, something that he is told throughout the franchise, thus he takes care of one situation, while trusting the others to someone else, as it was shown in Second Season.

And also, it ends with the message that oneself is the only one that can assure their own happiness, by beginning to actively search for it, something that changer Koyomi a little and a later point in time has a direct influence in the first arc of this particular season.

The conclusion is overall good for the season in terms of messages, themes, characterization, and as a closure for the second arc, but thanks to Koyomimonogatari, there’s still more stuff to cover, which is what the second entry is focused on.

Said second entry begins right after the ending of Koyomimonogatari and despite being divided in three mini arcs, they take place one after the other in order, and the content on each of them is very simple, so I find no point in breaking them down as I did with the previous two. The beginning isn’t very promising, as it goes back to the aggressively stupid meandering, comedy and a little bit of pedophile humor and fanservice, while it also takes away the importance of death in the franchise even more and a bittersweet ending of a previous arc. Oh, an also, the backgrounds are at times very bright.

Thankfully, as it happens with most arcs and series in the franchise, it becomes a bit more serious and overall better later as it goes on, but still, despite being the overall conclusion of everything, it never feels like there is much gravity and adequate seriousness in it, partly because the outcome is already known thanks to Hanamonogatari. You thought I would forget to mention it and blame it for the lack of tension? I never will.

The importance of the first mini arc comes to down to explaining the setting even more, through dialogues, because either the author or the studio clearly isn’t very good at showing instead of telling, and a certain way of doing things that take away a little of proactive initiative of some characters, but it also retroactively justifies what seemed to be scripted actions of some others, who have actually been preparing the outcome they wanted, instead of a predetermined one fabricated by someone else, while it also explores a very secondary character a little more.

Afterwards, the plot progress and it doesn’t at the same time, as pacing stays somewhat in a rare middle, with several character interactions that range from the normal to even the kind of metaphysical, that serve as a progression for the romantic aspect of the franchise, and as a setup for the conclusion of it as a whole, at least as far as the anime goes.

The conclusion still continues to explain the setting, in the same manner, and still keeps retroactively justifying actions of the characters and setting up the plan for the outcome and the conclusion, while it also gives an answer for the mystery behind everything, which is very simple and previously suspected by most people that have been following the franchise. It doesn’t surprise anyone, but it fits with the whole and the future, meaning, Hanamonogatari.

What’s good about it is that it explains what every important character has been doing out of screen for the outcome to happen the way it does, and what the secondary ones kept doing with their lives, the bad thing is that the anime still doesn’t know how to show those things, so instead chooses to tell them.

The best aspect of the resolution and the season as a whole is how everything ends up being a product of the doings and the mentality of the main character. When I came to know about it I thought it would be very far-fetched and out there to be convincing, but thanks to all the previous build up from earlier entries, I find it to be fine. Also, as a message and closure for Araragi, it is nice that he finally does something for and by himself, and accepts his dark side, in a similar character arc of the one that Hanekawa had.

The bad thing is how it still happens through big conveniences and last minute apparitions and saves, as the series itself admits by calling them even miracles. The characters manage to fulfill a certain outcome and fool it at the same time, similarly to the ending of Jigokuraku, but they do it by making everything seem very easily solvable, ending everything in a fitting albeit a bit underwhelming way. Basically, the finale was a bit meh in terms of plot, but good as far as characterization, which is basically how the Monogatari franchise is as a whole, so it fits.

Visually, after it gets rid of that super bright background, the season is among the best in that regard, if not the best, as it combines every visual trick used earlier, except for the art style used during Kiss-Shot’s past, even integrating the one that up until now was reserved only for the endings, and with a more…relaxed, and nowhere near as bombastic directing, making everything a bit…friendlier and easier for the eye to keep track, as well as read the light novel lines in between. The only issue is that, as usual, the motions aren’t very good.

As the tone is much more lighthearted than it was in the previous season, the music takes a step back in quality as well. There is one ending that is the same as most of the earlier ones, and three openings, one akin to those of Hachikuji, which means I skipped it after the first time, another one similar to those of Hitagi, which means I didn’t find it special in any way but I still somewhat enjoyed for its retro aesthetics, this time in the music which gave me a very City Pop feeling, and a third one which I didn’t care about and felt like a very inferior version of the one Ougi had before.

As a whole, the resolution felt…appropriate, as it fits with what was previously done, and what was assured to happen next, while it also reveals what every character is up to or going to do next, as a form of catharsis, albeit it does it with not the best presentation and without making much sense thanks to the conveniences in the writing, while nothing feels very serious because of the very lighthearted tone. Basically, the franchise in a nutshell. I rate the first season with something between 6 and 7 out of ten, and the second barely with a 6.

I wasn’t planning on giving my thoughts about the whole franchise in this review, since I still have one more entry left, but from what I read it’s just another filler season of mini stories like Koyomimonogatari, that takes place between this one and Hanamonogatari. I can’t imagine myself having much to say about something like that, let alone something positive, so I prefer this one to be my SECOND to last review of the whole series.

From a critical stand point, the writing is cleverly done for the dialogues but nonsensical in terms of plot and logic for the most part, even if there are some explanations for the setting and the weird events at the end, and the progression is very slow thanks to a lot of meandering, hit or miss comedy that abuses of being referential, creepy fanservice, and some entries that could be reduced by a lot or skipped almost entirely. It is also just good enough in sound, despite the very good voice acting, and although the visuals are overall extremely good, a lot of the weird imagery doesn’t feel justified by the narrative and is there just because. It’s not the plot you watch this franchise for though, but rather the messages which are good albeit not very well delivered, and most of all the characters, which are among the most memorable and fleshed out casts in the medium, and far better than what anyone would expect from a harem, unless that someone consumes the genre specifically for the perverted situations and the fetishized archetypes that pose as characters.

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.

As a whole, I think Bakemonogatari and Nekomonogatari: Kuro are a watchable setup, with Second Season, Kizumonogatari and Owarimonogatari as worth watching follow ups or prequels and the highlights of the franchise, that makes a decent whole, but the rest is either filler or way inferior and could have been shortened by a lot. That is why I personally prefer the manga version, which I’m close to finish, for being far faster and in my opinion more focused, even though it lacks a lot of the highlights of this one. If I go by numbers for all the seasons together, Monogatari ends up being barely a 5/10 as a whole, but if I rate everything as one big series, it goes up to something like a 6.5/10. I’m not satisfied with any option to be honest, as I find the first to be too low, and the second too high, so I settle for something in between. Meaning, I find it to be just barely something like a 6/10, nowhere near among the best in the medium by any stretch of the imagination, but not plainly a waste of time either.

Now for my personal rankings of:

Songs that I cared about

Mein Schatz
White Lies
Mathemagics
Yuudachi Houteishiki
Sugar Sweet Nightmares
Marshmallow Justice
Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari
Perfect Slumbers
Kieru Daydream
Decent Black

Characters

Kaiki
Hanekawa
Senjougahara
Kiss-Shot/Shinobu
Oshino
Gaen
Kagenui
Ougi
Nadeko
Koyomi
Kanbaru
Oikura
Ononoki
Rouka
Tsukihi
Karen
Hachikuji

Entries in the franchise

Second Season
Kizumonogatari as a whole
Owarimonogatari as a whole
Bakemonogatari
Nekomonogatari: Kuro
Tsukimonogatari
Hanamonogatari
Nisemonogatari
Koyomimonogatari


Recommended stuff

-The Tatami Galaxy for similar aesthetics, directing, voice acting, internal monologues and main character arc.
-Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Megami-hen (only worth watching and unfortunately last entry in a horrible franchise) and Ouran Koukou Host Club for harem series that bother to flesh out their characters.
-Mononoke and Boogiepop wa Warawanai for more serious anime about people mentally hunted by supernatural entities.
-Ghost Hound and Paranoia Agent for interconnected plots about interconnected characters being mentally affected by supernatural stuff and their own lives.
-Katanagatari, another series from the same author with a similar style of writing.

Ah, fucking finally, the one entry that chronologically starts it all, and it focuses a lot on Araragi and Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, who so far remained mostly a good hearted pedophile with some serious incestuous tendencies, and a tryhard moe donut eater with a seemingly interesting backdrop that was only teased throughout the previous seasons.

It is well known that it should have been released much sooner, since the adaptations pretty much follows the order of the light novels, which also jumps in time a lot. I don’t know why it took them so long to adapt this story but it ended up working for the better, because:

1-It came out after Koyomimonogatari, the absolute worst entry in the franchise, thus the huge leap in quality by comparison works in its favor.

2-If it came out after Bakemonogatari, it would feel like information about the characters was missing. By 2016, Koyomi, Hanekawa and Kiss-Shot were more or less explored or had their backgrounds revealed, especially Tsubasa, so it doesn’t feel like the movie trilogy it’s incomplete. Whatever it covers brings a proper closure of the past of the main cast just fine.

3-It also allowed them to adapt the arc the way they wanted. The entry feels pretty unique within its franchise because of that.
Leaving a proper release date aside, I also have to compliment the format. Although stuff from the novels is missing according to some fans, having the season being three and half hours among three movies feels like the right amount of length, not too short nor too long like some of the previous entries. Plus, the plot structure was very well thought of and distributed when you think about it, with the first film being the introduction, the second the conflict, and the third one the conclusion.

In terms of the actual content, Kizumonogatari has easily the best premise, since it covers the beginning of it all and how some characters are introduced and come to know each other, while it also fleshes out those that desperately needed it.

It is also the one with the most focused plot and pacing thanks to both the limited runtime and the material that’s shown. No meandering, no stupid conversations, no secondary characters stalling the story, and since neither Nadeko nor Hachikuji nor the Fire Sisters nor Ononoki are around, no incestuous nor pedophilic scenes. Everything serves the story or builds up the dynamics among the cast without stretching anything for more time than needed.

It is also the one with the most unique animation. I don’t know why the studio decided to go with something completely different this time, but I welcome the change, as I watched seven seasons of polished but quite same-y visuals. The artwork, coloring, special effects and character figures are distinctive from the rest of the franchise yet just as polished, with the only problem being that Koyomi and Hanekawa should look a bit closer to how they do in Nekomonogatari: Kuro and Bakemonogatari for consistency. In terms of motions, since Kizumonogatari is the most action heavy series of them all, it’s easily the best in that regard, something that expands to even the moments of talking.

Speaking of the action, the sequences are far more violent than what was shown thus far, but thanks to the directing it comes off more as quirky and trippy than edgy. The final fight in the third movie in specific feels like what Madhouse and Yuasa tried to do in Kemonozume, particularly in its ending, yet for some reason they didn’t.

What’s perhaps not as good as it was in previous entries, but still very good, is the backgrounds which are far more normal looking than the surreal ones that we were used to see, and there are not nearly as many quick cuts as there were before. Personally I prefer it this way, I find the directing and overall visuals less pretentious and they don’t give me a headache, while I can more or less guess a reason for the backgrounds in-story, since all the crazy stuff hadn’t happen in the town, school and houses yet for them to be as weird looking.

As a whole I don’t have a single complaint regarding the visuals, besides the characters looking very different than they do in the next entries in the chronological order, and the shadows that sometimes can be seen in their eyes.

What didn’t change at all was the audio department. There are some themes in it that seem to belong in a horror anime, but there are also some pretty common and forgettable ones that bring down the overall quality of the soundtrack, thus still no entry it’s on the same level of Tsukimonogatari in that regard. There is an ending throughout the trilogy which is good but definitely comes off as repetitive for how long it is. Voice acting and special effects are as good as they always were, with the only noticeable difference worth mentioning being the cartoony ones used during the final fight. They fit the quirkiness of the whole thing while somehow not clashing with the overall tone than the season goes for.

Speaking of which, despite some silly and relaxing comical moments here and there, it is the second most serious in the whole franchise, only after Hanamonogatari, although here it is better excused for the events that take place. Plus, the humour is not as in your face as it used to be in previous entries, even during the moments where the artstyle changes for something more chibi or retro like. The reason is simple, there are no references nor fourth wall breaking in here.

The plot is simple but focused and ever moving and without time leaps. This way it doesn’t feel as mysterious as the ones from some previous entries, but it’s alright because it is chronologically the first season of all, thus it is not about making you ask yourself what might come next, but rather just show how it all began in a properly straight forward way.

It shows how Kiss-Shot, Araragi and Hanekawa came to meet and know about each other, and the more complicated aspects of their relationships are finally explained and shown, nor told or referenced vaguely. Now we actually know how close and dependent the first two are from each other, and how screwed the third one truly is, and why and how the protagonist feels so indebted to them and vice versa.

But what’s it about? Araragi gives his own humanity to save Kiss-Shot and fights three executioners that are after her, before he, for plot reasons, fights her and becomes one with her at the end. Unfortunately the antagonists don’t really pose a challenge, but at least there is some battle choreography and planning during the fights.

Aside from that, it also shows a little more of the backdrop of Kiss-Shot than what was told in Second Season, and also the most dramatic dimensions in her character. It also focuses on making clear how Araragi screws up by trying to help, and ends up making everyone carry a burden, while it also makes him grow from an antisocial loner to the kind hearted harem lead that he would be during the rest of the franchise, all while perfectly connecting everything with the next entries in the series.

I overall think the manga version does everything better and it shows it better than this trilogy, but overall it is still pretty good on its own. But I also want to make perfectly clear that it is no masterpiece in the least, since it is still an unrealistic and unbelievable story where a guy with no fighting experience can best three veterans at his first try, characters fight throughout the whole city while breaking everything yet no one notices them, Oshino still appears out of nowhere to save the day, and there is no tension whatsoever since the main characters are immortal and the outcome is known before the beginning thanks to all the previous entries. And although not as much in quantity and not as disgusting as they were before, there are still ecchi and comical moments that could be taken away, improving the whole.

In conclusion, this is the only season in the Monogatari series that I enjoyed and the one with the best executed and most focused plot so far. Going by numbers alone, and heavily influenced by my own enjoyment and the visuals, it would rank at the top of them all, but I still won’t call it the best, because it doesn’t have the messages, theme exploration, psychological aspect and level of characterization of Second Season, which I would rate higher than this one if not for Hachikuji’s arcs. But it is still far better than most of them and a pretty good second place. I rate the first two movies with a 6/10 for doing a decent job at setting up a concept and presenting a conflict respectively, and the third one with a 7/10 for having the most and best content while also doing a good job in connecting the entries with the rest of the franchise.

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.

The first thing to say about this season is that it’s best not to watch it unless one is at their 100% ‘cause I was kind of sleepy when I watched it and boy was it tough.

In terms of visuals and sound I didn’t find much differences from the previous season so I don’t bother much with it. The opening has Kanbaru and some other girl acting as friends even when they are enemies, though there’s a part where the vocals change completely and it is nice. The ending has a very creepy and completely different art style so it was cool to watch even though the song itself was more of the same. Some recurring characters has different designs which are good but the most important one isn’t permanent so fuck it.

This season takes two risks. One, coming out at this point even though chronologically is the last, at least when it comes to the anime up until this point, since the novels kept going, as far as I know. This will make any possible tension from future entries to lack any real impact since this one already confirms the outcome.

The second is having Suruga Kanbaru as the protagonist, as was built up in Second Season, since for plot reasons many characters are not around. Up until this point she was a comical type of secondary character, and as previous examples have proven, it’s very rare for a type of spin off or sequel like that to be good or successful or even not ruin the character.

So, is Kanbaru a good enough main character to take the place from the previous ones? Not in the least, or maybe she is, she could be, perhaps, if this anime was about her, but it really isn’t, since for a big portion it focuses on another girl whose name I didn’t bother to learn and who has a very simple and boring backstory compared to the previous main cast.

Said backstory takes one and a half episode to be presented and said presentation is kind of a mixed bag. First, like with Shinobu’s in the previous season, it is told instead of shown, and this time around there aren’t even some cool visuals along with it for its first half, all that’s shown is the character talking and Kanbaru looking at her with a straight face from time to time. Ok, there are some visual metaphors with floating objects but that’s it. The second half goes for something completely different and far more interesting looking for some reason, so it balances out.

As for Kanbaru herself, something important happens to her character wise, but not because of her, it’s something that someone else does for her, without her even noticing it at first. It’s not that she’s explored much either, some backstory of her is told, and she has some conversations with old time characters where she tells them about some of her doubts, they encourage her, and she gets over it rather easily and quickly, that’s it. Plus, it is weird to see her all serious like this, she doesn’t really feel like the character that was shown so far.

Ok, I’m not dumb nor uninterested enough to not notice that the series explicitly draws some parallelisms between the two girls but, Suruga, I don’t care about being TOLD about who you could have been, I want to SEE more of who you are, or how you came to be, or who you can be in the future, and you brought none of that in this show.

The more enjoyable scenes for me where the first and third out the four scenes where old time characters appeared, and even then, one of them undid a death from Second Season, and the other was kind of comical and didn’t have the same melancholic tone of the rest of the season. The second left me indifferent and the fourth was the same old pedophilic and incestuous humor that I made clear that I hate.

As a whole the season continues to have great visuals, serviceable sound, a welcomed different melancholic tone to the most part, and it isn’t really bad to be honest, but also feels like it has very little content and very little or very uninteresting characterization in it. A very passable one and I would say the second worst after Nisemonogatari so far, which doesn’t leaves me wanting to watch any possible sequel.

The first thing to mention about this season is the naming of it, which is the same as its source material but it’s actually the fourth in the anime. I will include Nekomonogatari: Kuro as part of it as it’s clearly part of it even if was released separately.

The second thing to mention about this season is how the plot structure is a rehash of Bakemonogatari, as it also consists of five arcs, and all of them are based around the same girls from that season.

Visually, Nekomonogatari: Kuro is a step back from Nisemonogatari for some reason, despite coming out later and being far shorter. The artwork is not as polished and although it had the action scenes that the previous season lacked, they weren’t as well made as the ones from the first. Second Season is the best one yet in that regard, as it has the same level of detail and polish as the previous full series, with, occasionally, what that one was missing. Also, there are permanent changes in the character designs which are directly related to the plot and characterization, which is a plus. Oh, and I noticed more CGI than in the earlier seasons, but it was integrated in a way that most anime can’t pull off.

In terms of sound, the franchise retains the same level of quality since it began, so I won’t bother mentioning it again moving forward unless I notice a drop or increase of it.

The problem with Nekomonogatari: Kuro was that, even though it wasn’t a bad season on its own, it combined the main issues of both previous ones, as it was mostly a setup like Bakemonogatari, and it had slow pacing while being heavy on fanservice like Nisemonogatari. The point of that entry was to expands Hanekawa’s character arc, show the circumstances of her family, and how her mary sue type of know it all and kind and intelligent girl archetype is nothing but a façade that she built around her to hide her pain and mental stress, and for the sake of easily get the attention and love she was never given, something that only ends up making things worse, as keeping the fake image of herself that she made only aided in worsening her condition regarding her aberration.

This is good stuff but overall the season still felt slow and not very serious, since for whatever reason it had plenty of gratuitous fanservice, even for secondary characters. Not only that but it also leaves an aftertaste of being incomplete, since whatever point was brought up in it wouldn’t get a proper closure until the next series, plus, despite what it was trying to say, Hanekawa was still running from her problems and very reliant of Araragi to solve everything for her. On top of that, since chronologically goes before Bakemonogatari, whatever tension it tried to build felt fake and artificial, not intense in the least. Which is why I find it pointless to talk about Nekomonogatari: Kuro and Second Season separately.

The beginning of the latter builds upon the character fleshing she had on the previous seasons, and I have to say that it did a much better job at what both Bakemonogatari and Nekomonogatari: Kuro tried to do. The first arc is not only about exploring Hanekawa and delivering the message that only you can solve your own problems, but also finally bringing a closure to that and having legit character growth for her.

The main reason why it works better now is having her being the actual protagonist of her own arc, as Araragi is absent for plot reasons and thus she actively has no choice but to face her problems herself. Also, since she is temporarily the narrator, the viewer gets to appreciate her perspective and introspection in full detail. Regarding this point, the exposition is overall decent although it could have been better. The aspect is shown in three or four different ways, with the first one being her inner monologues and also easily the best one, the second and third ones are the scenes where she talks metaphorically with other characters about her different views, with the better ones being those that felt significant and well written, while others felt more subtle, ambiguous and not very serious. And finally the fourth way, and the worst one of them all, are the scenes where Black Hanekawa speaks to herself out loud, which is plain bad exposition and could have been easily fixed by simply having them replaced with more inner monologues.

Anyways, Araragi being absent during this arc not only meant having a different narrator and forcing Hanekawa to do things on her own, but it also allowed the viewer to see her from different perspectives, both her own and those around her, while it also let the characters have interactions amongst them without the protagonist around. I mean, at the end of it he still has a last minute apparition and save, but to the most part this portion of the anime had the image of the perfect girl being absolutely demolished while she was confronted by everyone around her to stop running from her problems, leading her to face them and accept everything and the aspects of herself and her responsibilities that she was avoiding so far, with even a permanent change in her own appearance, and this time it did feel like Koyomi only gave a hand instead of fixing the issues of someone else himself.

Not only that but the arc still keeps introducing new characters like Izuko Gaen and anticipating future events, while also calling back to past ones, that weren’t adapted at this point yet for some reason. This is very good stuff for this franchise and genre, and honestly, the major problems in it were the fanservice, which was still nowhere near as bad as it was during past seasons, and the confirmation that the Araragi sisters have a brother complex, he himself has an Oedipus complex, and that Senjougahara has an Electra complex, basically, that everyone directly connected to the main character has incestuous tendencies. Gross, but at least all of that is rather secondary and nothing of it is directly related to the main point of what is going on.

The second arc shows what Araragi was doing while that was happening and I have to say that unfortunately it goes back to the usual stuff and is thus a step back in terms of quality. Its beginning is a mixed bag, since it also introduces more characters that will be important later on, or shows a bit more of others that were very irrelevant up until this point. The problem is that it does that with some pretty tacked on and seemingly irrelevant conversations.

Ougi is the creepiest looking and sounding character in the franchise so far and every time she was shown on screen it was equally uncomfortable and interesting to watch and wait for her own arc that would come out two to four years and three to five seasons later. With that said, her conversation with Araragi felt very pointless and the way it was tied with the plot was rather forced.

On the other hand, Ononoki, who so far was a character so minor I didn’t even bother to name her when she appeared on Nisemonogatari, changed her stupid way of talking, as the series itself addressed, and brought some very interesting and quite existential questions about herself and the main characters of the current arc, thus her dialogues felt better integrated than whatever nonsense Ougi was talking about. Too bad everything was left unanswered but at the very least it made me interested to watch her own story after this season.

Anyways after that, this arc lost me completely with three things. First, it started with something trivial and very silly. Second, it introduced time travel, one of my most hated plot devices in writing because it can only mean that the characters have to either make sure that something happens, or prevent it from happening and most likely erase all consequences at the end. Meaning, it can only be a type of story where the characters are reactive at best, they aren’t allowed to have free will because they are forced to make sure that events take place in a premeditated way, only to most likely be erased or forgotten by the end. This pisses me off, it even goes against the message of the show and the previous arc. Thank you Noein for being the exception with your bittersweet as fuck ending.

And finally the third, it was focusing on Hachikuji. She had the worst arc in Bakemonogatari because it was the most disjointed with the message, narrative and plot progression, as it was mostly pointless stupid talking before getting a conclusion that wasn’t satisfactory, since she didn’t pass away nor did she get any meaningful character progression, and she herself was a very passive character that wasn’t even aware of her own situation, so of course and she didn’t do shit for her own and others had to do everything, only for it to not matter in the least in the long run. Plus, seriously, this girl is completely irrelevant to the big picture, and is mostly an excuse for pedophile humor and letting the protagonist to be at his worst, which in this arc it wasn’t even limited just to her, as it was also shown through other girls, Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting anything from this arc in the least.

To its favor, I have to admit that having the characters realize how much they fucked up out of something trivial, showing more people living and appearing in this mostly empty town, making everything prior feel important and that it happened for a reason, and sending the overall message that you can’t use time travel to fix past shit or you’ll end up making everything worse is always welcomed. Too bad it wasn’t very serious about it, as a big part of the arc is silly comedy, and Hachikuji is still left as a very passive character that doesn’t do anything on her own. The arc may revolve around her, but she still barely takes part of it, she isn’t allowed to do anything even when she is the focus of the story.

The third arc is centered on Nadeko, who in Bakemonogatari had one with good messages, but also the most disgusting and highest amount of fanservice, and silly comedy, even referencing memes. Still, since I more or less already knew what was going to happen here, I was actually more interested in it than with the one before it.

And what an arc it is, as it basically combines the best aspects of the previous ones. It also has the main girl of it being the narrator, which allows for more introspection and characterization, it keeps making Ougi a mysterious but interesting character, while tying her to the main plot in a much more organic way, it shows more people in the city that no longer feels oblivious to the main characters, while visually making it clear how secondary they are in a much better way than simply making it seems like the important cast lives in a ghost town, it draws parallelisms between Hanekawa and Nadeko by putting the latter in a similar situation, it explores and criticizes her, it exposes how Shinobu, Oshino and Araragi messed up in some of their past actions, and it finally moves the story forward, while also being serious and free of fanservice to the most part.

It even flips on its own at some point making everything that you assumed about it to actually have happened in a different way, while also expanding on how messed up the main girl of the arc is since she can’t even discerns reality from her own made up illusions.

It also explores a scenario that’s rarely touched upon in the harem genre, what would happen if one of the girls does not accept not being the girl for the protagonist and snaps and turns on everyone else? Nadeko gets tired of being seen as the cute imouto type of character and gets overwhelmed by people placing responsibilities on her, while she is also confronted for always playing the victim, similar to Hanekawa, but while the latter was able to talk back and face herself, a younger, more immature and more emotionally closed and unstable Sengoku can’t do that, making everything go horribly wrong. And it presents everything not as edgy bullcrap like a certain ending of a certain infamous perverted school romantic dramedy turned into gore schlock in the last episode.

Heck, it even feels meta for Kana Hanazawa, who usually plays that same cutesy type of character, as she was tasked to perform as the snapped version of her usual self. Of course and it isn’t like that, as she would later on keep on playing the same kind of dere archetypes and act all cute in real life, but during the arc, it gave that extra feeling and value. Even the opening and ending were interesting, as the latter changed the usual art style for something visually distinctive and more creepy looking, while the former became a dark version of Nadeko’s intro in Bakemonogatari, with even some pretty messed up lyrics.

The only things I have to criticize in it is how it still feels like everyone else forced what happened onto Nadeko, and her change was kind of very sudden, but that does end up matching well with her petty reasoning and how she kept running from her problems and playing the victim to the point of no return. Another mixed element was the conclusion, which made me appreciate Senjougahara for how cunningly she can completely change a situation, but it also remained open because otherwise the franchise would be over, in a way that felt like one big plot armor. But other than those kind of passable issues, this was easily the best arc yet.

The fourth arc keeps on happening around the same time of the first and it’s the direct sequel of the second, it’s called Shinobu Time but it doesn’t focus on her, the name is just misleading to surprise the viewer with what eventually happens, and I got to say that it did a fine job at that. Unfortunately that means that she is still not fleshed out like the rest of the cast, because her story that started it all wouldn’t be adapted until three to four years and four to five entries later.

Not to say that nothing revolves around her however, since her backdrop story as Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade is told, and that is the best part of the arc as far as I’m concerned. Notice that I wrote told, instead of shown, as it is one big narration of her, which is why I found the manga version of that backstory better, simply because while it is still being told in-story, the reader is shown the events as a mini flashback, instead of what is done here.

The thing that stands out the most of this arc are the aesthetics, sometimes showing everything with one color or the complete lack of it altogether, or Kiss-Shot’s background in Japan 400 years earlier as scroll drawings, which is very appropriate for the time period, the previous ending being reused but with the relevant characters of this time, and even an opening that has the same creepy looking visuals and the best theme in the franchise so far, although with very limited lyrics.

It’s hard to talk about it without spoiling everything but basically, this arc has the same issues as the one that chronologically goes right before it, not much is going on in it, it’s just four characters occasionally being chased around by a ball of darkness, it has a lot of meandering with pointless conversations, it’s not very serious most of the time, Araragi is nothing but a pedophile throughout the whole of it, it is full of pedophilic scenes, both comical and dramatic that are supposed to be seen as serious and romantic, and the characters are not allowed to be proactive, as they are forced to followed a predetermined path.

At the very least, it has three positives, which are building up future events, reinforcing the message and theme from the second arc, and ending with a seemingly permanent death, but other than that, it is the worst part of the season, and the worst since Nisemonogatari, although nowhere near as bad when considering the whole of it.

The fifth and final arc is the direct sequel of the third, so this season has two patterns in it, it copies the plot structure of Bakemonogatari like I said, and it jumps around arcs across two points in time. For some reason, it goes for an opening with an early 90s art style mixed in, and a duet for the vocals done by the seiyuu of the main characters from the arc, which are Senjougahara, something welcomed, since she remained a rather secondary character since the first series, despite technically being the main girl, and Kaiki of all people.

Hitagi End once again has the positive of not having Araragi as the narrator nor even an active part of it, choosing instead to focus on his girlfriend trying to find a solution for their problems by herself, while also showing her at her most vulnerable and sincere, breaking her tsundere persona that she usually lets others see.

With that said, the actual protagonist and narrator of the arc is Kaiki, and what an interesting choice is to give that role to one of the main antagonists such as him, as it allows to flesh him out. Plus, giving his personality, view of the world, and age, from his perspective, everything that the rest does is childish and petty, which is true, and it is so reassuring and refreshing to see someone point it out, even if it is done in a kind of comical way.

Even though they are the main characters throughout it, the arc also shows the perspectives and action of other characters like Hanekawa, Gaen, and Ononoki who for some reason went back to talk in stupid ways and I like how Kaiki had her cut it off. Though I guess that could have been her way of trying to be, well, someone, and in a comical and meta way, trying to find her own character archetype.

Anyways, thanks to this narrative choice, it doesn’t feel like only one or two characters exist at the moment while everyone else does nothing, and because of the way it plays out, it gives a satisfactory ending to the arc chronologically right before it, while it also continues criticizing the pettiness of Nadeko and giving her a character growth, all while it sends a decent message, especially for the harem genre, it has Araragi realize how he can’t do everything for everyone else, explains certain actions and events from earlier seasons, and it still continues to anticipate future arcs and happenings, such as the importance that has built around Kanbaru throughout the whole season, which makes sense since the next one seems to be all about her.

Now for things I have to criticize about it. While having past occurrences happen because of the actions of some characters is good, it’s bad when that takes away a bit of the proactive initiative of some others. Also, Kaiki’s plan and logic was so flawed, it was obvious it was going to fail from the very beginning, but at least it led to Sengoku breaking his preconceptions and thus challenge him as well, and the overall resolution was good.

As for the finale, it doesn’t end the franchise as a whole, obviously, but for its own season, it feels appropriate and satisfactory, something that the previous ones didn’t have.

As a whole, Second Season has the best visuals, intros and outros, plot progression, characterization, writing, theme exploration and messages, while it builds itself well upon what was already shown, and it also does a good job in anticipating future events. It’s not free of issues of course, as it still has lots of pedophile shit, Araragi is insufferable throughout the whole of it, there are three unneeded recap episodes of previous entries, some arcs are not on the same level as others, and there is still stuff to cover. Besides that, it is by far the best season so far, and even though I still don’t enjoy this franchise, this was the first time that I felt like at least some of it was worth watching and recommending, and I now have the motivation to keep going with it. I give it an above average score that would be higher if it weren’t for the inconsistent quality among its arcs, as my ratings for each one will prove next:

Nekomonogatari: 5/10 for Kuro as a single entry and 7/10 for Shiro/Tsubasa’s Tiger, so 6/10 as a whole.

Hachikuji’s: 5/10

Nadeko’s: 7/10

Shinobu Time: 4/10

Hitagi End: 7/10

Final score:

The second season, Nisemonogatari, is one that I personally enjoyed a bit more than the first, because it’s notably shorter and the slapstick bits are this time around done by the sisters of the main character instead of his girlfriend, thus I find those bits more believable and amusing, than the kind of abusive relationship from the previous series.

Sadly, leaving my own experience aside, as a whole, it was a way worse season than the previous one. Not in terms of animation though, which was in fact way better, since this one came out some years later and had a much more polished artwork, while still keeping all the crazy and artsy visuals, too bad this one was even more static than Bakemonogatari, as it didn’t have any similar action bits.

The one aspect that remained exactly the same was the audio, as this sequel retains the same level in every aspect, from voice acting to sound effects to music. I loved Karen’s opening, Marshmallow Justice, for its energy and for not being the typical jpop song, but it is still nothing special and not that different either. Besides that, any other opening and the ending left as indifferent as the many from Bakemonogatari.

What makes Nisemonogatari way worse than the previous season was that it had all of the negatives in more obvious ways, with none of the positives besides the improved visuals. There are only two arcs this time around, and although that could have been good to have a more consistent quality among them than the series before this one, that wasn’t the case, as they were both even more empty of content, and with even more meandering.

There is lots of talking and none of it feel substantial, there are lots of characters appearing and none of them feel like they add anything to the whole, they even act a bit differently than before and even have a bit different dynamic with each other, to the point you’ll have to guess that something happened to them out of screen or something. The main issue is supposed to revolve around the Araragi sisters but they feel mostly secondary to what is not happening and being discussed, they feel like side characters even in their own season, and that’s something that will be said out loud as a joke in the Second Season.

Other than that, the setting still feels unaware of anything that is not happening, as the locations are even more limited than what was previously shown, and as a whole everything still feels inconsequential to anyone that isn’t the main characters, or that’s what I would say if the city didn’t look even emptier as it did before.

Plus, this anime has all the issues from the previous ones, all the perversions, this time with way younger looking characters, and on top of that it now added incestuous vibes and complexes that would be confirmed in Second Season. The infamous toothbrush scene is one of my most disgusting and hated of all time, why couldn’t it just be wholesome slapstick like in the beginning?

The only positive I’m willing to give to this season is that, just like the one before it, it anticipates future characters and events, this time with the apparition of other exorcists said to be as powerful and knowledgeable or even more than Meme Oshino, in the form of Kaiki Deishuu and Yozuru Kagenui, but other than that, it was a disaster of a season, and if not for the next one and the manga, it would have made me drop the franchise for good, despite my own personal preference above Bakemonogatari for its early comedy and for not being as bombastic in its directing.

I am no fan of the Monogatari franchise, it’s one I could never get into because it’s very long, it consists of many entries and arcs, and keeping track of the timeline is one big mess, as the release date has you watching stuff that goes before something you have already watched, or even in-between a season that already aired.

The basic idea that spawned such a colossus of a franchise is kinda interesting although not that special, it has to do with fantasy monsters lurking within a certain city and possessing people, which is why different exorcists and demi humans take care of them.

The pacing is tremendously slow to the point where the plot becomes an afterthought, despite whatever the characters might say about the situation, it never feels like it’s urgent or that serious, because the series is still mostly a harem comedy, and because the focus is rather placed on the characters, instead of moving the plot forward. That is why, besides the main and secondary cast, the city where the show takes place in is empty, it doesn’t matter what might be happening in the setting, what truly matters are the girls and how they feel.

Despite being referred as the different harem, the show is still a harem, it has the typical character archetypes, the fetishes and sexualization of minors you can expect from its genre, characters from the same family having incestuous complexes with each other, as confirmed in Nisemonogatari and Second Season, and overall the same plot structure that feels like a dating simulator, as the main character goes around, bumps into girls from either his school or his own family, or acquaintances of someone from those two groups, finds about their problems, tries to help them because he is a good guy, and most females in existence fall in love with him because of it.

The differences with all the other harem anime is existence is how the cast seems to be aware of the fact, as a kind of semi parody of the genre. The girls know that they fit an archetype and play around with the expectations around them and even go meta at points, while also making lots of references to famous anime and manga from different eras, and a lot of wordplay that make the heavy dialogue scenes more dynamic and fun for some.

That still doesn’t change the fact that a lot of conversations are meandering that go nowhere and stall the plot progression and pacing, but at least the talking speed, the way the dialogues are constructed and the self-aware characters are to be appreciated, especially for its genre, where normally all those things are of a very poor level.

The other difference with other series of its kind is that this one sends a message of one having to resolve their problems on their own and not depend of others, as a big part of what affects them is directly connected with their own mentalities. They may be possessed by supernatural entities, but it’s their own actions what makes the situation worse for them, and their own resolutions what lead to solve them at the end. On top of that, it’s not like the girls are passive, they try to find the reason for their issues on their own and solve whatever is troubling them by themselves, instead of waiting for someone to do it for them.

It’s a good message but it’s not very well supported by the narrative, since despite what they might do, at the end they still are mostly able to do that because they are helped by the goodie protagonist, the series wouldn’t be a harem otherwise, as the girls wouldn’t fall in love with him. Not only that but he is not even able to fix whatever is troubling them at times, which is why secondary character Meme Oshino steps in at the end of each arc to solve the problems, although more temporarily than permanently, but that is something that doesn’t become known until later seasons.

The biggest issue of this season is basically that, not only it doesn’t move the plot past its premise, but it’s also mostly a buildup of a series. It exists to present the setup, the recurring characters, the main message, and to anticipate future events and character arcs. Other than that, the only thing that actually happens in Bakemonogatari is that the main couple is established, and the rest of the harem is introduced.

But like I said, it’s not like this series is watched because of the plot, it’s the dialogues and the characters that draw people in. The protagonist, Araragi, is the same kind main character that makes everyone around him to fall in love with him that you come to expect from this type of series, but he doesn’t hides how much of a pervert of a teenager he is, without going to such extremes like others of his kind that become nauseating because of how they treat the girls.

But the real characters that stand out and the focus of the series are the girls. They crack jokes, they break the fourth wall, they are self-aware of their harem archetype and even extreme versions of them, they are sarcastic towards the main character, they have plenty of hobbies and different familial relationships, they interact with each other in ways that are not just flickering or teasing, and everyone has their own problem and backdrop story. From scamming and bullying (Nadeko), to jealousy (Kanbaru), to being unaware of their own state (Hachikuji), to make up a fake persona because of a fucked up family (Hanekawa), or even being victims of scamming and, to my understanding, even sexual assaults (Senjougahara). Plus, the show is full of their monologues, both internal and external, so their archetype is based and explained in their pasts, and their mentality is constantly explored and both shown and told. That’s the main difference with many series of its genre, the girls are way more than just fetishes for a male audience to look at. Unfortunately I can’t really say that anyone has a development or catharsis to speak of, those would come on future seasons, and even if they were, like I already said, they aren’t really supported by the narrative.

As many later imitators would prove, the franchise wouldn’t have become such a phenomenon in the medium if not for its visual presentation. Another reason why this title became as big as it is it’s because of its artsy visuals. Being the first and oldest season, Bakemonogatari suffers from quality drops, inconsistent character models, and very static animation, but makes up for it with crazy imagery, character designs that somehow stand out despite being based on typical designs for each harem archetype, trippy backgrounds that make lots of people write essays about what they could mean, as it isn’t uncommon for a room or building to seem surreal and falling apart, plenty of very different special effects and changes in coloring, lighting and shading, lots of references to many old school anime and manga, thus changing its artstyle completely, and at times, casually pulled out action scenes with some of the best and most dynamic motions in the whole medium. Heck, the anime even throws part of the inner monologues to the screen, taking direct passages of its source material, the light novel, as quick succession of inner thoughts of the characters. Good luck reading them though, as sometimes not even pausing the episode gives you enough time to do so.

If you are an experienced watcher, all this stuff wouldn’t surprise you much, as similar things can be seen on different works from the same director or studio (The Soul-Taker, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Madoka Magica, to name a few), but for a casual audience, it’s a before and after type of visual experience.

The audio department became as iconic but it’s definitely not as polished. The sound effects are good, and the voice acting is delivered rather fast and well, albeit with not that special performances from its cast, although it could be that many of their later ones would be based on these ones, and that ended up taking away its uniqueness, instead of the other way around. I give a full mark to the voices here considering how long ago the anime came out, but not to the rest. The soundtrack is very standard, the background music is just serviceable and the many openings are well done in terms of reflecting what the characters think on their lyrics and are accompanied by good visuals, but other than that, I didn’t like any of them, and skipped all of them after one or two times, simply because I find none of them to be special. Some of them are performed by the voice actresses of the girls, which is a fine detail but hardly one that I’m unfamiliar with, as it’s something that I’ve heard since at least Ranma ½. I loved the ending, Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari, for both its song and animation, but it’s still nothing truly special.

At the end of the day, this is a series with well presented characters and a good dressing, that make up for a season that is mostly a setup for future events and character arcs, and otherwise very empty in actual content and with very little substance in it, and the little it has is not well supported by the narrative. Well done in terms of distracting you from its many weaknesses, but still almost as weak as many other series from the harem genre. I find it to be among the better anime of its kind, but still paling in front of others like alternative versions of it, some of its future seasons, the final season of the Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai adaptation, and Ouran Koukou Host Club.

Hello, here´s an incel misogynistic cisgender male pig reviewing the feminist anime Oooku, a Netflix property based on a rather famous, acclaimed and highly rewarded manga, in turn inspired by many other series and movies which uses the same setting of a real place in life and history of Japan.

The premise this time around has to do with an everlasting pandemic around the Edo era that only affects men for some reason, leading to a matriarchy government and way of how society functions in Japan. So, basically is the kind of stuff that makes you instantly think it’s woke garbage. Not only that, but the first episode, which is 80 minutes long for some reason, is half exposition to explain how things are inside the chambers the series is named after and takes place in, and half of it is comically swapping gender roles. Men go through so many situations women are historically thought to go through, and if I bothered to watch that world famous and successful movie made by a company who historically sent the opposite messages that it wanted to convey with said film, I’d probably compare it to that.

But I didn’t watch it and I don’t intend to do it in my life. From the promotional material I saw, it seemed that said movie hammers you in the head with its message, while at the very least Oooku puts men in situations that used to happen to women, and it doesn’t just say it out loud, it lets you figure it out by yourself. The problem is that, because of the light tone, it doesn’t feel like a serious exploration of what it’s trying to convey and say. The rest of it has a female Shogun somehow changing decades old rules and customs with extreme ease and practically no opposition. It makes for a proactive character with strong presence and attitude, but without a very solid nor believable script because of how well and smoothly such big changes are allowed to happen.

The animation was done by Studio Deen, and it was what you can expect from them when making a serious drama such as this one. The character designs are quite realistic, which is a plus for the time period where the series takes place in, and the show manages to balance the pretty looking characters, recognized as such in-series, with the average looking ones. The overall artwork is not very good, especially with long shots, and the character figures would deform at times, particularly the faces. Giving the type of series, this anime is full of moments where everyone remains still, and even during those where there are movements, the motions themselves are quite stiff as well. With that said, the backgrounds are quite well done, initially only the chambers are shown, but later on cities and fields are present in the anime to break the visual monotony. Finally, the special effects are good for this series, and there are some pretty good directing moments here and there. Overall, the visual department is good enough, as you can expect from these people.

As for the sound, the sound effects are mediocre, sometimes good, sometimes completely absent. The music is good and fitting, there’s no opening but a very good ending which even fits the type of show for once in the historical genre, and the voice acting is serious, mature, a bit atypical, and every voice fits its character well and is well performed. Another good enough department.

If you ask yourself why did I move to talk about other aspects when I only covered the first episode of the show when talking about the script, it’s because so does the series itself. The first thing that needs to be clarified about Oooku is that what you see on the first episode is not where its focus is going to be, as the other nine are a flashback that shows the origin of how things lead to the starting point of the anime. Quite a rare and risky narrative choice, as it leaves it with very little plot progression from where it begins and without an actual ending, it also doesn’t give an answer about what it’s done with the pandemic or why and how it only affects men. There is some kind of explanation about this point, given at the very beginning, but it feels vague, superstitious and not enough.

With everything I said so far you would think that I consider Oooku to be a show that’s not worth watching, and you would be wrong. It is certainly flawed, but I found it to be a pleasant surprise and the biggest one from this year as of yet.

The second thing that needs to be clarified about it is that it is for a bit of an acquired taste and not the type of series you casually sit to watch to have a good time. If you want some happy little escapism that leaves you with a good feeling at the end, this is not your show, it’s pretty dark and it doesn’t shy away from covering some quite messed up stuff, even taking or ruining the lives of many characters.

Once the prologue is over, the rest of the series is dedicated to explore its setting in a way that feels like it doesn’t leaves anything hanging or unexplained, and practically everything not only makes sense, it also feels respectful and accurate to actual Japanese history, besides the pandemic and the change of genders. With that said, it probably wouldn’t have lost much if the genders were swapped, but it is still a well-made alternative history type of show. The exposition is still not the best, as many characters would begin to talk about their lives in quite awkward moments and ways.

Besides a good world building, Oooku also deals with many themes you could expect from it, from the role of samurais, their code of honor, with the passing of time and change of eras and what needs to be done with and because of them, political relationships with other countries, what and how a ruler should be, financial management, unrequited loves, the extends one can go to for the sake of their country, and of course the pandemic itself and how men and women roles are changed because of it, with obviously the themes of oppression that can be expected from the premise, handled through the plot and not with preachy monologues. At the beginning only the chambers are shown but as the series goes on it also bothers to show how the commoners are doing, which helps in establishing the setting as displayed on the first episode, as well as covering other layers of the conflict. If the anime only showed the palace, it would feel a bit incomplete.

The series is also not afraid of showing dark topics such as rapes, systematized netorare for the sake of producing an heir (yes), and it forces characters into positions and lives they don’t want to convey how that might have actually happened to real people, and more specifically, women. The presentation is done tactfully and rather tastefully, as it shows enough for the scenes to be understood, yet not much to come off as edgy, exploitive and sensational, leaving the worst things implied. Also, no character acts like a straight up psycho.

Despite that, it’s not like the series is misery porn either, as it shows the characters’ backdrops to explain their mentality and where they come from, it has them being tainted by the corrupted setting and doing some immoral shit themselves, yet also confronting others and themselves, forming strong dynamics with others, and making it through the horrible things that happen to them to find some light at the end of the tunnel for them, as well as some kind of middle ground and point of respect and understanding with even their biggest enemies. No main character from episode 2 and onwards is left unexplored, undeveloped and without some type of catharsis, even when their endings are bittersweet. It’s still hard to consider the cast as amazing regardless, as there are a lot of them for the short amount of episodes, with even more than one name, which combined with their simple looks and clothes makes them hard to become memorable, and some minor ones are just irremediable assholes for the sake of showing the dark setting. Out of the main ones from the first episode, one of them feels like his role was over by the end of it, and the other was left to be shown again by the end of the work as a whole, I’d guess.

The finale of the series feels like a mixed bag, it ends in a good note for what happens throughout the whole of it, but since it only explains the beginning point of the first episode, the story is still far from over, and more arcs and generations of Shogun are seemingly left to be covered.

In the end, I didn’t exactly enjoy the series, but I appreciate the care it put into explaining its setting, making it feel coherent, and exploring its characters, and also how well it handled and presented all of its dark topics, leaving me now with something else to look forward to or another manga to read, as long as me and my country don’t perish before, of course. The premise and first episode made me expect something really stupid and what the show ended up delivering was something closer to the Korean show Kingdom, minus all the action and fun. Despite its noticeable flaws, I found it to be a quite good dark horse type of anime, and the biggest and most pleasant surprise of the year so far. On the bad side, Studio Deen only makes one or two good anime per decade as far as I’m concerned, so this means that they already filled at least half of their quota for the 2020s, but oh well, at least it happened this early.