Nekomonogatari: Kuro

After surviving a vampire attack, Koyomi Araragi notices that his friend and savior, Tsubasa Hanekawa, has been acting strange. When he happens to cross paths with her on his way to a bookstore and sees she has a bandage on her face, he knows something must definitely be wrong. Araragi wants to help her, but Hanekawa assures him that her wound is just something she received at home and that he should not concern himself with it. But when a white cat with no tail is hit and killed by a car, the pair bury the creature and the real trouble begins.

When Araragi later pays a visit to his friend Meme Oshino and recounts the day's events, he is informed what they have buried is actually an apparition, one perfect for Hanekawa in her current state. Tasked with finding his friend to confirm her safety, he discovers that she has attacked her parents, possessed by the "Sawari Neko." Now, it is up to Araragi to help Hanekawa as she once helped him.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Araragi, Koyomi Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Hanekawa, Tsubasa Main

Horie, Yui Japanese

Oshino, Shinobu Supporting

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Oshino, Meme Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Araragi, Karen Supporting

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Araragi, Tsukihi Supporting

Iguchi, Yuka Japanese

Iwakami, Atsuhiro Producer

Kubota, Mitsutoshi Producer

Matsushita, Takuya Producer

Ooshima, Miku Assistant Producer

Reviews

Jul 30, 2024

arifandi13

Recommended

The **Monogatari series** was an anime of my youth, and now in 2023, I've decided to rewatch it.

For now, I'll give my review of the series **Nekomonogatari Kuro (2012)**. This anime is truly epic. But actually, all the Monogatari series are epic, hehe 😁

If we look at the timeline of the story, this anime takes place after **Kizumonogatari III (2017)** and before **Bakemonogatari (2009)**. Confusing, right? But that’s not a big deal in my opinion. If new viewers want to watch this series based on the release year, it's not a problem. In fact, the mystery element becomes even better.

Nekomonogatari Kuro tells the story after ... Kizumonogatari, focusing on the MC Koyomi Araragi and the main heroine, Tsubasa Hanekawa. Here, I won't give too many spoilers. However, for new viewers, you will be treated to action and the unique comedy that is a hallmark of this series.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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May 19, 2024

HotHamlet

Recommended

Nekomonogatari Kuro (Black) is a good addition to the Monogatari series, serving as a solid prequel to Bakemonogatari and the story of Tsubasa Hanekawa.

Despite being a prequel, the narrative will keep you engaged, even though you are already familiar with the outcome. The prequel provides a deeper understanding of Hanekawa's character, making her more of a integral character within the broader series. That being said as much as i do like this anime and am amused it exists, i find it wasn't at all necessary. I feel it's a very nice cherry on top of an already great cake of which being Hanakawa's story ... in Bakemonogatari.

The anime's pacing being only four episodes does not have the luxury of lingering on unnecessary filler content. This concise storytelling contrasts sharply with Nisemonogatari, which i found to be overly extended and padded at times. This is to the benefit of Nekomonogatari Kuro that it ensures every scene serves a purpose. This prequel was handled very well pace wise and gives me more belief in director Tomoyuki Itamura.

As with other entries in the Monogatari series (up until this point), the monologues are prevalent. The monologues here are well done and feel a lot more interesting than the vast majority in Nisemonogatari. That being said a lot of this feeling may be down to either: 1. Me being in a better frame of mind watching the anime 2. The specific arc being shorter than Nisemonogatari or possibly a mixture of both. Although Bakemonogatari was fifteen episodes and was better than both so i feel it's more the former point than the latter. But i did prefer the character's chat's more in this than in Nisemonogatari.

Another positive i believe director Tomoyuki Itamura made was the not as egregious Fan Service. Now it is still in this anime that is a given, however it seemed to be toned down to far more acceptable standards. Fan service isn't always a negative, but i find Nisemonogatari went overboard with this and here it is used far better. That being said it is far shorter than the eleven episodes of Nisemonogatari thus maybe that is a reason for this seeming change.

The action scenes (though limited) are executed with the same creativity seen in previous instalments. The fight sequences are visually nice to look at not only because of good animation but well done choreography. It is interesting in these instalments that one of the seemingly least important aspects of the Monogatari series is one of the most impressive as action is not what the anime is known for.

The unique visual style of the series is known for is showcased here rather well. There wasn't a single time i gazed upon a scene and was negatively impacted by what i saw. Just as good as anything found in Nisemonogatari if not better than.

While the opening sequences of Bakemonogatari set high expectations, the opening of Nekomonogatari Kuro i find didn't quite hit those heights. Although it may not reach the brilliance of earlier openings, it is still fitting for the tone of the arc and complements the story’s focus on Hanekawa well enough. I also find it more visually pleasing than any Nisemonogatari opening sequence.


Overall, Nekomonogatari Kuro is a well made prequel that not only complements the existing story of Hanekawa but also the overall narrative. For fans of the series it offers valuable insights into Hanekawa’s character, while it's well paced storytelling ensures that it remains engaging from start to finish. Although not necessary, i am happy knowing it exists.

Final Score - 7/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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May 27, 2022

yeqks

Mixed Feelings

Pretty mid arc in all honesty. Introduces Hanekawa's dynamic with her parents only to end up forgetting about it, the idea of a real family having to live with the "perfect class president" character archetype as their daughter is a pretty neat idea in concept but it just doesn't go anywhere. At least we got to a little bit of Senjougahara's relationship with her father in the Bake, but here it seems that Nisio just didn't feel like developing core parts of Hanekawa's character. This arc would've really benefitted from a perspective shift, cutting the downtime due to long & mostly unnecessary scenes, instead giving ... us Araragi's perspective of the main events in the arc first, then Hanekawa's later; I honestly think this would've been a much better approach that would've effectively fleshed out the entire arc as well as introduced the audience to the perspective switches SS is about to start doing.

As for the visuals, the whole thing feels like a bit of a step down from Nise's consistently great animation quality as a lot of the visuals feel a little too stiff and the style just isn't as creative nor inventive as it was in either Bake or Nise, and the color pallet isn't as diverse as the arcs that came before this. The music is... Monogatari music. It's good shit but it doesn't try anything too bold in terms of switching up the sounds we'd heard on the previous two seasons. The voice acting's great as usual and I love Yui Horie's versatility and ability to play two different characters that sound somewhat similar. The overall story progression and pacing is a bit off in my opinion, a few scenes in the last two episodes drag on for far too long and the overall point of this arc just seems to be setting up Second Season's first arc, which as previously mentioned could've been done much better. Another issue I have would the be my overall enjoyment of this arc, though it is a good arc and properly deserves an 7/10 from me the whole thing just isn't terribly enjoyable nor particularly memorable, and that's honestly just because of the lack of side characters. The reason why Kizu can get away with it's lack of side characters is because every technical aspect is leagues better than this, not to mention Shinobu is one of the best characters in the series whereas Hanekawa has always struck me as the most underdeveloped out of the main cast. Without Hachikuji, Senjougahara, Nadeko, Kanbaru or Karen, an arc that focuses mainly on the dynamic between Hanekawa and Araragi with no almost no characters to speak besides Oshino and Tsukihi can't stay entertaining without Kizu quality technical aspects.

Overall this arc's pretty decent but doesn't really do too much to stay entertaining the whole way through. Looking forward to my rewatch of Second Season with Callie when she feels better.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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