Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season

Koyomi Araragi spent his last year of high school helping girls in his town resolve various supernatural afflictions. But now Araragi has departed for university, leaving his friends to fend for themselves against new problems and curses that plague them. Yotsugi Ononoki, once a human corpse and now a living doll, takes residence in Araragi's home, keeping watch over his sister Tsukihi, a girl harboring a mystical secret of her own. As part of her duties, Yotsugi fills Araragi's vacated role as occult expert, assisting others in town with their issues.

One of these girls, middle school student Nadeko Sengoku, slowly recovers from her own recent brushes with the paranormal. She avoids returning to school, instead spending time alone in her room and pursuing her dream of becoming a professional manga artist. In order to speed up Nadeko's quest for mastery of her craft, Yotsugi convinces her to create four copies of herself, each representing a distinct aspect of Nadeko's personality. However, the clones refuse to help Nadeko, instead escaping into the town and creating a chaotic mess. Now forced to grapple with her own fractured sense of identity, Nadeko sets out to capture them and resolve her inner conflict.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Oshino, Shinobu Main

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Araragi, Koyomi Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Sengoku, Nadeko Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Ononoki, Yotsugi Main

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicide-Master Main

Fukami, Rica Japanese

Senjougahara, Hitagi Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Hachikuji, Mayoi Supporting

Katou, Emiri Japanese

Kanbaru, Suruga Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Oshino, Ougi Supporting

Mizuhashi, Kaori Japanese

Araragi, Karen Supporting

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Shioya, Yoshiyuki Producer

Yodo, Akiko Producer

Ishikawa, Tatsuya Producer

Nishibe, Maho Producer

Reviews

Oct 19, 2024

Halalex

Recommended

The curtains finally close on the latest entry of the Monogatari Series. An installment in the franchise that, before airing, had many fans dreading the potential disappointment that it could’ve been due to recent troubles within the animation studio and the five-year hiatus the show had been on during this.

Thankfully, what we actually got in the end was a continuation of the series that, as far as I’ve understood, surpassed everyone's expectations (mine included). I'll be the first to admit that you could certainly feel the stiffness of the animation at times, but the oh-so-important style and direction of the franchise is unquestionably still ... there. If a couple of janky moments is what it costs to get a production like this, then I’d gladly pay the price any day of the week. It’s inspiring seeing Studio Shaft stay true to their form this far into the game, utilizing the myriad of possibilities that this medium provides you with to make some of the most visually engaging content in the industry.

I believe that it also helps that this season adapts some exceptional stories from the source material as well. I found myself thoroughly enjoying all three of them for completely different reasons, just as you’ve come to expect from this show.

-You get a single-episode story that’s just plain fun in the regular ol’ Nisioisin way.
-You also have a fantastically entertaining, yet deeply thought-provoking character introspective of someone whose story you thought had ended, yet had actually just begun.
-And lastly, the season finishes with a story that takes itself a bit more seriously, which in the process casually recontextualizes basically the whole series… yet again.

Outstanding stuff, it’s all there.

If there’s one last gripe with this season that I have to point out, it’d be the music. While all of the new tracks are genuinely great, they’re almost composed to a point where they kind of distract from the rest of the scene. Monogatari’s score has always been very “BGM:ish” due to its relatively low amount of physical action, and all of the dialogue doesn’t lend itself that well to the loud and attention-grabbing pieces that are heavily featured in these episodes. But that’s a very gratuitous nitpick, I just felt like I should have more to say about the continuation of my favorite anime.

All in all, I can't wait to see what's next in store for this franchise. Hopefully, they keep the ball rolling, and we have multiple seasons of amazing content ahead of us. In the meantime, let's hope they finally get to translating the rest of the visual novels.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 24, 2024

KrenZane

Recommended

*Monogatari will continue on growing in fidelity to time like the eternal vow Isin's characters promised to themselves*

~~

It's strange...A lengthy year post-Zoku hasn't even been shown yet, but the forward progress in reality's timeline being an indisputable verdict in the Monogatari Series henceforth casts a sense of inescapable obligation to be mindful of the years that have been, in looking over the year that is now. Nearing the end of the twelvemonth, I've dove into this new world outside the garden of the high school that we've known for so long through Araragi's eyes. And there's no more looking back, for the Fire Sisters have ... disassembled, operating with only Tsukihi as the sole agent of justice; Nadeko has begun to reconcile with her past, looking back on it hard to place more importance on looking onward; Kanbaru has retired from the basketball club and is attempting to make amends with the consequences of her generation strongly felt by her juniors; Shinobu had a reunion with Suicide-Master after six centuries; and Araragi found a new Maths friend in Meniko, being a full-fledged university student who has graduated from Naoetsu High. The gears have turned--they're turning and will continue to do so from now on as we've flipped past the chapter of Araragi's high school years. So it's strange, skipping through time with such finality specifically in this case. I was not expecting at all for Monogatari to be one with pure fidelity to the march of time so as to arrange a continuous affair with them and us after everything that's happened. It got to me only as of writing that it'll continue growing like the eternal vow Isin's characters promised to themselves.

!! Sentimental Drama Alert !!
In the face of a disciplined show with an unfading commitment to self-growth that does not avert its eye away from the philosophies that affect our reality, I once turned tail. Apart from the usual stress of university inhibiting a focused watch time, I was terrified of confronting the disappointment of knowing that the lessons I thought I'd learned from the past had been gradually neglected by me once again. To be honest, that sort of terror was present even dating back to the announcement--a surge of excitement for a new installment that preceded a gray sorrow. That was because I'll be watching a long-awaited entry to the series without a close friend anymore, the close friend that introduced me to it, who to this day perhaps has Monogatari as his favorite anime amidst all, the only friend whom I've made tryhard analytical discussions with and vice versa. The emptiness that comes with necessary growth so easily made me regress, and so I was placed in my most sorry state again, the same one I had years before, and watching the characters moving on from it (with huge emphasis on sweet Nadeko) was nothing short of exhausting. That battle of voices had me pause Off & Monster Season after Draw. Only now was I able to muster up the strength to confront myself through Monogatari once more. Though that friend was still on my mind all throughout, it seems the "Completed" tag slapped on this season in my profile shows a prevailing over what has been haunting the heart, albeit a victory not so overwhelming as I'm writing it to be.

Araragi's absence at the beginning of the new season formed the bedrock of its effective storytelling. Although the menace overtook the latter half (for better or for worse for the many), the established absence only made acute the ubiquity of his salvation spree's influence. I hate it but it's funny how Araragi's constant attendance on screen made it so that there's a degree of anxiety hovering around whenever the rest of the characters encounter major apparition-related issues without him, compared to Shinobu Mustard where it was a breeze to watch through without any sort of restlessness simply in virtue of his being involved. And he's not even a Deus Ex Machina; it's not even like everyone is overly dependent on the guy. I understand that this weird conception stems from my own weakness. I am a character in Monogatari who was helped by Araragi, but I am also a person who can help myself even without someone like him--or at the very least, after he has imparted the seedling from those noble deeds for me to nurture for myself, only if I take bravery into my arms.

See, Monogatari has a way of slithering into the more personal quarters of a person (and just like me, share my thoughts with vulnerable dramatism). Tsukihi Undo's colorful theatrics, led by the verbal deadpan queen Ononoki and Nadeko Draw's wild goose chase littered with the titular protagonist's humorously self-aware internal soliloquies were sure to be a fun ride in and of themselves, what with the flex on stylistic genius utilizing the medium in such a bizarre yet artistic manner so as to further reinforce its identity seamlessly through the ocean of dialogue, but in reflecting over the experience, it is the feeling of witnessing a Koyomi-less adventure that takes good care of the individuals now placed at the center that makes me wistful. The first fruits of change have shown themselves. And it's not like the series shoves it into your throat that significant ordeals should always turn the tables of your life around. Sodachi singlehandedly conveyed how the development of character does not indiscriminately follow a scripted evolution at the snap of a finger. Her inclusion in Off is a testament to the complementary relationship the cast of Monogatari possesses.

Well-written, most definitely, this entry is. The expected divide between Off and Monster felt nonexistent thanks to Shinobu Mustard integrating the function of time, change, and youthful angst to facilitate its respective plot very well, notably because it was Acerola bon Appetit that segues into it. So much thought was given at the outset to make it appear that common themes can be found across these different story arcs to make cohesiveness reign. This directly contributes to the easy feeling of enjoyment because there weren't any irritating tugs or scratches or pokes coming from indeterminate places, all of which can only manifest in places of disjointed storytelling.

I would just like to express, however, that the last pair was not up to the standard that Nadeko Draw set. Admittedly, the sentimental affinity was not shared as much as well. My connection with Shinobu has dwindled over the years, so the tale of the Beautiful Princess and portions of its continuation served like a casual museum visit to the halls where gothic portraits of historical figures are animated, where sheer visual aesthetics and dynamic (yet appropriate) style shifts please the beholder nonstop. The commanding aspect of Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicide-Master was nothing short of an achievement in character presentation. The mystery of the female high school mummies inflicted no boredom at all; it had the same Monogatari flavor and I was made to be eager to know the answer to this incident. Araragi has taken the wheel, too! You can never really know that you miss something so familiar until it's been gone for a while, huh? Perhaps I was simply leaning toward being unresponsive to this specific expansion of the lore and the intricacies of the vampire species--their moral systems, changes throughout longevity, conversion processes, and how they relate to the human side of things.

If I can describe those episodes leading to the ending, it would be...airy. Airy in the sense that I did not feel so anchored to the screen by the power of some seductive potion enchanting attachment to the drinker (and there was none), airy in that I did not perceive the gravity of the conflict to be as impactful as it seemed, airy--reason being that that conclusion which has flooded me over with enough appreciation for Araragi to be added to my favorites after all this time because of the more mature tone he's been treading on was insufficient to carry the "light" experience of the episodes leading up to those brief bits. I could not give much fixation about Harimaze and Suicide-Master, and the information that was communicated from the reunion between the purebred vampire and a regressed Kiss-shot does not hold so much weight to me; apart from that, it was just...nice to know.

However, the thematic point of Shinobu viewing humans as monsters from the cold-blooded vampiric lens of seeing them as food does provide a means for further discerning and direct participation in the story. To me, I understand it as Shinobu learning the special strength humanity contains; it takes assuming a more equal or slightly inferior position against the object at hand to refer to it as a monster. Other than that, it's Shinobu understanding that people have a depth that is difficult to fathom, for they are monsters that can take form into anything they wish due to powerful emotions and circumstances, hence the label that is fit for foreign beings. The vampire known as the Apparition Killer is now saying humans are monsters instead of food, and indeed, there's a monstrosity hiding within our dizzying numbers that could even affect the world with oddities at large. Of course, there is the literal route, case in point Harimaze Kie and her willingness to shed her humanity in the madness of it all, not to mention the crab, monkey, snake, and cat from the seasons way back when--not to mention Koyomi himself.

The overall reflection on what it means to be growing into an adult and processing the changes living beings go through in the flow of time still triumphs within, yet it is unfortunate for me to say that the latter half was not able to prop me up to greater heights. Nonetheless, this is the Monogatari Series we're talking about. This season would have been lovely to dissect with the close friend I've been mentioning as we did all those years, which does mix in downcast feelings within. Such a strike that pervades the personal life means Monogatari is continuing to be a most special piece of art.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Oct 19, 2024

CaptainKenshiro

Mixed Feelings

Funny

“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.”

This is something that I wrote on my last Monogatari anime review, published on September last year, and then on December I finished and reviewed the manga. Meaning, I called this continuation to existence and every Monogatari fan out there owe ... it to me.

Jokes aside, this is a hard entry to judge, as it adapts two novels and one of them consists of lots of mini stories in an anthology-like manner. Yet the series does a good job in building and maintaining a continuity between them, and they also build themselves from previous events and character interactions, so it’s fine.

For half of the show the focus switches from Koyomi to the girls, which is good for giving them spotlight and continuing to flesh them out.

The first story about Tsukihi is mostly silly and about pretending, but it is also interesting for what it means, and to see Ononoki trying to keep doing her mission. Another nice detail is how the episode forms a sort of narrative loop with something so silly as eating ice cream. But the best things is how it uses previous events and apparitions in it, and how it builds up the following events with Ononoki and Nadeko.

There are questionable things in its writing, which Ononoki tries to excuse as not being much as she fucking up but rather all result of Tsukihi’s apparition. That could be considered bad or genius writing depending of how picky or casual you are, for me it was just ok.

The bad part is how Ononoki can’t notice the most logical things throughout the episode, and is another character the one that has to resolve the problem appearing out of nowhere. Also amnesia and a comical loop.

After that it comes an arc about Nadeko where they try to solve an issue looking for an easy way out, and it backfires, so there’s the good message in there. It also serves to flesh out her by having her both metaphorically and literally confronting and coming to terms with her past self, in different variants, and struggling as an artist and being pressured by her parents and time, now as a teenager.

And the best part is how she had to solve the problem almost completely by herself, and how there wasn’t any perverted content in it, and even the slightly more explicit stuff that you could count as such served the narrative, so it’s not fanservice. Overall I consider it to be one of the best arcs I’ve seen from the franchise.

Time seems to be an important topic in the “Off” part of the season, almost as it telling that a certain time is already off and it moved to a new one, or that characters are running out of time.

Not trying to overthink it, but visually the directing regularly matches an object or Ononoki spinning around more than usual while talking about trying to take advantage of time, with following shots of clocks running, so that brought the thought to my mind.

Speaking of visuals, this entry keeps the usual standard of the franchise, which is of course very high. The new designs for the characters are nice, the special effects with little CGI and the backgrounds are still trippy and dynamic to look at. The occasional changes in style are there although not as prominent. The occasional texts are no longer passages from the light novels and are not as long nor as quick, so they are easier to see and read. And the directing has something happening all the time to make up for the occasional lack of motion, which is in fact less than in previous installments, despite having less stuff happening in it.

What’s new is the lack of fanservice, perhaps because the entry isn’t a harem but since I always bitch about the ecchi, I was very pleased with this change. Also, since Nadeko is an important character, lots of moments implement sheets and manga as part of the visuals, and bookshelves used for stairs-like transitions, very creative. There is also some occasional live action footage for the backgrounds as well.

The sound remains the same, good sound effects, very good voice acting, the soundtrack didn’t impress me, the visuals and the lyrics of the ending are good but the song is a very happy pop tune of which I’m not fan of, and the background music sounds like synthwave. Not that I’m complaining, I like to listen to the genre from time to time, but it is still as unremarkable as the soundtrack of the franchise always was for me. The opening is a reference/update of that famous Nadeko opening that most people seem to like, so it was fine for what the arc goes for thematically.

The next arc is the short origin story of Kiss Shot, showing how some of her traits came to be, such as her name, way of speaking and laughing, and how she became a vampire. The story itself is like a classic dark fairy tale, and it perfectly represents the idea of how naming conventions determine so many characteristics of the supernatural creatures in this world and franchise.

At the same time, despite having a serious tone, the conflict feels very first world problem to me, and the characters don’t seem to take it that seriously for me to care. Plus when you think about it, it makes it seem like Kiss Shot never showed her real personality in the franchise in retrospect, but at least gave more meaning to some of her speech patterns during silly moments. Speaking of silly moments, that’s what the logic of the characters and the naming conventions in the arc were like to me.

Oh, and it builds upon previously shown information in Zoku Owarimonogatari, which I didn’t bother to review because I found very little to say about it besides it being a what if fanservice story that is even practically erased by the end of it so what’s the point?

Overall I found it to be a very unnecessary and mediocre arc that didn’t add nothing of interest. At least visually it was pretty great. It suffers from lacking motion but makes up for it with painting like illustrations, gothic aesthetics reminiscent of Castlevania or Shinbo’s earlier works like Le Portrait de Petit Cosette, a special short intro that was like a shadow play with even set pieces simulating an actual theater, though I think the whole thing was made in CGI, but still looked very cool.

Heck, even the scenes were separated in acts like in an actual play. And although there was no opening, the music was pretty immersive, except for the ending which remained the same as before and didn’t really fit one bit.

The next arc goes back to present time yet builds up right from the end of the previous one as it has Suicide Master meddling in Japan and being part of several attacks towards girls from the Naoetsu school.

In this arc Koyomi goes back to being the protagonist and the whole thing is once again played out as a mystery of sorts, plus it builds up good reasons for having several characters being involved in the conflict and having a specific role in it.

Unlike the previous arcs, the tone goes back to being somewhat humorous as it was the case with previous entries, but at least there is still absence of fanservice, so I don’t complain.

Even the aesthetics are closer to what the franchise has shown before the rest of this entry, both in visual presentation and music. But I have to praise the opening for going back to the ones you would expect from one about Shinobu, and for that jazzy theme. She always gets the best openings it seems.

What I don’t fancy much, was the conclusion. For such a big deal that the reunion between the two vampires seemed to be, it felt lacking to me, even when I understand their laughs now.

Also although the reasoning of the main characters to find out the villain seemed fine, I don’t think there was enough information or build up to how she got to know about them, and the villain herself was just an edgy, nihilistic, suicidal teenager that got defeated with one hit before not really feeling that she actually learned her lesson. Overall it was a fine arc but with a bit of a lacking resolution.

As a whole I found it to be an ok addition to the franchise, mostly for the aesthetics, the lack of fanservice, the girls being looked into without Araragi around, and for the Nadeko arc. But I want to be clear, if that arc wasn’t here, I would have considered the season to be overall mediocre.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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	Poll: Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 ) IzanaSolos - Aug 10, 2024	85 replies	by WilliamMinerva20 »» Feb 10, 1:51 AM
	Poll: Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 ) IzanaSolos - Jul 20, 2024	75 replies	by WilliamMinerva20 »» Feb 9, 2:12 AM
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