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I've seen enough anime with great setup and no payoff by now to not get my hopes up, but I'm still sorry to say that my biggest initial response to Zoku Owarimonogatari is disappointment, the gradual revelation that there was nothing behind the curtain. I suppose the theme that youth is full of disappointments and loose ends that will never truly be resolved isn't totally uninteresting, but that point was already made more succinctly and elegantly in Nisemonogatari.

As always, I find myself tempted to give Nisio more credit than he probably deserves by positing that the fact that there's nothing behind the curtain is ... part of the point, but...why spend three hours on it, then? Just to troll the audience? (And why bother finally introducing one of the most important and consequential characters in the series for...basically no reason?) If this were actually the end of the series it would be extremely unfulfilling, but given that Nisio did apparently have the post-high school arcs planned all along maybe there's still something there in Off Season and Monster Season? I guess we'll find out in 2030 or so.

I liked seeing Koyomi terrified and embarrassed by Mayoi and the spoiler character, because it's actually not a side of him we've really seen before. The Tsukihi face-washing scene feels like a de-sexualized, humiliating inversion of Nisemonogatari's famous toothbrush scene and is actually pretty disturbing, but...like so much else here, it doesn't seem to have really had a point.

Also I know Nisio loves giving Hitagi no screentime but couldn't we at least get some more Hanekawa??? Please?

I liked this anime fine but I kind of find it hard to recommend. I watched it for the yuri and it's definitely yuri but don't expect anything conclusive, it's in the category of 1-season LN adaptations that can't really go anywhere with the plot or characters. I would basically describe it as being like Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation trilogy but with drunk college student anime girls instead of scientists.

As for the quality of the show...it's uneven to say the least. It feels extremely low budget. There's a lot of CGI here: most of the distance shots are fairly ugly CGI, and many of the monsters ... are fairly pathetic CGI. With the exception of a handful of strangely well-animated fight scenes, most of the animation is pretty weak, although the characters do stay on-model consistently.

The characters also tend to act in extremely stupid ways to keep the plot moving (why do you guys keep going to the Otherside with minimal preparation?!) Sorawo's powers are confusing, and many of the monsters are hard to understand without reading the LN.

That being said, Sorawo and Toriko are cute and likable, and their relationship is adorable. I guess you could say it's almost like a college SOL mixed with mild urban fantasy horror. If you like SCP-style urban legend fantasy stuff, it's in that vein, and it has some good overtures to the deeper thematic horror of that genre, it just doesn't really have the time to develop any of it. There are some fairly disturbing scenes, nice creepy moments, and decent suspense, but nothing that'll keep you up at night–the LN is more successful at having genuinely scary content.

I don't know...I just found it difficult to be mad at or dislike this show even though it probably underdelivers on its premise. There's something about the constant tonal whiplash, uneven quality, bizarre plots, the protagonists' insanely cavalier attitude towards the Otherside, and Sorawo pouting that make it a pleasantly bemusing experience. I can't say I've ever seen anything quite like the beach episode, I'll put it that way. If you're desperate for yuri, like creepypasta stuff, and are willing to watch something that isn't really that good, this might be the show for you! Watching it made me want to read the LN, so I guess the show succeeded at fulfilling its actual purpose. I give it 6.5 unpaid student loans out of 10.