Forget these end of the year gift giving holidays. New Year’s Eve is where the real action was back in ancient 2014. Huh? No, I’m not talking about some ball dropping and getting wasted out on same New York boulevard – I’m clearly talking about the release of Tsukimonogatari in Japan. Soon after, Daisuki got right to it thus into my living room. The best gift someone could give me is new Monogatari miniseries. We’re not worthy.
Shaft strikes again. In yet another ‘all at once’ release, the ‘four’ episodes of Tsukimonogatari are given to us in one hour thirty-eight minute chunk. Like the other miniseries of the Monogatari franchise, Akiyuki Shinbo directed and wrote it. The animation is damn beautiful in true Shaft style. Since the Monogatari series tends to be more dialogue driven, the vibrant colors, ambient art, and perfection in use of patterns will stimulate your eyes the entire length. Even if I wasn’t a biased Shaft fanboy, I’d STILL say your expectations of art and animation will be answered in full.
The story follows, partial vampire, Koyomi Araragi in his continued antics to solve problems created by apparitions within his town. While Tsukimonogatari will have you believe that the focus will be on Yotsugi Ononoki, the focus is still much more on Koyomi in this series. There are two simultaneous stories going on with a philosophical question brought up towards the end. In a sense, the Monogatari series are like individual ghost stories and a desired moral lesson to be learned in the end.
To clear some confusion, Tsukimonogatari takes places in February after ordeal with Nadeko Sengoku of Otorimonogatari. This means Tsukimonogatari takes place before the events of Hanamonogatari. If you go into this series with that in mind from the start, you’ll dodge a bunch of initial confusion.
*Heavy spoilers found throughout the rest of the review*
This series can be broken down into three sections: the beginning home part, the talk with Yozuru Kagenui, and the climax. Like any other day of in Koyomi’s life, his sisters wake him up and get on his case about studying. Quite similarly to Nisemonogatari, Koyomi has a unique experience with one of his sisters. This time it is Tsukiki and not Karen – no toothbrush is used. Their antics leads Koyomi into a panic as he realizes he no longer has a reflection in a mirror and fears he is once again becoming a vampire.
The quest to learn why this is happening and how to fix it, is at core the vice that gets Tsukimonogatari a rolling. What makes this specific series stand out is that there really isn’t an apparition they Koyomi is against – other than the monster he could be becoming once again. It’s the use of the doll Yotsugi that truly drives this concept into Koyomi. The philosophical concept brought up asks which of our actions and feelings are true vs. how we think we should respond? Are we all just players in a script and just think we have free will? Is this mystery worth dying for? How much humanity can a doll possess? How much are humans really like dolls? Do our action define who / what we are? I love all of this.
The very end has a small part with Koyomi and best girl Hitagi Senjōgahara this is the best sort of fan-pandering for fans of the series. We haven’t seen interaction between the two in forever. This scene stands out due to the show of character development on both their parts. Seeing where they are now compared to day he caught her weightless body speaks volumes.
If it sounds like I’m gushing over this series, it's because I am. It is a lot of dialogue and not a lot of action, common in the Monogatari franchise. Thus if you’re a person of action, this probably isn’t the series for you. If you LOVE dialogue, visuals, Shaft, and everything else from the Monogatari series – I don’t see you disliking this whatsoever. For me, it was something I watched and then left me in deep thought afterwards. While this series does self-contain itself, it definitely leads the series open to the next series in Koyomi’s quest. If my writing isn’t clear, I strongly recommend Tsukimonogatari.
