DESCRIPTION

CAST

MOVIE ActionKizumonogatari I: Tekketsu-hen
MOVIE ActionKizumonogatari III: Reiketsu-hen
NOVEL ActionKizumonogatari
MOVIE ActionKizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp

REVIEWS

• 

  Decibelle

  70/100
  Action-packed and exciting through and through, marred by obviously cut characterization and story moments.

  As you enter Nekketsu-hen, the point in the story finally building upon the concepts of humanity and selflessness, where we finally get to the real fight scenes of the movies, it's a little bit hard to shake the feeling that it's constantly, if subtly, off. It's easy to miss the first watch, and if you can brush this feeling aside and enjoy it you'll totally and fully love it anyway. But it feels a bit barebones and skimping on key moments that result in a wobbly progression throughout.

  The mark of a good adaptation is being able to change source content or adapt it oddly to fit the medium, but in a way that feels not only natural but easy to immediately love it. Even if it sticks out, you still love it anyway. (See; the constant flash card cut-ins and outs.) In the first movie, there were moments that felt like they were handled in a noticeably different way. But because it fit in with the overall tone of the movie and its relaxed flow, it felt natural to enjoy or even like. This movie does it at points, but even then, because of the weird and uneven flow and story beats, it just feels way off.

  Dramaturgy is perhaps the most noticeable example. It's hard to get a clear sense of what his character is, since he's noble and rational even if it's not seen much. You get the sense that there's something critical missing that ties in the themes together (and indeed, there are some stuff missing that some may call critical). After he is defeated, there is no more ruminating about him. He was merely an obstacle.

  This wouldn't be a problem if the story was trying to make clear parallels and conflicts for each fight. Koyomi Araragi, a human turned vampire, facing off against a vampire, a half-vampire, and a human, all hunting vampires. The way it is all set up to test Araragi's humanity and his conviction (the Guillotinecutter fight is where all the conflicts get tested in an amazingly-done scene). It falls flat because each time, we miss some context that explains the hunters' goals and motivations. As great as the last battle is, we only get a hint of what Guillotinecutter is capable of, how much of a monster he is. The end result makes it not feel so satisfying, even if the fights are good.

  The switch-off to scenes with Tsubasa Hanekawa before each fight doesn't make it any better. In the first ten minutes of the film, Araragi tries to brutally end his friendship with Hanekawa because... he wanted to feel human. With how sudden this sequence happens, everything happens too quickly and it's hard for me to understand the point. Were we supposed to think Araragi is an absolute idiot and asshole? He sort of is both but not to the extent that the scene portrays him as. Luckily, the next two Hanekawa scenes are not as bad in this department, and it feels more natural even for the kind of movie it's in.

  This is why I still think this film is really good. There are moments where everything just shines and feels bright and vivid! Hanekawa admiring Araragi shirtless and making excuses to feel his abs. Hanekawa slowly roasting Araragi after finding the adult magazines Shinobu brought back. Hanekawa taking charge and shocking Araragi in the fields in her third scene. Even in the fights there's fantastic moments. Episode's cheesy yet hearty laughter interjecting itself visually during the first half of the fight sells him for me. The baby noises during the moments where Araragi figures out his body parts can regenerate. Guillotinecutter's cold, sadistic laughing when he believes he's already won. It saves what's otherwise an uneven and therefore so-so film.

  Special mention to the soundtrack and animation here. The animation gets more adapted to portray fights well, so even in the most gloomy unexciting moments (like Araragi attempting to throw baseballs into Dramaturgy's face, or during sections of Araragi avoiding Episode's cross weapon) it manages to feel fresh. Meanwhile, with the soundtrack, there are climaxes of songs and even brief moments of stuff like intros and bridges, the action or visuals sync up to the music. Even in the calmer scenes with Hanekawa, it manages to hit each mark and strengthen the bond these characters have. It can capture moments better than any monologue can. The absolute best moment musically is when Araragi succumbs to his vampire powers against Guillotinecutter, the Drum and Bass music pounding away as he loses control. The visuals of him tearing up the streets sell it; it's as over-the-top as it needs to be.

  This movie really did need to be longer, maybe one to three minutes in each scene setting up context and explaining things the film only alludes to. But for what it is (an underdog fighting to become human again in the most intense ways), it's a very serviceable and fine film. The way the fights get more and more serious as they go on is a perfect lead-up to the final film. So if you watched the first one and you're wondering whether you want to watch a bunch of fight scenes, my answer will always be the same: yes. Don't skip out on this, even with its issues.

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• 

  Junomonogatari

  90/100
  Nekketsu-hen: a hot-blooded wretch roaming betwixt life and undeath.

  Kizumonogatari II

  ---

  Following the events of the previous movie, Kizumono II presents how our main character, Araragi Koyomi, faces the sturdy vampire hunters who ripped off Kiss-shot's limbs. Now a vampire, Koyomi struggles to retrieve his master's power and regain his humanity.
  Kizumonogatari II starts magnificently by jumping straight into the matter of fact of the story, the series of duels between Koyomi and each hunter. The way this movie starts shows how confident was the staff of what they were doing, in a sense that they avoided dwelling upon irrelevant events; instead of lingering over anything else, Kizumono II lets people taste the very essence of the movie. "Thus, thou shalt not put thyself into such needless chafe, servant of mine," or something like that would Kiss-shot say. Do not worry, perhaps Tekketsu-hen was not that exciting, but Nekketsu-hen will suffice your eagerness for action and blood.
  Now, let us get into more general aspects, story, characters, and animation.

  - Story (8/10)

  I would like to dedicate this section mostly to NISIOISIN (original story writer). In terms of plot development, Kizumonogatari shows the abilities of both the author of the novel and the animation studio to portrait a story that will serve either as an introduction to the series (as it is chronologically the first arc), a proper explanation to the events preceding many seasons if watched by release order, and a stand-alone story.
  "And how is it specifically related to Kizumonogatari II? Aren't you talking about the whole 3 movies?" you might ask me, and the answer is: Nekketsu-hen is the most important part if watched as a stand-alone movie trilogy. Kizumonogatari I had the most unmemorable events of the series (excepting the first minutes), while Kizumono II, on the other hand, was packed with action from literally the first to the last minute, making it the most relevant movie of the trilogy. However, the importance of Nekketsu-hen does not rely solely on whether you watch Kizumonogatari as a stand-alone movie trilogy.
  Nekketsu-hen was not a perfect adaptation of the novels (which I read after watching the anime), but it was thrilling enough to call it excellent. NISIOISIN did a great work writing Kizumonogatari, and Shaft did a better one by portraying such a tale and action-packed scenes without hesitating to make their mark on the project.

  

  On the other hand, Nekketsu-hen let us meet a serious, distressed version of our comical, carefree protagonist, Araragi Koyomi, but let us discuss that in the characters section.

  - Characters (8/10)

  In the beginning, Koyomi might feel off in contrast to his personality in the TV series, but you get to understand the reason for his stiffness as you watch the movie. After all, Nekketsu-hen is about Koyomi Vamp.

  

  Stressed out and afraid yet hopeful, Araragi continues his Golden Week journey to take back the limbs of his master and, thus, become human again.
  I want to emphasize the fact that Koyomi shows his true self in this movie, and it is something one cannot possibly overlook. As the title of this review indicates, Koyomi is between being a human and a vampire—undead. In an impulse of desperation towards going back to regain his humanity, our protagonist desperately does the impossible to defeat Dramaturgy, Episode, and Guillotine Cutter—who had previously ripped off Kiss-shot’s limbs.
  By the actions of Koyomi, one can easily infer how much he wanted to go back to being human, showing the change he went through to become the Araragi we all know.
  Ironically, in Nekketsu-hen—whose protagonist is Koyomi Vamp—one can see the most human version of Koyomi.

  On the other hand, regarding Hanekawa, I would like to conceal part of my thoughts in order to avoid spoilers. However, it is important to mention that Nekketsu-hen does explain why Araragi, a normal student who avoids people; and Hanekawa, who knows everything—no, rather she knows what she knows—got to become close friends. Along with Nekomonogatari, Nekketsu-hen shows Miss Class Rep on her full.

  About the cold-blooded yet hot-blooded Kiss-shot Acerola-Orion Heart-under-blade, Memé Oshino, and the three antagonists of the story—Dramaturgy, Episode, and Guillotine Cutter—I will let to you discover what hides behind their personalities and actions.

  - Animation (10/10)

  In this section, I would like to include: creativity, art style, soundtrack, and animation quality. Also, this is going to be the most subjective section of the review, as the arguments, I justify my rating upon might draw away from what other people take into account to rate anime.

  The Kizumonogatari movie trilogy is the best anime movie I have seen so far when it comes to animation. Furthermore, it made me fall in love with Shaft’s style, which is creative and one-of-a-kind. However, I am not here to convince you that Kizumonogatari II is the anime with the best animation.

  Nekketsu-hen has nothing to envy its prequel; actually, it is the other way around, it shows a better animation quality and amazing scenes combining CG backgrounds and well-detailed 2D characters. Also, as I mentioned before, Shaft took some freedom to put their mark on this project and give us not only a Kizumonogatari adaptation; this is Shaft’s Kizumonogatari.
  The novel was indeed great, but the anime is a totally different experience that managed to best the source material (not contradicting my affirmation about how Kizumono is not a perfect adaptation of the novel as not-well-adapted does not necessarily mean bad). Shaft’s creative style is present, and they will make you know it.

  

  About the soundtrack… But before, let me emphasize yet again the fact that this is my opinion, which means that it is subjective—ambiguous, ambivalent, etc.

  is perfect, the best OST ever.
  Go ahead, you are free to dislike this review, and perhaps call me ignorant in my profile.
  Feeling creative and wanting to insult me? DM me, why not?

  Going back to the matter of importance, Nekketsu-hen used more and livelier songs than Tekketsu-hen without losing track of the music they had been using. The reason why I love the soundtrack of this movie is that it was full of jazz. I do not consider myself a fan of jazz, but I sure am a fan of this soundtrack. Satoru Kousaki (composer) did a great job with this soundtrack.
  Moreover, the way Shaft managed to perfectly place the songs to fit the scenes is majestic. A spoiler-free example of this could be when Hanekawa and Koyomi made a joke about “Spasibo” while a comical well-fitting song played in the background. You might not think about such things when watching a movie, but they sure are influential and could make you change your perspective of the film.

  By the way, the song I am talking about is called Spasibo; it was named after the scene.

  Also, I would like to mention Bullying a Villain as my favorite song of the soundtrack and the best fitting one in Nekketsu-hen. I am not saying the reasons why for the latter statement to avoid giving spoilers of the movie.

  The soundtrack of Nekketsu-hen was simply fitting and moving. That sums it up.

  In conclusion, I give Kizumonogatari II a 90/100 as it is an anime with a thrilling story with interesting characters under the name of a notorious animation studio, who did their best to convey the tale of a skillful novel author.

  This is the story of a hot-blooded vampire who does the impossible to regain his humanity. This is Nekketsu-hen.

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• 

  Mono500

  20/100
  I didn't think it would get worse than the first movie... I was wrong.

  Kizumonogatari Part 2 is a perplexing in just how it ends up being worse than the first movie. It offers itself as a disappointing follow-up to its predecessor. While the first movie set a low bar with its peculiar visuals and poorly shown storyline, the second instalment fails even harder.

  One of the most glaring issues with the movie is its handling of the characters. Even compared to the first movie they feel rather off and their whole personality in this movie feels nothing like what i'd expect for worse not better. They feel like a different character altogether with no reason lore wise as to why this would be the case. Now even if you believe i should talk about the characters without mentioning the rest of the series, simply for this movie and this movie alone in a standalone sense they're so very boring and bland. They are not at all interesting without considering the rest of the series as the only interest i have for them is because i know what they're like in the rest of the Monogtari series. This goes for pretty much every character. The three that hunt Araragi, Oshino etc. Every character feels so boring and is rather forgettable. This especially goes for the characters that don't show up again in the series. Hanakawa is annoying, Araragi is not at all as cool as they're trying to portray him and the others are simply mind-numbingly boring.

  fights are a let-down in this movie. The animation i find to not be very good albeit not terrible. The animation is secondary however to how unbelievably terrible the choreography is. Every fight is terribly boring and lacks any substance. This is especially the case for the final fight against the Human Vampire Hunter as his "fight" with Araragi not only is terribly boring and ugly to look at, it also makes absolute no sense the way he is defeated. The movie has the opposite problem to a lot of other anime. Where in some anime the fights last too long and should be shortened, this anime needs them to be stretched out. That being said if the people behind this movie are really talented, then in the time allotted i do think you could make something far more interesting in the short space of time.

  While the environmental design shows slight improvement compared to the first movie, it still falls short of expectations (read my first movie review please). However the rain-drenched fight with Dramaturgy stands out for its superb animation and atmospheric setting despite the film's shortcomings in the environmental design department. This particular scene manages to shine, offering a brief glimpse of the series' potential. Maybe however this is simply due to the fact that i love the rain whether it be in anime or real life. Thu maybe i'm rather too biased here. But the way it is animated looks pretty good and the start of the film teasing the fight in the rain is a pretty good introduction i do believe. It just sucks that the fight was a big let-down in general. That being said the Dramaturgy fight is the best of the three easily, albeit still rather poor.

  One of the most peculiar aspects of this film is its pacing. While the movie doesn't drag on unnecessarily, it feels so very rushed and may have been helped with a longer runtime. Moments that should have been explored further are glossed over, leaving you longing for a more substantial experience. The time is mora than enough as a single episode of Bakemonogatari has more substance and garners more interest than the entire movie. A single episode of that show being slightly over twenty minutes. But maybe if the movie was thirty minutes to an hour longer it would have come out better. Maybe showing all three fights in the movie helped in making it feel so very rushed.

  I really am struggling to come up with a single positive to mention in this review as the movie is so poor. Considering it's worse to me than the first movie of which i gave a 3/10, i am struggling for any positives i can give the movie. One i could mention would be the voice acting. The voice acting throughout the movie seemed rather good, but also take into account that i do not speak fluent Japanese thus i am looking at it from a non-fluent pint of view.

  Overall, Kizumonogatari Part 2 fails to live up to the first movie of which i also thought was poor. From its mishandling of characters to its utterly boring action sequences and uneven feeling pacing, the film struggles to engage you and ultimately feels like a extremely disappointing entry in the Monogatari series. Although not unwatchable garbage, thus a 1/10 feels too harsh. The movie is simply carried by the fact it is part of a great series. If the movie wasn't a sequel to a great series i firmly believe it would be unwatchable as it's that that carried me through the runtime.

  HotHamlet - 2/10

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