Nisemonogatari

Koyomi Araragi has recently survived a vampire attack and met several girls plagued by supernatural entities. On top of all this, he wakes up one morning to find himself kidnapped and tied up by his girlfriend Hitagi Senjougahara. Araragi's sister Karen has run afoul of Deishuu Kaiki, a swindler who once conned Senjougahara's family. As a result, Senjougahara has imprisoned Araragi to keep him safe from the devious Kaiki. But when Araragi receives a frantic message from Karen, he sets out to rescue her.

Along with Karen's troubles, Tsukihi, Araragi's other server, faces issues of her own. And when two mysterious women step into their lives, not even Araragi can anticipate their true goals, nor the catastrophic truths about his family soon to be revealed.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Oshino, Shinobu Main

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Araragi, Koyomi Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Araragi, Karen Main

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Araragi, Tsukihi Main

Iguchi, Yuka Japanese

Senjougahara, Hitagi Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Kaiki, Deishuu Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Hanekawa, Tsubasa Supporting

Horie, Yui Japanese

Hachikuji, Mayoi Supporting

Katou, Emiri Japanese

Kanbaru, Suruga Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Sengoku, Nadeko Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Iwakami, Atsuhiro Producer

Kubota, Mitsutoshi Producer

Matsushita, Takuya Producer

Ooshima, Miku Assistant Producer

Reviews

May 19, 2024

HotHamlet

Recommended

A few years ago I rated Nisemonogatari a perfect 10/10, however upon revisiting it i find myself questioning what I must have been thinking. While it has some of the qualities that initially drew me in to the series, it’s clear that my perspective has shifted dramatically. The most glaring difference being the shift in visual storytelling because of the change of director from Bakemonogatari. Despite this it still manages to maintain the essence of the Monogatari series unlike the Kizumonogatari movies, which felt disconnected from the series in a negative way.

My biggest issue with Nisemonogatari lies in it's character's. The character's (who were so ... compelling in Bakemonogatari) feel significantly less interesting here. Their dialogues while not boring, lack the engaging quality that made the original series (Bakemonogatari) so captivating. Now i do not by any means find Nisemonogatari's characters to be terrible, that is not but even remotely close to how i feel. That being said the reason i am so harsh upon them is because i remember what was in Bakemonogatari and it makes me hold this up to far higher standards than i would something else just as good. But the returning characters (although far worse) are not at all bad in this adaptation. The new characters introduced for the first time are somewhat more appealing than their counterparts, if only because they don't have a legacy to tarnish. This contrast highlights the missed potential in evolving the established cast.

The opening sequences are another area where this anime falls short for me. While the music (particularly Platinum Disco) matches the quality of it's predecessor, the accompanying visuals appear lazy and simplistic by comparison. The same can be said for the ending sequence of each episode which also doesn't hold a candle.

The ending of the series lacks the punch needed to excite me for the continuation of the series. For new viewers, it's likely the strength of Bakemonogatari that would keep them engaged enough to continue watching beyond this installment.

The slower pacing in Nisemonogatari isn’t inherently bad, but the two arc's presented feel underwhelming compared to the five arcs in Bakemonogatari. I feel you would expect that more time per arc would allow for greater detail and interest, but i do understand longer stories are not always better. But i had far more interest in a Single Bakemonogatari episode than i did the entire runtime of Nisemonogatari which i find rather sad. Also, the heightened sexual content here feel's so very excessive. While Bakemonogatari had it's share of provocative moments, here it often seems to amplify these to an uncomfortable degree. Just because something worked previously doesn’t mean it needs to be intensified dramatically in the subsequent release.

The animation in this installment is actually the only part in which i would say it rivals that of the original. There are more over the top scenes in this one compared to the original, but i do not feel that is bad. I do prefer the camera angles of the original slightly more, however the limited action scenes in this anime are actually pretty solid throughout and if it replaced the ones in Bakemonogatari it wouldn't make the original any worse. I like how the action seems to tell just as much of a story as the words for either better or worse depending on how you look at it. Although the animation isn't ground-breaking at all, it is good and the choreography and story around the action is really what makes it great.

I understand that this review is really just comparing it to Bakemonogatari. So i do want to quickly mention how Nisemonogatari is not at all terrible in any of the aspects i talked about throughout this review. But the reason i scorned it so much is due to the fact that it's part of a great series and i do not find it does it justice.

Overall, while Nisemonogatari is a pretty good show alone, but fall's short in it being part of the Monogatari series. The characters feel less engaging, the visual storytelling lacks the interest of its predecessor and it doesn't make use of it's slower pacing as well as it could have. I do also believe that Bakemonogatari does carry Nisemonogatari heavily as without Bakemonogatari, i would not at all be as interested in any of the characters as Nisemonogatari does a far worse job with them.

Final Score - 6/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by HotHamlet (14)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jan 21, 2023

PetalEdge

Mixed Feelings

Well-written

Monogatari has two sides to it. One side is a thrilling, genre-switching visual and narrative treat, full of symbolism about people, their relationships with one another, the complications of those relationships, ethics of heroism, and more. For instance, Karen Bee argues that in the face of a world where the supernatural is very real, that the most dangerous thing is a middle-aged Japanese salaryman that gave up on life and morality. Tsubasa Cat shows the poisonous side of love, and even the very first arc is pretty straightforward about the cost of cutting yourself off from emotion to protect yourself from the pain of your ... past.

However.

There's the other side. You know the side. Anyone that's actually reading this review knows the side I'm talking about. The side where Monogatari gets weird, and gets fetishey. The side that Nisemonogatari in particular made infamous, the side that hides in the whole franchise but is most obvious here. It doesn't step over the line for any thematic reasons in Nisemonogatari, it does it because some sweaty weirdo somewhere is going to get off to it. This is enough to destroy the entire franchise, let alone just Nisemonogatari, in some people's eyes and to be frank, I agree with them. It really doesn't matter how deep your themes are if people can't watch five minutes of it without Koyomi groping a primary schooler, or without Koyomi and his sister doing...whatever that was about. It's such a problem that discussions of these elements often overtake discussion of everything else more compelling. I can't blame you if you don't want to watch Monogatari for these reasons. Seriously, I won't even implore you to "try to grit your teeth" or to "ignore" them, not only because you can't, but because you shouldn't. They are abhorrent elements that drag this series down from being an interesting thematically rich treat to a gross wet dream forced on me.

Despite all of that I still love this series, I really do. But if you don't, or even if you hate it...believe me, I understand more than you might think.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by PetalEdge (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Aug 19, 2023

CaptainKenshiro

Not Recommended

Informative

The second season, Nisemonogatari, is one that I personally enjoyed a bit more than the first, because it’s notably shorter and the slapstick bits are this time around done by the sisters of the main character instead of his girlfriend, thus I find those bits more believable and amusing, than the kind of abusive relationship from the previous series.

Sadly, leaving my own experience aside, as a whole, it was a way worse season than the previous one. Not in terms of animation though, which was in fact way better, since this one came out some years later and had a much more polished artwork, ... while still keeping all the crazy and artsy visuals, too bad this one was even more static than Bakemonogatari, as it didn’t have any similar action bits.

The one aspect that remained exactly the same was the audio, as this sequel retains the same level in every aspect, from voice acting to sound effects to music. I loved Karen’s opening, Marshmallow Justice, for its energy and for not being the typical jpop song, but it is still nothing special and not that different either. Besides that, any other opening and the ending left as indifferent as the many from Bakemonogatari.

What makes Nisemonogatari way worse than the previous season was that it had all of the negatives in more obvious ways, with none of the positives besides the improved visuals. There are only two arcs this time around, and although that could have been good to have a more consistent quality among them than the series before this one, that wasn’t the case, as they were both even more empty of content, and with even more meandering.

There is lots of talking and none of it feel substantial, there are lots of characters appearing and none of them feel like they add anything to the whole, they even act a bit differently than before and even have a bit different dynamic with each other, to the point you’ll have to guess that something happened to them out of screen or something. The main issue is supposed to revolve around the Araragi sisters but they feel mostly secondary to what is not happening and being discussed, they feel like side characters even in their own season, and that’s something that will be said out loud as a joke in the Second Season.

Other than that, the setting still feels unaware of anything that is not happening, as the locations are even more limited than what was previously shown, and as a whole everything still feels inconsequential to anyone that isn’t the main characters, or that’s what I would say if the city didn’t look even emptier as it did before.

Plus, this anime has all the issues from the previous ones, all the perversions, this time with way younger looking characters, and on top of that it now added incestuous vibes and complexes that would be confirmed in Second Season. The infamous toothbrush scene is one of my most disgusting and hated of all time, why couldn’t it just be wholesome slapstick like in the beginning?

The only positive I’m willing to give to this season is that, just like the one before it, it anticipates future characters and events, this time with the apparition of other exorcists said to be as powerful and knowledgeable or even more than Meme Oshino, in the form of Kaiki Deishuu and Yozuru Kagenui, but other than that, it was a disaster of a season, and if not for the next one and the manga, it would have made me drop the franchise for good, despite my own personal preference above Bakemonogatari for its early comedy and for not being as bombastic in its directing.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by CaptainKenshiro (110)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Akiyuki Shinbou Directed Anime Watchlist Part 2

by TheCoolGuy82

40 Entries · 10 Restacks

definitive sibling relationship watchlist

by n_w_x

47 Entries · 201 Restacks

Monogatari Guide

by Ashok_Kumar

25 Entries · 104 Restacks

	Poll: Nisemonogatari Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) stevewiess01 - Feb 25, 2012	764 replies	by JoaoPedru »» Aug 5, 2:03 PM
	Poll: Nisemonogatari Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) zimno - Mar 17, 2012	416 replies	by 0451 »» Aug 2, 4:24 AM
	Poll: Nisemonogatari Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) stevewiess01 - Mar 10, 2012	258 replies	by 0451 »» Aug 2, 3:30 AM
	Poll: Nisemonogatari Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) stevewiess01 - Mar 3, 2012	249 replies	by 0451 »» Jul 31, 12:34 PM
	Poll: Nisemonogatari Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) stevewiess01 - Feb 18, 2012	325 replies	by 0451 »» Jul 30, 3:37 AM

In Numbers: The Best Anime of the Decade

What's the #1 anime of the 2010s? Which year was the best? What studio had the most hits? We have the answers to all these questions and more!

by Shymander

636,169 views

Good Vibrations: The Undervalued Artistry of an Anime’s Soundscape

Sometimes we get so caught up in the visual spectacle of anime that we completely forget about the equally important sounds that come alongside it.

by MAL_Articles

68,772 views

Spoiler