Zoku Owarimonogatari

I mean, if you're going to write what is, essentially, an epilogue to the Monogatari series, this is a pretty genius way to do it. The presentation of this final push into Araragi's adulthood was, I thought, pretty amazing. The concept of this film (Araragi getting trapped in an inverted world) is such a powerful medium to explain Araragi's feelings about his past and his future, and within that, every character gets a tiny bit of development. In fact, Araragi's relationship with himself and Senjougahara also get a bit of development throughout this story. As a bookend to this massive series (even considering the post-series, like the Off and Monster seasons), I don't think Zoku Owarimonogatari could have done much better than touching on everything that Araragi went through throughout his adolescence. I won't get too into the message of this film because that's not really what a review is supposed to do, but I will say that I was impressed with how Araragi was made to realize what was going on with himself by the end of it. The structure of Monogatari is usually good for revealing new or shocking information, and Zoku Owarimonogatari was no exception. The breakdown of the phenomena and what that meant for Araragi was, for whatever reason, especially engaging for this specific storyline. Maybe that's because this is an epilogue of sorts or maybe it's because I've come to love Monogatari that much--I don't know. The bottom line is: this final (but not really) story was told brilliantly. If you want a better review of each element of this film, you won't find it here--I'm not a good enough reviewer for that--but I definitely felt like Owarimonogatari as a whole (and Zoku Owarimonogatari especially) brought a special quality to Monogatari. This film solidified it for me: I couldn't help but love this series in the end.

After all the episodes, movies and ONA's from this series I believe I'm ready to finally give it a review. I decided to do a combined review of everything I watched instead of reviewing each part individually (makes it easier on myself, haha!). Let's get right into the anime basics. Story; Araragi Koyomi has a tendency to get involved with apparitions, oddities, gods and the unknown in his small town and school. You watch him in his every day life as he tries to get himself and his tight-knit group of friends out of all sorts of troubles. Discover the crab, snail, monkey, snake, bee, cuckoo, doll, the power of loving math and why it's better to stay out of fates way. Art; You ether started this anime because of word of mouth OR the snippets of the animation you saw on tic-tok looked SICK. Whether it's the Koyomi being a pervert, Shinobo being a badass or the rainy devil showing it's true form... everything is BEAUTIFUL!!! Sound; Each part of the Monogatari seasons has a song for someone. Upbeat, hyped, slow, sing-along. The fact that they got (most) of the cast to sing their anime parts is also SICK, I don't know a lot of anime's that do that (Idol Anime's don't count in my book, it should be assumed that the "idols" sing their own anime openings). Character; Two characters that really hit it home for me were Kanbaru Suruga and Kaiki Deishuu. Both with an interesting past, extremely strong in the present, perverts (whether they show it or not) and much more that should be found out in the anime. Overall, I really enjoyed this series. Of course I had my favourite parts, but I can see myself picking this up again soon from scratch just to immerse myself in the world again (and get a better understanding of what's going on all the time). If you don't know which order to watch the series in, you can go here https://imgur.com/XD9rxlu - one part I re-watched in the middle of everything was the Kizumonogatari movies (absolutely STUNNING, and gives a clear understanding of the relationship between Koyomi, Shinobu and Hanekawa)

"I have no idea what is going on" That is what you're going to be saying to yourself around the 10-minute mark of episode 1. Zoku has a very elaborate and complex story, which is great and all, except the writer uses ambiguous metaphors to explain things and nonchalantly breaks the fourth wall. "If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into you." "If you can't be the medicine, be the poison; otherwise you're just plain water" Those are two examples of complicated quotes from the anime that you can, stop, and spend hours trying to interpret just one of the quotes. I promise you that all the other whack things that come out of these guy's throats can have you bewildered and have you wondering what the hell they meant. But if you can get over an anime that is ambiguous, philosophical, always breaking the fourth wall, and makes you have to wonder if they were being literal or metaphorical when they say nonsense, then you would like this anime.

Zoku Owarimonogatari is the unnecessary yet enjoyable enough epilogue to the Monogatari series. The story concerns Koyomi entering a strange mirror world where all of his friends are 'reversed'. Or that's how it appears at first anyway, but there might be a little more to it. Personally I thought that the ending of Owarimonogatari Second Season was the perfect way to end the series, but Zoku kept my interest until the end either way. At the very least it did not go and ruin anything. But like I said, this epilogue feels largely pointless. Many of the revelations that Koyomi has in the mirror world are things that could have easily been already inferred just based on the previous seasons. This feels like an author trying to over-explain their own work rather than letting the reader interpret it on their own. Zoku also lacks the emotional impact of Owarimonogatari or even the seasons preceding that. The part in Owarimonogatari when Koyomi re-stated his desire to share his fate, whether it's to live or to die, with Shinobu made me tear up and would have been such a perfect way to wrap up the story as it ties back nicely to Kizumonogatari where it all began chronologically. Nothing in Zoku comes even close to something as moving as that scene, which is a shame. I was ready for another story to play on my heartstrings, but all I got was a somewhat entertaining arc that did not really strike me as all that dramatic. If you're a fan of the Monogatari series you will probably be entertained by this epilogue. It will most likely not make you cry, but you likely won't be bored or terribly disappointed either. The gags, visuals and fanservice are still there. Also, the ending theme is fantastic. Zoku Owarimonogatari is a decent enough conclusion to a great series. Edit: Upon further reflection, I decided to drop my rating from 7 to 6, because Zoku left me wanting more than what it delivered. I have not yet read the original light novel for this particular entry, so I'm not sure whether these complaints apply to the source material. I will detail my story gripes below with minor spoilers: [SPOILER WARNING] - Not seeing Princess Shinobu was such a tease. If they had initially hid her behind the veil, then shown her later on, the payoff would have been much more satisfying after all the build-up. Shinobu is the most important character in the entire series, so reducing her to a voice behind a curtain is a letdown to say the least. - Both Black Hanekawa and Loli Hanekawa are under-utilized. Even if they were not central to the main story it would have been appropriate to give them more screentime. For example, it would have been amusing to see Koyomi's reaction to drunk Loli Hanekawa. - The whole plot point of Koyomi trying to enter Kanbaru's bath to get in touch with the Shinobu of his world was pointless. This would have been a good way to tie to the Koyomi Water episode from Koyomimonogatari, but since this plan turned out to not work, that makes the Koyomi Water episode completely pointless. - Grown-up Hachikuji was cute, but I would have liked to see Koyomi interact with the Hachikuji of his own world after he comes back from the mirror world (kind of like the ending of Kabukimonogatari). The same applies to all the other 'reversed' characters. The whole point of the mirror world was to present a different reality and contrast it with the actual reality, but we never see Koyomi interact with the 'real' versions of his friends in this story arc. Isn't the point of presenting us with a different reality that when he sees his old friends again, he feels like he's back home? Wouldn't it be more satisfying if he shared his experiences with the people whose alternate versions he actually met in that parallel world? Instead, all we get is a pretty lame epilogue with Hitagi, who wasn't even relevant to this particular story arc as she was not present in the mirror world. If the epilogue had involved all the relevant characters reflecting on Koyomi's adventure with him, this ending would have been much more memorable.

Zoku Owarimonogatari is a mindbending filler-yet-not-filler, psychological-yet-not-psychological mystery that serves as an endcap, and an excellent one, to the 94 episodes and 3 movies that came before it. And, before you even think about watching this one, yes, you DO have to watch all of those to follow what's going on here; aside from the three prequel movies (which you should watch anyway; they're great), every single bit of the Monogatari series preceding this builds towards this one conclusion, this one story that really doesn't change a single thing, and yet is still an essential watch. The story is simple-- Koyomi Araragi falls into a mirror world that looks and sounds like his own, with all the same familiar (entirely female) faces, but with each of them being altered in bizarre ways. It's an ontological, yet pointless adventure that'll have you scrounging around trying to find the secrets behind this mysterious world, but laughing the whole way through. It's silly, the tension is minimal, and we get one more appearance by a whole host of great characters. I'd say, despite the massive cast, almost everyone gets their chance to shine with one last bit of character development, though Kanbaru is reduced to a (nearly) non-speaking role since, chronologically, she doesn't get her character resolution until after this takes place, despite this being the finale... this series is weird, okay... In terms of the metafictional self-aware questioning of its story's own existence, Zoku Owarimonogatari is essentially this series's equivalent to Madoka Magica: The Rebellion, which was not-coincidentally also made by Studio SHAFT. As superfluous as a Fun Mirror World Finale is, it encapsulates everything we've come to love and appreciate about the Monogatari series so far, and it's great! Also, this is one of the longest animated movies I've ever watched, just under two and a half hours. It was long enough that when they made a series out of it, they were able to split it into SIX episodes. Do we ever really need to live in a world where animated movies are this long? Please, I loved this, but do not make this a model for success. Also also, this appears to have been directed, like actually directed-directed, by Akiyuki Shinbo, something that hasn't happened for a SHAFT production in ages; he's the chief director for the whole studio so he gets co-director credit for most every SHAFT work, but he is usually not directly involved in the productions beyond that chief role. But I scoured the credits and couldn't find anyone at the top but him... How strange!

Probably a second release of a monogatari series of episodes of anime, that focuses actually on Araragi Koyomi, but this time in retrospect where he is confronted with what would be theoretical in the minds of those who have already enjoyed the monogatari series and that is a flipping, an inversion, and a reorganization of all character backstories, aspects, and realities on its head. The implementation of which, generally, without spoilers has been characterized as a series of surprises, logical expectations, and relays of feelings of fantasy. What we see are not only reversals, but new experiences of relations and character dynamics not having been realized before to which(not to spoil) but in a vague way, a different history and a different outcome of events according a flipping of the entire fabric of the Monogatri series on its head to essentially give new retrospective on how such characters are in a reality where they achieved what has not been achieved to their detriment but here to their advantage. As a result, the rating attached to this anime is a scale of how well the implementation of a hypothetical flipped and alternative monogatari world has been dealt.

I am not the biggest fan of the Monogatari series. It's a series that is never gonna be the most relatable thing in the world, and it's fanservice scenes will forever stop me from loving it more. What I will say, is that it holds one of greatest written characters depicting the coming of age in fiction ever, with an incredibly well written side cast very few anime have. The way this ends in Zoku is the most mature and important message to give to a teenager and their outlook on life. It really is special and can be life-affirming to so many. When you put this together with amazing visuals, presentation, music integrated into an unbelievable adaptation, you get one of the greatest stories of all time. I will say it again, I am not the biggest fan of the Monogatari series. It's a series that is never gonna be the most relatable thing in the world, and it's fanservice scenes will forever stop me from loving it more. Yet it is an experience I would recommend to anyone who loves stories, a once in a lifetime experience. It really is that special.

8/10. I already treated Owari S2 as the finale and it was an extremely apt epilogue. I’d treat Zoku Owari as an extra side story that adds to the fantastic end of the main series. If you’ve already watched most of the monogatari series, then definitely watch this too, and if you haven’t, what’re you doing?! Go search up the latest watch order and come back after you’re done with Owari. Zoku Owari still shines with the classically innovative Ishin style to tell stories in a fun and original way and will not fail to intrigue and entertain. Araragi is given further development from his hopeful conclusion in Owari S2, and we see him leap to the next step in his life during an awkward phase of title-less-ness? - between high school and college. You’ll see what I mean. The themes are optimistic, and there’s a less morose feel instead swapped by a more nostalgic comedy. Music wasn’t as distinctly memorable as previous instalments, but it had some decent moments. Mayoi Onee-san. That should be enough to get you to watch it.

I finally did it, I completed all of Monogatari Series. It took me a good few months of pretty regular watching, but I did it. Zoku Owarimonogatari is a little epilogue that continues the story after Araragi faces, and then saves, himself. It was mostly just a small little story without any super amazing parts, but it was still a nice little continuation. The arc for Zoku Owarimonogatari was one of the weaker ones in my opinion, it didn't have the depth or intrigue that the other arcs had. It was still fairly enjoyable, and it had a nice message when all was said and done. The sort of "mirror world" take on the characters of Monogatari were sort of interesting, but it wasn't anything really crazy. Most of the things revealed by these characters was stuff I had already known or inferred. It was still pretty fine nonetheless. Art and sound were as good as any other part of the series, I will say that the OP was definitely one of my least favorite though. So yeah, pretty fine final chapter of Monogatari. And now, much like Araragi said, I'm ready to move on.