MONOGATARI Series: OFF & MONSTER Season – The Anime Preview Guide for Summer 2024

What is that?

With the graduation of Araragi Koyomi, the story is over. This time it is really over. However, the story of the girls who were saved by Koyomi was not over yet. A prequel or a continuation of the story of these girls who struggled in their youth.

MONOGATARI Series: OFF & MONSTER Season is based on the Monogatari light novel Series of NisiOisin. The anime series will be streamed on Crunchyroll Saturdays.

How was the first episode?

Kevin Cormack
Evaluation:

So far, the anime season in summer 2024 has been particularly strong for sequels – not only Oshi no Ko, ShyAnd NieR:Automatabut now the long-awaited return of the author’s popular adaptation by Studio Shaft NisiOisin‘S Monogatari novels. While Akiyuki Simbo takes on the vague-sounding role of “Chief Director”, Midori Yoshizawapreviously episode director for both Owarimonogatari And Zoku Owarimonogatari takes the director’s chair. Based on his work on this 32-minute opener, he’s doing a fantastic job so far.

This episode adapts the short (54 pages) third story arc, Tsukihi Undo, from the novel Orokamonogatari. Perhaps the story is too short to be extended to two full episodes, but the decision to extend it was a good one. Unfortunately, we are foregoing a traditional Monogatari opening song sung by a character actor, and I can only imagine that this is being held back for the eventual Blu-ray release. I’m taking half a star off for that because I love these OPs and know AniplexIt will take years until the Blu-ray is available in English and at the highly inflated prices.

Although we focus primarily on Koyomi Araragi’s seriously insane sister Tsukihi and her expressionless undead corpse disguised as plush doll Yotsugi Ononoki (one of my favorite characters, by the way), we are treated to appearances by manga artist Nadeko Senkoku, now a hikikomori, and even the newly ascended snail god Mayoi Hachikuji. The Author’s Path NisiOisin The nods to previous storylines and themes always impress me, as it ties Nadeko’s earlier liberation from her snake god to Yotsugi’s problem in this episode, which eventually leads to Mayoi’s involvement. It all seems very organic and logical.

MonogatariAnime adaptations of have always excelled at clever character work combined with striking visuals and snappy dialogue. All of these strengths are in full force in Tsukihi Undo, when Yotsugi botches her secret spy operation at the Araragi house and Tsukihi learns to her horror that the life-sized doll she’s been sleeping with is actually a sentient organism. Yotsugi’s attempts to defuse the situation by appealing to Tsukihi’s love of magical girl anime are absolutely brilliant, even if they inevitably lead to chaos and madness.

Christopher Farris
Evaluation:

Since it is always an effective anthology of spiritual stories, I can understand that Nisio Isin just can’t stop writing chapters about the characters of Monogatari regardless of how long the main plot has been wrapped up. And so something as simple as Yotsugi’s attempt to eat a tub of ice cream triggers a new incident that is covered in this season’s premiere with bonus material. It really is a great way to spend a good half hour talking and exchanging ideas with several of the cast. Although this episode is technically about Yotsugi, it also makes heavy use of Tsukihi, a character who has long felt underused in the series despite technically playing a major role in the spiritual scheme of things. That bodes well for how this Monogatari DLC could branch out.

After about a hundred episodes, I don’t know if the OFF & MONSTER season will change anyone’s opinion about Monogatari that they haven’t already invented. Still, it’s worth noting that this entry features zero appearances and only a few sparse mentions of Koyomi Araragi, its most polarizing protagonist (I’ve always liked him, to be honest). Whether Yotsugi is better suited as a main character is a matter of distance. Her downright breathless narration, which stretches for almost the entire length of the episode, gets a little tiring by the end, even if it’s impressively executed. Yotsugi provides an interesting, unique vector through which to view standby characters like the aforementioned Tsukihi or an entertaining side conversation with Nadeko. Her engaging, dry role as observer makes Yotsugi the perfect choice for a catch-up like this, with the overall plot of this episode being a pointed, hair-raising story that exists solely to bring back all those favorites.

Just again with WAVE‘s take Monogatari will be a big attraction for this new anime, and even that brings its own refreshment. One of the biggest questions about the OFF & MONSTER season was how her appearance would change with Akiyuki Simbo Resignation from the director’s chair (or promotion to “chief director” so to speak). After having directed some episodes of the previous seasons, Midori Yoshizawa definitely brings her own perspective to the series with this new beginning. This episode just feels a bit more active than the static, framed look that characterizes so much of Monogatari for so long. That’s a good thing if you ask me, because bringing the series back after all that earlier material requires a certain level of newness. This is a vibrant look for the series, exploring the strange sets and scenery from closer, more human angles. Of course, there’s still time for the classic chapter breaks and regularly inserted, offbeat visual gags. But it still feels fresh, just like it feels like coming home.

That’s the biggest praise I can give the OFF & MONSTER season – it justifies its existence by offering more of a series that’s fun to get lost in while also feeling like you’re trying something new. As a silly little bonus entry, it makes clear what the path is likely to be heading in this season: the ability of Isin’s characters and the strange jaunts of their lives to basically run forever with subplots. Given that a large part of Yotsugi’s existential narrative in this episode deals with the theme of eternity and the repeating cycles of learning and living, this seems philosophically appropriate. I’ll happily keep tuning in to see what supernatural pranks these girls get into next – as long as Kanbaru shows up sooner rather than later.