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.