Note From the Author: I've changed the rating from 55 to 60 and edited a few sentences ever so slightly as, even though I do still do generally stand by the opinions expressed here, I do think I was initially a bit harsh on NekoKuro.
______
I’ll just come right out and say that Nekomonogatari: Kuro, also known as the Tsubasa Family arc, is my least favourite Monogatari instalment. Not because it’s bad or damaging to the series in any way. Frankly, it’s neither of those, it’s perfectly harmless and inoffensive. It’s just predictable and well...almost kind of pointless.

NekoKuro is effectively the extended version of the Golden Week flashback from Bakemonogatari Episode 11 (Tsubasa Cat, Part 1). It tells the story of Koyomi Araragi and Tsubasa Hanekawa’s first encounter with the sawarineko oddity, and the original emergence of Black Hanekawa.

As I mentioned before, NekoKuro does not do anything to the overall series' detriment. Koyomi and Tsubasa’s characterization in this arc is on point. We learn some very interesting new things about Tsubasa and her relationship with her family, and Koyomi’s development into the mindset that he is in in Bake is handled well, as are their very well-written and enjoyable interactions. In that sense, NekoKuro does its job.

The problem is the fact that we already know like 85% of this story. We know what’s going to happen, we know how it will end, we…just know. It was all told to us in like ten minutes back in Bake. Why are we spending almost two hours on this now?

The additional info that we get does not break the general feeling of predictability plaguing this arc, nor does it do much to justify its existence. Once again, it is interesting and adds depth to both of the leads, but it could have easily been delivered elsewhere. Instead, it is surrounded by an entire arc of which way too much feels like borderline hot air.

All that said, from the technical stand-point, NekoKuro is solid throughout. Admittedly, I don’t think it stands out too much when compared to some of the other instalments, but it’s still Monogatari, so there is still plenty of charm to be found in its art style and directing, and the music is as good as always. Monogatari has an excellent track record with openings, and this arc is no exception. Perfect Slumbers is a very, for lack of a better word, elegant song. Slow, melancholic, and calm, it has a certain magic to it, which makes it one of my personal favourite Monogatari OPs. Voice acting-wise, I have already praised all of NekoKuro’s cast’s performances in their respective roles in my reviews of Bake and Nise, and here they are just as good.

I don’t know how the Tsubasa Family arc was handled in the original light novel. Here however, it mostly feels like a placeholder. Something mainly released just to keep the audience thinking about Monogatari in between Nise and Second Season, while giving them some new information about the characters to not make it too obvious. It most likely was not the actual intent, but that is what it felt like to me as I was watching it. Still, it is certainly not bad, and it has paved the way for something genuinely amazing, in the form of the, in my opinion, far superior Nekomonogatari: Shiro. As for Nekomomongatari: Kuro, it is far from some sort of a horrific disappointment. It’s just a relatively average chapter of an amazing story.