Name: A truly unique prequel-trilogy that's arguably the best part of the series
Item: Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu
Rating: 95
Author: Zigeuninja

Waifra

A truly unique prequel-trilogy that's arguably the best part of the series · Waifora

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This review will be about all three movies and there will be some spoilers so keep that in mind.

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One thing I always loved about the Monogatari series is the characters and coincidentally, the characters in this trilogy are some of my favorites in the series, especially Oshino Meme. I always wanted to see more of him but because I watched the series in the anime release order, it took me a while to get to the Kizu trilogy, so when I finally saw that he played a big part in them I was already pretty excited. There aren't a whole lot of characters in the trilogy though, which is a good thing, because this way the movies can focus more on each individual character and it really worked in my opinion. Hanekawa, which I never really liked that much before, was suddenly a character that started to grow on me, and Shinobu or Kiss-Shot-Acerola-Orion-Heart-Under-Blade suddenly became even more interesting than she already was.

Not only does this trilogy add a lot of depth to already existing characters, it also tells the story of how Arararagi

Spoiler, click to view

yes I did that on purpose

and Shinobu met each other and it does that really well. The opening scene in Tekketsu-hen is one of the most memorable parts of the entire series to me. Araragi stepping into the sunlight, suddenly starting to burn and falling off the roof only for Shinobu to risk her life to save him is such a perfectly crafted scene which it's only made better by the incredible artstyle and animation this trilogy presents. You'll notice that it looks quite different from the rest of the series which I personally love, just because it's incredibly unique. You could pause at any frame in any of the movies and you'd be easily able to recognize it as Kizumonogatari. The animation is fluid, the art looks great and as usual, the music is a 10/10.

This trilogy is quite different from the rest of the series though. There are lot more fight scenes and less dialogue which I personally enjoyed and it was really fun seeing Araragi fight 3 different vampire hunters that each had their own unique abilities throughout the movies, especially because Araragi still had his full power as a vampire. I think it was definitely the right choice to adapt Kizumonogatari as a movie trilogy and not a series like the rest, because it really turned out to be something truly special.

But no, it's not perfect. It's still the Monogatari series so there are some ecchi scenes here and there but they didn't really bother me that much. They were just a little too long at times and it kinda disturbed the flow of the movie. That's really the only problem I had with the trilogy though. The ending scene in Reiketsu-hen, where Araragi talks about how he'll never recite his and Kiss-Shot's story to anyone, combined with the music, is such a touching moment I don't think I'll ever forget in the near future.

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In conclusion, I would still recommend everyone to watch the entire series but if you already tried watching Bakemonogatari and it wasn't really your thing, dont worry, because this trilogy will definitely convince you that Monogatari can be absolutely amazing.