The Monogatari series is one of my absolute favorite series of all time and I was absolutely overjoyed to hear of its return earlier this year. By the time I discovered the series, the previous entry, Zoku Owaimonogatari, had already finished its run, more or less ending the main story arc of the series up until that point. I kinda was skeptical that I would even be able to get the chance to watch a new Monogatari series entry as it airs, yet, here we are! After watching Off & Monster Season weekly after eagerly waiting during the 6 months between its announcement and air date, I can truly say that this legendary series, after disappearing for as long as it did, came back just as good as the day it left!

If you’re reading this, chances are you're already deep in this series so I think there's not much point in talking about what it's about. Broadly put, Monogatari Series Off & Monster Season is the next step of the series, moving forward from Araragi’s high school antics, all while still dealing with relevant issues from the series past. Now, we get to see a number of the heroines in addition to Araragi handle issues on their own similarly to what we saw in Second Season. This season most definitely marks something of a transition point moving on to future events. Of course, despite these changes to the status-quo from what we’ve seen up until this point, Off & Monster Season manages to completely capture the intricacies of what makes the Monogatari Series as special as it is.

Of course with the nature of this series, this season is split up into 4 separate shorter stories, adapted from the Orokamonogatari, Nademonogatari, Wazamonogatari and Shinobumonogatari light novels. Now that the main series has more or less wrapped up, Off & Monster Season does a great job in giving some of its previous characters their own room to deal with their own issues separate from Araragi’s influence, much like Second Season. The first two portions, Tsukihi Undo and Nadeko Draw, show a lot of growth amongst the cast, especially Nadeko, following the struggles they dealt with previously. Nadeko Draw in particular proved itself to be something of an epilogue to Nadeko’s story up until this point, showing the new more responsible and independent Nadeko coming to terms with her complicated past all while taking her next step into her maturity. I feel like Nadeko’s story in particular is one of the series' very best story lines and Nadeko Draw is a very good next step.

The next portion, Acerola Bon Appetit, then offers a complete shift in this season up until this point. This two episode portion goes into Shinobu’s origin story 600 years before the start of the series. In addition to a very interesting separate OVA episode, this short portion offers an interesting look into a side of Shinobu who we haven't really been told all that much about before now and it offers some fascinating context to the intricacies in her character that has been absent up until this point. Additionally, Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicide-Master, the new vampire character, offers an intriguing new look into the vampiricism side of the story made prevalent by earlier entries like Kizumonogatari.

Finally, this Season finishes off with Shinobu Mustard where once again, Araragi retakes his main role in the story. This part in particular follows Araragi working alongside Gaen in investigating a series of vampire attacks across town. I found this part to be especially interesting as it comes across as being much more of a mystery oriented story. It felt very different from just about the entirety of the rest of the series up until this point and I thought it was a very compelling shift in the typical structure of how The Monogatari series has told its stories so far. It almost felt similar in genre and theme to Nisioisin’s very own Zaregoto series which is a very welcome change. From what I understand, this mystery focus becomes more prevalent in the other light novel entries that haven't been adapted yet and I think it will prove to be a very interesting shift for the series while remaining inline with what fans of the series have come to expect from it up until this point.

In conclusion, what more can I really say without saying too much? If you’re a big Monogatari Series fan like myself, I think Off & Monster season proved itself in not only being an excellent new entry after the 5 year or so drought of new content but also as a very promising look into the future of the series as a whole. With just how great this season ended up being, I think myself and my fellow fans can now eagerly await the next entry to this amazing series!