ZOKU OWARIMONOGATARI

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME DramaHanamonogatari
ANIME ComedyOwarimonogatari (Ge)
NOVEL ComedyZoku Owarimonogatari
ONA DramaMonogatari Series: Off & Monster Season

REVIEWS

• 

  Neros

  100/100
  An epilogue that magnificently closes a series that will remain in the collective memories of those who have seen it

  The aim of this short review is not to get into the technical side of the anime as this is my very first review and I'm not going to pretend I know how to do it. It is my humble way to share with you the feelings I have about this anime.

  This spoiler-free review will cover Zoku Owarimonogatari as well as my experience with the entire monogatari series and will try to portray, in my eyes, why this work is unmatched in every aspect of an anime and can be called a masterpiece.

  My first experience with the series does not stick at all with the opinion that I have of the series now since I took more than 3 years to finish the first opus, Bakemonogatari. First of all, I discovered an extravagantly animated anime, strewn with sequences containing text too fast to read, which supported a plot as mysterious as bizarre with very atypical characters that I did not understand. In fact, it would be fair to say that I didn't understand anything at all. The misunderstanding that I had for the series quickly turned into discomfort which caused this prolonged break.

  But when I decided to let go of my old feelings three years later and paid more attention to the many details that this show contains, I found myself gradually hooked by a unique atmosphere built of all the very details I did not understand before. I realised that this show was a giant puzzle and each season developing a certain character was a piece completing the unordered chronology of the series.

  Everything started to sound more and more correct during the episodes until the second season of the show which orchestrated in such a unique way the characters remarkably well developed during the previous seasons. All the emotions came to me perfectly: fear, intrigue, anguish, solace and many more delivered by stunning visuals and ost which mixed well with each other. While I was already filled with this experience so unique in the world of the japanese animation that I knew, the show surprised me once again by introducing the most mysterious and intriguing character in the series so far, Ougi Oshino, in a final arc separated in two parts.

  And finally after two whole years came Zoku Owarimonogatari, this separated arc serving as an epilogue to a real singularity among animes.
  In just a few hours, a digest is delivered to us which loses by no means the peculiar and unique flavour of the series, following a completely new plot to which Araragi is confronted despite himself. We discover a new facet of each character that we learned to love during the series.

  Thus, this epilogue closes magnificently a series which I have no doubt marked the minds of many and I hope will continue to do so.

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• 

  ldealAndTheReal

  100/100
  What if a mirror world story...was good

  This turned less into a review and more into a rambling as I went on, do I care? absolutely not

  To start off with what it's about, this arc follows Araragi's confrontation with his regrets and lingering feelings in the mirror world, a reflection of how NisioIsin probably felt writing the arc itself as he's confessed to feeling he didn't do Nadeko justice so it's apparent he holds regrets towards how he's progressed and written the story, much like Araragi has inner turmoil in regards to the past 3 years and how he's caused troubles for everyone but as we all have to, the only thing we can do is accept it and move on much like Isin would have to as a writer himself. He can't change what he's done, he can hold onto it and look back such that the story can continue similar to Araragi's journey in life.

  Another neat detail of this supposed interpretation based meta-narrative is that Senjougahara can be equated to the fandom, if not for the fans Isin would be just as lost as Araragi at the crossroads of life. The way the arc parallels how Isin feels concluding this act of Monogatari is one of my favourite aspects in the series and a good reason why it's my favourite arc in the series.

  A scientific fact such as mirrors absorbing 20% of the light shone on them being used as a thematic device speaks volumes for Isin's genius writing, within this arc alone he hit his apex concerning everybody's mirror world counterparts since they feel as though it's the same character with little tweaking representing how this is a part of everybody in the story and a part we're aware of but a part we're not shown since nobody likes hanging their regrets out in the open.

  Araragi and Ougi's conversation, in the end, might just be the best sequence in the arc, How Araragi comes to accept all thrown at him is masterful and does a great brush-up for his and Ougi's character. Hitagi being as she is since he holds no regrets towards her is also amazing attention to detail since this point is made clear from the very first arc in the series, Hitagi not having a counterpart may seem unfair but it's incredible treatment to her character and the cast in general. Tooru appearing for only a few minutes and having such a powerful presence is another neat detail I'm awestruck by. I could talk on and on about how perfect mirror world Sodachi is but I'm simply happy she gets a happy ending in some way again considering she gets deserted by her actions in the proper timeline.

  As Araragi said, "I am just the man you can see" I could only wish to accept my regrets as magnificently as him.

  Every single technical and narrative aspect of the arc is nailed so how could it NOT be the perfect arc to me.

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• 

  Wilza

  94/100
  The Last 20 Percent on Top

  This review contains spoilers.

  ---

  Well, here we are. The continuation of the end. The epilogue. Zoku Owarimonogatari is the final instalment of the story of the Monogatari Series. A mirror story, a twisted reflection of the story that we have just witnessed.

  I’m a big fan of the mirror world gimmick. The drama of someone being suddenly different is a fun way for a story to explore the characters from a different angle. With such complex characters to mess around with, this series can do some really clever stuff. But Zoku Owarimonogatari does more than just that. The series has taken the gimmick and redefined it, using the very concept to explore how the characters look at themselves.

  So, at its heart, this series is more than just about seeing the mirrored versions of the characters. While the central mystery at first appears to be how did Araragi end up in this mirror world, the real question becomes why. Why are these people mirrored as they are?

  ---

  A mirror, as Gaen Tooe tells us, lets us see our back. The mirror lets us see the hidden parts of ourselves, the parts we can can only see in a reflection.

  So, in the mirror world, the characters are reflected, flipped and mirrored to show a different side of themselves. The mirror world shows how people are on the inside. Hanekawa appears as Black Hanekawa because that’s who she has long carried on the inside. Mayoi is now 21 years old, the reflection of a girl who has continued to grow internally despite her age freezing externally. And Tsukihi remains unchanged because she is as she appears.

  And what is the point of showing how people are on the inside? Perhaps it lets Araragi peer deeper into the realities of his own world. We look in a mirror to be able to see and study ourselves. Here, the mirror is being held against his reality, allowing him to properly look at it.

  Yet, it’s more complicated that that. Araragi doesn’t find himself pulled into a mirror world, but rather the mirror world finds itself pulled into Araragi’s. The reflections aren’t the mere backsides of the characters. This series isn’t more than just a fun gimmick at the end of the story.

  Because the reflections aren’t just the hidden sides of these people. They’re their regrets. The last 20% that is about to be forgotten. Mayoi is 21 because she regrets not being able to grow up. Shinobu is a human because she held regret for not being that noble woman anymore. These are regrets that the characters have lived with and forgotten.

  And as Araragi has just graduated, he too is about to move on from the school and his classmates, leaving behind these regrets. This series is about them. It’s posits that while you cannot and need not change them, do not forget them.

  All the mirrored people Araragi meets and interacts in this series allow him to see the last 20% that he could not see before. In this, the series is doing more than just tying up loose ends. Narratively, I think this was done in Owarimonogatari Second Season. Instead it’s rounding out everyone. Poetically polishing them that last 20%.

  We don’t see Senjougahara in the mirror world. For Araragi there was nothing her regretted with her. And I’m sure we meet Gaen Tooe because Gaen Izuko regretted how she dealt with her older sister. We see and meet everyone for a reason, and it’s all with the purpose of showing us that these people are complex even when everything seems to be neatly resolved.

  ---

  Speaking of Gaen, though… The brilliance of this series and of the achronological storytelling really shined in this bathing scene. The rainy devil was of course a counterpart of Gaen Tooe, in the same way that Ougi is for Araragi.

  And her talking about it in this conversation punctuates Hanamonogatari. She repeats the opening comments she made in the series. She argued that the rainy devils left hand cannot be a poison or a medicine, that it can only be a corpse. In this sense, we can read another layer into who Numachi Rouka really is. And what the monkey’s paw role really was. (This series would also explain why Ougi appears as a boy in Hanamonogatari).

  And being able to hear Tooe talk about her sister finally shed light onto my final question of the show. Why does Gaen Izuko know everything? Because there is nothing she doesn’t want to know. This is good enough for me. Knowledge was a very important thing in this series, and Gaen Tooe had the final perspective: it doesn’t matter. What’s important is understanding, and that strikes the heart of what this series is about.

  We need to understand our regrets. Because we can be right or wrong, left or right about what we know. But we need to understand it, even if we cannot change it. The final lesson for Araragi.

  ---

  Frankly, I cannot believe this is it. Well, I can, after this series. Owarimonogatari Second Season was such a remarkable way to conclude the story. I was nervous about Zoku Owarimonogatari. I didn’t want to finish with a sour taste in my mouth. But it wasn’t. I didn’t see where you could keep going with a story that was over, but it’s this cherry on top.

  This last 20% that Nisioisin and Shaft have made to the story, reflecting on it all, acknowledging the imperfection and regrets of an incredible cast of characters. It’s a statement that makes the ‘happily every after’ of the final season more complicated, yet does not undermine it. These peoples lives continue after the graduation, living out the consequences of imperfect choices with their regrets. But that’s ok. With these regrets we can still live complete and happy lives. Left foot or right foot don’t matter. Just take a leap forward.

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