終物語

OWARIMONOGATARI

NOVEL

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
3
RELEASE
April 1, 2014
CHAPTERS
117

DESCRIPTION

Volume 1:

Before we witness the series’ climactic showdown in the third volume of the End Tale—each part of which forms its own cohesive whole—narrator Araragi wrestles with a crucial bit of history that had turned him into the loner we met at the very beginning, who opined that friendships only lowered his intensity as a human.

What initiates his pilgrim’s progress of a reckoning is his first encounter, at school, with the mysterious freshman Ogi Oshino, self-described niece of the equally enigmatic aberration expert Mèmè, and the book’s opening chapter is a harrowing standalone novella of a who-dunit involving a locked room of sorts.

Our increasingly well-adjusted hero kept on beingdecent at one thing even when he was just hanging on, but this forte, an unlikely aptitude for math, of all things, becomes the focus of a cheating scandal and a web of recollections that forces him to come to terms with, what do you know, his capacity to connect to people.

Volume 2:

When an old flame who gave up on life and chose to go up in flames—because he wanted to leave you but couldn’t—comes crawling back after four hundred years, you might not appreciate it, especially if you’re in a new relationship. But nothing’s ever simple between people, and that’s even truer between monsters.

For the first time in months, our heroic loser Araragi is human, parted by previous events from the ex-legendary vampire bound to his shadow. Before he, the second-ever thrall of the former Kissshot, can resume his partnership with the donut-loving waif that she’s turned into, she must make a choice—about that first-ever.

Before the End Tale can end, some loose ends must be tied, and in this volume, the fixer Gaen calls in her favor, requesting an introduction to her niece; the errand of the amulet that Araragi ran with Kanbaru comes into crisp focus; and the time-traveling and -spanning Dandy and Demon Tales see their devastating resolution.

Volume 3:

No good deed goes unpunished, they say, and so does friendship and lowering your intensity as a human, they don’t say—alas, for all his literally painful hustle and inveterate need to save others, our brave fool of a hero ends up in hell, a conception of the inferno in its full Buddhist glory, and muses (lol) if there’s a return ticket.

Told in three chapters, the final part of End Tale concludes the story proper and resolves the series’ panoply of ongoing mysteries: the dues of a do-gooder for relying on a power not his own, the identity of a shady transfer student, the outcome of a class president’s questing abroad, and even the true name of a park.

Araragi, indeed, is the one who knows, but along the way he meets old faces, really every last one of them, who aid him on his journey for understanding, and perhaps for salvation, and you for one might not be surprised if he had another rendezvous with an erstwhile “cloistered princess” before it—guess what it is—sees an end.

(Source: Kodansha USA)

CAST

Hitagi Senjougahara
Shinobu Oshino
Koyomi Araragi
Mayoi Hachikuji
Ougi Oshino
Suruga Kanbaru
Sodachi Oikura
Tsubasa Hanekawa
Yotsugi Ononoki
Meme Oshino
Karen Araragi
Tsukihi Araragi
Izuko Gaen
Episode
Tadatsuru Teori
Seishirou Shishirui

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO OWARIMONOGATARI

ANIME ComedyOwarimonogatari (Ge)

NOVEL ComedyKoyomimonogatari

ANIME DramaOwarimonogatari

NOVEL ComedyZoku Owarimonogatari

REVIEWS

inspirashamul
95/100
Koyomi Araragi is Araragi Koyomi, it's as simple as that.
Where do I even begin?
When it probably ends?

Owaridamonogatari is the penultimate end to the Final Season of Monogatari but with the context that we have now and 2 other whole seasons published at this point but no official English Release or Anime announcements, we can truly say that this is the big ending of the Monogatari series and what it was leading up to (excluding Zoku which I will get to before 2022 ends as intended). So I won't get sentimental here and save it for the next entry that is split up while this amalgamation of aberrations into 3 whole volumes of material covering Ougi Formula, Sodachi Puzzle, Sodachi Lost, Shinobu Mail, Mayoi Hell, Hitagi Rendevous, and Ougi Dark. What a stretch. Even though we were supposed to get to the end, we went back in time to set up that end. Maybe it was the right way to do things because Isin hid this information until the end for it to have the impact it has. Maybe this was what was intended because the reveal of Ougi which I couldn't quite understand until Araragi says it himself in the anime left me feeling lackluster was doubly enhanced on this read-through because I knew what an ordinary thing Ougi was. I ended up on both sides of what Gaen said in a mystery novel which Ougi and in essence Isin loves. Owarimonogatari felt the most Zaregoto for me. From the locked room throwback in Formula to the detective reveal's twists and turns in Ougi Dark as well as the "don't expect me to spoil you Araragi", this was one big homeage to Isin's past. To the human that probably was the most self-critical of themselves but kept on going. For the one that turned the genius into success with repetition. That effort paid off immensely as even though he might have changed while writing, he himself was the same. Nisi o isiN is nisI o Isin.

Your favorite section or maybe least favorite section of these reviews: The Short Stories! I only read two for this installment which were Yotsugi Stress and Utsukushihime finishing off the two I had left in the Heroine Series. There are a few attached to Zoku so I still have plenty to read don't worry about me. Yotsugi set a foundation of a bunch of monsters talking about their ideals while the other is the prologue? first chapter? of the first arc in Monster? Off? Season (Idk which one comes first I haven't thought about reading digitally because I will hate that I can't read physically anymore) and it was beautiful and got me hella excited for it. Although with the announcement of Zaregoto Vol 10 coming in 2023, I most likely will put off the next 2 seasons of Monogatari until I read that one. Maybe. Who knows. Anyways, Owarimonogatari actually references so many of the short stories. The first 2 in Koyomimonogatari in Ougi Formula and why Araragi is so trusting of Ougi because he knows of two other students that survey the school they attend so it feels natural even if it's very unnatural. Hitagi Running was mentioned in Sodachi Puzzle. Shinobu Mail is given because I couldn't even read Yotsugi Stress until I read that part because it stems from the end of the fight mentioned here, but Bon appetite is used which gave me the encouragement to read the last Heroine story as well (although you could consider it spoiling myself for Wazamonogatari, it was rewritten years ago so my justification is fair game but like Owari is all about, the justification is based entirely on you as an individual at the present moment). Shinobu mail also ask Gaen pose the choice between girlfriend, loli, savior, and family which was brought up in the Nise Short Story collection intitially from Shinobu as the question asker instead of Gaen. Hitagi Rendevous mentions Tsubasa Song in a funny way. I am sure I missed more but it's ok. I don't even have much to say about the story itself like what most of my reviews devolve into, but I shall see you all in Zoku before the year ends.
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