BAKEMONOGATARI ANIME COMPLETE GUIDEBOOK
STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
1
RELEASE
October 27, 2010
CHAPTERS
5
DESCRIPTION
Five short stories, one for each of the Bakemonogatari girls which appeared in the complete guidebook.
Hitagi Buffet
Mayoi Room
Suruga Court
Nadeko Pool
Tsubasa Song
CAST
Koyomi Araragi
Hitagi Senjougahara
Shinobu Oshino
Tsubasa Hanekawa
Mayoi Hachikuji
Nadeko Sengoku
Suruga Kanbaru
Karen Araragi
Tsukihi Araragi
CHAPTERS
RELATED TO BAKEMONOGATARI ANIME COMPLETE GUIDEBOOK
ANIME ComedyBakemonogatari
MANGA ActionBakemonogatariREVIEWS
inspirashamul
Araragi calls Hitagi Fat but this is wholesome.Continue on AniListMaybe I shouldn't have read these right after Bakemonogatari anime because after reading them post finishing the entire Monogatari anime, those stories foreshadow a good amount.
Hitagi Buffet - Htagi doubles her weight
Mayoi Room - Mayoi loses her backpack
Suruga Court - Kanbaru plays basketball
Nadeko Pool - Nadeko buys a swimsuit
Tsubasa Song - Hanekawa goes karaokingAlthough the writing feels somewhat crude to for all of these stories, they are a great companion piece that I am now obsessing over where all these short stories fall in the timeline for Monogatari instead of continuing my read-through of Second Season in the LN.
Spoilers for later parts of the Monogatari series so continue reading at your own discretion
There 5 stories are split into two time periods: Post Bake (Song, Buffet) and Post Nise (Room, Court) with Pool somewhat of a toss up on where in the timeline it falls.
Song comes after Bake as Hanekawa gets her hair cut off, but what is really special about this one is the fact that Hanekawa tries to do normal things like Karaoke but it becomes perfection as she doesn't miss any marks and sings the entire time while Araragi is with her. Even when she tries to relieve stress in a normal fashion, it is not so normal and makes sense how this eventually manifests into future problems for her in Second Season.
Buffet has really rude remarks like Araragi calling Hitagi fat (as a joke) but still very boorish and my least favorites of the 5 but the emotional hook of this one hits because someone who had to moderate every little thing in their life due to the crab for Hitagi when it comes to clothes and even food anything that weighs upon her weight is felt 10 times as well. Having that girl pig out essentially is very wholesome to see and I love Hitagi.
Room is weird. Araragi has a kidnapping spell put on him and this has Mayoi end up in his room which is again very odd. But that emotional hook of letting Mayoi change into her PJs and get a well deserved rest after all of that wandering around as a lost cow is cute to read. Also the fact that this sets the stage for the second arc of Second Season is awesome as we see the aftermath of Mayoi Room from two POVs: Mayoi Jiangshi EP 1 from Araragi's POV or Tsubasa Tiger EP 1 from Hanekawa's POV.
Court happens after Room because of the chronic illness that led to kidnapping in Room in Court is Araragi getting his ass beat in basketball by Kanbaru. Apparently this is their second date so I am assuming their Mountain walk with lunch in Snake Arc is their first date? But Kanbaru also mentions a date in Second Season (Tsubasa Tiger EP 3) so idk which one is attached to this. The wholesomeness comes from the fact that Kanbaru can actually go all out for the first time in forever in a sport that she excels in and this feels like a Prototype for the 1 on 1 match in Hanamonogatari.
Pool is very Nadekoesque. No bangs and revealing clothes and Araragi being dumb like forgetting that Vampires can't swim. I feel like this can take place either before or after Nise because this moment feels like a prototype for when Araragi goes to Nadeko's house in Nise. There she also has her bangs pulled up and wearing revealing clothes; however Pool seems to take the intensity up even higher so that's why I would place it after Nise. This timeline places it after Room but I don't really see any way the story indicates this unless I am missing something.
The reading order seems very intentional as everything is with Isin. Buffet and Song bookend the post Bake pre Nise material while Room and Court both have a reoccuring disease.
Overall, these short stories are a blast and you are missing out if you are a Monogatari fan and aren't reading them. It's extra character interactions!
Kishbokai
An added fun piece to the wonderful character writing that comes from MonogatariContinue on AniListToday was the best day
Unbeknownst to me, there were two short story entries from Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari. As the self-proclaimed "Biggest Monogatari fan," I felt a tiny wave of shame for not knowing about it.
Nevertheless, I will be reading both, along with Nademonogatari as a celebration of the announcement for the Off & Monster season anime adaptation. I promised to finish them sooner, but things don't work out sometimes. (I should really stop making promises).Enough rambling. Let's begin
Note: Spoilers for all of the first season of Monogatari and slight spoilers for Nekomonogatari (White) and Otorimonogatari (They're a part of the second season)
Hitagi Buffet:
Araragi and Senjougahara go on a date.
At least, I think it's a date. I'm not exactly sure because it's never said they're on a date, but judging from how they talk about Kanberu, I'll say it's a date.All that happens is funny banter between the two where Araragi makes the grave mistake of asking about Senjougahra's weight and nearly dying in the process. She then explains how girls don't get fat, but "only grow." Although, she gets jealous about how Araragi can't become fat because of his vampire powers.
It's really just a cute story where if your favourite character is Senjougahara, you'll love it.
I'm not the biggest fan of her, but I like her enough to enjoy this oneHitagi Buffet: 75/100
Mayoi Room:
Araragi kidnaps Hachikuji into his home.
...
God damn it Araragi, I can only defend you so much.But really, not even he knows why. Araragi was going about his day, cycling around and found the snail girl herself.
Then blacks out (Which is super concerning), ties her to his bike and brings her home....Truly, he's not helping his case at all.
In fact, I would say he has no case and any lawyer that would have to defend him in court would lose on the basis they're defending Koyomi Araragi.Either way, it's a lot of funny banter between the two, involving some wordplay and a more light-hearted version of the scene in Nadeko Snake, where Kanberu and Araragi are with Nadeko, who changes into a swimsuit.
Whereas here, Hackhikuji changes into her pyjamas while Araragi is in the room, facing away.
...
Would wholesome be the correct choice of words or more concerning?It's a really funny story where if you love the conversations between Araragi and Hackikuji, you'll love this.
I for one, love those parts.Mayoi Room: 85/100
Suruga Court:
Araragi challenges the star ace of basketball to, wouldn't you know it, basketball and gets absolutely wrecked.
Because, of course he would.He does so in a very formal Japanese way, whereas Kanberu responds in a very informal Japanese way.
Araragi sends a letter with traditional, hand-inked writing and Kanberu shows up in gothic lolita fashion.He still gets beaten hard, even though he cheated by getting some of his vampire powers out.
There's not much to write about as writing any more would ruin the hilarity of the situation.
It's a really enjoyable story where if your favourite character is Kanberu, you'll love it.
I am someone who loves her a ton, so of course I love it.Suruga Court: 90/100
Nadeko Pool:
Araragi goes to the pool with Nadeko.
Though, to be more exact, he's there to teach Nadeko how to swim.But it quickly turns into a scene like when he meets with Nadeko at her house where it is her attempting to seduce Araragi.
With the tiniest string bikini known to mankind.
Now, I'm not the biggest Nadeko fan. She's probably the least interesting to me out of the whole cast. But I always do find Araragi's reaction to her interesting. Not once in this story does he think of her in a sexual sense. He even goes as far as to call the sight "pitiable"
It shows a layer of depth to Araragi that is misunderstood but a layer of depth that's hard to grasp by anyone, including me. Quite honestly, it deserves its own section in another review, but it's something that I will touch upon one of these days.
In short, it's pretty dull other than that nice piece of character work.
It's a pitiable story, but if you're a fan of Nadeko, you'll be sure to love it.
For me, I found it quite boring.Nadeko Pool: 60/100
Tsubasa Song:
Araragi thinks that Hanekawa asked him out on a date, but it was only a friendly hangout at a Karaoke place.
In some ways, this is like an added DLC to Tsubasa Cat and Tsubasa Tiger. It is about Hanekawa's inability to let go of stress, but also be normal. Her lack of normality worries her so much that she memorised and sang every song to perfection because that's what she thought was normal.
Which, in turn, is what only makes her so abnormal.
Hanekawa is a character that is best to be analysed in another review, but for now, this is a wonderful bonus for anyone who has finished Monogatari, or even rereading it.
A clarifying side note if you will.
The ending as well is also something so heartbreaking to read, yet it is done so causally in the story.
It's a really amazing story that any Hanekawa fan would love.
And, in turn, it's my favourite story of the five.Tsubasa Song: 95/100
In conclusion:
Reading these stories felt like a wave of nostalgia for the simpler times in the overall story of Monogatari. You get to see where all the characters used to be, and how they used to act, which for me, who has almost caught up with the novels, is a very wild sight to see. These characters have grown so much that their initial starting place has a sorrowful feel as I read through it all.
Granted, these stories aren't mindblowing and rereading/rewatching Bakemonogatari would give me that same feeling, yet it's nice that I got to read something completely new.
Overall, they're all nice short stories that I enjoyed from beginning to end.
Have a good day and keep trying to enjoy life
-KishbokaiP.S. Thank you Shaft for making more Monogatari anime.
[Orokamonogatari review ->](https://anilist.co/review/15048)
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Ended inOctober 27, 2010
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