Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu

Does it live up to the hype?

Monogatari (Japanese for “story) refers to a series of light novels written by Japanese novelist Nisio Isin and illustrated by Taiwanese artist Vofan. Published by Kodansha more than 20 light novels in this series has been released since 2006. Due to its success it was later given the anime treatment thanks to Studio Shaft and it basically prints money. The stories center on a high school student named Koyomi Araragi who after surviving an encounter with a vampire, becomes embroiled in a number of paranormal incidents revolving around ghosts, gods, mythological creatures, and other supernatural entities referred to collectively as ‘oddities’. The anime series much like the novels they’re based on introduce different characters who get wrapped up in the supernatural including Koyomi’s friends and family and he must use his powers and his growing knowledge of oddities to protect them. Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu is based on book two and serves as a prequel to the Monogatari series by showing us the incident that first drew Koyomi into the world of the supernatural. Minor spoilers ahead.

 

Shinobu is having a really bad day.

Koyomi meets the vampire Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade (we’ll call her Shinobu because I’m not typing Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade more than I have to) who was brutally attacked by a group of vampire hunters. Mutilated and dying, Shinobu pleads with Koyomi to give her his blood. After much resignation Koyomi saves her life by offering his own, but finds that instead of being killed by Shinobu he’s been turned into a vampire and Shinobu has reverted to the form of an eight year-old girl. Shinobu informs Koyomi that while the hunters are in possession of her limbs she has only a fraction of her powers and is stuck in this form. If Koyomi defeats the the vampire hunters and returns Shinobu’s limbs to her, she will use her power to turn him back into a human. However, in the world of the supernatural nothing is ever what it seems.

 

Shinobu having a somewhat better day.

Going into this review I must mention that while I’ve never read the light novels, I have been following the anime series since 2009. I point this out not for some imaginary, internet nerd-cred, but because having followed the series so long I started to get tired of it around Tsukimonogatari (2014). I wasn’t hyped for this movie, but I was quite pleased with it because it has a lot of elements from Bakemonogatari I liked, and many of the elements seen in later series which I didn’t care for are downplayed if not absent altogether.

 

Meme is still the Man!

Kizumonogatari’s art style, animation and overall direction differs from the post-Bakemonogatari series. Tatsuya Oishi directed Bakemonogatari and left successive series in the hands of Akiyuki Shinbou. While the series retained Oishi’s experimental art style, it didn’t have the same feel or influences as Oishi’s take on Bakemongatari. Tatsuya Oishi returned to direct Kizumonogatari and brings back the elements he’s known for. There’s a greater emphasis on the personal story, human interactions and the emotions that lay under the surface of a normal conversation. The slapstick humor, play on words, and over the top character traits are subdued. Almost every bit of dialogue is used to express something about the characters or their feelings toward their current predicament. And there are some scenes with absolutely no dialogue and everything you need to know comes across the characters’ expressions. The film has long scenes of silence, a lot of moving camera shots, and a peculiar use of 3D CGI backgrounds which – while not my thing – did provide a unique visual element.

 

BEST GIRL!!

The film opens in medias res where things have already hit the fan and then we get a flashback to Koyomi first meeting his schoolmate Tsubasa Hanekawa and it’s easily one of the best scenes in the movie and I’d go so far as to say the series as a whole. Tsubasa is very kind and more outgoing than she would appear. She’s admired Koyomi from afar, but never interacted with him in the past despite going to the same school and even having the same classes. She’s upbeat, but not to the extent of being bubbly or annoying and she gets Koyomi to open up to her with ease. Not only that, but despite the fact that something is clearly off about Koyomi she seems to accept him immediately. She really is the Best Girl. The scene is short but sweet, allowing them to learn more about each other before Tsubasa shares an urban legend about a vampire with golden hair – a “ghost story” if you will which is thematically appropriate.

 

Pre-Creep Koyomi

One of the biggest positives in the movie is Koyomi himself. Koyomi has yet to become the character we know him as in the anime series and to an extent I feel this makes him more interesting. If you’ve seen the Monogatari series you know Koyomi is somewhat of a morally ambiguous, chivalrous pervert. When he isn’t groping his sisters or beating up an elementary-school girl, he’ll give his all to protect his loved ones. True his odd behavior works for him, but as the series goes on his debauchery becomes less humorous and more by the numbers. Here in the film, those traits are muted if they’re there at all. Koyomi is a lot more down to earth and fairly normal. He’s socially reclusive and has a hard-time making friends as indicated by the fact he doesn’t have any and he has trouble interacting with Tsubasa. When he first meets Shinobu he outright objects to helping her and flees in sheer mortal terror, but eventually comes around largely in part because he feels that helping someone will make up for the fact he’s a bad person. Koyomi’s normality in the movie sharply contrasts his over the top series counterpart and this makes him a more interesting character. Some fans might not like this version of Koyomi, but I felt it made him a stronger character who was easier to relate to.

 

Vampire Hunters

The film isn’t perfect. With a run-time of only 63 minutes certain parts (like Meme’s introduction) feel rushed. The film also makes a big deal about the vampire hunters, but their menace falls flat to anyone who has seen the series. It’s obvious that no matter how strong or dangerous the vampire hunters are Koyomi and his friends will be just fine in the end because there’s 20 novels set after this. I understand that this is one of the caveats of prequels, but the big conflict looming over the film didn’t interest me nearly as much as Koyomi’s interactions with the other characters.

 

Lulz. Just lulz.

Most anime reviewers are singing the movie’s praises from the mountains and claiming “You’z guyz dis is the BEST VAMPIRE ANIME EVA. The hype iz real. Hype levelz over 9000”, but it’s not on the level of Noblesse, Hellsing: Ultimate, or Vampire Hunter D. It’s not the best vampire anime ever, but it is an excellent, dark story of a normal, unassuming young man who gets sucked into the horrifying world of the supernatural and who must overcome all obstacles to protect his friend(s) from a fate even worse than his own. Newcomers will find Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu to be a good jumping on point, while long-time fans of Monogatari will find that this is a promising start in what is sure to be a great trilogy.