When you step into a theater, anticipating beautiful cinematography, vivid storytelling, and emotional acting, an animated movie is the last thing you expect. Despite animation becoming increasingly more adult nowadays, it is still viewed with a lower regard when discussing true cinematic masterpieces. It is hard to blame those who judge it; with a clear focus on action and spectacle, animation is mainly simple entertainment. This is even more true with anime, a medium which goes against many Western storytelling ideals, such as “show, don’t tell.” However, the growing industry proves to be branching out in a positive direction, ever-evolving to deliver profound and subtle stories while not compromising on the creativity seen in anime. This is very present with Tatsuya Oishi, director of Kizumonogatari -Koyomi Vamp- and Bakemonogatari. He is able to express precise emotions in animation that tell a whole story, giving profound insight into the characters and their inner feelings, a feat difficult to accomplish in anime.

Kizumonogatari -Koyomi Vamp- compiles his original Kizumonogatari trilogy from 2016 and 2017 into a single movie, preparing fans for Monogatari Off & Monster Season, now streaming on Crunchyroll. Displaying similarities to film noir, this movie can be considered an anime noir but mostly a supernatural fantasy drama about vampires. Kizumonogatari is a thrilling tragedy that lets you know it right from the start as it poetically portrays the downfall and resurgence of becoming human through its unique storytelling, editing, and character focus. Serving as a prequel to Bakemonogatari and the origin of the protagonist Koyomi Araragi (Hiroshi Kamiya), this movie kicks off the Monogatari story initially written by NISIOISN. The franchise is known for its complex deep dive into its main cast through the appearance of spirits possessing them, reflecting their personal issues.

What Is ‘Kizumonogatari -Koyomi Vamp-‘ About?
Image via SHAFT

With Monogatari’s signature style and Oishi’s excellent direction, Koyomi Vamp opens by masterfully leading the audience in suspense despite the character simply walking through a subway station. Then, with an introduction similar to the style of Christopher Nolan and Alfred Hitchcock’s films, fans get a glimpse into the horrific future our protagonist must endure. The film presents multiple title cards translating to vampire, tragedy, story, and white/black/inverted, telling us exactly what to expect: a tragic story about a vampire. Flashing back, the movie uses the imagery of a tree to represent the state of Araragi, fittingly, because part of his name incorporates the spelling of tree in Japanese. Here, viewers witness his life-changing when making his first friend, who positively influences his self-inflicted loneliness, Tsubasa Hanekawa (Yui Horie). Despite this joyous occasion, Araragi finds himself drawn into a subway station in the dead of night while traversing the massive yet empty cityscape reminiscent of a dream. A trail of blood drags his curiosity deeper into the station, and in spite of his building fear, Araragi continues until he encounters a limbless body in a pool of blood. However, after the body utters an arrogant remark, we know precisely the type of character she is and her role in the story. Introducing herself as Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade (Maaya Sakamoto), or Kiss-shot for short, she requests the aid of Araragi, taking all of his blood and seemingly killing him in the process.

Even with the long introduction, the movie never dulls, giving us the real plot when the rest of the film catches up to the intro. Having turned into a vampire, Araragi deals with the perks of regeneration, immortality, and strength while brooding over his loss of humanity. The once mature Kiss-shot is now only a child after not taking all of Araragi’s blood. However, in order to return to her normal state and revert Araragi into a human, he must hunt down the three vampire hunters who stole Kiss-shot’s limbs. With the introduction of Meme Oshino (Takahiro Sakurai), he coaches Araragi in the ways of the supernatural, feeding him advice that will be important for him later. The rest of the film explores the dynamic relationships between Araragi, Hanekawa, and Kiss-shot, the only good influences on his life. To get back his humanity, he hunts down the vampire hunters, Dramaturgy (Masashi Ebara), Episode (Miyu Irino), and Guillotinecutter (Hochu Otsuka). However, his hunt for humanity drags him into the depths of monsterhood, continuously relying on his powers during each fight. It reaches the point where success provides the opposite result, making a depressed and moody Araragi who has only put Hanekawa in danger as he becomes more monster than man.

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An essential part of the Monogatari franchise is showing everything a character is thinking, with the overall story focusing on the characters. Koyomi Vamp does this spectacularly, using expressive facial animations that clearly portray the character’s feelings. However, we also learn details through the editing and background events of the story. We understand when Araragi is lying in one scene when a car crashes in the background, and much later, we can piece together that he is thinking of the same topic when they show the crashed car. Because Koyomi Vamp is about being human and everything that comes with it, the unique storytelling devices focusing on the character’s inner thoughts through editing and music portray this perfectly. With Araragi’s descent into a monster, Hanekawa acts as his support, making him understand that he is human, which is ultimately another thing the film is trying to say: that caring for one another makes us human. This is shown through Kiss-shot’s development when meeting Araragi, deciding to be empathetic for the first time in hundreds of years just because someone cares for her. The themes of being human are complexly displayed through fights, editing, and character dynamics, telling us that humans are both good and bad, but we can remain human as long as we care for one another.

‘Kizumonogatari -Koyomi Vamp-‘ Is A Masterful Retelling Of A Profound Story

With the Kizumonogatari trilogy adding up to roughly 3 hours and 35 minutes, Koyomi Vamp has a runtime of 2 hours and 24 minutes, cutting over an hour of content. Koyomi Vamp contains 52 minutes from the first movie, 32 minutes from the second, and another 52 from the third, which does not include the end credits. Since this is a compilation movie, the only real difference is the editing to cut down the original Kizumonogatari trilogy into a more compact version. All the scenes in Koyomi Vamp are directly taken from the previous films, so while fans shouldn’t expect new content, they will be sure of the high level of quality the film produces.

While many hardcore Monogatari fans would say the trilogy is better simply because there is more content, Koyomi Vamp offers a streamlined story that could help newer fans get into the series while still delivering the same fantastic tale. However, many vital scenes were cut between Araragi and Hanekawa that give insight and development into their dynamic and relationship. The cut scenes mainly were content that paints Araragi in a perverted light, which, for better or worse, is part of his character. So, while this change may make him more palatable for newer fans, it feels disingenuous to the original story and character.

As a movie ripe with gore and overt fanservice, Koyomi Vamp might disgust non-anime viewers who aren’t accustomed to many of the tropes. But under the crude scenes is a vulnerable teenager experiencing normal teenager feelings in the craziest of situations. The animation does a phenomenal job displaying emotions, with the editing style adding their inner feelings, creating a moving story that gets us to understand Araragi better. The movie animates many scenes that feel like it is actually being shot, such as the helicopter view and the camera rolling past Araragi as he falls. Considering this is animation, Oishi does an impressive job, which is only enhanced by the breathtaking cinematography, leaning into film noir elements with stunning landscape shots. Koyomi Vamp cleverly uses music and sounds to tell a story and increase specific feelings for certain scenes. The film is also very bloody, from using exaggerated gore to the point it’s comedic to having sensually gruesome scenes between Araragi and Kiss-shot. The visceral yet humorous gore presents itself the best during fight scenes, which, when paired with stellar animation and the creative genius of Oishi, creates the most unique and inventive action sequences.

The ending fight, in particular, is so riveting with surreal and innovative action that you almost forget how tragic it is with two people who just found a special bond together for the first time in ages, only to be forced to kill each other because of incompatible ideals. Koyomi Vamp is a mind-bending story that uses poetic editing, incredible animation, creative fights, and clever music to build complex characters and dynamics. While old fans will no doubt love this movie, first-time viewers should give it a chance and delve into the bizarrely real stories of the Monogatari franchise.

Kizumonogatari -Koyomi Vamp- is now streaming on Crunchyroll in the U.S.

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Kizumonogatari -Koyomi Vamp- is a gruesomely beautiful experience that profoundly uses its editing style to tell a complex dreamlike story.ProsA profound character-focused story that uses poetic editing, stunning animation, and inventive action to display the character’s inner thoughts and feelingsA streamlined version to introduce new fans into the Monogatari franchise that doesn?t sacrifice the story and themesGorgeous animation and stellar fights ConsToo many important scenes between Araragi and Hanekawa were cut, leaving out moments that helped build their relationship.

Release Date August 28, 2024 Director Tatsuya Oishi Cast Hiroshi Kamiya , Maaya Sakamoto , Yui Horie , Takahiro Sakurai , Miyu Irino , Masashi Ebara , Hochu Otsuka Runtime 145 Minutes Writers Tatsuya Oishi , Nisio Isin Expand