Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Nisemonogatari Blu-ray Movie Review

Sisters, sisters. . .

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 4, 2013

It’s the rare sequel that can live up to the overwhelming success of a lauded first entry in a series. Unfortunately, the mere fact that a first entry was lauded and successful quite often seems to require a sequel, at least in the bean counting world of entertainment. While it’s not unusual for feature film franchises to push sequels far beyond their ostensible shelf life (the Saw films, anyone?), the world of anime is at least a little more restrained. Bakemonogatari was an extremely well received light novel series by Nisio Isin with some incredibly evocative illustrations by Vofan, and it was adapted into an equally well received anime in 2009, part of a larger set of offerings from the Shaft production house which has sought to bring several of Nisio Isin’s pieces out in animated form. The anime drew quite heavily on Vofan’s original stylized drawings and indeed its visual allure was one of the anime’s chief selling points. Nisemonogatari picks up more or less where Bakemonogatari left off, although the series’ hero Koyomi finds himself in desperate straits as this second entry lifts off, a distinct difference from Bakemonogatari, where Koyomi went around rescuing various girls who were suffering from a variety of horrible curses. Nisemonogatari continues the franchise’s frequently dazzling visual style, but this sophomore entry is decidedly talkier, and therefore may not be as viscerally exciting to some viewrs as Bakemonogatari was. In fact had Bakemonogatari not been such a looming presence and so obviously apt for comparison’s sake, Nisemonogatari might indeed have seemed rather revolutionary in at least a couple of ways. But following in the footsteps of its perhaps better constructed elder sibling means that some fans of this franchise are probably going to be wishing for (to paraphrase a tag line from another well known anime) “less filler, more action”.

Bakemonogatari was structured rather artfully as a series of fairly independent arcs that each focused on a different girl and that girl’s individual problem, which Koyomi helped (or at least attempted to help) ameliorate. Over the course of fifteen episodes (on the Blu-ray set at least, only twelve were initially broadcast), six different girls were profiled, and that gave Bakemonogatari a sense of variety, even if the general plot trope of a cursed female admittedly became pretty repetitive. Nisemonogatari is relatively less ambitious in this regard, dealing in only two main arcs spread over eleven episodes. Some fans at least may feel that in this case less is indeed less, and the series might have been better served if more elements had been added along the way.

According to several sources, Bakemonogatari translates roughly to “ghost story”, which is a more or less apt way of describing the various otherworldly creatures with whom Koyomi comes into contact during that series. The description printed on the back of Nisemonogatari translates that title as “fake story”, which might seem to indicate that this second arc doesn’t quite have the narrative impetus that the first series did. And there is a certain discursive quality to Nisemonogatari, at least with regard to the first set of episodes, episodes which ping pong back and forth between the “present”, where Koyomi finds himself a kidnap victim handcuffed in an abandoned school, and that “past”, where we’re given information on what has led Koyomi to this frightening turn of events.

In other ways, though, Nisemonogatari simply continues Bakemonogatari’s tradition of having Koyomi confront “damsels in distress”, though in this series the girls are members of Koyomi’s own family. The first arc, entitled “Karen Bee”, deals with Koyomi’s little sister Karen. The “Karen Bee” arc is a bit strange as the kidnapping fills up the first half or so of the episodes, but is only tangentially connected to the actual Karen elements of the plot. That gives this arc a somewhat fractured quality, though the kidnapping sequences are quite well done with some of the series’ most stylish animation. The actual affliction affecting Karen could in fact have been ripped right out of Bakemonogatari and so that aspect of the first arc feels rather familiar, perhaps overly so.

The second arc, entitled “Tsukihi Phoenix”, focuses on Koyomi’s youngest sister Tsukihi, who it turns out doesn’t have the typical “problem” of being cursed (in the traditional sense) by an alien entity, but who has a certain secret identity which this arc reveals. This is also a rather odd arc in a way that pushes Tsukihi’s story off to the sidelines for a while before returning to it in the wrap up episodes, leading again to the feeling that there’s a fair amount of filler being injected into what might otherwise be a streamlined and perhaps more compelling story.

Despite all of this, Nisemonogatari is often an interesting outing, especially for those who were hooked by Bakemonogatari. Several of the supporting characters from that series show up here, including a couple in new guises (or at least aspects), giving the overall narrative a nice through line. The series is still sprinkled fairly liberally with some peculiar fan service (some of the interactions between Koyomi and his sisters may leave more squeamish viewers squirming uncomfortably), and there’s absolutely no doubt that Nisemonogatari continues the outstanding visual style of the first series.

Nisemonogatari Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Nisemonogatari is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Aniplex with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 (bumpers for episodes are in a wider aspect ratio which our measuring tool identifies as 2.02:1). This is a gorgeously animated series that looks rather unusually filmic a lot of the time. Deep, lustrous hues infuse the show at virtually every turn, and the series tends to exploit a lot of "arty" effects with varying perspective and bizarre close-ups even in supposedly "normal" dialogue sequences. The image here is beautifully sharp—when it's supposed to be—but also rather soft (again intentionally) at other times, especially in some of the hazy opening moments of the first arc when Koyomi discovers he's been kidnapped. Line detail remains very sharp and the animation is excellently fluid, popping really well throughout this high definition presentation. Very minor banding is apparent now and then but it's fairly negligible. Even with two episodes on a BD-25, there's more than ample room for everything and therefore compression artifacts are of no great concern.

All of these discs boot right to the first episode on each of them (after the obligatory logos and copyright warnings). Pressing "Top Menu" on your remote will get you to the Main Menu where you can access the Special Features.

Nisemonogatari Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Nisemonogatari follows Bakemonogatari's suit by offering only an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 mix in the original Japanese. That is actually more suitable to this outing than it perhaps was for the first series, for Nisemonogatari tends to have longer, more detailed pure dialogue sequences without quite so many audio effects dotting the aural landscape. Fidelity is excellent, with occasionally nicely splayed stereo effects, and both dialogue and the enjoyable score are reproduced with crispness and no damage of any kind. Dynamic range is perhaps slightly less wide than it was in Bakemonogatari.

Nisemonogatari Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Nisemonogatari follows in the footsteps of Bakemonogatari and in fact will make a nice companion set on any collector's shelf. As with the first release, this one comes housed in a sturdy slipcase which holds three Blu-ray keepcases, two of which have two discs and the third which holds a single disc. The slipcase features art by Akio Watanabe. Also like the first set, this one includes a very handsome 36 page glossy booklet which includes episode recaps and character information as well as a glut of illustrations. The on-disc supplements include:

• Textless Opening (Disc 1) (1080p; 1:31)


• Textless Opening Version A (1080p; 1:31)


• Textless Opening Version B (1080p; 1:31)


• Textless Ending Version A (1080p; 1:31)


• Textless Ending Version B (1080p; 1:31)


• Textless Ending Version C (1080p; 1:31)


• Textless Opening (Disc 4) (1080p; 1:31)


• Trailers (1080p; 1:59)


• TV Spots (1080p; 2:37)


• BD & DVD Ads (1080p; 1:50)

Nisemonogatari Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For me personally Nisemonogatari was at least a slight step down from Bakemonogatari. It seems more drawn out, less focused and also has the strange tendency to suddenly go off in weird directions (which actually may recommend it to some viewers). I found it a bit odd that the first arc, supposedly about Karen, and the second arc, supposedly about Tsukihi, spent at least as much time on other, in some cases totally tangential, plot developments that robbed the supposedly "main" storylines of some momentum. All of this said, Nisemonogatari is often very enjoyable, and the gorgeous animation alone is enough to warrant serious consideration from any longtime anime fan. This Blu-ray set is admittedly pretty pricey, and some may question the need for five discs when only eleven episodes are included, but the video and audio quality is outstanding and for those who don't mind spending a pretty penny, Nisemonogatari comes Recommended.