Bakemonogatari

Bakemonogatari
化物語
Genre	Romance, Occult detective, Comedy
Light novel
Written by	Nisio Isin
Illustrated by	Vofan
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Mephisto
Original run	November 1, 2006 – December 1, 2006
Volumes	2
Light novel
Kizumonogatari
Written by	Nisio Isin
Illustrated by	Vofan
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Pandora
Published	May 7, 2008
Light novel
Nisemonogatari
Written by	Nisio Isin
Illustrated by	Vofan
Published by	Kodansha
Original run	September 1, 2008 – June 10, 2009
Volumes	2
TV anime
Directed by	Akiyuki Shinbo
Studio	Shaft
Network	Independent UHF Stations
Original run	July 3, 2009 – September 25, 2009
Episodes	12
Original net animation
Directed by	Akiyuki Shinbo
Studio	Shaft
Released	November 3, 2009 – June 25, 2010
Episodes	3
Audio drama
Hyakumonogatari
Written by	Nisio Isin
Released	August 3, 2009
Light novel
Nekomonogatari (Black)
Written by	Nisio Isin
Illustrated by	Vofan
Published by	Kodansha
Published	July 28, 2010
Light novel
Nekomonogatari (White)
Written by	Nisio Isin
Illustrated by	Vofan
Published by	Kodansha
Published	October 29, 2010
Light novel
Kabukimonogatari
Written by	Nisio Isin
Illustrated by	Vofan
Published by	Kodansha
Published	December 24, 2010
Light novel
Hanamonogatari
Written by	Nisio Isin
Illustrated by	Vofan
Published by	Kodansha
Published	March 31, 2011
Light novel
Otorimonogatari
Written by	Nisio Isin
Illustrated by	Vofan
Published by	Kodansha
Published	June 30, 2011
Light novel
Onimonogatari
Written by	Nisio Isin
Illustrated by	Vofan
Published by	Kodansha
Published	September 28, 2011
Light novel
Koimonogatari
Written by	Nisio Isin
Illustrated by	Vofan
Published by	Kodansha
Published	December 2011
Anime film
Kizumonogatari
Directed by	Akiyuki Shinbo
Studio	Shaft
Released	2012
TV anime
Nisemonogatari
Directed by	Akiyuki Shinbo
Studio	Shaft
Original run	January, 2012 – Planned
Anime and Manga Portal

Bakemonogatari (化物語^?, "ghostory," a portmanteau of bakemono (化物^?, ghost or monster) and monogatari (物語^?, story)) is a Japanese popular light novel series written by Japanese novelist Nisio Isin and illustrated by Taiwanese illustrator Vofan; the series is published by Kodansha under the Kodansha Box imprint. The story centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third year high school student who has recently survived a vampire attack, and finds himself mixed up with all kinds of apparitions; gods, ghosts, mythological beasts, and spirits. An anime adaptation by Shaft started airing on July 3, 2009 and went through a total of 15 episodes. The prequel novel, Kizumonogatari was recently announced as being green-lit for an anime movie production, while the sequel Nisemonogatari has been green-lit for a TV anime production planned for January 2012.

Plot and setting

Bakemonogatari centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third year high school student who is almost human again after briefly becoming a vampire. One day, a classmate named Hitagi Senjōgahara, who never talks to anyone, falls down the stairs into Koyomi's arms. He discovers that Hitagi weighs next to nothing, in defiance of physics. Despite being threatened by her to keep away, Koyomi offers his help, and introduces her to Meme Oshino, a strange middle-aged man living in an abandoned building, who cured him of being a vampire.

The series tends to introduce only one new heroine per chapter, each involved with a different "apparition". Most of them have an item which symbolises their spectres, such as Hitagi's stapler - the claw of a crab, Mayoi's back pack - the shell of a snail, Suruga's arm - the arm of a monkey, and Nadeko's big hat and baggy jacket - the head and skin of a snake. The events of the previous chapters play an important role in the subsequent ones. The series primarily focuses on conversations between characters; it contains a fair number of parodies of other series, as well as Nisio Isin's trademark word play and metahumor.

Characters

Koyomi Araragi (阿良々木 暦, Araragi Koyomi^?)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya^[1]

Koyomi, the main character of the story, is a third year high school student who is close to failing every class except math. Shortly before the first novel begins, he was attacked by a vampire during spring break, and became a vampire himself. Although Meme Oshino helped him become human again, there are several lingering side effects; he can see in the dark, his eyes turn red when he gets angry, and he heals incredibly fast and can recover from horrendous wounds within hours. He remains scared of morning sunlight despite the fact that it no longer has any negative effects on him. He started dating Hitagi at the end of Mayoi Snail. Other characters seems to speculate that Koyomi is a lolicon, particularly Mayoi and Hitagi. Koyomi is the only person who thinks that his family relationship is bad, while Karen and Tsukihi believe otherwise. Koyomi, Karen and Tsukihi's parents were also revealed to be police officers.

Hitagi Senjōgahara (戦場ヶ原 ひたぎ, Senjōgahara Hitagi^?)

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō^[1]

Hitagi, the main character of Hitagi Crab, is a weak-looking girl with an "incurable disease". She is in the same class as Koyomi, but he has rarely heard her speak. When she was in the first year of high school, she encountered a mysterious crab, after which she became weightless. Ever since, she has avoided contact with everyone else, and threatening everyone who discovers her secret. She called herself a tsundere and always speaks in an abusive style. At the end of Mayoi Snail, she admits that she loves Koyomi, and subsequently enters into a relationship with him. After the events in Tsukihi Phoenix, she overcame all of her trauma, and finally became a completely common cheerful girl. She starts referring to Araragi with a cute nickname, chuckling at small things and sending e-mails full of Emojis, although her sharp tongue is still there, but toned down. She seems to also have a father complex, getting excited when she uses her father's blanket, so much so that she can't fall asleep. Koyomi says that he loves Hitagi the most. She seems to not be on very good terms with Karen and Tsukihi. So far in the latest novels, she is either just mentioned or just plays a small part. In Nadeko Medusa, Nadeko says that if they were to meet in different circumstances, they would have been friends but Hitagi says that she hates cute brats like Nadeko. Her next story is revealed to be Hitagi End.

Mayoi Hachikuji (八九寺 真宵, Hachikuji Mayoi^?)

Voiced by: Emiri Katō^[1]

Mayoi, the main character of Mayoi Snail, is the ghost of a fifth-grade elementary school girl. She was killed in a traffic accident while trying to reach her mother's home, and has since unsuccessfully attempted to do so. She can only be seen by people who do not want to reach their destination. Koyomi met her in a park on Mother's Day and offered to help her find her mother's home. She makes a lot of spelling mistakes and has a habit of mispronouncing Koyomi's family name. Her family name before her parents got divorced was Tsunade (綱手^?) She later graduates to become a "Wandering Spirit," after Koyomi and Hitagi help her reach her destination. In Mayoi Jiangshi, Koyomi and Shinobu accidentally travels back in time 11 years, the day before Mayoi's death. Koyomi, wanting to prevent Mayoi from turning into a wandering spirit, helps her travel to her mother's house. After they returned to the present, they found out the whole town was being infested with zombies. In this history, Koyomi has not met Mayoi, so in the events of Tsubasa Cat, he didn't get the information on Shinobu, or went near Mister Donuts, so Black Hanekawa killed him, causing this timeline's Shinobu to vow to destroy the world and make zombie vampires, or 'Jiangshi'. On a search for a power spot, Koyomi and Shinobu manage to attract the zombies but managed to be saved by a grown Hachikuji. It seems that Mayoi was not happy that she became a spirit, but was happy that as a spirit, she was able to meet Koyomi. Koyomi also stated that he's the happiest when talking to Mayoi.

Suruga Kanbaru (神原 駿河, Kanbaru Suruga^?)

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro^[1]

Suruga, the main character of Suruga Monkey, is Koyomi's underclassman, star player of the school's basketball team and one of Hitagi's acquaintances from junior high school. Immediately after she entered senior high school, she became aware of Hitagi's secret and was threatened by her, just like Koyomi was. She's an admitted lesbian, fujoshi, lolicon and masochist. Back in elementary school, she inherited what she thought was a Monkey's Paw but was actually a Rainy Devil from her mother. She started stalking Koyomi after she discovered he was dating Hitagi. She became friends with Koyomi and Hitagi after Koyomi rids her of the Rainy Devil. She also has been growing her hair longer since. In Suruga Devil, there seems to be a rumor about a devil solving other people's problem. Fearing that she might be the rumored 'Devil', she decided to investigate and found out that the rumored Devil is actually an old basketball rival of hers named, Numachi Rouka. Numachi has her left leg in a cast, which Kanbaru recalled was from an accident years ago during a match. Numachi informs her that what she does is collecting other people's misfortunes in order to make herself feel better about her injury. After Kanbaru's encounter with Numachi, the next morning her left arm (which still have traces of the Rainy Devil), has been completely healed. Kanbaru later found out that aside from Numachi collecting misfortune, she's also been collecting the devil's part. So far Numachi has collected the devil's left leg, and the devil's left arm (which was Kanbaru's) and several other devil's parts. After receiving Kaiki's gift (which is the devil's head), Kanbaru then decided to challenge Numachi to an 1-on-1 for the rights of all the devil's parts. It seems that Kanbaru is still worried about the effects of the Rainy Devil after it has been dispersed to the point that whenever she goes to sleep, she would bind her devil's arm to a pillar so that she wouldn't start sleepwalking and committing crimes and check the newspaper everyday so that she can make sure she didn't do anything unconsciously. She also has dreams of her mother once in a while which give her weird life lessons. Her mother and her father were revealed to have eloped as the Kanbaru family did not agreed on their relationship. Kanbaru is also the only person that Kaiki will ever treat in a good way.

Nadeko Sengoku (千石 撫子, Sengoku Nadeko^?)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa^[1]

Nadeko, the main character of Nadeko Snake, is Tsukihi’s friend back in elementary school. She always wears a waist pouch, always casts her eyes downward, has her bangs covering her eyes, has a shy personality, and can be easily amused. Koyomi played with her a lot whenever she visited his house after being invited by his sisters. She was put under a curse and was going to die until Koyomi found out and offered her his help. She refers to Koyomi as Koyomi-onii-chan. She's quite protective of her hair (particularly her forelocks) thinking that it's her place to guard more than her panties. When she finally combed her forelocks aside in Nisemonogatari, Koyomi commented that she has a glare just like a serpent. In Nadeko Medusa, during Halloween, Nadeko met a girl named Ougi, and after which she was able to see a white snake. In Nadeko's class, the atmosphere is strained because of the curses that happened in Nadeko Snake, and since Nadeko is the class rep, she's been pressured to do something about it. She called Koyomi for advice, and after which, the serpent told her to go to the shrine, where it pressures her, as the snake wants her to atone for what she caused by finding the remains of the snake when it was alive. She tries not to involve Koyomi, but he manages to find her at night and takes her to his house. She wakes up next to Tsukihi and managed to bring up the topic of Koyomi's girlfriend, in which Nadeko feels resentment toward Hitagi and ended up snapping at her teacher and to her class. The serpent then tells Nadeko that its remains were in Araragi's house so she goes there and rummages Koyomi's room. She found Koyomi's hidden magazines and saw that the bookmark was the remains. The serpent tells her that, as a reward, it'll grant her a wish and unsurprisingly, she wants Koyomi to like her back. Koyomi returns and saw what she was doing and cautioned her to put the bookmark down. Because of misunderstanding and some of Shinobu's provocation, she then eats the bookmark and becomes an oddity. It turns out that the serpent this time was just Nadeko being delusional, as she's been going crazy since she found out that Koyomi had a girlfriend. Nadeko then tries to kill Koyomi, but Hitagi interferes and asks her to wait until after graduation. The book ends with Nadeko welcoming Koyomi, Hitagi and Shinobu back at the snake shrine in March, with Nadeko saying: "Koyomi-onichan, I'll give you all my affection, OK?". In the official guidebook, Nisio Isin did an interview with all of the voice actors, and asked Kana Hanazawa on what character she would like to play, in which Kana Hanazawa replied that she'd like to play an evil character, probably becoming the basis of Nadeko Medusa. It seems Hitagi and Shinobu both dislike Nadeko. The story will continue in Hitagi End.

Tsubasa Hanekawa (羽川 翼, Hanekawa Tsubasa^?)

Voiced by: Yui Horie^[1]

Tsubasa, the main character of Tsubasa Cat, is Koyomi's classmate and the class representative. Koyomi describes her as "the class representative of all class representatives." Prior to the novel's beginning, she was possessed by a bakeneko during Golden Week due to stress over her family. Although it has since been resolved with the help of Shinobu and at the cost of her own memories, the problems emerge again right before the school festival because of different stress. It was revealed by the bakeneko at the end of episode 14 of the anime that the source of the aforementioned stress was her feelings for Araragi. Despite Black Hanekawa possessing a female body, the spirit itself is male. In Tsubasa Tiger, on her way to school, she met a tiger that is able to talk. Her house also burns down which causes Black Hanekawa to appear, due to the stress of her house being burned down, which causes Black Hanekawa to look for the tiger warning that if the tiger hurts Hanekawa, Black Hanekawa herself will kill the tiger. It turns out that the tiger was a manifestation of Tsubasa's jealously towards the people around her. Just like Black Hanakawa, "Kako" which is the name Tsubasa gave to the tiger, is also a new type of Kaii. In the end Tsubasa reabsorbs Kako back into her body and fully accepts Black Hanekawa as a part of her. This leads to half of Hanakawa's hair becoming white and forming a stripe-like pattern with her hair. Which in turn causes her to dye her hair black every morning. Tsubasa Tiger was written in Tsubasa's perspective instead of Koyomi's. Her catchphase is "I don’t know everything, I just know what I know." Koyomi stated that he respect Tsubasa more than anyone else.

Meme Oshino (忍野 メメ, Oshino Meme^?)

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai^[1]

Meme is a middle-aged man who lives in an abandoned building. Koyomi calls him "psychedelic aloha guy". Being an expert in the apparitions field, he solves Koyomis and others' problems, although requiring compensation. His catchphase is "You are really energetic, did something good happen?"

Shinobu Oshino (忍野 忍, Oshino Shinobu^?)

Voiced by: Aya Hirano^[2]

Shinobu is a girl who lives with Meme in the abandoned building. She appears to be an eight-year-old girl, but she was originally a beautiful vampire who had lived for more than 500 years. After the events at the end of Koyomi Vamp, she was left in a weakened condition with no powers or traces of her original personality, and therefore had to abandon her "Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade" (キスショット・アセロラオリオン・ハートアンダーブレード^?) name. She was named Shinobu by Meme at the beginning of Hitagi Crab, suggesting her kanji name Shinobu (忍), having "heart" (心) under "blade" (刃), matches with her original personality. She doesn't openly talk to anyone until "Karen Bee." Ever since "Tsubasa Cat" where she starts living in Araragi's shadow, she no longer needs to suck his blood on a regular basis in order to stay alive. She forms a physical connection with Araragi where they can feel each others emotions and senses. In Mayoi Jiangshi, in the alternate timeline, Shinobu went berserk when Koyomi was killed by Black Hanekawa so she swore to destroy the world and created the Jiangshi that has been swarming the town. It seems that she truly cares about Koyomi and when she saw Koyomi was alive in the alternate timeline, she started weeping blood. Koyomi states that he will die with Shinobu when the day comes. It seems that she does not like Nadeko very much, and in Nadeko Medusa where she slept over, Shinobu manages to prevent Nadeko and Koyomi from sleeping on the same bed, in which Shinobu tells Nadeko that she's lucky that she's cute enough to be able to stir up protective feelings from Koyomi. Her next story was revealed to be Shinobu Time.

Karen Araragi (阿良々木 火憐, Araragi Karen^?)

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura^[1]

Karen, the main character of Karen Bee, is one of Koyomi's sisters. She's older than Tsukihi and enjoys doing outdoor activities. Despite being younger, Karen is taller than Koyomi, much to Koyomi's dismay. In Karen Bee, her hot-headed personality and her habit of acting before thinking lead her to be stung by a bee, which lead to being poisoned with a terrible fever that lasted for 3 days. Like Hitagi, she refused any help from anyone which eventually leads to her and Koyomi fighting each other. Later, it was revealed that it was set up by Kaiki. Karen and Tsukihi are nicknamed Tsuga no Ki Nichū no Fire Sisters (栂の木二中のファイヤーシスターズ^?, lit. Fire Sisters of Tsuga no Ki 2nd Junior High). It was revealed that the reason she and Tsukihi found boyfriends was so that Koyomi would become jealous. They found boyfriends in Koyomi's image with Karen's boyfriend being shorter than her. She and Tsukihi also thought that Koyomi's girlfriend was Tsubasa. In Suruga Devil, she became a high school student and she also has gotten closer with Araragi to the point that Kanbaru worries that their relationship would go down a wrong turn. It also seems that when Karen went to high school, her and Tsukihi's 'Fire Sisters' duo was broken off.

Tsukihi Araragi (阿良々木 月火, Araragi Tsukihi^?)

Voiced by: Yuka Iguchi^[1]

Tsukihi, the main character of Tsukihi Phoenix, is one of Koyomi's sisters. She's the youngest of the Araragi family. Unlike her sister Karen, she prefers doing indoor activities. Contrary to her personality, she constantly changes her hair style and is short-tempered to the point that Koyomi describes her as having hysteria. She is actually the reincarnation of a phoenix and has been since before she was even born. The phoenix entered the baby's body when it was still in the womb and by now both beings' minds have become one. She is immortal, except the only thing that can end her life is a natural death from old age. Tsukihi and Karen are nicknamed Tsuga no Ki Nichū no Fire Sisters (栂の木二中のファイヤーシスターズ^?). It was revealed that the reason she and Karen found boyfriends was so that Koyomi would become jealous. They found boyfriends in Koyomi's image with Tsukihi's boyfriend being taller than her. She and Karen also thought that Koyomi's girlfriend was Tsubasa.

Deishū Kaiki (貝木 泥舟, Kaiki Deishū^?)

Deishū was first introduced in Karen Bee. He is a man who dresses in a fully black suit. He was the first con artist of the five who tricked Senjougahara's family out of their money after she had her weight taken away by the crab. He was also responsible for making her parents divorce. He returns to the town that the main characters are from in order to trick middle school girls out of their money. This time he was the one responsible for selling the information about the snake curse that led up to the case involving Nadeko. He was a member of the club that Oshino, Yozuru and Gaen were in during university. He argues that he doesn't believe in the existence of kaiis and that he only uses them to trick people out of their money. He is however very knowledgeable about the details surrounding them. In Tsukihi Phoenix he sold the information about Tsuhiki being a phoenix to Yozuru. His specialty is non-existent and impostor kaiis. Kaiki knew Kanbaru's mother in the past and he promised to take care of Kanbaru if anything happened. It also turns out that Kaiki was once in love with Kanbaru's mother and that Kanbaru is the only person Kaiki will ever treat in a good way.

Yozuru Kagenui (影縫 余弦, Kagenui Yozuru^?)

Yozuru was first introduced in Tsukihi Phoenix. She is an onmyōji and one of Meme's clubmates at the university. As a rule imposed she imposed on herself, she's not allowed to step on the ground. Between the three kouhais during university she was the only one that graduated. She fights by using her fists and is powerful enough to punch through multiple floors at once. During Tsukihi Phoenix she received information from Kaiki concerning a phoenix. Her specialty is immortal kaiis.

Yotsugi Ononoki (斧乃木 余接, Ononoki Yotsugi^?)

Yotsugi was first introduced in Tsukihi Phoenix. She is Yozuru's shikigami. She always address herself with the masculine first-person pronoun boku and thinks of Yozuru as her sister. She has an ability called Unlimited Rulebreak where she can shape-shift her finger. She was challenged to a fight by Shinobu in the end of Tsukihi Phoenix and was beaten to a bloody pulp by her. Just like Shinobu who had her name set by Oshino, her name was helped set by Kaiki. She was once a human and was resurrected as a tsukumogami by Yozuru.

Izuko Gaen (臥煙 伊豆湖, Gaen Izuko^?)

Gaen was first introduced in Tsubasa Tiger. She is a young-looking woman who wears clothes that are too big for her. She was the senpai of Oshino, Kaiki and Yozuru and it is implied that she has a connection to Kanbaru as her last name is the same as Kanbaru's mother. Gaen knows everything, to the degree where she can predict the future; as a result, she likes to brag about this and her catchphrase is "There is nothing I don't know, I know everything."

Media

Light novels

The series was first created by Nisio Isin as a series of short stories for Mephisto magazine. While his previous Zaregoto series featured large casts of characters, each Bakemonogatari story tends to introduce only one new character. The previously published stories, and some new ones, were eventually collected in two volumes as part of the Kodansha Box launch titles on November 1, 2006,^[3] and December 1, 2006, respectively.^[4] The first volume contains three stories titled Hitagi Crab (ひたぎクラブ^?), Mayoi Snail (まよいマイマイ^?) and Suruga Monkey (するがモンキー^?);^[5] the second volume comes with two newly written stories titled Nadeko Snake (なでこスネイク^?) and Tsubasa Cat (つばさキャット^?).^[5]

A prequel to the series, titled Koyomi Vamp (こよみヴァンプ^?) was published in the first issue of Pandora magazine, it was later released as a separate volume on May 7, 2008 as Kizumonogatari (傷物語^?, "Scar Story").^[6] The first volume of Nisemonogatari (偽物語^?, "Impostory"), a sequel to the series, was released on September 2, 2008,^[7] and contains Karen Bee (かれんビー^?). The second volume, containing Tsukihi Phoenix (つきひフェニックス^?) was released on June 10, 2009.^[8] The first volume of Nekomonogatari (猫物語^?, "Cat Story"), another prequel to the series was released on July 29, 2010, and contains Tsubasa Family (つばさファミリー^?). The second volume of Nekomonogatari which contains Tsubasa Tiger (つばさタイガー^?) was released on October 29, 2010. Kabukimonogatari containing Mayoi Jiang Shi (まよいキョンシー^?) was released on December 24, 2010. Hanamonogatari containing Suruga Devil (するがデビル^?) was released on March 31, 2011. Otorimonogatari containing Nadeko Medusa (なでこメドゥーサ^?) was released on June 30, 2011. Onimonogatari containing Shinobu Time (しのぶタイム^?) was released on September 28, 2011. Kodansha will release one more "Monogatari" novel series during December 2011 for Koimonogatari: Hitagi End (ひたぎエンド^?).

Drama CD

The drama CD titled Original Drama CD: Hyakumonogatari (オリジナルドラマCD -佰物語-^?) – a reference to the parlour game Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai – was released on August 3, 2009.^[9] The script was written by Nisio Isin and is to be bundled with the CD.^[9]

Merchandise

Good Smile Company has made several chibi figures for the series, releasing them as separate sets. The first set contains the characters Koyomi Araragi, Hitagi Senjōgahara and Tsubasa Hanekawa.^[10] The second set contains Suruga Kanbaru, Mayoi Hachikuji and Nadeko Sengoku ^[11] and The third set contains the Araragi sisters Karen and Tsukihi, as well as Shinobu Oshino.^[12] The company also made a separate, normal size figure for Hitagi Senjōgahara^[13], Suruga Kanbaru^[14], Nadeko Sengoku^[15], Tsubasa Hanekawa^[16], Mayoi Hachikuji^[17], and Shinobu Oshino. They have also made figma figures of several of the characters: Koyomi Araragi^[18], Hitagi Senjōgahara^[19], Mayoi Hachikuji^[20], Suruga Kanbaru^[21], and Nadeko Sengoku^[22]. Alter, Bandai, Kotobukiya, and others have made figures of some of the other characters as well.

Anime

The anime series was announced in April 2008 and started broadcasting on July 3, 2009 on Tokyo MX.^[23][24] The series is part of Kodansha's Nisio Isin Anime Project and is produced by Shaft, directed by Akiyuki Shinbo with an assistant of Tatsuya Oishi, written by Fuyashi Tō and featuring a character designs by Akio Watanabe based on Vofan's original concepts.^[25] The music for the series is produced by Satoru Kōsaki under the supervision of Yota Tsuruoka.^[1] The series was scheduled to be 15 episodes long but broadcasted only the first 12 episodes. The remaining three episodes were distributed on the official website, the final episode airing on June 25, 2010.^[26] A flyer included with the release of Nekomonogatari volume 1 announce that the prequel novel, Kizumonogatari, would be adapted into an anime as well, again by SHAFT.^[27]

Theme songs

The opening themes were written by meg rock and composed by Satoru Kōsaki featuring vocals of the heroines in the corresponding chapters.^[28] The ending theme for the series, titled "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" (君の知らない物語^?, lit. "The Story You Don't Know") was produced by Supercell and released on August 12, 2009 featuring vocals by Nico Nico Douga- turned-pro singer, Nagi, formerly known as Gazelle,^[29] and peak ranked 5th in Oricon singles charts.^[30]

Opening themes

1. "staple stable" - Chiwa Saitō (ep 1-2, 12)
2. "Kaerimichi" (帰り道^?, "The Road Home") - Emiri Katō (ep 3-5)
3. "Ambivalent World" - Miyuki Sawashiro (ep 6-8)
4. "Renai Circulation" (恋愛サーキュレーション^?, "Love Circulation") - Kana Hanazawa (ep 9-10)
5. "sugar sweet nightmare" - Yui Horie (ep 11, 13-15)

Ending theme

1. "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" (君の知らない物語^?, "The Story You Don't Know") - Supercell

Note: DVD/BD versions of episodes always have an opening of a titular character, i.e. all Hitagi Crab episodes now have staple stable as opening, all Mayoi Snail episodes have Kaerimichi and so on.

Episode list

#	Title	Endcard[31]	Original air date
1	"Hitagi Crab, Part One" "Hitagi Kurabu Sono Ichi" (ひたぎクラブ 其の壹)	Vofan	July 3, 2009[23]
Koyomi Araragi catches Hitagi Senjōgahara as she falls down from a great height, Koyomi immediately notices that Hitagi weighs little to nothing, however he does not mention this to her. Later he asks Tsubasa Hanekawa, the class chairman, about her; he finds that she was sick and contemplates if that is actually the case. As he is leaving, Hitagi confronts him, as she threatens him she explains that a crab took her weight. When he agrees to keep quiet about her secret, she staples the inside of his mouth and proceeds to leave. Koyomi follows her and tells her that he may be able to help, to stop Hitagi attacking him he shows her that the wound in his mouth, inflicted a few minutes previous, had already healed. They go to see Meme Oshino, who after hearing her situation explains that it was the weight crab, a god, that took her weight.
2	"Hitagi Crab, Part Two" "Hitagi Kurabu Sono Ni" (ひたぎクラブ 其の貳)	Iruka Shiomiya	July 10, 2009[23]
At Hitagi Senjōgahara's home Hitagi contemplates her past as she showers, Koyomi Araragi waits for her. Earlier Hitagi was told to wash and change her clothes by Meme Oshino, who arranges for all of them to meet at midnight. Back at Hitagi's home, Koyomi argues with Hitagi while she gets dressed in front of him. Later that evening they meet Oshino, he explains that they are not going to attack the crab god but instead pray to it. They go before an altar, Oshino instructs her to relax, he then asks her a series of questions. His final question results in Hitagi retelling about how her mother joined a cult when Hitagi was sick, and that one night her mother brought a higher up, from the cult, home. Hitagi injured him as he attempted to sexually assault her, her mother watching without aiding her. As a result her family was broken apart; Hitagi feels that she is responsible. She opens her eyes to find a crab facing her. Koyomi and Oshino are unable to see the glowing yellow eyed, red word-bound form of the giant crab. When Hitagi is then attacked by crab god, Oshino is forced to intervene - this allows her to beg the crab for her feeling and memories - and they are returned. In a flashback it is explained how her mother joined the cult, and how the attack on Hitagi resulted in a broken family; that she met a crab which took her feelings(weight) and memories of her mother. Hitagi now has her memories and feeling of her mother back, but she has forever lost her mother. In the morning Koyomi finds that his weight has also been increased by the crab god.
3	"Mayoi Snail, Part One" "Mayoi Maimai Sono Ichi" (まよいマイマイ 其ノ壹)	Jin Kobayashi	July 17, 2009[32]
Koyomi Araragi sits in the centre of a vast playground, reminiscing about his mother, and his mountain bike. He sees a young, lost girl, Mayoi Hachikuji, who he does not know, who later leaves. Hitagi Senjōgahara arrives and, after a brief conversation about the clothes that she wears, she admits to Koyomi that they are friends. They proceed to have a strained conversation while they use the playground equipment. Later Koyomi spots the lost girl looking at the map again, leaving Hitagi behind he goes over to her to see if he can help her. After she refuses his help, and later ignores him, Koyomi surprises her by hitting her head into the sign, during a hostile exchange Mayoi introduces herself. They get into a brawl, ending in Koyomi as the winner. Koyomi proceeds to get aid from Hitagi about helping Mayoi find her way. After a question from him Mayoi admits that she is not a lost child, but is in fact a lost snail.
4	"Mayoi Snail, Part Two" "Mayoi Maimai Sono Ni" (まよいマイマイ 其ノ貳)	Miki Yoshikawa	July 24, 2009[32]
After talking with Hachikuji, Koyomi discovers that the young girl is trying to get to her mother's house. However, as he, Hachikuji, and Hitagi try to make their way to the address, they keep getting inexplicably lost. Koyomi then decides to send Hitagi off to find Oshino while he stays behind with Hachikuji. Hachikuji mentions that she has always been trying to get to her mother's house, but can never seem to get there. She and Koyomi get into an argument and briefly fight. Hanekawa then arrives, saying that she was passing by. She asks Koyomi about his relationshp with Hitagi, but he isn't able to give her a definite answer. After Hanekawa leaves, Koyomi receives a call from Oshino, who says that he has given Hitagi instructions on how to solve Hachikuji's problem.
5	"Mayoi Snail, Part Three" "Mayoi Maimai Sono San" (まよいマイマイ 其ノ參)	Hiro Mashima	July 31, 2009[32]
While waiting for Hitagi to arrive, Koyomi begins to find out more about Hachikuji's life. She is the only child of a couple that had undergone a bitter divorce. Hachikuji was put under the custody of her father, and had any contact with her mother deliberately cut off to the point where Hachikuji could barely recognize the face of her mother. Hitagi then arrives and apologizes to Koyomi. She reveals that Hachikuji does not exist, as she is actually dead. As a ghost, she can only be seen by those who have a subconscious desire not to return home. As a result, Hitagi could not see Hachikuji and didn't say anything because she feared that she might be "different" again. The information Oshino provides helps them find Hachikuji's mother's house, but it is a vacant lot. However, Hachikuji is happy and disappears, saying she's finally home. Afterwards, Hitagi admits that she is in love with Koyomi, and she is deeply intrigued by his desire to help anyone in need. Koyomi responds to her feelings with the precondition that they would not hide things from each other. At the end of the episode, Koyomi runs into Hachikuji again, who states that she has been "promoted" from a haunting ghost to a wandering ghost and that she'd like to visit Koyomi from time to time.
6	"Suruga Monkey, Part One" "Suruga Monkī Sono Ichi" (するがモンキー 其ノ壹)	Seiko Erisawa	August 08, 2009[33]
Koyomi needs to study for upcoming exams and is on his way to Hitagi's house for help. On the way there, Hachikuji teases him about his one-on-one "study" session. Suruga Kanbaru, an underclassman, meets him as she is running, and she voices her admiration for him. Koyomi tries to get her to leave, however he is unable to until Hitagi is mentioned, at which point Suruga runs off. At the study session with Hitagi, the two discuss their future after high school, but things quickly deteriorate when Koyomi mentions Suruga. Hitagi and Suruga were friends in middle school and Kanbaru may have even had a crush on her, but they had a falling-out in high school. After studying, Koyomi calls Tsubasa for more details about them, but she warns him to mind his relationship with Hitagi and not to dig too deeply into her past too quickly. On his way to Oshino to drop Hitagi's payment off, Koyomi is viciously attacked by a person wearing a rain coat. During the fight he sees that the assailant has bandages dangling from its left arm. Koyomi is left bruised and bleeding on railroad tracks. Hitagi finds him lying there and tells him that he had forgotten the payment that he was supposed to be delivering.
7	"Suruga Monkey, Part Two" "Suruga Monkī Sono Ni" (するがモンキー 其ノ貮)	Koge-Donbo	August 21, 2009[33]
Hitagi says she believes that Koyomi was hit by a car. He says he stumbled, which she seems to accept. Koyomi goes to Suruga's house, and finds that her room is filled with red books. She apologizes for beating him up the previous night. Koyomi asks about her unnatural strength, and she reveals that she literally has a monkey's paw. She also bluntly states that she is a lesbian, which is hard for Koyomi to swallow. Koyomi then takes Suruga to visit Oshino for help, where he determines that the arm is actually a lesser devil's, since a monkey's paw doesn't attach itself to its owner. As such, the arm will take Suruga's soul once three wishes are fulfilled.
8	"Suruga Monkey, Part Three" "Suruga Monkī Sono San" (するがモンキー 其ノ參)	Hekiru Hikawa	August 28, 2009[33]
Inheriting a mummified hand from her mother, Suruga first wished on it in 4th grade to run quickly so that she could win a local race. Soon after, four of the competitors were hospitalized due to an assault from a monster dressed in a raincoat. Suruga suspected the hand may be acting like a monkey's paw, wherein a wish is granted in an unexpected way. She abstained from wishing upon the arm for many years, coming close once to wish for help with Hitagi's crab problem, but it's stated that such a wish would probably not have been granted, as the arm only manifested negative wishes, especially the hidden intentions of them (the students being beat up was revenge for Suruga being outcast). However, after seeing Koyomi and Hitagi in a relationship, she became insanely jealous, and wished upon the arm to be with Hitagi, without noticing that the hand had grown into an arm and attached itself to her. Oshino surmises that her first granted wish had already caused the devil to take a portion of her soul, leading to the hand's growth. He offers the solution of cutting off the arm, a suitable price in exchange for nearly killing Koyomi (a result of the hidden side of her second wish). Koyomi objects to this, and instead, opts to defeat the devil to dissolve its contract. To prepare for the fight, he gives some of his blood to Shinobu in order to boost his limited vampiric powers. Despite that, he still gets literally shredded apart by the devil, and is saved at the last moment by Oshino's intervention. He called for Hitagi, who notes that Koyomi had hidden the entire situation from her, against his precondition for their relationship. With her appearance, the devil is unable to continue the attack without invalidating either half of the wish, so the contract is dissolved. However, even though the devil is gone, her arm still hasn't fully recovered. In the end, she becomes good friends with both Koyomi and Hitagi.
9	"Nadeko Snake, Part One" "Nadeko Suneiku Sono Ichi" (なでこスネイク 其ノ壹)	Machiko Kyō	September 4, 2009[34]
Koyomi and Suruga travel to an abandoned shrine in order to perform a job for Oshino. As they climb the mountain the shrine is located on, they pass a girl running down the path, who only briefly exchanges glances before continuing in the other direction. Once they reach the shrine, Koyomi and Suruga discover a number of dismembered snake corpses in what appears to be some sort of ritual. They both quickly decide to leave. The next day, Koyomi and Hanekawa go to a bookstore, where they begin to converse. Hanekawa warns Koyomi that he and Hitagi must set down boundaries in their relationship if it is to last. She then leaves after getting a sudden headache. Koyomi then meets the girl again, who he finally realizes is Nadeko Sengoku, a friend of his sisters who he met as a child. He and Suruga intercept her at the shrine, and return to Koyomi's house. Once there, Nadeko takes off her clothes, revealing snakelike skin, and pleads for Koyomi to save her.
10	"Nadeko Snake, Part Two" "Nadeko Suneiku Sono Ni" (なでこスネイク 其ノ貮)	Akiman	September 11, 2009[34]
Oshino informs Koyomi that Nadeko is under the effects of a Snake Constrictor, a snake spirit that slowly constricts the life out of its victim. Nadeko explains that it is a curse a classmate placed on her after Nadeko inadvertently rejected the confession of a boy the classmate liked. Normally, a curse placed by an amateur would be harmless, but Nadeko accidentally made the curse worse by performing her ritual at the shrine, which has been corrupted by Shinobu's presence. Koyomi obtains a special charm that will banish the Snake Constrictor and they return to the shrine. While the ritual is seemingly successful, Koyomi realizes that Nadeko is under the attack of two Snake Constrictors, the second being placed by the rejected boy. While the first one is banished, Koyomi is forced to battle the second to keep it from killing Nadeko. He and Kanbaru manage to chase it off, but Koyomi feels guilty for not being able to destroy it, as the Snake Constrictor will return to the person who originally placed the curse.
11	"Tsubasa Cat, Part One" "Tsubasa Kyatto Sono Ichi" (つばさキャット 其ノ壹)	Daisuke Nishijima	September 18, 2009[35]
After school Koyomi finds Nadeko and they talk about how Shinobu looked at her and Suruga with a different gaze than Koyomi and Oshino. Tsubasa appears and Nadeko leaves abruptly, Koyomi and Tsubasa talk about how Koyomi has become a bad influence to Hitagi in school. Tsubasa gets a headache and Koyomi flashbacks into what happened in Golden Week, Tsubasa turned into a white "cat-woman" and attacked people by absorbing their vitality. Oshino reveals the problem is because of a huge amount of stress built up over the years. Koyomi acts as bait to attract the cat and Shinobu bites her draining her energy until she turns back into Tsubasa.
12	"Tsubasa Cat, Part Two" "Tsubasa Kyatto Sono Ni" (つばさキャット 其ノ貮)	Hajime Ueda	September 25, 2009[35]
Hitagi and Koyomi are having lunch. She teases him and "asks" him to go on a date in a very roundabout fashion. He comes late but Hitagi doesn't seem to mind. While Hitagi's father drives them, Koyomi is teased, much to his discomfort and Hitagi's perverse amusement. She leaves him with her father and Koyomi is apprehensive initially. Her father tells him that he can't be there for her often and asks Koyomi to take care of her. Hitagi returns, blindfolding Koyomi and showing him an area where she has laid a blanket on the ground. They lay down and she tells him that the stars are all she has to give to him. She tells him that she loves him and Koyomi reciprocates. In the final exchange, she asks him to kiss her in the same manner she asked him out at the beginning of the episode.
13	"Tsubasa Cat, Part Three" "Tsubasa Kyatto Sono San" (つばさキャット 其ノ參)	Rin Nadeshiko	November 3, 2009 (ONA)[35]
On the way to school, Koyomi finds Hachikuji in the middle of the street and assaults her in a teasing manner. Hachikuji panics and breaks his finger. Later after they calm down, Hachikuji tells Koyomi that she saw Shinobu at the donut store. Koyomi goes to the school bike rack and gets a text from Tsubasa, asking him to ditch school and come to the playground. He finds her there still in her pajamas and wearing a hat. They begin talking about her recent headaches and Koyomi persuades her to take her hat off. He finds out that she had grown cat ears. They agree to go to Oshino’s place. When they reach there, they find him crouching down, burying something in the dirt. Oshino asks them to come in and hits the side of Tsubasa’s head, knocking her out. Oshino tells Koyomi that she was already half cat. Tsubasa’s hair turns white, and the cat is revealed.
14	"Tsubasa Cat, Part Four" "Tsubasa Kyatto Sono Yon" (つばさキャット 其ノ肆)	Hikaru Nakamura	February 23, 2010 (ONA)[35]
After supressing the bakeneko, Oshino explains Hanekawa's situation to Araragi. Araragi realizes that he may need Shinobu's powers to help him bottle up the oddity. The problem escalates when Araragi learns that Shinobu has gone missing. Enlisting the help of his friends, he starts looking for Shinobu, but to no avail. The cat soon escapes from Oshino, then goes after Araragi, only this time she sides with him and aids in finding Shinobu. The two had conversations regarding Araragi's interactions with oddities, while they scour the city for the missing vampire. The search proves to be difficult even with the bakeneko's keen sense of smell and hearing. This leads the two to change topics, now talking about Hanekawa's situation. The cat explains that there is a way to confine her without relying on a vampire, that she is the personification of Hanekawa's stress, and that she knows exactly what's causing it. She remarks that Araragi, of all people, can deal with it easily. The oddity then reveals that Hanekawa being possessed by the bakeneko was because of the stress that she loves Araragi, and that the oddity itself may be sealed away for good if Araragi falls in love with Hanekawa.
15	"Tsubasa Cat, Part Five" "Tsubasa Kyatto Sono Go" (つばさキャット 其ノ伍)	Watanabe Akio	June 25, 2010 (ONA)[35]
Araragi is confused after hearing that Hanekawa loved him as he heard from the bakeneko. After an arguing with the bakeneko that "it was a mistake", the bakaneko told him that there was another way to suppress the stress for good, to kill him. Araragi thinks that he could agree with that because he owed Hanekawa his life. But, Hitagi comes upon his mind and he chooses not to be killed. The bakeneko tells him that no one would help him in this situation. Araragi calls out Shinobu's name yelling for her help, and the vampire girl suddenly appears from Araragi's shadow. Everything is settled after Shinobu bites the bakeneko's neck and it reverts back to Hanekawa. The next day before school started, Araragi goes to Oshino's place to bring Shinobu back to him. It seems that nothing is left in the ruined cram school that used to be Oshino's place. After school, Araragi, Hitagi, Kanbaru and Hanekawa went back to Oshino's place searching for him. It seems he had left the place, making Araragi believe that Oshino believed he could handle the problems concerning Hanekawa and Shinobu.

Reception

The light novel series ranked sixth in the 2009 issue of Takarajimasha's light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!; Koyomi Araragi ranked sixth in the Best Male Character while Hitagi Senjōgahara ranked seventh in the Best Female Character.

The anime adaptation won the Users' Special Award in the 2nd annual DEG Japan Awards/Blu-ray Prizes.^[36][37]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} "スタッフ・キャスト [Staff & cast]" (in Japanese). bakemonogatari.com. http://www.bakemonogatari.com/staff/. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
2. ^ アニメ化物語オフィシャルガイドブック [Anime Bakemonogatari Official Guidebook]. Kodansha. ISBN 9784062154987. http://shop.kodansha.jp/bc2_bc/search_view.jsp?b=2154986. Retrieved October 11, 2009. 
3. ^ "化物語 (上)" (in Japanese). Kodansha. http://shop.kodansha.jp/bc2_bc/search_view.jsp?b=2836025. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
4. ^ "化物語 (下)" (in Japanese). Kodansha. http://shop.kodansha.jp/bc2_bc/search_view.jsp?b=2836076. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "概要 [Outline]" (in Japanese). bakemonogatari.com. http://www.bakemonogatari.com/outline/. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
6. ^ "傷物語" (in Japanese). Kodansha. http://shop.kodansha.jp/bc2_bc/search_view.jsp?b=2836637. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
7. ^ "偽物語 (上)" (in Japanese). Kodansha. http://shop.kodansha.jp/bc2_bc/search_view.jsp?b=2836793. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
8. ^ "偽物語 (下)" (in Japanese). Kodansha. http://shop.kodansha.jp/bc2_bc/search_view.jsp?b=2837021. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
9. ^ ^{a b} "オリジナルドラマCD 佰物語 西尾維新 講談社 [Bakemonogatari: Hyakumonogatari Drama CD]" (in Japanese). Kodansha. http://shop.kodansha.jp/bc2_bc/search_view.jsp?b=2153696. Retrieved October 11, 2009. 
10. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2748/Nendoroid+Petite+Bakemonogatari+Set+1.html
11. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2817/Nendoroid+Petite+Bakemonogatari+Set+2.html
12. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2848/Nendoroid+Petite+Bakemonogatari+Set+3.html
13. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2863/Hitagi+Senjougahara.html
14. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/3074/Suruga+Kanbaru.html
15. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2939/Nadeko+Sengoku.html
16. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/3132/Tsubasa+Hanekawa.html
17. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/3187/Mayoi+Hachikuji.html
18. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/3070/figma+Koyomi+Araragi.html
19. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/3036/figma+Hitagi+Senjougahara.html
20. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/3145/figma+Mayoi+Hachikuji.html
21. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/3183/figma+Suruga+Kanbaru.html
22. ^ http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/3303/figma+Nadeko+Sengoku.html
23. ^ ^{a b c} "ひたぎクラブ" (in Japanese). bakemonogatari.com. http://www.bakemonogatari.com/onair/01.html. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
24. ^ "NisiOisin's Bakemonogatari Light Novels to Get Anime". Anime News Network. April 4, 2008. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-04-24/nisioisin-bakemonogatari-light-novels-to-get-anime. Retrieved August 28, 2008. 
25. ^ "Bakemonogatari Anime Promo Video Posted". Anime News Network. March 18, 2009. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-03-18/bakemonogatari-anime-promo-video-posted. Retrieved March 18, 2009. 
26. ^ "Bakemonogatari Anime Promo Video Streamed". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-07-02/bakemonogatari-anime-promo-video-streamed. Retrieved July 3, 2009. 
27. ^ "NisiOisin's Kizumonogatari Light Novel Gets Anime (Updated)". Anime News Network. 2010-07-28. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-07-28/nisioisin-kizumonogatari-light-novel-gets-anime. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
28. ^ "Director Akiyuki Shinbo interview in official website" (in Japanese). http://www.bakemonogatari.com/special/interview02.html. Retrieved July 27, 2009. 
29. ^ "Supercell 1st single "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari"" (in Japanese). http://www.supercell.sc/single01/. Retrieved May 31, 2009. 
30. ^ "君の知らない物語 ["Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" peak rank]" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp/free_contents/search/ranking_list.asp?itemcd=826537&samecd=1&chart_kbn=111&linkcd=40509187. Retrieved October 11, 2009. 
31. ^ "アニメ化記念壁紙" (in Japanese). bakemonogatari.com. http://www.bakemonogatari.com/special/#n04. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
32. ^ ^{a b c} "まよいマイマイ" (in Japanese). bakemonogatari.com. http://www.bakemonogatari.com/onair/02.html. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
33. ^ ^{a b c} "するがモンキー" (in Japanese). bakemonogatari.com. http://www.bakemonogatari.com/onair/03.html. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
34. ^ ^{a b} "なでこスネイク" (in Japanese). bakemonogatari.com. http://www.bakemonogatari.com/onair/04.html. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
35. ^ ^{a b c d e} "つばさキャット" (in Japanese). bakemonogatari.com. http://www.bakemonogatari.com/onair/index.html. Retrieved October 6, 2009. 
36. ^ "Ponyo, Bakemonogatari, Conan Win Japanese BD Prizes". Anime News Network. February 18, 2010. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-02-18/ponyo-bakemonogatari-conan-win-japanese-bd-prizes. Retrieved February 19, 2010. 
37. ^ "第2回「DEGジャパン・アワード/ブルーレイ大賞」受賞作品発表｜DEGジャパン" (in Japanese). deg-japan.jp. http://www.deg-japan.jp/award/deg_award2009_winners.html. Retrieved February 19, 2010. 

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Kodansha Box webpage
• Bakemonogatari (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia