Thankfully, the episodes before that focus on an excellent blend of new and old characters and concepts, bringing just enough to the table to make the series fresh again while maintaining enough of the old that fans will still feel mostly at home when watching.įocusing on the aforementioned Kaiki as the antagonist, the story itself is largely about his exploits and the characters' resulting intervention for the first half of the story. Senjougahara in particular is largely missing from the first half of the series until becoming a large focus of the story again, which may be a bit disappointing at first for fans of her character. All of the main characters from Bakemonogatari retain a large role in Nisemonogatari each with their own unique scenes, though unfortunately most of them don't appear anywhere near as much as they did in Bakemonogatari. Of course, Nisemonogatari wouldn't be the same without the cast from the previous season playing a prominent role in the story.
Being a character that stands out so much in a series full of unique characters is a very hard feat to achieve but Kaiki managed to pull it off. It's just disappointing that he loses his role as a main character in the second half and falls much to the side, since his scenes are without a doubt the most memorable and engaging in the entire show. The way his departure is handled is also very surprising and refreshing when compared to the usual conventions in storytelling. As long as they don't complicate matters for him, he generally has no issue. Surprisingly, he doesn't antagonize the main characters very much outside of their first few encounters with each other. He cares for little else than money, and money is something he aims to attain regardless of who loses out for it. Kaiki as a character is quite unique and interesting as he never falls into a generic and stereotyped 'bad guy' persona, instead adopting a very grey morality where neither good nor bad exists. These ideals of justice create an interesting problem for Karen as she comes into contact with the antagonist, Kaiki, a con artist exploiting teenage girls out of their money which quickly escalates into a conflict between the two, with Karen focusing on protecting the innocent and Kaiki on using them for his own avaricious goals.
Tsukihi is a sharply sarcastic and disapproving sister while Karen, voiced by the beloved Kitamura Eri, behaves as a bit of a tomboy and energetic character who strives to fight for justice and what she feels is the right thing. Both of them form a group known as the 'Fire Sisters', and together they create the main focus of the entire show. Probably the largest addition to Nisemonogatari is the new role of Araragi's two younger sisters, Karen and Tsukihi. This is Bakemonogatari in much of its glory, but with the story itself becoming something of less importance than the characters and their interaction with each other. Head tilts are still prominent, the scenery is highly stylized, the characters will frequently engage in a playful diatribe and critique of Araragi, and surrealism remains a pervasive aspect in the presentation and overall experience. It wouldn't be much an exaggeration to say that at times it can feel like a different series, and certainly not all fans are going to approve of the change in tone and theme.ĭespite this though, things are not all that unlike either.īeing that this is the sequel to one of SHAFT's most successful anime, it would be incomprehensible for them to suddenly remove the unique style and flavor that the series became so known for in the first place. The first thing that should be recognizedīefore watching Nisemonogatari is this very change and shift in focus. It's not much of a surprise then, that these elements are even more prolific in Nisemonogatari, for both better and for worse. While Bakemonogatari is a series known by most for its unique art direction and character interaction, to say that it's removed itself entirely from sexual themes would be a flat-out lie. There's really no feasible way to please everybody when the reaction can often be likened to a dichotomy, split between 'too much' and 'not enough'. Some love it, some hate all instances of it.
Fanservice has always been a bit of a controversial issue.