Today was the best day Unbeknownst to me there were two short story entries from Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari. As the selfproclaimed Biggest Monogatari fan I felt a tiny wave of shame for not knowing about it. Nevertheless I will be reading both along with Nademonogatari as a celebration of the announcement for the Off Monster season anime adaptation. I promised to finish them sooner but things dont work out sometimes. I should really stop making promises. Enough rambling. Lets begin Note: Spoilers for all of the first season of Monogatari and slight spoilers for Nekomonogatari White and Otorimonogatari Theyre a part of the second season Hitagi Buffet: Araragi and Senjougahara go on a date. At least I think its a date. Im not exactly sure because its never said theyre on a date but judging from how they talk about Kanberu Ill say its a date. All that happens is funny banter between the two where Araragi makes the grave mistake of asking about Senjougahras weight and nearly dying in the process. She then explains how girls dont get fat but only grow. Although she gets jealous about how Araragi cant become fat because of his vampire powers. Its really just a cute story where if your favourite character is Senjougahara youll love it. Im not the biggest fan of her but I like her enough to enjoy this one Hitagi Buffet: 75/100 Mayoi Room: Araragi kidnaps Hachikuji into his home. ... God damn it Araragi I can only defend you so much. But really not even he knows why. Araragi was going about his day cycling around and found the snail girl herself. Then blacks out Which is super concerning ties her to his bike and brings her home. ...Truly hes not helping his case at all. In fact I would say he has no case and any lawyer that would have to defend him in court would lose on the basis theyre defending Koyomi Araragi. Either way its a lot of funny banter between the two involving some wordplay and a more lighthearted version of the scene in Nadeko Snake where Kanberu and Araragi are with Nadeko who changes into a swimsuit. Whereas here Hackhikuji changes into her pyjamas while Araragi is in the room facing away. ... Would wholesome be the correct choice of words or more concerning? Its a really funny story where if you love the conversations between Araragi and Hackikuji youll love this. I for one love those parts. Mayoi Room: 85/100 Suruga Court: Araragi challenges the star ace of basketball to wouldnt you know it basketball and gets absolutely wrecked. Because of course he would. He does so in a very formal Japanese way whereas Kanberu responds in a very informal Japanese way. Araragi sends a letter with traditional handinked writing and Kanberu shows up in gothic lolita fashion. He still gets beaten hard even though he cheated by getting some of his vampire powers out. Theres not much to write about as writing any more would ruin the hilarity of the situation. Its a really enjoyable story where if your favourite character is Kanberu youll love it. I am someone who loves her a ton so of course I love it. Suruga Court: 90/100 Nadeko Pool: Araragi goes to the pool with Nadeko. Though to be more exact hes there to teach Nadeko how to swim. But it quickly turns into a scene like when he meets with Nadeko at her house where it is her attempting to seduce Araragi. With the tiniest string bikini known to mankind. Now Im not the biggest Nadeko fan. Shes probably the least interesting to me out of the whole cast. But I always do find Araragis reaction to her interesting. Not once in this story does he think of her in a sexual sense. He even goes as far as to call the sight pitiable It shows a layer of depth to Araragi that is misunderstood but a layer of depth thats hard to grasp by anyone including me. Quite honestly it deserves its own section in another review but its something that I will touch upon one of these days. In short its pretty dull other than that nice piece of character work. Its a pitiable story but if youre a fan of Nadeko youll be sure to love it. For me I found it quite boring. Nadeko Pool: 60/100 Tsubasa Song: Araragi thinks that Hanekawa asked him out on a date but it was only a friendly hangout at a Karaoke place. In some ways this is like an added DLC to Tsubasa Cat and Tsubasa Tiger. It is about Hanekawas inability to let go of stress but also be normal. Her lack of normality worries her so much that she memorised and sang every song to perfection because thats what she thought was normal. Which in turn is what only makes her so abnormal. Hanekawa is a character that is best to be analysed in another review but for now this is a wonderful bonus for anyone who has finished Monogatari or even rereading it. A clarifying side note if you will. The ending as well is also something so heartbreaking to read yet it is done so causally in the story. Its a really amazing story that any Hanekawa fan would love. And in turn its my favourite story of the five. Tsubasa Song: 95/100 In conclusion: Reading these stories felt like a wave of nostalgia for the simpler times in the overall story of Monogatari. You get to see where all the characters used to be and how they used to act which for me who has almost caught up with the novels is a very wild sight to see. These characters have grown so much that their initial starting place has a sorrowful feel as I read through it all. Granted these stories arent mindblowing and rereading/rewatching Bakemonogatari would give me that same feeling yet its nice that I got to read something completely new. Overall theyre all nice short stories that I enjoyed from beginning to end. Have a good day and keep trying to enjoy life Kishbokai P.S. Thank you Shaft for making more Monogatari anime. Orokamonogatari review https://anilist.co/review/15048