Monogatari (series)

Monogatari (物語; "Story") is a Japanese light novel series written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Vofan. The plot centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third-year high school student who survives a vampire attack and finds himself helping girls involved with a variety of apparitions, ghosts, beasts, spirits, and other supernatural phenomena, which often serve as proxies for their emotional and mental issues. Since November 2006, Kodansha published 29 volumes in the series under its Kodansha Box imprint. All of the series' story arcs share the common title suffix -monogatari (物語).

Shaft has animated the Monogatari series several times since 2009. The "first season" of the anime adaptation consists of 30 episodes, which were broadcast in Japan between July 2009 and December 2012. The second season consists of 28 episodes broadcast between July and December 2013, and the "final season" consists of 42 episodes broadcast between December 2014 and June 2019. A prequel anime film trilogy, Kizumonogatari, was released in 2016 and 2017. An anime adaptation of the "Off Season" and "Monster Season" novels aired from July to October 2024. A manga adaptation, illustrated by Oh! great and titled Bakemonogatari, was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from March 2018 to March 2023.

Most heroines have an item that symbolizes their spectres, such as Hitagi's stapler (the claw of a crab), Mayoi's backpack (the shell of a snail), Suruga's arm (the arm of a monkey), Nadeko's hat and jacket (the head and skin of a snake), and Karen's black and yellow tracksuit (the colors of a bee). Although it incorporates elements of fantasy, horror, and action, the series primarily focuses on relationships and conversations between its characters, which make heavy use of Nisio Isin's signature word play and metahumor.

The Monogatari series revolves around Koyomi Araragi, a third-year high school student who has almost restored his humanity after briefly becoming a vampire during spring break. One day, a classmate of his, the reclusive Hitagi Senjōgahara, falls down a flight of stairs at school into Koyomi's arms. To his surprise, he discovers that Hitagi weighs almost nothing, in defiance of physics. Despite being threatened to keep away, Koyomi offers his help and introduces her to Meme Oshino, a strange middle-aged man living in an abandoned cram school who helped reverse his vampirism. Once Koyomi helps solve Hitagi's problem, she decides to become his girlfriend.

As the series progresses, Koyomi finds himself involved with other girls afflicted by "oddities" (怪異, kaii; lit. "strangeness"): a child named Mayoi Hachikuji; his underclassman Suruga Kanbaru; Nadeko Sengoku, a friend of his sisters; his classmate Tsubasa Hanekawa; and his own younger sisters Karen and Tsukihi. To deal with the apparitions, which feed on human emotions and often take forms symbolically represented by animals, Koyomi relies on supernatural guidance from Oshino and, later, from Shinobu, the once-powerful blonde vampire who attacked him and later assumed the appearance of an eight-year-old girl.

As Nisio Isin's previous work, the Zaregoto series, had been accepted as a light novel, he decided to write the first Monogatari short story, "Hitagi Crab", with a more formal approach in mind. It was not a simple transition from light novels to formal literature, but rather an experiment to see if he could write a light novel without illustrations. However, by the series' third story, "Suruga Monkey", it was decided that illustrations would be included in publication, and he changed his approach accordingly. He has stated that the atmosphere between Kizumonogatari and Nisemonogatari differed due to his knowledge that the latter would be adapted as an anime.

The Monogatari series was first written by Nisio Isin as a series of short stories without illustrations for Kodansha's literary magazine Mephisto. The first three stories were printed in the magazine's September 2005, January 2006, and May 2006 issues, respectively; they were later collected in a light novel volume entitled Bakemonogatari (化物語; "Monster Tale", lit. 'Monstory') on November 2, 2006. A second volume of Bakemonogatari, containing two new chapters, was released in December 2006. Both volumes were published under the Kodansha Box imprint and featured original art by Taiwanese illustrator Vofan, who would illustrate all following releases.

A prequel story to Bakemonogatari entitled "Koyomi Vamp" (こよみヴァンプ, Koyomi Vuanpu) was published in the February 2008 issue of Pandora magazine. It was later released as a light novel volume entitled Kizumonogatari (傷物語; "Scar Story") in May 2008. The next story arc, Nisemonogatari (偽物語; "Fake Story"), was released as two volumes in September 2008 and June 2009. The first volume of Nekomonogatari (猫物語; "Cat Story"), subtitled Kuro (黒; "Black"), was released in July 2010, and consists of a prequel story to Bakemonogatari entitled "Tsubasa Family" (つばさファミリー, Tsubasa Famirī).