Monogatari Series

Overview

Works

Anime

Characters

Timeline

Gallery

Monogatari Series
Japanese Title	物語シリーズ
Romaji Title	Monogatari Shirīzu
English Title	Story Series
Series Information
Start Date	November 1, 2006
End Date	August 19, 2021
Type	Novel
Volumes	28
Publisher	Kodansha (Original) Vertical (English)
Imprint	Tankobon Literature
Illustrator	VOFAN

The Monogatari Series (物語(モノガタリ)シリーズ, Monogatari Shirīzu), translated in English as the Story Series or the Tale Series, is a light novel series written by Nisio Isin, and illustrated by VOFAN.

Background

The Monogatari Series, Nisio Isin's most popular series and widely considered his masterpiece, debuted on November 1, 2006, with the novel Bakemonogatari. The series is published by Kodansha, and is structured in "seasons", each season containing multiple novels. The First Season, containing 7 books (originally 6, with Bakemonogatari later being split into 3 volumes instead of 2), was published between November 1, 2006 and July 28, 2010. The Second Season, containing 6 books, was published between October 29, 2010 and December 22, 2011. The Final Season, containing 6 books (7 in the English release, with Koyomimonogatari split into two volumes due to its length), was published between September 26, 2012 and September 17, 2014. The Off Season, containing 4 books, was published between October 5, 2015 and January 12, 2017. The Monster Season, with 3 volumes currently released out of a planned 6, began publishing on July 20, 2017. The series was licensed for English release by Vertical, the first volume having been released on December 20, 2016, with 14 volumes currently released. Uniquely, the English releases boast new covers illustrated by VOFAN, with the original covers included as color inserts. Between July 3, 2009 and June 25, 2010, an anime adaptation of Bakemonogatari aired, animated by Studio Shaft. Since then, the entirety of the First, Second and Final Season were adapted into anime over the course of multiple TV Anime, OVAs, ONAs, Specials and Movies, with a current total of 10 anime series, most recent of which being the adaptation of Zoku Owarimonogatari. A manga series adapting Bakemonogatari began being published on March 14, 2018, illustrated by Oh! Great, with 6 compilation volumes currently released. The series has also been licensed by Vertical, with the first volume planned for release in October 2019. On February 6, 2019, a crossover novel titled Mazemonogatari was released, featuring Monogatari protagonist Koyomi Araragi interacting with many iconic characters from other works of his. The cover for Mazemonogatari, unlike the rest of the series, was illustrated by Akio Watanabe, the main character designer for the anime adaptation of both the Monogatari Series and the Zaregoto Series.

Premise

The story follows third year high-school student Koyomi Araragi, a human-turned-vampire who, with the help of Meme Oshino, managed to return to humanity, with a few remaining side-effects. After his vampire incident, Araragi keeps encountering multiple girls also afflicted by diverse kinds of aberrations, and, being the "hero of justice" he is, is compelled to help each and every one of them. The story kicks off with Araragi meeting Hitagi Senjougahara, a girl afflicted by a crab oddity who stole her weight, and discovering her secret.

Main Cast

Koyomi

Hitagi

Shinobu

Tsubasa

Mayoi

Suruga

Nadeko

Yotsugi

Karen

Tsukihi

Ougi

Sodachi

Locations

• Naoetsu Town
• Naoetsu Private Academy
• Eikou Cram School
• Shishikurasaki High School
• Nanahyakuichi Middle School
• Araragi Residence
• Tsuganoki 2nd Middle School
• Namishiro Park
• North Shirahebi Shrine
• Haruya Bookstore
• Mister Donut
• Tsunade Residence
• Kanbaru Residence
• Oikura Residence
• Hanekawa Residence
• Sengoku Residence
• Hachikuji Residence
• Tamikura Apartments
• Hell
• Corpse Castle
• Manase National University
• Okinawa Airport

Concepts

• Aberration
• Araragi Family
• Gaen Family
• Beniguchi Family
• Route X
• Mirror World

Title

The title of the first installment, Bakemonogatari, is a portmanteau of the Japanese word for "monster" (化物(ばけもん), Bakemono) and the word for "tale" (物語(ものがたり), Monogatari). Following that tradition, many of the titles of the series are combinations of words ending with the kanji mono (物) and the word for "tale".