Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu – Summary/ Review (with Spoilers)

Kizumonogatari ends more so with a whimper than a roar. For while the fight scenes are quite epic, and the ecchi we are used to is there, something is missing. Of which I can only believe is its heart.

Summary

With Kiss-Shot having all her limbs, and the heart Oshino was hiding, she is at full strength. Which makes Araragi feel good. After all, as noted throughout the series, he has a hero complex. However, what he didn’t think of is that Kiss-Shot is a vampire. So, naturally, she feeds off of people. What he didn’t expect though was she went beyond sucking blood and literally tears into people like a zombie.

So, with seeing that, any good times he had with her in her younger forms flies out the window. For now, he understands why she was hunted and probably needs to be killed. Problem is, can Araragi do it? He couldn’t bring himself to do something perverted with Hanekawa so how is he going to kill this immortal being? One he has kind of grown close to over the past two weeks.

Collected Quote(s)

If there is a meeting, there will surely be a farewell.

If you try to erase sin with sin, you’ll only add to your sins.

My feelings may have been beautiful in their concept, but they were not righteous.

We, who hurt each other so terribly, will sit here licking each other’s wounds. We damaged goods will each seek the other out in comfort. If you are to die tomorrow, I’m fine with my life ending then as well. But if you want to live for me for one more day, I’ll go on living with you today as well.

Highlights

The Birth of Shinobu

Like many who didn’t read the manga, I never understood how a 500-year-old vampire ended up working with a demi-human? Yet, within the span of maybe 5 to 10 minutes, toward the end, we get that answer. It isn’t the most satisfying, but you get it.

The Fight Scene between Araragi & Kiss-Shot

Anyone familiar with Araragi battles knows his are bloody to the point of being comical. Yet, he always does something unorthodox to throw off his opponent. This battle is no different. Heads are punched off, half of Araragi’s body is running one way as his torso and above are somewhere else, and it is very much a classic Monogatari battle.

Understanding Hanekawa

Alongside getting to know what lead to the birth of Shinobu, we also get to understand Hanekawa more in the final part. Especially as to why her relationship with Araragi is so frustrating to the point it led to Black Hanekawa. Reason being, before Senjougahara, it seriously seemed Hanekawa and Araragi were going to become a thing. For in this part of Kizumonogatari, she even notes she was willing, and perhaps wanting, to go all the way with Araragi. That is if he didn’t chicken out.

Criticism

It Has The Comedy, The Action, The Ecchi, But No Heart

While there is an emotional moment between Kiss-Shot and Araragi, it doesn’t hit home. Hearing Kiss-Shot explain the misery it is to be alive 500 years, basically alone, on the defense for the last few hundred years, doesn’t really hit you in the gut. You recognize it is sad and unfortunate, but despite us getting to know this character over the course of years, it doesn’t feel like the culmination you may have been expecting.

Which, I don’t know if it is because of how much time Kiss-Shot shares with Hanekawa or what. But I do feel like, with us getting to understand why Kiss-Shot, then Shinobu, was so miserable for the early seasons, this should have really meant something. Especially with how Araragi makes it sound like he wasn’t going to recount Kiss-Shot’s situation and feelings to another soul.

Overall: Mixed (Divisive)

After part 2 made it seem the trilogy found its groove I must admit I’m disappointed by the last part. For while I’ll always enjoy the way the Monogatari series handles action scenes, ecchi, and comedy, that isn’t what has kept me loyal to the series really. More so it has been its heart and these ridiculously long monologs which usually get you thinking. Not just about the character(s) and the situation they are in, but the human condition at times.

But, despite Kiss-Shot presenting how and why she allowed the events of this series to happen, I have to label this as mixed. For, despite its runtime of an hour and a half, it strangely isn’t able to capture all that has made the Monogatari series a popular, though sometimes polarizing, hit.

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