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Fantasia 2024: Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp Compiles the Japanese Trilogy into One Bloody Experience

Image Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival

As previously stated, I’m a sucker for animated films. Recently, I’ve been on a bit of an anime kick, mostly looking for underground titles in the horror space that I’ve never seen before. The Kizumonogatari trilogy has been popping onto my radar many times over the last eight years. However, it’s almost impossible for Westerners to see unless they want to shell out $70 to Crunchyroll per title. Based on the Monogatari novels, which are almost like monster-of-the-week episodes in a recurring horror series, the Kizumonogatari films acted as prequels to the books. Honestly, Joss Whedon’s Angel comes to mind as a pseudo-facsimile, where the Monogatari series follows Koyomi Araragi, a vampire whose affliction was reversed and now helps the girls at his school who are afflicted by “oddities.” Kizumonogatari takes us back to the spring break when Araragi became a vampire.

the poster for KIZUMONOGATARI shows a man at the well-lit top of an escalator descending into darkness
Image Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival

The series has been incredibly popular in Japan, spawning three television seasons (one hundred episodes), the aforementioned prequel trilogy of theatrical releases, plus spin-offs, audio dramas, manga, and video games. It’s hard to believe Nisio Isin and Vofan, the writer and illustrator, ever knew how colossal a hit Monogatari would have ever become. Especially now that a compilation feature of the prequel trilogy, Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp, has finally given North American audiences something to sink their teeth into.

Dropping the audience in the middle of Araragi’s (Hiroshi Kamiya) story, a rush of computer-generated backdrops mixed with hand-drawn animation chronicle a young man painstakingly climbing a spiral staircase to access the roof. The sunlight drifts through, and sweat dissipates from his brow. There is a magnificent capture of crows on this rooftop, surrounding a tree that stretches well beyond the height of the building against an overcast sky. However, when the sun peaks through the cloud layer, Araragi suddenly combusts as the crows scatter. The next images are of Araragi plummeting from the structure on fire onto scaffolding erected on that side of the building.

Tatsuya Oishi, the Kizumonogatari director, frequently pulls fear from his character in the form of a closeup of Araragi’s eye. It is a highly effective, if not Aeon Flux-inspired move. With Araragi burning in the sun, our introduction to the world of Kizumonogatari ends. Enticed and perhaps a little confused, the audience journeys forth.

An animated scene, a woman stands at a railing with her back to the sun setting over the ocean
Image Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival

Transitioning to before Araragi’s tanning incident, Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp takes us back to when he first meets Tsubasa Hanekawa (Yui Horie). Being a loner at his school, Araragi doesn’t seem to be noticed, but Hanekawa proves otherwise. There’s a strong sexual tension between the two adolescents, and Oishi makes the male gaze as awkward and horny as those teenage years can be, with a few scenes that challenge Araragi’s hormone suppression skills as he attempts to do the right thing. A lot of Kizumonogatari is a coming-of-age story about facing adult situations with grace and temperance and not letting specific emotions, particularly lust or rage, blind you from making clear decisions.

Hanekawa is genuinely the first person to see Araragi and the future reason for his decision not to go full vampire. She tells him about a local myth about a beautiful, blonde woman who has been draining men of their blood. As if summoning her, Araragi soon encounters the woman known as Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade (Maaya Sakamoto), a veritable mouthful, when he follows a trail of blood into the subway. Kiss-Shot is first seen flailing her amputated limbs on the tile of the subway platform and demanding Araragi’s blood to bring her back from the brink of death. Struck by her beauty but frightened by her words and the sheer amount of blood, Araragi faces a moral dilemma about whether helping a vampire is right, yet ultimately decides to do so.

Araragi’s decision leads him to discover an underground world of monsters and supermen. Kiss-Shot bestows immortality onto him, leaving Araragi in a state between worlds and leading to the scene we see at the start of Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp. He isn’t quite a vampire, but he’s no longer human. Araragi’s determination to pursue a relationship with Hanekawa becomes the catalyst for seeking his humanity once again. But, the only way Kiss-Shot, who has only healed enough to take the form of a young child, will allow that to happen is if Araragi reclaims her missing limbs from the men who stole them.

A man sweating walking down stairs in KIZUMONOTAGARI
Image Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival

The relationship that builds between Kiss-Shot and Araragi is maybe the most compelling storyline in Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp. Araragi is lasciviously taken aback by Kiss-Shot’s fully adult form when they first meet in the subway station. Yet, later, he must act like an older brother to the weakened, younger version of the entity. Essentially, he watches his vampire master grow up, creating a new perspective that leaves the end of the film slightly heartbreaking.

My biggest gripe with Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp may only apply to the early access screener but comes in the constant insertion of black and white cards reading Noir, red cards reading Rouge, and white cards reading Blanc. The reason for the cards is mentioned at the start of the film, yet they seem to be inserted in places that don’t make sense, pointlessly breaking up the flow of the movie, possibly to appease the fans who could better understand why they exist. As someone unfamiliar with the books and has never seen the Kizumonogatari films in any other form, the constant breaks felt unnecessary.

Otherwise, Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp is a viciously blood-soaked film that’s occasionally funny and over-the-top with some gory images to please anime and horror lovers alike. While a visual spectacle of bloody vampire action, the dramatic scenes are very muted and consume more of the compilation’s time than they should. Add this to the Noir cards mentioned above, and the effect on the film’s pace becomes noticeable. While running a little long at 144 minutes, cutting about 72 minutes off the trilogy’s runtime, Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp feels discontiguous. One character in particular, Meme Oshino (Takahiro Sakurai), who operates as a fight-scheduling broker between Araragi and Kiss-Shot’s limb takers, seems to get overshadowed and never fully fleshed out as a character in this cut. Hopefully, the Americas can access the separated trilogy versions someday so better comparisons to the compilation can be made.

Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp held its North American Premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 27. For additional information, see the film’s page on the Fantasia website.

Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp-Trailer

Un après-midi, Koyomi Araragi, adolescent solitaire, fait une rencontre mémorable : une autre étudiante, l’exubérante et jolie Tsubasa Hanekawa, lui parle de la rumeur voulant qu’une vampire blonde rôde actuellement dans la ville. Le soir même, pendant ses courses, Koyomi aperçoit une traînée de sang qu’il décide de suivre jusque dans une station de train déserte…

Written by Sean Parker

Living just outside of Boston, Sean has always been facinated by what horror can tell us about contemporary society. He started writing music reviews for a local newspaper in his twenties and found a love for the art of thematic and symbolic analysis. Sean joined 25YL in 2020, and is currently the site's Creative Director. He produced and edited his former site's weekly podcast and has interviewed many guests. He has recently started his foray into feature film production as well, his credits include Alice Maio Mackay's Bad Girl Boogey, Michelle Iannantuono's Livescreamers, and Ricky Glore's upcoming Troma picture, Sweet Meats.

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