Extremely well acted light novel

What did you love best about KIZUMONOGATARI?

Easily one of the best narration performances I've heard on Audible. It's great to actually have both a male and a female voice actor as falsetto doesn't quite work here. To have more than one male part is outstanding.

What other book might you compare KIZUMONOGATARI to and why?

Not really comparable to anything else, this is a problem in the West about not having light novels (novellas).

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I hope more performances are sold here.

5 people found this helpful

A good start, even for the most critical fans.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would only recommend this book to some friends, as this is definitely not a story for everyone. The story can easily be bogged down if you do not resonate with the characters inner turmoil and the thought provoking moral quandaries could just sound like teenage angst if you don't buy in to stories about kids in high school. Even for many Anime fans the verbose and palindromic writing can be mind melting giving some scenes a feeling of dragging on for eternity. Monogatari has never been for everyone, but it is for those listeners or readers who have a love for ten dollar words, being wrapped up in a flurry of wit while being sucked deeper into the rabbit hole.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Koyomi Araragi is by far the stand out character, and continues to be in later novels in the Monogatari series. He is both an everyman character, but also someone with a distinct and strong personality. Between his inner monologues and exterior arguing with himself you get a deep and rich understanding of how he thinks; thus allowing the author to almost meld the minds of the character and reader together.

Which scene was your favorite?

The standout scene in this audiobook comes almost purely from a delivery and character aspect. Hearing Christina Vee argue with herself as two separate characters was a true joy. While I wish they had used another actor to play Hanekawa it was still thrilling to hear.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are two very strong scenes in this book which may either make or break the story for you; the first meeting of our two main characters (Araragi & Kisshot), and their stories climax towards the end. Each novel in the Monogatari series focuses heavily on a singular character and their interactions with Koyomi Araragi with the other characters coming in as strong supports to reinforce the actions of each character. For a majority of the novels, the main support or what could be argued as a tertiary main character to Koyomi is Kisshot. Both their first meeting, and the main story element which binds them together in this novel are very strong, and emotionally draining, but every step beforehand leads you to the finale which you are told from the start will not be a happy one.

Any additional comments?

The Monogatari series as a whole isn't an easy subject matter to translate into a simple written or spoken language. Most likely why it's taken so long for anyone to try and even tackle this expansive series.
With that being said, Vertical has done an excellent job with translating the Novel but keeping dialog, character specific quirks, and the themes of the Monogatari series consistent between the anime and novels. While I would say they did only a serviceable job on the audiobook, it comes from high expectations. The source material is strong in creating an emotional resonance between the reader (or viewer) and the characters in action, so when the voices of them do not line up as you expected, it can be somewhat jarring. Even if the actors did a strong job overall. I will say that compared to the Japanese actor of Hanekawa who sounded more stern, mature, and serious; this iteration is given a more high pitched, giddy, and almost bubbly voice which I wouldn't say fits well, especially with later events in the series and I hope that Vertical reconsiders casting and brings in a different actor to play her.

I would say my main criticisms lie with the direction more so than casting, delivery, or the script. This is a biased point of view, but it seems the director definitely had the actors hold back on some scenes, opting for a bit more subdued approach compared to the anime & japanese actors deliveries. This is personal preference, but I would have rather scene the actors ham up the more dramatic scenes more, as the series has always been known to be bombastic, over the top, and incredibly verbose.

I can also say there is a definite problem with the pacing in a few areas. While this isn't a major problem, it definitely feels as though the actor playing Araragi was told to pick up his reading pace during a few scenes which could have been a little lengthier and more thought provoking. On the other hand, talking a mile a minute is definitely a key attribute to our protagonist, and nothing new the near frantic levels of dialog in the animation version of him.

23 people found this helpful

Gripping, funny, deep...A worthy listen

Great acting, which I didn't expect, this being my first audiobook experience, and usually not liking american anime dub acting (which clearly this isn't, but in theory would be close).

The story surprised me enough for what ia basically a origin story with elements previously hinted at in the saga. I'd say in all it's fair to read this before you read or watch the latest material. But as a starting point it should work really well. As it is, it still brings a whole new dimension to all the characters involved. Kiss-shot, of course, and the protagonist, but also, much yo my delight, to my now-favorite girl, Hanekawa.

As usual with these late-into-a-series origin stories, the story is informed by the previously published books, and it's also followed by a more natural continuation in the publishing order. But that doesn't hurt the enjoyment, it's just that you see where the author is going to go/comes from in terms of character exploration.

So yeah, this audiobook I can wholeheartedly recommend both to fans of the anime and newcomers. It was even the audiobook which made me.a fan of the genre. I hope the rest of the books in the saga are published in this form too, because now I know I'll want to get them all.

4 people found this helpful

anime for the blind

I was a big fan of anime back when I could see. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this. it brought back lots of memories.
The main character is a total weenie. you should expect to spend a lot of time listening to his internal waffling. if that sort of thing amuses you you should enjoy this book.

2 people found this helpful

Excellent quality audio book

Fantastic voice acting, and the story kept me coming back. It's interesting. The writing is very idiosyncratic, I would say, it's an experience, being inside the head of a main character like this one... or maybe this is a standard experience with light novels, and I wouldn't know, as this is my introduction to the medium.

Either way, it was definitely an excellent story that kept me utterly intrigued from start to finish, and I certainly felt it wasn't predictable.

2 people found this helpful

DEFINITELY do not buy if you're over 30 yo

What disappointed you about KIZUMONOGATARI?

Cringe-worthy dialogue. Cheesy sound effects. Endless painful whining and self-deprecating thoughts of main character.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Nothing else by this author.

Would you be willing to try another one of the narrators’s performances?

Not really.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Extreme disappointment. A great deal of eye-rolling.

Any additional comments?

I'm up to Chapter 6 and thus far my experience has been painful. Look, I've listened to other YA fiction before and some works in the genre can be quite good. This is not one of them. I wish I had put more credence in the most critical review here: "This is not for the over 30 crowd...The book is also filled with more teenage angst then in any American YA girl book. The small parts about the vampire is fairly cool and different, but not to the point of putting up with all the childish ramblings of the main character."

5 people found this helpful

NO POINT IN CRYING OVER SPILT BLOOD

This is not for the over 30 crowd. The first hour is totally taken over by a high school boy who sees a pair of panties. In a Marilyn Monroe type situation involving the most popular girl in school, this boy sees her panties and that is all he can think about for the next hour of the book. This causes him to go out and buy porn magazines. The book is also filled with more teenage angst then in any American YA girl book. The small parts about the vampire is fairly cool and different, but not to the point of putting up with all the childish ramblings of the main character. Anime books are similar to graphic novels and I have found that these books without the art work usually don't hold up.

92 people found this helpful

A strange yet beautiful tale.

I'm not one to do many reviews and most of the time I just go in and say things like. Oh it was so good, I loved it, you should read this so on and so forth. But after finishing this i find myself rather happy, had I rolled my eyes at parts? Yes, but it amazes me that as someone who has read his entire life and finds it hard to be captivated by a story, I find this one to be a treasure.
Most may not agree with me as there are things that others just don't like but I urge you at least give this a listen or buy the book because in the end it is a beautiful tale of humanity and excepting ones mistakes while trying to make everyone happy.

1 person found this helpful

very fun

this story is fun and not afraid to make fun of anime/light novel stereotypes at the same time being serious and captivating! the Japanese translation isn't bad!! I hope we get more light novels in the future.

1 person found this helpful

absolutely amazing

I love this book style and overall presents it's a one-of-a-kind writing style with gives me goosebumps anyway it's really hard for me to like tell you how good this book is just need to try it for yourselves like it's very different

1 person found this helpful