(L) Monogatari Series Light Novel discussion

[ickem]

Originally Posted by Reekon

I have a question:

* Is there any arc at all where Koyomi helps a male person?

Don't get me wrong, I'm liking it that all the "victims" he's helping are girls. But isn't there an imbalance of some sort here?

It's like aside from Araragi, all oddity victims are always girls.

It's like what Oshino often says, "My my Araragi-kun, you brought a different girl again today?" ;-)

There only other men that show up are Hitagi's dad and Kaiki.

[Dark Mage]

@Lummie, Thanks

[Reekon]

Originally Posted by ickem

There only other men that show up are Hitagi's dad and Kaiki.

Ah ok. Thanks!

Btw, was there any reason/explanation why that's the case? .. why most of the victims are girls?

Oh, and lastly, are the novels already finished? Or is it still on-going, if so, what's the current arc?

[ickem]

Originally Posted by Reekon

Ah ok. Thanks!

Btw, was there any reason/explanation why that's the case? .. why most of the victims are girls?

Oh, and lastly, are the novels already finished? Or is it still on-going, if so, what's the current arc?

A reason wasn't really given, but the Araragi Harem wouldn't really be a harem if there were guys in it, now would it?

The main story ended with Nisemonogatari 2, but there will be 2 side stories coming out sometime next year.

[Spekio]

Hopefully this is the right place to ask. I've looking to buy some of the novels, but I've only found them on JP Amazon so far with a whopping $30 shipping charge plus an additional 6 per book after that. I would really like to get the books but I'm worried about about my ability to comprehend an entire Japanese novel even though I've played plenty of story heavy Japanese RPGs. Is there any way someone could post a page from the book so that I could get an idea whether I understand it enough to shell out so much money? Also if anyone knows a better place to get it from I'd greatly appreciate the info.

Also looking on Amazon I see 化物語(上) (講談社BOX) and 化物語(下) (講談社BOX). Is that all of Bakemonogatari? If I do order I want to get all of it in one go.

[Da~Mike]

Originally Posted by cyoti

Ghostory > Monstory
The former is clever, the latter is meh.

I would agree based on the fact that Ghostory is an effective portmanteau word compared with Monstory. Yet, although 'bakemono' can be translated as ghost or apparitation, the word generally is more commonly associated with monstrosities.
Moreover, if we use the title of Ghostory as a substitue title for the Bakamonogatari novels, then consider that the story generally progresses around all manners of supernatural abnormalities not limited to ghosts, it would seem that Ghostory isn't a particularly good choice.
In fact, one could simply think of other definitions for 'monsters' and the like, and also other synonyms for 'story', and one could come up with two examples below:

Beastory
or
Beastale / Beastales

While they both could be easily pronounced as "bee-story", "bee-stale/s", or "bees-tale/s", making it sound something along the lines of a Pixar cartoon book, this portmanteau word is perhaps a more accurate translation of the title 'Bakemonogatari' with regards to its contents.

It always is difficult to translate Japanese words/phrases like this, or anything that has no direct translation in English. The easiest example would be the Japanese honorific system that Del-Rey made note of in all their manga. While it's easy enough to translate the more common honorifics like san -> Mr/Ms/Mrs, the thing that is utterly lost in translation is the lack of honorific. Addressing people by their first or last name in English without any honorific is no where near as significant as it is in Japanese culture.

In essence, it boils down to how liberal the translators and editors choose to be when translating or adapting media from one language to another. A good example would be the Gyakuten Saiban games becoming Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney an so on. While some aspects just couldn't cross the language barrier and simply seemed odd in the Ace Attorney games, they were adapted very well.
Much better than the appalling Zero Wing translations that I've seen.

Originally Posted by Spekio

Hopefully this is the right place to ask. I've looking to buy some of the novels, but I've only found them on JP Amazon so far with a whopping $30 shipping charge plus an additional 6 per book after that. I would really like to get the books but I'm worried about about my ability to comprehend an entire Japanese novel even though I've played plenty of story heavy Japanese RPGs. Is there any way someone could post a page from the book so that I could get an idea whether I understand it enough to shell out so much money? Also if anyone knows a better place to get it from I'd greatly appreciate the info.
Also looking on Amazon I see 化物語(上) (講談社BOX) and 化物語(下) (講談社BOX). Is that all of Bakemonogatari? If I do order I want to get all of it in one go.

Kinokuniya USA delivers to American addresses. I've attached the relevant links for you:
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/ohb/...es/riyou_2.htm
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/gues...AREA=02&LANG=J
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/gues...AREA=02&LANG=J

I've never ordered from the American website before but it seems that their books are cheaper (+delivery cost) than if you were to import it via Amazon.co.jp.

And yes, the two books you listed down are the two Bakemonogatari books available at the moment it seems. I don't know why he decided to label them as up and down instead of one and two. I'd expect left and right for the next ones, or east and west if that's his way of ordering things.
[edit:- it seems Bakemonogatari isn't the only title used for the series of related Nisio-Isin novels. And how do we translate Nisemonogatari?? Bogustory? Counterfeitale/s?]

I'm afraid I don't have any raws of the book but I suppose ickem may be able to help you there. But based on what I've seen, if you can handle JRPGs and have read other light novels, the only thing that might throw you off are the meta words and humour.

Anyway, I should order my own copies of Bakemonogatari at some point, since I'd be interested to see how people attempt to translate/adapt it, and to try and read the books myself...

[Spekio]

Thanks. It looks like while all the books combined cost about the same amount at kinokuniya and amazon JP (amazon USA doesn't carry them), there's a much smaller penalty for buying a single book.

Are the books written in the same style as those text flashes in the anime, with katakana in place of where hiragana should be? Personally, that throws me off quite a bit and I'd be much more open to trying one of those novels if I knew they were written normally. That's one of the reasons I had wanted to see a page.

[hei]

Originally Posted by Spekio

Also looking on Amazon I see 化物語(上) (講談社BOX) and 化物語(下) (講談社BOX). Is that all of Bakemonogatari? If I do order I want to get all of it in one go.

The anime is based entirely on those two books, but there are other books in the same series which are not covered by the current anime. Kizumonogatari - 傷物語 (講談社BOX) - is a prequel of Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari - 偽物語(上) (講談社BOX) & 偽物語(下) (講談社BOX) - is a sequel.

But before you decide whether you buy them or not, please mind that there is no Senjogahara featuring in Kizumonogatari.

[ickem]

Originally Posted by hei

The anime is based entirely on those two books, but there are other books in the same series which are not covered by the current anime. Kizumonogatari - 傷物語 (講談社BOX) - is a prequel of Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari - 偽物語(上) (講談社BOX) & 偽物語(下) (講談社BOX) - is a sequel.

But before you decide whether you buy them or not, please mind that there is no Senjogahara featuring in Kizumonogatari.

She doesn't appear in Nise 2 either, although she is mentioned.

[hei]

Originally Posted by ickem

She doesn't appear in Nise 2 either, although she is mentioned.

Right, it looks like there is no Senjogahara scene in Nise 2, either. Though, Kanbaru appears! (I did not read Nisemonogatari but its summary)

Spoiler:

If Senjogahara's unique personality is really changed in the future after Nise 1, then Kanbaru will be my favorite character!

[omimon]

Originally Posted by ickem

A reason wasn't really given, but the Araragi Harem wouldn't really be a harem if there were guys in it, now would it?

The main story ended with Nisemonogatari 2, but there will be 2 side stories coming out sometime next year.

Are you sure that it's only a side story and not a continuation?

BTW I have another question. In Kizu I understand that Araragi needed to get Heart's missing limbs back from the hunters and that's why he fought them, but why did he fight Heart at the end?

[Westlo]

Well the Tsubasa one is the golden week prequel that takes place inbetween Kizu and Bake, as for Mayois.. who knows.

[ickem]

Originally Posted by omimon

Are you sure that it's only a side story and not a continuation?

BTW I have another question. In Kizu I understand that Araragi needed to get Heart's missing limbs back from the hunters and that's why he fought them, but why did he fight Heart at the end?

Well, Nise's title is "The final story, Tsukihi Phoenix" so Koyomi's story is done. Prequels are always a possibility, but we most likely won't get a true continuation.

Spoiler for spoilers for Kizumonogatari:

The reason that Koyomi fought Kiss-Shot can be seen in the beginning of ep 1. Just pause on the screen of the corpse and you'd notice that Kiss-Shot is chowing down. Vampires not only drink the blood of humans, but eat their corpses as well. Simply drinking the blood of someone doesn't completely sate their hunger. Koyomi was willing to give his life to Kiss-Shot when she begged him to save her, but he didn't know that she needed to consume his corpse as well as his blood. Koyomi never thought about how he would be sentencing people to their deaths when he saved Kiss-Shot until he actually saw her feeding. She says herself that she needs to feed about twice a month so over the course of her life she has killed about 6,000 people. Koyomi eventually figures that he's the only one that has even the remotest chance of beating her. Well, Oshino has a chance too, but his role in creating the balance was done.

[Magin]

I'm wondering... do we ever find out what exactly Oshino is, or at least how he has all the knowledge of the supernatural that he does, or is it just a case of "He is Knowledgable, Do Not Question."?

[ickem]

Originally Posted by Magin

I'm wondering... do we ever find out what exactly Oshino is, or at least how he has all the knowledge of the supernatural that he does, or is it just a case of "He is Knowledgable, Do Not Question."?

We are told some of his background in Nise 2.

Spoiler for Nise 1 and 2:

He was in some sort of occult club when he was in college and is a genius. We meet 2 of his compatriots in the Nise novels. One of them mentioned how she wouldn't have the balls to bind someone of Kiss-Shot's power with her own name.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Spekio

Thanks. It looks like while all the books combined cost about the same amount at kinokuniya and amazon JP (amazon USA doesn't carry them), there's a much smaller penalty for buying a single book.

Are the books written in the same style as those text flashes in the anime, with katakana in place of where hiragana should be? Personally, that throws me off quite a bit and I'd be much more open to trying one of those novels if I knew they were written normally. That's one of the reasons I had wanted to see a page.

Given amazon.co.jp's shipping policies, they're worst and last resort to get books from.

Kinokuniya is an excellent source (especially if you have one in your city). Also, nippon-export.com has been good to me. If they don't have it in stock, ask for it (especially with a link to Amazon) and they'll get it for you. They love undercutting Amazon on shipping

[omimon]

Originally Posted by ickem

Well, Nise's title is "The final story, Tsukihi Phoenix" so Koyomi's story is done. Prequels are always a possibility, but we most likely won't get a true continuation.

Spoiler for spoilers for Kizumonogatari:

The reason that Koyomi fought Kiss-Shot can be seen in the beginning of ep 1. Just pause on the screen of the corpse and you'd notice that Kiss-Shot is chowing down. Vampires not only drink the blood of humans, but eat their corpses as well. Simply drinking the blood of someone doesn't completely sate their hunger. Koyomi was willing to give his life to Kiss-Shot when she begged him to save her, but he didn't know that she needed to consume his corpse as well as his blood. Koyomi never thought about how he would be sentencing people to their deaths when he saved Kiss-Shot until he actually saw her feeding. She says herself that she needs to feed about twice a month so over the course of her life she has killed about 6,000 people. Koyomi eventually figures that he's the only one that has even the remotest chance of beating her. Well, Oshino has a chance too, but his role in creating the balance was done.

I see, so anyways I guess what I want to ask then is what happens at the end.
I mean I have no idea what happens in Tsukihi Phoenix but I was wondering what happens to Araragi at the end of the series.

[ickem]

Originally Posted by omimon

I see, so anyways I guess what I want to ask then is what happens at the end.
I mean I have no idea what happens in Tsukihi Phoenix but I was wondering what happens to Araragi at the end of the series.

Spoiler for nise 2:

Tsukihi Phoenix was mainly about Koyomi coming to terms with the relationship he has with his sisters. He's been basically living apart from his family for years now even though they live in the same house. He's tried to keep his life apart from them, but he's forced to deal with it in Tsukihi Phoenix. After the Kaii is "dealt" with he promises to introduce Tsukihi to Hitagi.

[S3vEn]

Spoiler:

So does he introduce tsukihi to hitagi?, by the way do both his sister like him or something? bro-con? o.o

[Lummie]

Originally Posted by ickem

Spoiler for nise 2:

Tsukihi Phoenix was mainly about Koyomi coming to terms with the relationship he has with his sisters. He's been basically living apart from his family for years now even though they live in the same house. He's tried to keep his life apart from them, but he's forced to deal with it in Tsukihi Phoenix. After the Kaii is "dealt" with he promises to introduce Tsukihi to Hitagi.

In the anime it's like his sisters are trying to get closer to him by waking him up in his room and trying to convince him to stay home on mother's day. Why does he want to live apart from his family despite everything his sisters try?