Kizumonogatari (film series)

Kizumonogatari

Promotional poster for the first movie, Tekketsu.
傷物語
Genre Horror
Anime film
Tekketsu
Directed by
Produced by
  • Atsuhiro Iwakami
  • Takuya Matsushita
  • Mitsutoshi Kubota
Written by Nisio Isin
Music by Satoru Kōsaki
Studio Shaft
Licensed by
Released
  • January 8, 2016 (2016-01-08)
Runtime 64 minutes[1]
Anime film
Nekketsu
Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo
Tatsuya Oishi
Produced by Atsuhiro Iwakami
Takuya Matsushita
Mitsutoshi Kubota
Written by Nisio Isin
Music by Satoru Kōsaki
Studio Shaft
Licensed by
Released
  • August 19, 2016 (2016-08-19)
Runtime 69 minutes
Anime film
Reiketsu
Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo
Tatsuya Oishi
Produced by Atsuhiro Iwakami
Takuya Matsushita
Mitsutoshi Kubota
Written by Nisio Isin
Music by Satoru Kōsaki
Studio Shaft
Licensed by
Released
  • January 6, 2017 (2017-01-06)
Runtime 83 minutes[2]

Kizumonogatari (傷物語, Kizumonogatari), which translates to Wound Story, is a series of Japanese animated films directed by Tatsuya Oishi and produced by Shaft.[1][3] It is based on the light novel Kizumonogatari, a prequel to Bakemonogatari and part of the Monogatari series of light novels written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Vofan.[4] The first film, Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (傷物語I 鉄血篇, Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu-hen), which translates to Wound Story Part 1, Iron Blood, was released in Japan on January 8, 2016.[5] The second film, Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu (Japanese: 傷物語II 熱血篇, Hepburn: Kizumonogatari II: Nekketsu-hen), which translates to Wound Story, Part 2: Hot Blood, was released in Japan on August 19, 2016.[6] The third and the final film in the trilogy, Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu (Japanese: 傷物語III 冷血篇, Hepburn: Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu-hen), which translates to Wound Story, Part 3: Cold Blood, was released in Japan on January 6, 2017.[7]

Plot

Tekketsu

Koyomi Araragi, a second year high school student at Naoetsu High School, befriends Tsubasa Hanekawa, the top honors student at his school. Tsubasa mentions a rumor about a “blonde vampire” that has been sighted around their town recently. Koyomi, who is usually anti-social, takes a liking to Tsubasa’s down-to-earth personality. That evening, Koyomi encounters this rumored vampire: she is Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade, also known as the “King of Apparitions.” The blonde, golden-eyed vampire cries out for Koyomi to save her as she lies in a pool of her own blood, all four of her limbs having been cut off by three vampire hunters. Kiss-shot asks Koyomi to give her his blood in order to save her life, and when he does, Koyomi finds himself reborn as her vampire subordinate.

Nekketsu

Now a vampire, Koyomi is charged with retrieving Kiss-shot's severed limbs from the vampire hunters who took them. Before he confronts the first hunter, the gigantic full-vampire Dramaturgy, he has a conversation with Tsubasa. He hides his vampire nature, but Tsubasa is still interested in the rumors about vampires being spread around. At the fight, Dramaturgy tears Koyomi's arms off in one blow, but Koyomi discovers his vampire power of rapid regeneration. Seeing the fight as lost, Dramaturgy surrenders Kiss-shot's leg to Koyomi. At the time, Kiss-shot has taken the form of a child. But she morphs into a young teenager after she consumes her adult leg.

Koyomi next fights the vampire-human half-breed Episode, who can transform into mist and wields a giant silver cross as a weapon. Tsubasa walks into the fight and is disemboweled by Episode. Before she dies, Tsubasa points out to Koyomi that he can defeat Episode by throwing sand into his mist form. Koyomi uses sand to overwhelm Episode and beats Episode savagely. Meme Oshino, an ally of Kiss-shot, gets Koyomi to calm down and, for a price of ¥3 million, informs Koyomi that he can use his own blood to heal Tsubasa. Koyomi then uses his own blood to save Tsubasa's life. Consumption of the second leg enables Kiss-shot to morph into a young adult.

Koyomi now must face the fully human priest Guillotine Cutter for Kiss-shot's arms. Before the fight, he desperately pleads with Tsubasa to leave for her own safety. Tsubasa ultimately agrees, leaving her panties with Koyomi as a promise that they will reunite later. Nonetheless, Guillotine Cutter kidnaps Tsubasa, and Meme advises that Koyomi must "forget about being human again" in order to rescue her. Koyomi uses a power to transform his arms into tree roots to defeat Guillotine Cutter and save Tsubasa, but appears to have abandoned his wish to become human again.

Reiketsu

Koyomi and Meme finally succeed at fully restoring Kiss-shot. Koyomi expects Kiss-Shot to then change him back to human. But before that, Kiss-shot and Koyomi spend an evening on a rooftop, where Kiss-shot reminisces about her previous minion, a Samurai who chose to commit suicide when Kiss-shot was not able to restore his humanity. Koyomi goes off to buy food, but when he returns he finds Kiss-shot eating the eviscerated corpse of Guillotine Cutter. He is horrified at the realization that Kiss-Shot will now hunt humans again, and that he himself will want to hunt as well.

The realization leaves Koyomi despondent enough to want to die. But then Tsubasa appears and persuades Koyomi to stay alive. She also points out that Koyomi himself has the power to stop Kiss-shot. Tsubasa's comforting words, as well as a clumsy attempt to fondle her breasts, bring Koyomi's spirits up enough to face Kiss-shot in a fight.

Kiss-shot and Koyomi face off in the Tokyo Olympic stadium. They repeatedly tear each other's limbs and heads off, but then regenerate their appendages back. Finally, Koyomi weakens Kiss-shot by sucking out her blood. But Tsubasa suddenly realizes that Kiss-shot wants to die. Kiss-shot admits that she was going to throw the fight, and explains that she has to die to restore a minion's humanity, but couldn't do so for her previous minion because she was too scared of death. Kiss-shot demands that Koyomi kill her, but Koyomi instead yells for Meme's help. Meme proposes a solution that will "make everyone miserable": Koyomi will suck out Kiss-shot's blood only to the point that she is too weak to hunt humans, leaving them both quasi-versions of vampire and human. Over Kiss-shot's protestations, Koyomi chooses this path. The next day, Koyomi explains to Tsubasa that he is mostly human but does have some vampire traits. Kiss-shot now has the form of a child, and can only eat by regularly sucking Koyomi's blood.

Production

The anime adaptation of Kizumonogatari was announced in July 2010[8] and in March 2011 it was announced that the adaptation would be a film.[9] In October 2015 it was announced that there would be three films: Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu-hen, Kizumonogatari II: Nekketsu-hen and Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu-hen; the cast and crew for Tekketsu were also announced.[3]

Release

As of September 2011, the film was scheduled for release in 2012[10] but it was announced in April 2012 that the release date had been pushed back.[11] In October 2015 the release date for the first film was announced for January 8, 2016.[3] It was released in the United States by Aniplex of America on February 26, 2016.[5][12]

Box office and sales

On its opening weekend in Japan, Tekketsu placed third, grossing ¥322,509,300 from 243,702 admissions.[13] On its second weekend, it was in the sixth place by admissions[14] and in fifth place by gross, with US$798,835.[15] On the third weekend, it was in the ninth place by admissions[16] and in the eighth place by gross, with US$418,165.[17] The film reached more than 450,000 admissions by January 26.[18] As of February 7, Tekketsu had grossed US$6,156,959.[19] The Blu-ray Disc edition of the first film sold 36,018 in its first week, placing first in the chart.[20]

The second film, Nekketsu grossed ¥196 million on its opening weekend in Japan and was eighth placed by number of admissions, with 148,200.[21] The film grossed US$3,442,498 overall in Japan box office.[22] The Blu-ray Disc edition sold 30,670 in its first week, placing again first in the chart,[23] with DVD selling over 2,000.[24]

The third film, Reiketsu was ninth placed on its opening weekend, grossing ¥86.7 million (US$746,000).[25] It earned ¥170,000,000 in 4 days.[26]

Critical reception

Nick Creamer of Anime News Network gave the first film an overall grade of A-, saying that the film "might be the first third of a masterpiece. It is already a breathtaking experience."[27]

He also gave the second film an "A" grade, praising its story, animation, and sound design. He noted as a negative that the film's sexuality seemed to "trip into indulgent excess" at times, however ended the review by stating "It's ugly, incomplete, and ostentatiously beautiful. It is one of a kind."[28]

The first film was the runner-up in the "Best Picture (film)" category at the 2016 Newtype Anime Awards.[29]

References

  1. 1 2 "傷物語〈I 鉄血篇〉(2016)". allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ 傷物語〈III 冷血篇〉(2016). allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Kizumonogatari Confirmed as 3 Films Starting on January 8". Anime News Network. October 3, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Kizumonogatari, Nisemonogatari BD/DVD Listed by Amazon". Anime News Network. January 6, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "1st Kizumonogatari Film's US Theaters, Dates Listed". Anime News Network. January 11, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  6. ↑ "傷物語II 熱血篇". eiga.com (in Japanese). Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  7. ↑ "3rd Kizumonogatari Film's Trailer Highlights Araragi, Shinobu's Relationship". Anime News Network. December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  8. ↑ "NisiOisin's Kizumonogatari Light Novel Gets Anime (Updated)". Anime News Network. July 28, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  9. ↑ "NisiOisin's Kizumonogatari Light Novel Gets Film". Anime News Network. March 25, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  10. ↑ "NisiOisin's Kizumonogatari Anime Film Trailer Streamed". Anime News Network. September 15, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  11. ↑ "NisiOisin's Upcoming Monogatari Anime Works Outlined". Anime News Network. April 9, 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  12. ↑ "1st Kizumonogatari Film to Open in US Theaters". Anime News Network. December 24, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Kizumonogatari Opens at #3 Below Star Wars, Yo-kai Watch". Anime News Network. January 13, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Japan Box Office Report – 1/16~1/17". tokyohive. 6Theory Media, LLC. January 18, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Japan Box Office January 16–17, 2016". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Japan Box Office Report – 1/23~1/24". tokyohive. 6Theory Media, LLC. January 25, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Japan Box Office January 23–24, 2016". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  18. ↑ "1st Kizumonogatari Film Earns 600 Million Yen in 3 Weeks". Anime News Network. February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  19. ↑ "(Kizumonogatari) Kizu monogatari I: Tekketsu-hen". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Japan's Animation Blu-ray Disc Ranking, July 25-31". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Japan Box Office Report – 8/20~8/21". tokyohive. 6Theory Media, LLC. August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Kizumonogatari II: Nekketsu-hen". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Japan's Animation Blu-ray Disc Ranking, December 19-25". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Japan's Animation DVD Ranking, December 19-25". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Kizumonogatari III Anime Film Earns 87 Million Yen in 1st Weekend". Anime News Network. January 11, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  26. ↑ "(ODS)『傷物語Ⅲ』初日4日間で1億7千万円". bunkatsushin. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  27. ↑ Creamer, Nick (February 26, 2016). "Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu-hen". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu - Review - Anime News Network". Anime News Network. October 27, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Shinkai's 'your name.,' Kabaneri Win Top Newtype Anime Awards". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
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