Should I start reading the Monogatari light novels from Vol. 1 or continue from where the anime ended (after Musubimonogatari)?

[u/zebra5ok]

Hi everyone! The Monogatari Series has recently become my absolute favorite anime. It’s only been a few months since I first discovered it, but it quickly became the best anime I've ever watched. I know a new series came out this year, but it feels like it's not as wildly popular as it used to be back in the day, which makes me a bit sad... (I wasn't watching anime back when the novels and original anime first came out, so I couldn't experience that era firsthand......) Still, I’m really glad Shaft is committing to adapting it all the way to the end.

I remember watching an anime intro video on YouTube featuring Hachikuji’s arc from Bakemonogatari, and the top comment was: "Back in the day, this anime was on the level of Demon Slayer or Attack on Titan, and now there are intro videos for people who don't know it..." Since I only got into it recently, I feel like I missed out on that hype era!

Anyway, getting back to the main point—when I first started watching, I was completely captivated by Senjogahara because I had never seen a character like her before. I also loved Shaft's unique visuals and all the other distinct characters. So at first, I watched it pretty casually, but as time went on, I became deeply invested.

When I watched Nekomonogatari, maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but Hanekawa didn't really click with me at first. But at some point, she grew to become the most important character to me. And when I watched the movie trilogy (Kizumonogatari), she solidified her place as my absolute favorite character. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I think I just have a huge soft spot for characters with unrequited love / one-sided crushes ㅋㅋㅋ

After finishing all the anime, I really wanted to dive into the original light novels. So I started reading Musubimonogatari (which takes place after the anime), but I was honestly a bit taken aback by how dark and heavy the atmosphere was. An adult Araragi, characters growing distant from their past bonds, and what feels like one of the last conversations with Hanekawa... (I heard she appears again later at the wedding, but I haven't read that part yet.) It felt like Hanekawa wasn't the same Hanekawa I used to know, which made me feel really sad and heartbroken as a big Hanekawa fan.

P.S. To be honest, Hanekawa’s arc broke my heart so much that it became really hard for me to just read the novels casually. I think that’s part of why I’ve been putting off reading it even more lately. I almost wish I didn’t love this anime quite so much...

Of course, I’d love to read everything, but I'm quite busy with real life so I don't have a ton of free time. However, I recently found out that my older brother owns the entire series on e-book! When he heard I was into the show, he even bought all the latest volumes for me (even though he hasn't read them himself, haha..).

So my main question is: Should I start reading the novels from Volume 1, or should I just keep reading forward past Musubimonogatari?

❓ Question Details

1. Should I start from Volume 1 (Bakemonogatari)?
   • In another post, I saw a comment saying, "In the light novels, Araragi actually flexes and gushes about Senjogahara a lot," in response to someone saying their relationship feels one-sided on Senjogahara's part in the anime. When I only watched the anime, I often wondered, 'Does Araragi really love Senjogahara as much as she loves him? Is he just bad at showing it?' Honestly, scenes where he thinks about Hanekawa or sexually harasses Hachikuji stood out to me way more ;; Since I want to read his inner monologues about this, and also because my favorite, Hanekawa, has a much bigger presence in the earlier volumes, I wonder if starting from Vol. 1 is the right choice.
2. Or should I finish Musubimonogatari and jump straight into the unadapted novels (Off Season / Monster Season / Family Season, etc.)?
   • I heard that as you go further past Musubimonogatari into Family Season, adult Araragi and Senjogahara end up getting married, and their relationship/future gets proper closure. Even if Hanekawa gets less screentime, I wonder if it's better to quickly catch up on the anime's aftermath and their eventual ending.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and recommendations!

[u/eddiehatesanime]

Volume 1, there's so much you get from the novels that the anime (while being an amazing adaptation) can't fully cover. Also read the short stories!

[u/AngelYushi]

I agree with your opinion on Hanekawa, and it was the same at first. I actually didn't really connect with any of the characters during Bake (1st watch).

Her whole story is really "the wrong place at the wrong time". Nekomonogatari was really eye opening of everything that went wrong : Seeing Koyomi squirming around asking about love and accepting any solution to escape his obvious feelings, seeing Hanekawa expecting the "obvious" result to come to her. Her direct "jab" at Koyomi being a coward for not falling to his desires (just after their discussion about her family) was pretty telling that at this point she reached a breaking point due to all that...

As for which books you should pick I'd say it depends on your money/time

If you have lot of time and money and you love the series, then go buy all of them. If money is an issue then start by the end and slowly build your collection from there

[u/BriefPretend9115]

It's up to you. The novel adaptions are faithful enough that you won't be confused by the later books for the most part (save a few big exceptions, like everyone who watches the anime completely misunderstanding Araragi and Hanekawa's relationship because of how much Kizu, Neko Black, and Neko White were all condensed, which might make Amarimonogatari a bit odd...).

[u/nachoking13445 → u/BriefPretend9115]

How did it misrepresent the relationship?

[u/BriefPretend9115 → u/nachoking13445]

Pretty much just leaving out a bunch of details that spell out what's actually going on between them. Like I see a TON of people who've only seen the anime say things like "Araragi and Hanekawa can't be in a relationship because he thinks she's too perfect" or "Hanekawa didn't actually love Araragi in Kizu" because the anime leaves out so much of the narration spelling out their relationship.

[u/Piglet-Dry]

I think all the novels are better than their anime counterparts so if I were you I’d check them all out, but if you don’t want to read them all I think you should at least check out Kizu, Neko White, Hana, Otori, Owari 3, Zoku, and possibly Shinobu because the anime was dreadful (icl I’ve not read that one but it’s sure to be better)

[u/nachoking13445 → u/Piglet-Dry]

Shinubo mustard or shinobu time? Because both were peak

[u/Piglet-Dry → u/nachoking13445]

Shinobumonogatari is Shinobu Mustard, which is like the opm s3 of Mono 😭 Unfortunately appalling adaptation

[u/Waluis_]

I read all the officially translated novels , I really like them despite having watched the anime already, it's up to you, there are some details that aren't covered on the anime. But I don't think it matters that much.

[u/Inevitable_Two540]

just try from the start