Mononogatari is back for the second of its split cours (seems as if the official naming convention is “Episode 13” so I’ll go with that). The first time around it was the Patron Pick for Winter 2023 (the second ever). It probably would have been on the bubble otherwise, and this time around I imagine I’ll make a straight up/down decision as it seems wrong to list the same series twice as a candidate. Summer doesn’t look like an unusually full season at this early stage, so if Mononogatari can sustain the level of its last few episodes (or even raise it) I’d imagine it has a pretty good chance.
The decision to start the season with a flashback to the Nagatsuki estate preparing for Hyouma’s arrival is an interesting one. I’m not sure it added anything meaningful to the story but it provided some cute moments if nothing else. The meat of the the premiere, though, is preparation for the Aoi Matsuri, one of Kyoto’s “three great festivals”. Saenome are expected to provide security, which is a bit vexing for Hyouma as crowds and parades trigger his killing instinct. I enjoy when anime show scenes of Kyoto life (it’s not as common as you’d think) and this show is no exception.
We briefly met (apparently) the umbrella that was responsible for the death of Hyouma’s older siblings at the end of the first cour (as I said, if that had been the series finale it would have been a real kick in the teeth). She’s here, but the biggest splash is made by the “Bureau of Traditional Music”. The Bureau of Traditionall Music is, apparently, the oddly-named third member of Kyoto’s great tsukumogami groups. They haven’t been around for ten years (doing other gigs, apparently) but Haori implies that they have at least a non-adversarial relationship with the Nagatsuki group.
They make quite the entrance, as a hostile tsukumogami does indeed crash the Aoi Matsuri parade, right where the jittery Hyouma is keeping watch. He reports this to Kadomori-san but then immediately jumps into battle himself. And with those kind of crowds around one can only imagine this would indeed have gotten messy if the Bureau hadn’t stepped in. Their work is strikingly efficient and neat – they knock the crowd out, take care of the threat, and set up all the game pieces as they were when the crisis began. Whatever their role in the larger story (and I don’t think they’re enemies) the Bureau of Traditional Music is certainly formidable.
That umbrella seems likely to be the key MacGuffin of the season, however. Especially as regards its relationship with Botan, which has been hinted to be pretty direct. Hyouma was able to process what he learned about Botan at the end of the first season without it souring his views about her, but if she was indeed involved (even involuntarily) with the tragic and traumatic event of his life, that could be another story. This is a guy who nurses a grudge like Florence Nightingale, as we’ve seen, and his recovery from that behavior is still in its early stages…
SeijiSensei
July 5, 2023 at 11:53 pmI’m so glad this somewhat off-beat story got a second cour. I like the characters, and the Bureau was, as you described, pretty cool.
Guardian Enzo
July 6, 2023 at 6:28 amI don’t love it, but it’s a pretty solid show. Not too heavy on the tropes and more Kyoto is always good.
Nicc
July 6, 2023 at 6:54 am“Monogatari” returns with its 2nd cour! It appears that the manga ended last month and so I wonder about its chances of getting a complete adaptation.
It looks like it’s not being treated as a separate cour as it proceeds into the 13th episode. Thus, there’s no recap of the first 12 episodes here, but there are are some flashbacks. The first one takes place before the arrival of Hyouma to the Nagatsuki estate. While doing some cleaning up at her grandfather’s room (To become Hyouma’s room), she finds his old pipe. It awakens the tsukumogami inside, but with everybody there it gets dispatched easily. There’s no further explanation about the tsukumogami, but pipe is fixed up.
Back in the present, it looks like Hyouma will be on security detail for an upcoming festival as he heads on to the Kadamori estate for some training. It looks like they’ll be recurring characters for this cour as well. Taking a training break with Tsubaki, here comes another flashback and this time about this older siblings. As brought up before, they both were prodigies and were on the fast-track to the top. Their encounter with the umbrella tsukumogami that killed them was clearly a set-up, but by whom?
It’s parade day and everything seems to be going smoothly. Hyouma has got some free time to talk to Botan and one of her friends, but then he senses a tsukumogami. It’s in the form of a parasol (go figure) and just when he’s about to take care of it, here comes the Bureau of Traditional Music. Like you said, they make a splash as they handle the situation efficiently and everybody else was none the wiser. It’s just the three of them, but they are indeed formidable and don’t appear hostile towards the Nagatsukis. Then, Hyouma sees the umbrella tsukumogami on the street and it looks back. It looks like they’ll be butting heads sometime this cour. You’re also right about Botan’s involvement in this and how this could affect either one of them.
Guardian Enzo
July 6, 2023 at 7:54 am15 volumes, so if they’re going to try and complete it in two cours that will be quite a sprint.
Bnk
July 7, 2023 at 6:46 amNo, it’s 16 volumes. The 16th and final volume will be released on August. I already read up to the final chapter and it was a blast. My only complaint is that I wished it was longer so it can have more chapter focusing on the supporting character, especially Sumire and Shirayuri. Also, I know it’s been said a lot, but I wish this would’ve gotten a better studio who could properly brought Onigunsou’s beautiful art to the screen. The character design, scenery, paneling and action scenes in the manga is amazing. Easily tops most Shonen Jump action manga. It especially irks me when people calls Mononogatari a low-rent poor man’s Jujutsu Kaisen, when not only did Mononogatari started 4 years earlier, it has better art and storyline, IMO.
Guardian Enzo
July 7, 2023 at 6:50 amThey remind me nothing of each other. At all.
BNK
July 7, 2023 at 8:15 amIt seems many know nothing know it alls anime watchers’ knowledge of japanese mythology based urban fantasy series only come from Jujutsu Kaisen these days. Obviously as a longtime anime watcher and manga reader who understands Japanese, this only shows me how shallow most of these “fans” knowledge really are. This kind of genre goes back a LONG while from freaking Kitaro. Not to mention excellent titles like Ushio and Tora, Kekkaishi, Nurarihyon no Mago, and other titles that western fans are not familiar with.