Twelve Days of Anime 2015 Part 12: Monogats

The thing I’ve fallen for hardest this year is this goddamn bulbous Monogatari franchise.

Conflict in Early Monogatari Anime

Conflict is an important concept in Monogatari.  Humans clash with supernatural beings.  Words and bodies collide with one another.  Some character relationships can be defined by conflict.  However, it is not just a plot device; analysis of the meaning of conflict, distinguishing types of conflict, and commenting on the fallout from conflict are all thematic elements of the story of Monogatari.

The “philosophy of conflict” present in the anime really grabbed me.  I decided to follow this theme through the early anime and discuss different kinds of conflict present therein.  For each type, I briefly summarize a scene in which the conflict occurs, attempt to define the type and finally consider how the characters are effected by it.  There will be tangents.

This article is not meant to be a complete taxonomy of the kinds of conflict in Monogatari.  I haven’t seen all the anime in the franchise as of this writing, and the title indicates that the piece only covers the early productions (by this I mean Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari).  That said, I stand by the entries in this taxonomy, incomplete though it may be.

Spoilers Ahoy!   

Suggested Soundtrack for Reading – Future Islands “Seasons”