Update: There’s also a “main trailer,” which you can watch below:
Original: A key visual for Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp, the upcoming compilation movie of the Kizumonogatari film trilogy, has been released. The minimalistic but striking visual shows the distant figure of Koyomi Araragi gazing down a flight of escalators, which are mostly bathed in darkness, moments from his life-changing encounter with Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade.
The version of the visual shared by Aniplex of America lists the words “coming soon.” The movie will land in Japanese theaters on January 12, 2024.
The Kizumonogatari trilogy — comprising Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu, Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu, and Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu — was released in Japan between 2016 to 2017. The movies are based on the third volume of Nisio Isin‘s Monogatari light novel series, which serves as the prequel to 2006’s Bakemonogatari Part 1 and 2. The anime series adaptation of Bakemonogatari premiered in 2009.
Kizumonogatari details series protagonist Koyomi’s first meeting with the vampire Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, who at this point in the chronology is hunted by three formidable vampire hunters, and the events labelled as Spring Break. While there have been many Monogatari anime, the last so far being 2019’s Zoku Monogatari, only Bakemonogatari and Kizumonogatari are directed by Tatsuya Oishi (Oishi also penned the scripts for the latter).
The Kodansha-published light novels, which are illustrated by VOFAN, now have 29 volumes as of May 2023 (excluding a crossover volume). The books have also inspired a manga adaptation drawn by Oh!Great.
Kodansha USA describes Bakemonogatari Part 1 as:
There’s a girl at their school who is always ill. She routinely arrives late, leaves early, or doesn’t show up at all, and skips gym as a matter of course. She’s pretty, and the boys take to whispering that she’s a cloistered princess. As the self-described worst loser in her class soon finds out, they just don’t know what a monster she is. So begins a tale of mysterious maladies that are supernatural in origin yet deeply revealing of the human psyche, a set of case files as given to unexpected feeling as it is to irreverent humor. So begins the legendary novel that kicked off the MONOGATARI series, whose anime adaptations have enjoyed international popularity and critical acclaim. This first of three parts introduces Senjogahara and Hachikuji, and fans of the blockbuster prequel KIZUMONOGATARI will be delighted to meet their favorite crazies again: the weirdly reliable narrator Araragi, class president among class presidents Hanekawa, shady problem-solver Oshino, and a certain pale, blonde former vampire.
Staff
• Chief director: Akiyuki Shimbou
• Character designers: Akio Watanabe and Hideyuki Morioka
• Sound director: Yota Tsuroka
• Music composer: Satoru Kosaki
• Animation production: Shaft
Cast
• Hiroshi Kamiya as Koyomi Araragi
• Maaya Sakamoto as Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade
• Yui Horie as Tsubasa Hanekawa
• Takahiro Sakurai as Meme Oshino
• Miyu Irino as Episode
• Masashi Ebara as Dramaturgy
• Hochu Otsuka as Guillotinecutter
Sources: @nisioisin_anime, @aniplexUSA
