Nekomonogatari White: Tsubasa Tiger Blu-ray Set Limited Edition

First off, this review is for people who have already seen at least Bakemonogatari. Neko Black is a prequel to Bake, but you should still watch Bake first in order to know the characters before watching Neko Black. You do not have to watch Nisemonogatari before watching Neko Black.There are many reasons to love the Monogatari series. The main three people mention are the incredibly dry humor, the psychology, and the spirituality in it. (Myself, I love the psychology of it, and so Nisemonogatari was a disappointment for me personally). Neko Black has almost zero humor in it after the first half of the first episode, but the psychology and spiritually are excellent. This is the story of Hanekawa's first possession by the Sawari Neko. Comparing this this one to the "Tsubasa Cat" arc in Bake, this one is much darker and more raw than "Tsubasa Cat." The latter had several lighthearted moments to break the tension. Neko Black begins it's decent into darkness at the midpoint of episode one, and it keeps building and building through the entire story with never a break.There are several excellent psychological elements in Neko Black, my favorite two being the oppression of sainthood and the nature of true love. That is... saints by their very nature are both oppressed by, and oppressing to the people around them. And true love... True love is the desire to sacrifice oneself for another. I was amazed at how well these elements could be portrayed in only four episodes.Obviously, the price tag is high for a four-episode series. The inserts are all very attractive, but sadly there is no commentary included on the discs. You are pretty much just getting the series itself when you buy it. Many people will complain about the price, but the show is brilliant. If you can't afford it, find a way to watch it anyway. If you can afford it, this is a show you will never regret adding to your collection.

I won't go into plot and characterization. Other reviewers have done a good job of that. Suffice it to say it's a great story, well told, in the best Shaft style. I watched it first on Crunchyroll, then ordered this, the only available version. The reason I don't give it a 5-star rating is that I don't think you're getting full value for the money. It's a four-episode series, costing $75.00. There are very good 12 episode series that cost less. And by the time you've finished paying tax and transport, that amounts to almost $20/episode.So what do you get besides the excellent story? Textless OP and EDs. A 30sec preview of Second Season. A short introduction that's mostly cuts from the OP of Nisemonogatari, telling how Araragi became a part vampire. A booklet with some character profiles and a lot of tiny screenshots. Four scenic-postcard-sized postcards (complete with places for stamps): two of them duplicate the front and back covers of the box, and the other two appear to be well done fanart that don't illustrate the story.It all could have fit on one hybrid disk, that could be played on more than just a BD machine.I'm a fan, and I knew what I was getting, mostly. If you're not, then wait a couple of years for the S.A.V.E. version to come out.

Amazing Anime Series following Bakemonogatari! I highly recommend it! :D.Look for Shawnek as a seller for this as it is the same person rightstuf is!

Hanekawa is my actual wife. Buy this arc.

So guys, back again with another review of my all time favorite series, the Monogatari boxsets! This time, as you can see, I shall review Nekomonogatari (Black) in all its Shaft goodness.First things first, I have to say I love the packaging. Its a simple boxset that on the front has our cute heroine Hanekawa Tsubasa, while on the back the scruffy Oshino Meme and adorable Kiss Shot (Oshino Shinobu). Its a fairly small boxset, as it only has two Blu-Rays, both holding two episodes each in all their high definition glory. Along with the boxset and case, enclosed came a booklet that gave art and background of the episodes. So much Hanekawa goodness is packed in this, so make sure to just look and not read the booklet first. Also included were four postcards with art from the special, and I wish I could show them here but oh well. Just buy it haha.Onto the actual anime itself then! With a run time of approximately 107 minutes, it goes pretty in depth at our favorite heroine, Hanekawa Tsubasa and the events that occured before the start of Bakemonogatari. Taking place during Golden Week, Araragi Koyomi and Hanekawa Tsubasa bury a dead cat on the side of the road, and this one act leads Hanekawa on a rampage to let loose her stress. Luckily, our boy Araragi is on the scene, and he isn't going to let his friend become a killer, or worse, an apparition.Without going into many spoilers, Nekomonogatari Black mostly focuses on how Hanekawa become Black Hanekawa, and how she was "freed" from the apparition by Araragi's efforts. The sub title is Tsubasa Family, and you can glean from that what you will, but if you have watched Bakemonogatari (I hope you have), you know that Hanekawa's family plays a big (sort of?) part in Black. All in all, for an hour and half special, I was left very satisfied. It answered questions that were raised in Bake and Nise, and I got to see more Hanekawa in her underwear goodness. Not to mention the excellent artwork and articulate words that the series is known for (thank you Shaft), and this is a boxset that I wouldn't miss for the world. It's an excellent beginning to the series, not counting Kizumonogatari (Koyomi Vamp to some) and a good leadup to Bake and why Araragi will do anything for Hanekawa. Next on my review is Nekomonogatari White, so expect it soon!