OTORIMONOGATARI: Decoy Tale (Monogatari)

I feel conflicted about Nadeko. She's a perfectly decent character, but I absolutely hate her as a person, mostly for the reasons various characters outline in this book. But I just can't get enough of how much is going on between the lines in this volume. The most glaringly obvious element of this book would be the lowercase i's, and though they seem heavy-handed at first, they mean more than you might think - Nisio sprinkled the clues in fairly cleverly, so if you pay close attention, you may not only see the twist coming, but you might also glimpse the overarching plot that dominates the rest of the series. In retrospect, knowing where this series goes, the structuring of which stories are told when is quite brilliant on Nisio's part. Getting back to this book, though, Nadeko's special style of narration worked wonders for the story, making it easier to appreciate her character (albeit not her personality) and the themes of the story. Heck, it even made me think more deeply about the nature of aberrations. Even if you don't like Nadeko, this is a quality addition to the series, even if Nisio didn't originally plan for it to run this long. Though there were a few typos. One character had a lowercase i where it didn't belong, and another character had her name misspelled once. How uncharacteristic of Vertical. Hopefully, this won't become a regular occurrence. At any rate, next is the story that broke me so hard I couldn't bring myself to watch anime for a week after I finished its anime adaptation. I'm looking forward to it.

The corruption of Nadeko had a truly amazing buildup, Second Season is going very well thus far. Bless Vertical

Nadeko has always been my favorite character and it's great to see her get character development.

WATCH AND READ MONOGATARI

Good book

got this as a christmas present for my best friend! she absolutely loves nadeko so this was perfect. only downside is that it came scratched (most likely due to transit) but neither of us minded. shippers should consider using more protective packaging!

Crossing the halfway point of the Monogatari series second season, Nisioisin's arching plot starts to become apparent. In this volume, we are (re)introduced to another narrator, Nadeko Sengoku. Nadeko is still haunted by the curse placed on her several volumes ago, in more ways than one. After the God of Kitashirahebi shrine calls on her to help him, Nadeko goes on a quest, hoping to return some peace to her life. I love that Isin decided to make Nadeko the Narrator for this volume. Nadeko was always the odd one out in the original series, being more of a foil to all the other girls than an active character in her own right. While other characters to varying degrees created their own problems, attempted to overcome them, and made witty banter with Araragi along the way, Nadeko was a quiet, innocent victim, illustrating that not every problem is something you 'just save yourself' from. It was a good thematic lesson, but it didn't gather her fans the way Shinobu or Senjogahara did. This volume gives us the look into her head her character needed. For the writing itself, Otori is easily the most stylized of all the previous volumes. I don't want to spoil too much, but Isin and Ransom express her personality with some interesting prose choices. Overall, the plot was good, but in need of more follow up in the future volumes. Which reminds me, Onimonogatari is just around the corner!

They did a great job translating these books. The author makes tons of puns and word play in the japanese version and I think the english translator really did a good job capturing the same feel and sentiment as the original. Book itself was great, more of the monogatari series. Fans can expect the same quality and details as the previous ones.

La historia, como siempre, es extraordinaria, el arte es hermoso; la edición en sí es una maravilla. Seas o no fan de Monogatari, te va a parecer interesante ésta saga de novelas ¡pero ojo! pocos pueden aguantar su narrativa y su estructura. Como todas las novelas, está en inglés.

Exploring Nadeko's character this way was brilliant. Really tackles the forced cuteness in Japan, and Nadeko makes a great villain

piccolo manga molto piacevole da leggere, peccato per il servizio un po' lento

In direct contrast to Hanamonogatari, both in colour scheme and content, Otorimonogatari is venomous, cold-blooded, and enwraps you in a tale not like any other that has come before - except, perhaps, a tale of misfortune, misery, and murder. The tradition for a Monogatari novel is to be predominately comedic with heavy foreshadowing and much wordplay, then jarringly swerve into complete seriousness with a heavy helping of philosophical rumination. Also, it uses big words with big meanings, like "abberation". And, almost as if from left field, but simply not picked up on the reader, NisiOisiN twists the plot once more in a dramatic reveal that cautious readers should have picked up on. The twist in Otorimonogatari is nonsensical and deplorable. In all the best ways. Otorimonogatari follows Sengoku Nadeko, easily the most isolated of all the cast. She is a girl that is tied to Araragi by an increasingly thinner thread, and who is bound to Tsukihi in an entirely un-cute and ordinary way. Nadeko is the only girl who was said to be a victim and not a perpetrator. But Nadeko doesn't even believe she's as much a victim as she is a bystander. Decoy Tale is the story of the most innocent, cute and shy character in the Monogatari Series. It's a tale of everyday woe and supernatural tragedy. Nadeko, who is more aware of "them"; the public eye; the social ladder; the invisible masses, than anyone else, starts her story attempting to avert her eyes from ordinary problems arising out of an extraordinary situation. It's a tale that is ostensibly one thing, but clearly not the full story. Filled with twists and turns, heavy cast participation from every character (including the fabled Senjougahara, said to show up briefly on the night of a blue moon), a heavy helping of emotional turmoil, and visceral drama, Otorimonogatari is set to raise the curtains on the first-ever overarching narrative in the Monogatari Series in the most explosive, chaotic and under-handed way possible. And there's no philosophical ranting, but there is a snake barrel full of regret and misery on the way. Otorimonogatari is a fantastic change of pace for the Monogatari Series in many ways, and Nadeko is surprisingly as charming as she is callous and capricious. It's the perfect counterpart to Hanamonogatari.