220https://i.ur.com/QG0sHwR.png Kizumonogatari is the 2nd entry in the Monogatari series and if youve gotten past the 1000 or so pages of Bakemonogatari then its time to get into the real meat of things. The title itself has multiple meanings with kizu meaning scar or wound and kizumono meaning damaged goods or deflowered girl. Kizu obviously refers to the many wounds literal or not inflicted throughout the story while kizumono refers to Kissshot the central girl of this Monogatari entry. Kizumonogatari is chronologically the first entry in the Monogatari series describing the events that happened during spring break which were frequently mentioned in Bakemonogatari. To avoid spoilers as much as possible the story is about Araragi Koyomi coming across a vampire and after saving her life and becoming a vampire himself trying to become a human again. The novel is overall much simpler than Bakemonogatari with a much smaller cast of characters which basically consists of only 7 characters 3 of which are side characters. The plot progression is very simple to understand and it has a much clearer overall plot as opposed to Bakemonogatari which is a set of 5 stories with a somewhat overarching plot. Kizumonogatari is also a lot more serious than Bakemonogatari with less frequent comedic moments a lot more fighting blood and that kind of stuff. Most of the comic relief scenes come from Araragis interactions with Hanekawa like the Hanekawa and Araragi scene near the end of the novel if you know you know. To compare the novel with the 3 movies for a bit I have to say that it is better. Yes the movies have amazing animation but the way they adapt some of the stuff from the novel e.g. the fights cutting out some dialogue etc. is a bit questionable. The novel isnt even that long to need 3 whole movies that are 1 hour long and it could have been adapted into 5 episodes or a 2 hour long movie at most. So the fact that they went with more than that and still didnt include everything from the novel makes zero sense to me but hey thats only really a problem if you decide to watch the movies after reading this novel. So to move on from that little rant in my Bakemonogatari review I said that it serves as a perfect introduction to the series. And while that is true I could understand how not everyone can just decide to read 2 or 3 entire volumes amounting to around 1000 pages. Therefore Kizumonogatari serves as another entry point into the series with it being chronologically the first in the timeline and much shorter than Bakemonogatari with only around 400 pages to read. So to end the review if you want a quicker read to see what the Monogatari series is about and simultaneously read one of its more iconic and important stories then Kizumonogatari is for you. Next up Nisemonogatari