Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu

Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu is the last film in a trilogy of anime movies made by the studio Shaft. It came out in Japan on January 6, 2017. It reached theaters in the United States on April 7, 2017. The movies were directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and Tatsuya Oishi, with music by Satoru Kosaki. They adapt a 2008 light novel by the writer Nisio Isin. A light novel is a short Japanese novel for young adults, usually with some pictures.

The name "Kizumonogatari" means "Wound Story." It is a prequel to Bakemonogatari, the first TV series of the larger Monogatari franchise. That means it shows events that happened before that show begins. In it, you learn how the high school student Koyomi Araragi first got pulled into a world of ghosts, curses, and monsters. Many later stories in the series look back to the events of this trilogy, so it is an important part of the whole saga.

The story so far, from the first two films: during spring break, Koyomi meets Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, a famous and very powerful vampire. She has been badly hurt, and her arms and legs have been cut off by hunters. Koyomi gives her his blood to save her life. Because of that, he becomes a vampire himself. To become human again, he agrees to get her missing limbs back. He has to face three hunters: Dramaturgy, Episode, and Guillotinecutter. He gets advice from Meme Oshino, a relaxed and odd man who is an expert on strange spirits and monsters. At school, he also becomes friends with Tsubasa Hanekawa, the top student in his class, who is kind to him even when he pushes people away.

In this third film, Koyomi has reached his goal, but winning does not feel the way he hoped. He starts to understand what it really means to live as a creature of the night. He has to think hard about the choices he made, and about the person he saved. The film asks hard questions. What do we owe to the people we help? Can one person decide another person's life? Is it right to want to stay human? The movie leans into these big ideas instead of giving easy answers.

The tone is darker and more serious than most of the Monogatari TV series. There are scenes of violence, blood, and body horror, which means scary changes to the human body. There is also some adult content. At the same time, the film is very artistic. Shaft is famous for bold colors, strange camera angles, empty city streets, and quick flashes of text on the screen. Some scenes almost feel like a stage play or a painting. Hanekawa, who keeps reaching out to Koyomi, gives the story its warm heart.

The trilogy was a success. In Japan, Part 3 opened in ninth place at the box office and earned about 170 million yen in its first four days. The earlier films did well too, and the Blu-ray discs of Parts 1 and 2 were both number one on the sales chart. Critics also praised the series. One reviewer at Anime News Network called the first film possibly "the first third of a masterpiece." In 2024, the three films were cut together into a single movie called Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp. For many fans, Reiketsu is the dark and moving end of the story that started the whole Monogatari world.