Ever since its debut in 2020, The Aniplex Online Fest livestream has become one of the industry's most exciting events; a short, day-long burst of news, announcements, and trailers for new projects. One such announcement was Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp, a theatrical recut of the popular film trilogy, which Aniplex USA called a "reboot," though that seems like an overstatement.

Kizumonogatari was Nisio Isin's third light novel in the Monogatari Series: First Season, a prequel about the tale of wounds that started Koyomi Araragi and Kiss-Shot's companionship. Despite an anime adaptation being announced back in 2010, the story wouldn't hit the big screen until 2016, and by then, it was decided that the film would be split into three parts.

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Together At Last

Koyomi Vamp reunites the production staff behind the original film trilogy, who themselves have been a part of the Monogatari Series in anime form since the very beginning. Chief director Akiyuki Shinbo, director Tatsuya Oishi, character designers Akio Watanabe and Hideyuki Morioka, as well as sound director Yota Tsuruoka, and composer Satoru Kousaki.

The film will combine Part 1: Tekketsu, Part 2: Nekketsu, and Part 3: Reiketsu, into one story that is set to kick off the new year with a theatrical run in Japan starting January 12, 2024. This fixes one gripe some have with the original trilogy, that being that it arguably didn't need to be a trilogy in the first place. Keep in mind, the first two films were only a little over an hour long each, toeing the line between a full "film" and a "short film."

Only Part 3 went over 80 minutes, bringing the whole trilogy to about 3 and a half hours, which would be a record for an anime film, but not at all ludicrous for some of today's biggest films. Combining the trilogy seems like a smart move. Plus, the same creative team is back, but one might be forgiven for questioning how much those credits are supposed to mean. After all, even if Aniplex calls it a "reboot" it's just as apt to call it a compilation film as of right now.

Cinema or Cash Grab?

Compilation films are something of an odd sell because, by their very definition, they are an assortment of elements pieced together in a way not like how they were originally formed. There are plenty of ways to repackage this concept, and it's not as if they can't be enjoyable, but there's this underlying cynicism that is hard to shake after decades of anime compilation films.

Are these staff attached to this project because they chose to create a new vision of this story, or are their names just in the trailer because they made the trilogy in the first place? That might sound overly cynical, but it comes from a place of love for the original art. It's rare that compilation works are able to transcend the stigma of just being a cut-down version.

Consider the following: For years, prior to Discotek acquiring Hideaki Anno's directorial debut, Gunbuster, the only legal way to view this anime was through its compilation film. Despite the original being only six episodes long and a little over three hours total, Gunbuster: The Movie cuts the story down to an hour and a half. That's too much left on the cutting room floor to call it a truly complete version of the story.

As it exists, the Kizumonogatari Trilogy already suffers in small part from removing some of the scenes from the novel, such as details about the three vampire hunters. Despite that, these films, much like the Monogatari anime at large, managed to present an adaptation that took creative liberties with the presentation but remained utterly faithful and most of all, patient. And compared to Gunbuster's case, at least the original version is available to purchase.

While it might not have seemed necessary to split the novel into three parts, it's hard to imagine the films being as faithful were they otherwise. A shorter total runtime risks unsuccessfully telling this story with the proper weight. And just because the whole thing could be edited together with a three-and-a-half-hour runtime doesn't mean Aniplex will do that. Even just three hours would be a bold move, and there's no word yet on whether there will be any new scenes added.

Looking on the Bright Side

With all that said, this is still very exciting for obvious reasons. It's easy to get lost in ponderance about re-releases such as these, especially in a culture that's banking on nostalgia to some egregious degrees, but it's important to come up for air, as it were. Sure, Koyomi Vamp might end up cutting certain scenes out of the picture, but it's also exciting that this story will be back in theaters, not just in Japan, but hopefully in the U.S. as well.

Back when the trilogy first came out in North America, theatrical anime releases that weren't Dragonball or Sword Art Online didn't always have the widest releases. In the years since, however, there have been enough successes that these anime films are getting in more theaters for longer. Not every release is the same, of course, but there remains a chance that those who missed Kizumonogatari in theaters the first time around can see it now, and that's really cool.

Whether Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp will be better or worse than the original trilogy isn't a question that can be answered as of right now. So long as director Oishi and his team have approached this new cinematic version with even half the passion and vision as the first time, fans are likely to be in for quite the experience.

The Kizumonogatari Trilogy is available to buy or rent through Prime Video as well as to own on Blu-ray through Right Stuf Anime.

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Sources: Aniplex Online Fest 2023