Owarimonogatari Volume 2 (Limited Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing

Owarimonogatari is a 2015 television anime series based on the novel series written by NisiOisiN. The anime was directed by Tomoyuki Itamura, adapted by studio Shaft, and published by Aniplex. Owarimonogatari is the second story arc in the Monogatari series: Final Season saga.

Background:

“Koyomi’s Rival Appears!!

After the summer break, Koyomi breaks the link with Shinobu Oshino and returns to being human again for the first time in six months. He heads to the cram school ruin with Suruga Kanbaru, but they are attacked by a strange entity wearing Japanese armor. Saved by Yotsugi Ononoki, they head to Izuko Gaen for her advice, but she starts telling them an unbelievable story about Shinobu’s past.”

Plot Synopsis via Aniplex of America, December 2016

Order	Monogatari series: Final Season Story Arcs
Arc 1	Tsukimonogatari
Arc 2	Owarimonogatari Volume 1 Owarimonogatari Volume 2
Arc 3	Koyomimonogatari
Arc 4	Owarimonogatari Volume 3
Arc 5	Zoku Owarimonogatari

Monogatari over the years has managed to become a big hit with the anime community, and while the series wasn’t dubbed in English it continues to attract audiences with its dialogue, animation and story arcs.

For this post, we have Owarimonogatari which is the second story arc in the Final Season saga of the Monogatari franchise, taking place after the events of Nekomonogatari White and Onimonogatari. The spotlight is shared between the characters Koyomi Araragi, Ougi Oshino and Sodachi Oikura. Saying that, these story arcs take place across various moments throughout the franchise and can be hard to follow or confusing if you think too much about it. That being said, the ideal approach to watch the Monogatari franchise is to view them in story arc order.

The first season of Owarimonogatari has been split across two volumes. Volume 2 adapts one story arc from the 16th novel; Shinobu Mail. I won’t be mentioning any spoilers, however the plot synopsis and photos of the booklet below will have them.

Monogatari series: Final Season has been licensed and released in the United States and Canada by Aniplex of America. MVM did bring some of these arcs over to the UK via sub-license, however I had already began supporting the series via the Aniplex releases since January 2014 so for consistency reasons I continued with them. MVM was able to release the first season of Owarimonogatari for the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Limited Edition Contents:

Aniplex of America released the Monogatari franchise in volume type sets that include a strong thick cardboard box with a Blu-ray Amaray case, a booklet and a set of cards. Owarimonogatari continues this trend. The Aniplex Proof of Purchase card is included with this package.

The SRP for this release is $74.98 and as you can tell, it is not cheap. Aniplex goes through a different path compared to Funimation and Sentai, where they bring over the releases in the best possible result for the price. This includes Japanese quality Blu-ray discs and special packaging to appeal for the collector’s market.

Many people disagree with this format especially with how the other English territories had to deal with approval restrictions and pricing requirements, but I still think Aniplex of America titles are worth the investment if you are really dedicated to the franchises that are available. Some are not worth the asking price, but others are. Monogatari in particular I have always found to have gotten the right value with Aniplex, especially considering how fast the subtitles are for the franchise.

Physical Contents:

• Cardboard Limited Edition Artbox
• Deluxe Booklet
• Pinup Postcard Set

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Aniplex of America
Released: 20th December 2016

Owarimonogatari Volume 2 contains episodes 8 to 13 across two Blu-ray discs, with the Shinobu Mail story arc episodes split evenly across the two discs. The authoring and encoding were done by Aniplex.

The Monogatari franchise as a whole has not been dubbed into English (with the exception of the Audiobooks of the novels), and thus this release is Japanese audio with English subtitles. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback and the Blu-ray disc is accessible to all regions.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	Japanese
Audio	Japanese Linear PCM 2.0
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio
Region	A B C
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	No
Discs	2

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Disc 1:

• Textless Opening “mein schatz”

Disc 2:

• Textless Ending “Sayonara no Yukue”
• Preview
• Commercial

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

Owarimonogatari Volume 2 is available to order exclusively through Rightstuf, however if you live in the UK you can import the set through United Publications. If you just want the episodes themselves it is also available in the UK by MVM as a regular Blu-ray set on Amazon UK.