The BEST episodes of Monogatari
Every episode of Monogatari ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Monogatari!
Araragi Koyomi is a third year high school student who is almost human again after having briefly become a vampire. One day, a classmate named Senjougahara Hitagi, who infamously never talks to anyone, falls down the stairs into Koyomi's arms. He discovers that Hitagi weighs next to nothing, in defiance of physics and common sense alike. Despite being threatened by her, Koyomi offers her help, and introduces her to Oshino Meme, a middle-aged homeless man who helped him stop being a vampire.
#1 - Tsubasa Cat - Part 2
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/25/2009
Hitagi and Koyomi are having lunch. Her teases him and roughly "asks" him to go on a date. He comes late but Hitagi doesn't seem to mind. Her father drives them to a location where Hitagi teases him more. She leaves him with her father where at first Koyomi was nervous. Her father goes on talking about how he isn't there for her often and asks Koyomi to take cake of her. Hitagi blindfolds him and then shows him an area where a blanket is laid on the ground. They lay down and she tells him that the stars are all she has rest to give him. She tells him that she loves him and Koyomi returns the same feelings. She asks him to kiss her.
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#2 - Mayoi Jiangshi - Part 4
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 9/8/2013
A woman appers to drive out the undead by throwing rice at them. Much to his awe and joy, Koyomi learns that the woman is none other than Mayoi herself, bringing him a letter from Oshino, who somehow figured out the whole situation. From the letter, Koyomi and Shinobu learn that they had traveled to a different timeline and before they return to their unchanged, original timeline, he asks them to confront Shinobu's alternate self who is still alive, and must be destroyed to stop the undead plague and prevent the world from being destroyed for good. After bidding farewell to the adult Mayoi, the pair return to the temple ruins and meet the alternate Shinobu, who cries of joy upon seeing that in another timeline, she managed to reunite with Koyomi, and offers to sacrifice herself to allow them to return to their own timeline. Back to their own rightful time, Koyomi realizes that he missed the opening ceremony much to his chagrin, and after Shinobu returns to his shadow, Mayoi appears before him, and they take their time as they walk together to his house in order to return her backpack.
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#3 - Tsubasa Cat - Part 5
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 6/25/2010
Araragi is confused after hearing that Hanekawa loved him as he heard from the bakeneko. After an arguing with the bakeneko that "it was a mistake", the bakaneko told him that there was another way to suppress the stress for good, to kill him. Araragi thinks that he could agree with that because he owed Hanekawa his life. But, Hitagi comes upon his mind and he chooses not to be killed. The bakeneko tells him that no one would help him in this situation. Araragi calls out Shinobu's name yelling for her help, and the vampire girl suddenly appears from Araragi's shadow. Everything is settled after Shinobu bites the bakeneko's neck and it reverts back to Hanekawa. The next day before school started, Araragi goes to Oshino's place to bring Shinobu back to him. It seems that nothing is left in the ruined cram school that used to be Oshino's place. After school, Araragi, Hitagi, Kanbaru and Hanekawa went back to Oshino's place searching for him. It seems he had left the place, making Araragi believe that Oshino believed he could handle the problems concerning Hanekawa and Shinobu.
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#4 - Ougi Dark - Part 1
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/13/2017
Gaen assembles Koyomi, Shinobu, Mayoi and Yozuru and reveals that Ougi is the responsible for some of the previous ordeals they faced.
#5 - Mayoi Jiangshi - Part 3
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/1/2013
Returning to the present, Koyomi and Shinobu find the whole city deserted and it does not take long for them to realize that it was a consequence of saving Mayoi's life in the past. Based on the date of the most recent newspaper they found, they come to the conclusion that something dire happened during the events of "Tsubasa Cat" and return to the shrine to look for a way to return to the past. However, they find that Oshino had put a different charm that prevents them from using its powers and when night falls they are surrounded by undead beings. After escaping, Shinobu realizes that the undead were once vampires who lost their master, and that said master must be no other than herself. According to her conclusions, when Shinobu ran away from home, it was Mayoi who helped Koyomi find her, and as she did not become a ghost in the current timeline, she had never become friends with him, thus he did not manage to find Shinobu, leading him to be killed by the Cursed Cat and Shinobu starting a worldwide vampire infection before killing herself. Looking for survivors, Koyomi and Shinobu decide to use some fireworks to bring the attention of whoever managed to escape with their lives, but it ended drawing the undead to them once more.
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#6 - Tsukihi Phoenix - Part 4
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/17/2012
After learning from Shinobu that Tsukihi is actually a supernatural being that endlessly reincarnates as a human child after dying, Koyomi leaves Karen standing guard at their house's destroyed front door before setting to the place Oshino used to live to confront Yozuru and Yotsugi. To prepare for their clash, Shinobu draws some of Koyomi's blood to recover her true form and agrees to fight Yotsugi while her master deals with Yozuru. Yozuru reveals to Koyomi that she, Oshino and Kaiki were friends from college and it was Kaiki who told her about Tsukihi being a phoenix. After viciously attacking Koyomi, Yozuru learns that her partner was easily defeated by Shinobu, and just when she is about to confront the vampire, Koyomi rises again, claiming that he would never give up on his sister, no matter what kind of creature she is. Realizing his determination to protect Tsukihi and that he never fought with the intention to kill her, Yozuru decides to give up and leaves peacefully with her familiar. Koyomi returns home to check on Tsukihi and declares to her that he will soon introduce his girlfriend to his sisters. In the end, Koyomi is seen meeting Hitagi at a beach.
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#7 - Shinobu Time - Part 4
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 11/17/2013
In exchange for her help, Gaen requests three tasks from Koyomi, all being connected to Suruga Kanbaru, formerly known as Suruga Gaen. Izuko reveals herself as her aunt, but she doesn't want to be introduced to her as one, because she cares for Suruga's feelings. When Koyomi accepts, she shows the darkness' true motive - it is after apparitions not behaving like they should, and this time it isn't after Shinobu, but Mayoi. She exposes Mayoi as a "ghost of a ghost", who should have passed on on Mother's Day, when she finally found her way home; she also stopped leading people astray, neglecting her duty as a lost cow. After Gaen leaves, Mayoi realizes she has to pass on, rather than be eaten by the darkness, and thus she bids Koyomi farewell by kissing him and telling that she loved him. Four months later, Koyomi tells the story of the incident to only one person - Ougi Oshino. On his way home, he realizes he never told Mayoi one thing he should have said - goodbye.
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#8 - Tsubasa Cat - Part 4
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/23/2010
After supressing the bakeneko, Oshino explains Hanekawa's situation to Araragi. Araragi realizes that he may need Shinobu's powers to help him bottle up the oddity. The problem escalates when Araragi learns that Shinobu has gone missing. Enlisting the help of his friends, he starts looking for Shinobu, but to no avail. The cat soon escapes from Oshino, then goes after Araragi, only this time she sides with him and aids in finding Shinobu. The two had conversations regarding Araragi's interactions with oddities, while they scour the city for the missing vampire. The search proves to be difficult even with the bakeneko's keen sense of smell and hearing. This leads the two to change topics, now talking about Hanekawa's situation. The cat explains that there is a way to confine her without relying on a vampire, that she is the personification of Hanekawa's stress, and that she knows exactly what's causing it. She remarks that Araragi, of all people, can deal with it easily. The oddity then reveals that Hanekawa being possessed by the bakeneko was because of the stress that she loves Araragi, and that the oddity itself may be sealed away for good if Araragi falls in love with Hanekawa.
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#9 - Hitagi End - Part 5
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 12/22/2013
Kaiki learns from Tsubasa that strange phenomena have been happening in the town even before Shinobu arrived and because of that, Gaen was intending to have her become the new god of the Polar Shrine. However, because of Koyomi's interference, her plans have failed and Nadeko turned into a god instead. Tsubasa believes that Nadeko actually does not care about anything or anybody at all, and most likely doesn't really love "Big Brother Koyomi", thus the reason for her behavior. She is also worried if Kaiki is able to pull off the scam. On the occasion, Tsubasa asks Kaiki if Oshino has any relatives like a niece and he affirms that just like him, Oshino does not have a family at all, including siblings or such, making the existence of Oshino Ougi very suspicious. Through the following days, Kaiki keeps visiting Nadeko to play with her and bring her presents until the day of Koyomi and Hitagi's graduation finally arrives. After having a final conversation with Hitagi by phone, during which she demands him to never set foot in the city again once the job is done, Kaiki has a short meeting with Yotsugi on the way to the shrine. She repeats her warning and claims Kaiki won't be able to deceive Nadeko. On the occasion, it is revealed that Kaiki used his wits to bring down a cult that was deceiving Hitagi's mother but that ultimately led her to join another cult instead and for Hitagi's sake, he had her mother divorce and leave her family. Upon meeting Nadeko at the shrine, Kaiki attempts to deceive her as planned by claiming that Koyomi, Hitagi and Shinobu were killed in a traffic accident in the previous night, however, she instantly recognizes the lie.
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#10 - Tsubasa Tiger - Part 5
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/4/2013
In her letter to the cat spirit, Tsubasa reveals that just like her, Kako is another apparition sired by her repressed feelings, this time of jealousy and asks her to return both to her heart, as she is finally determined to shoulder all of her negative feelings no matter how it will change herself. As Kako is about to burn Hitagi's apartment, Tsubasa appears to confront it. Despite having no chance to defeat Kako, Tsubasa manages to stall it long enough to Koyomi to appear and defeat it with Heartspan. Before absorbing both the cat and tiger spirit, Tsubasa finally confesses her love for Koyomi, and as expected, he rejects her, assuming that his love for Hitagi is stronger. After her family finally rents another house for them to live, it is revealed that Tsubasa's hair developed white stripes just like a tiger, that she hides by dying them black, and she had at last asked her parents for a room just for herself, as a sign that she finally had become a true member of her own family.
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#11 - Hitagi End - Part 6
Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 12/29/2013
Kaiki realizes that he failed to deceive Nadeko because she never trusted him at all, and because she was previously deceived by Ougi into claiming the charm and becoming a god. Nadeko unleashes a swarm of snakes onto the entire Polar Snake Shrine, immobilizing Kaiki. Believing that he was sent by Koyomi, she contemplates killing his sisters, Kanbaru, Hanekawa and Mayoi as well to punish him, until Kaiki reveals that he found out her secret aspiration to become a manga artist, as many drawings were hidden in her private closet. Embarassed for having her secret revealed, Nadeko starts punching and kicking Kaiki as he tries to persuade her. He claims that eventually her parents will open the closet as well and find out about her secret, unless she renounces her godhood and returns home. After convincing her that she should forget about Koyomi entirely and pursue her true ambitions instead, she agrees to get deceived again. Kaiki implants a fake slug apparition into her body to have her uncounscious during the exorcism, but he's interrupted by Koyomi rushing into the shrine. Claiming that he was sent by Gaen as a professional to deal with Nadeko, Kaiki extracts the snake charm from her body and returns it to him. Kaiki also instructs Koyomi to cut all connections with Nadeko for her sake, as she must move on with her life by herself - his relationship and romance with her would only make her an useless human being. After calling Hitagi and confirming that his job is done, Kaiki bids farewell to her and realizes that the secret message at his hotel was sent by no other than Hitagi herself, as she knew it would have him push further with his job instead of discouraging him, and Gaen's message to him probably was for the same purpose. As he leaves the city, Kaiki is ambushed and mortally wounded by one of the boys he formerly deceived, possibly the one who cursed Nadeko, and before he passes away he hears Ougi's name, implying that he was sent by her.
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#12 - Hitagi End - Part 4
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 12/15/2013
Kaiki returns to his hotelroom and finds an envelope with an anonymous message telling him to pull off. After tearing it up and flushing it in the toilet, he contacts Hitagi, telling her about the incident with Gaen and Yotsugi. He asks her if anyone else could profit from having him stop his plans to deceive Nadeko, however she has no idea who could have such goals. She asked if she could see the message, but Kaiki noted that he destroyed it already. Before hanging up, Hitagi warns him to beware of Nadeko. On the following day, Kaiki pays another visit to Nadeko just as promised, but this time he offers ¥20,000 and a bottle of sake instead of the usual ¥10,000, much to Nadeko's joy. Returning from the temple, Kaiki is approached by Hanekawa who wants to talk to him. As they return to the city on a cab, Hanekawa reveals that she had just returned from her search for Oshino overseas without Hitagi's and Araragi's knowledge and even though she knew that continuing to look for him is futile, she intends to depart again on the following day. It turned out that Gaen personally warned Hanekawa to stay out of the intrigue. She invites Kaiki to her hotelroom. Kaiki, after making sure she is on their side, suggests her to exchange information with him.
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#13 - Hitagi End - Part 2
Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 12/1/2013
Kaiki decides to help Hitagi for a mere ¥100,000, much to her surprise. They leave Okinawa on separate flights to not arouse any suspicion. Posing as the father of one of Nadeko's classmates, Kaiki infiltrates her home to search for any clues. Kaiki discovers several suspicious details, such as the fact that Nadeko had only photos of herself without any friends and that her parents, apparently not curious as to the cause of her disappearance, never opened Nadeko's closet as she requested. Kaiki determines that she was a very spoiled child. After a brief phone conversation with Hitagi, Kaiki decides to visit the Polar Snake Shrine to learn more about Nadeko. Immediately upon Kaiki making a donation at the shrine, a mysteriously cheerful Nadeko appears. Apparently, Kaiki is her first visitor, despite Nadeko's best efforts at renovating the shrine. Kaiki asks her several questions about her relationship with Koyomi, confirming her twisted conception of unrequited love and that she still means to kill Koyomi and Hitagi. Kaiki takes his leave after giving Nadeko some yarn for cat's cradle to occupy her time, promising to return before she perfects any patterns.
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#14 - Mayoi Jiangshi - Part 2
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/25/2013
Realizing that he traveled to a day before Mayoi's death, Koyomi decides to save her and prevent that she becomes a ghost. While looking for directions, he and Shinobu meet a six year old Tsubasa who, suspicious of him, points them to the nearby police station where they learn Mayoi's address and return in the following day planning to guide her safely to her mother's house, but after hours of waiting, Mayoi's father appears and they learn from him that she had left home early in the morning. Koyomi manages to meet Mayoi at the same place where they first met, but after scaring her away, he saves her from being hit by a truck and his plan to prevent her death succeeds. However, after returning to the present, Koyomi realizes that his actions changed drastically the course of history as according to him, it led the world to its destruction.
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#15 - Ougi Dark - Part 2
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/13/2017
To stop Ougi from meddling further, Koyomi has a final confrontation with her.
#16 - Hitagi End - Part 3
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 12/8/2013
Returning from his visit at the Polar Snake Shrine, Kaiki asks Hitagi to meet him again, ending up in a Mister Donut restaurant. Kaiki claims that it will be easy for him to deceive Nadeko as at her current condition, she can't doubt anyone - she has turned even more childish than she was in her human state, unable to detect any ill will. He reveals his plan to spare Koyomi and the others by lying to her that they died in an accident, thus he needs Hitagi to convince Koyomi to cease all connections with Nadeko. Hitagi, relieved and crying, thanks him for his services. On the following day, Kaiki is approached by Yotsugi who comes with an ultimatum from Gaen urging him to pull off his scheme to deceive Nadeko, claiming that the stake is too high and the entire city may be destroyed should he fail. Despite accepting ¥3,000,000 as compensation from Gaen, Kaiki moves on with his plan and pays another visit to Nadeko, claiming that he has a special wish she can fulfill and he will keep visiting her in a 100 visit cycle. Nadeko cheerfully tells him that she destroyed the cat's cradle yarn and used a white snake instead. Terrified, he determines she is not only an idiot, but also insane. After the meetup, Kaiki tricks Nadeko's parents to have them leave their house and he takes the opportunity to investigate her room, getting startled upon finding out what she kept hidden inside her closet.
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#17 - Hitagi End - Part 1
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 11/24/2013
On New Year's Day, Kaiki receives a call from Hitagi requesting for his services. After claiming that he is in Okinawa in an attempt to shake her off, Hitagi affirms that she will take a flight to meet him there, forcing him to do the same to keep his lie from being exposed and Hitagi from killing him. Once meeting at the airport, Hitagi explains their problem with Nadeko - she wants him to deceive her into letting them live as the day of their graduation and battle with her approaches. Despite seeing how Hitagi is desperate enough to resort to asking a man she loathes and that she is prepared to attend whatever demand he asks, Kaiki claims that he has no reason to help them at all before considering their connection with Gaen's niece Suruga, causing him to accept Hitagi's request.
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#18 - Shinobu Time - Part 2
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 11/3/2013
Shinobu reveals that during her first visit to Japan, 400 years ago, she saved the local people from a severe draught by accident and was revered as a goddess by them. She then spent the next years living as a goddess in Japan until all the villagers started disapearing mysteriously, until only Shinobu and a demon hunter she befriended remained. Soon after, the same being that Koyomi met attacked them and Shinobu barely escaped alive, taking with her the demon hunter's hand by accident, which she used to revive him as a servant of hers just like Koyomi. However, the man blamed her for all that happened and unable to reason with him, Shinobu watched him commiting suicide by exposing himself to the sunlight. Since then Shinobu never returned to Japan until six months ago, when she and Koyomi first met.
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#19 - Shinobu Time - Part 3
Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 11/10/2013
After Shinobu tells Koyomi her story, they realize that Yotsugi was overhearing their entire conversation and after Mayoi awakens, they start discussing ways to deal with the darkness being before it appears before them. Koyomi, Mayoi and Yotsugi manage to escape again, but Koyomi is knocked out cold by the shock of Yotsugi's jumping just to awaken several hours later and learn that they unwillingly left Shinobu behind. As Koyomi's vampire powers had not disappeared yet, they conclude that Shinobu is still alive but with Koyomi's powers weakening, it means that they have to find her before she is killed for good. Having no clue about what to do, they decide to contact Izuko Gaen who might provide some advice and when they decide to take shelter in a house, Izuko herself opens the door for them, much to their surprise.
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#20 - Shinobu Time - Part 1
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 10/27/2013
After returning from his trip through time, Koyomi returns home and after he returning Mayoi's backpack, they come across a mysterious being that starts chasing them down. The two manage to escape when they meet Yotsugi who flies away with them to safety. After stealing a kiss from Koyomi to repay for her help, Yotsugi flees, leaving Koyomi at the mercy of a furious Shinobu that appears soon after and to calm her down, Koyomi kisses her too. With Mayoi still uncounscious from their predicament, Koyomi inquires Shinobu about the "darkness" entity they saw and she claims that she had seen it before during a trip to Japan 400 years before. She also claims that it will cause the destruction of the entire city if nothing is done about it.
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#21 - Sodachi Lost - Part 3
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/8/2015
Ougi claims to have figured out the whereabouts of Oikura’s mother and, in her own way, helps Araragi and Hanekawa to solve the mystery.
#22 - Mayoi Jiangshi - Part 1
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/18/2013
On August 20th, Koyomi Araragi left his home to deliver to Mayoi Hachikuji something she had forgotten, and bumped into the young shikigami girl Yotsugi Ononoki. Koyomi ended up buying Yotsugi a popsicle but was unable to find Mayoi. He realized upon coming home that he had not done any of the homework that he was supposed to do, yet tomorrow was already the day of the term opening ceremony.
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#23 - Tsukihi Phoenix - Part 3
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/10/2012
Shinobu asks Koyomi to take her to the donuts shop. Before leaving, he notices that Tsukihi's scar on her chest was healed, and after stripping her naked, finds that all other scars on her body disappeared too. At the shop, Koyomi asks Shinobu if she knew anything about Yotsugi or Yozuru, but much to his surprise, he finds Kaiki sitting on a nearby table and pays him up for information about them. Kaiki reveals that Yozuru and her familiar Yotsugi are supernatural hunters specialized in immortal beings. Wondering if he or Shinobu may be targeted by them, Koyomi returns home just to find both in front of it. When Tsukihi opens the door for them, Yotsugi instantly attacks her, tearing her body apart. A furious Koyomi launches himself at her, but is easily subdued by Yozuru, who shows him that surprisingly, Tsukihi's body is already restored. She also explains that the Tsukihi in front of him is not his true sister but a phoenix assuming her identity. Shinobu threatens to attack the duo, and Yozuru, despite knowing that the vampire has not enough power to stop her, decides to leave, promising to return in the following day to slay Tsukihi, killing both Koyomi and Shinobu too if they try to stop her again.
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#24 - Sodachi Lost - Part 2
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/1/2015
Araragi and Hanekawa visit Oikura and learn the painful story of her family's past.
#25 - Karen Bee - Part 4
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/28/2012
Araragi tries to get Karen and Tsukihi to tell him about the incident, however they refuse and Tsubasa has to explain to him that while investigating Sengoku’s curse, Karen met up with Kaiki Deishuu and had something done to her. Later on, while in the bath, Shinobu suddenly comes out of Araragi’s shadow again and tells him that she recognizes that Karen has an oddity Oshino once told her about – the Wreathe-Fire Bee. The two end up reconciling, with Araragi realizing that if he has the lifespan of a vampire, Shinobu will be the only one left beside him after hundreds of years.
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