Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season - Zankoku Douwa: Utsukushi-hime

Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season Episode 6.5, Zankoku Douwa: Utsukushi-hime (The Cruel Fairy Tale: The Beautiful Princess), is more of a concentrated storytelling experience than a typical episode of an anime series. Instead of being a part of the ongoing narrative, it serves as a mythological origin story for Shinobu Oshino, stripping away her usual, playful personality to expose the terrifying deity of Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade in its most raw and unadulterated form.

In terms of visuals, the episode ditches the fast-paced SHAFT editing style in favor of a more conservative and storybook-like approach. The pop-out book style of the episode gives each scene a ... layered, almost three-dimensional quality, as if the viewer is turning the pages of a haunted fairy tale. The use of bright, vibrant colors is in stark contrast to the minimalist backgrounds, giving the episode a misleading sense of beauty that belies the crushing cruelty of the tale that is being told. The effect is both striking and chilling, making the horror seem almost inevitable rather than shocking.

The thing that makes this episode so effective is its take on the existence of Kiss-Shot. This is not just a tragic tale of woe, but rather an explanation for her deep and abiding loneliness. Her beauty is not depicted as a gift or even a curse, but rather as an existential weight. People do not just admire her; they lose themselves completely, abandoning all reason, all agency, and ultimately all life itself simply by looking upon her. The implication is that her loneliness was never just an emotional thing, but a metaphysical one as well.

The narration is also an essential element in achieving this effect. It is calm, distant, and rhythmic, with the weight of history behind it, telling gruesome events with the same rhythm as an ancient fairy tale that has been passed down through the ages. This distance also serves to emphasize the notion that what transpired was inevitable, as if the world itself could not tolerate her presence. The animation also helps to achieve this by only using fluid and graceful animation when it is absolutely necessary, leaving the narration and the visuals to do the heavy lifting.

Ultimately, the episode also manages to convey the notion that her transformation into a vampire was not a degradation, but perhaps the only way for the world to cope with the presence of a beauty that was simply too much for humanity to handle. In this regard, Episode 6.5 is one of the most chilling episodes in the entire Monogatari series, reminding the audience that its “monsters” are not necessarily evil, but rather the product of an excess of purity that the world simply cannot handle.

Follow up: Based on the synopsis and opening credits alone, it is clear what the ending is going to be, so I don’t think there is much point in treating this overview of mine as if it were a spoiler-filled one. For fans of dark, gothic storytelling with a focus on vampiric lore, Dance in the Vampire Bund is definitely an easy recommendation.

PS: I have my eyes on you gaussian_

I normally write a lot about various anime I’ve seen over the years, but they’re never long enough to call proper reviews—more like personal comments on my experience with them and what I felt stood out. I’ve been going back to rework most of what I wrote for the Monogatari series, and I’ve found myself far more enamored with it than I expected. At this point, I consider it one of the best anime I’ve ever seen.

Out of everything I’ve written for different series, this piece especially stood out to me as something I’m genuinely proud of—especially considering how much I love Shinobu Oshino. It’s ... not a full review, and it’s still a bit rough around the edges, but I wanted to express what I thought about her and how I’ve perceived her throughout my journey. I’m hoping it might help her gain a few more fans, or maybe even encourage more people to watch this wonderful series without being intimidated by its watch order.

Anyway, without further ado, I present my poem of sorts centered around Shinobu Oshino—Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade.

"A Cruel Fairy Tale: The Beautiful Princess: "A story told of a time no more... “Once upon a time” doesn’t feel fitting—and yet, it’s the only honest way to begin a story, no matter how short its life may be. A tale of a beautiful girl—princess? royalty? Neither. Merely a tale of a human girl, in a world that does not reject her, but welcomes her—with praise, with flowers, and sometimes... with their very lives. A life too heavy to carry, a path too lonely to tread. What use, then, does a cruel fairy tale have, if not to cast light upon a fragile thing called hope? If only such a wish could be granted so easily... for who among us can truly say what tomorrow may choose to hold?..."

Acerola Orion Heart Under Blade. Shinobu Oshino. Whatever name she bears, I’ve sung her song too many times to count—but this time, I mean every word with the weight of my heart. I love her. She is, to me, one of the most beautifully written souls this strange, tender medium has ever birthed—a tragedy that laughs, an immortal who taught me what it means to live. And I… I count myself impossibly lucky. Lucky to have fallen for her from the moment *Kizumonogatari* drew its first drop of blood—to have walked beside her shadow, through centuries of silence, heartbreak, and healing.

I couldn’t have asked for more than this sentiment, this bittersweet ache that the *Monogatari series* left in me. Because somewhere between her fangs and her tears, between her loneliness and her light, I found something painfully human—and maybe, just maybe, something of myself."

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read what I’ve written here!!

This story is less fairy tale and more psychological horror, but it didn't lie to us in one regard: it is indeed cruel.

We got a hint of the princess' tragedy and the immensity of her curse from the continuation of the original story's ending, but it is only now that we come to fully realize what a dreadful curse beauty and adoration can be. Fascination upon contemplating the sublime, leading to a demure and understated madness, which for all its kindness is stained with red all the same.

Each and every time we've stumbled into a fragment of Shinobu's backstory, the medium has changed and distorted, ... diverting from whatever it is we may have expected and haunting us with its unnatural beauty. There is no salvation nor morals to these tales, not ever, only regret and death, yet they keep drawing us in all the same. They are by far my favorite parts of this long and convoluted tale.

As we keep contextualizing and revealing new faces of this monster of a story, each revelation only leads to further questions. Humanizing this monster has only left it looking more inhuman than ever, and I wouldn't want it any other way.