©Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival
At least poor Koyomi Araragi is not a Renfield. As a freshly turned minion, his mistress bestowed full vampire powers on him. Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade—truly an anime name, if ever there was one—might even allow him to return to human form, eventually. For now, Araragi must protect her from three super-humanly powerful vampire hunters in Tatsuya Oishi’s anime feature Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp, a title that will make you grateful for the control-C copy function, which had its North American premiere at the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival.
Some of the film’s mythology might sound familiar to fans of the well-established Monogatari franchise that started with Nisio Isin’s series of light novels, because the tale of Araragi and “Kiss-Shot,” as he calls her for short, serves as a prequel. Technically, it is a nearly two-and-a-half-hour fix-up of three short anime stand-alones that Oishi edited together and somewhat revised, like a senator cleaning up a floor speech for the Congressional Record. He hides the seams quite effectively, but his unique style, including frequent jump-cuts and transitional bumper-shots of ironically symbolic imagery rather helps in that respect. Frankly, nobody would ever accuse this film of being excessively neat and tidy, especially when it comes to the spilling of blood and guts, but it tells a logically continuous narrative.
One summer day, Araragi has a fan-service satisfying Seven-Year Itch-style encounter with Tsubasa Hanekawa, the smartest girl in school, who also resembles a pin-up model (as Oishi’s ogling animation makes clear). Yet, Hanekawa responds quite graciously, flirting with Araragi in a way that hints at a deeper connection being forged. Unfortunately, she also off-handedly mentions rumors of a beautiful woman vampire stalking Tokyo. Subsequently, Hanekawa will wonder if she invited the chaos that follows by “speaking of the devil.”
On his way home, Araragi encounters the apparently drawn-and-quartered Kiss-shot. She has lost a great deal of blood and cannot regenerate without her severed limbs. He wants to run, but her voice in his head keeps pulling him back. Overwhelmed by perverse compassion, Koyomi allows her to gorge on his restoring blood.
©Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival
Taking shelter in an abandoned cram school, Kiss-Shot plans Araragi’s next move with the help of Meme Oshino, a trickster-fixer, sort of like a supernatural Ray Donovan, who can offer limited protection for a price. However, Oshino sticks his neck out for no vampire. Araragi must fight the monstrous trio of Guillotine-Cutter, Episode, and Dramaturgy on his own—and it won’t be pretty.
As she heals, Kiss-Shot reverts to her childhood body. To return to her mature femme fatale form, she must ingest her stolen limbs, so she constantly pressures Araragi to find them. His only respite comes during the twilight moments he spends with Hanekawa, who has not turned her back on him. In fact, their mutual attraction steadily grows stronger.
Scenes of Araragi and the childlike Kiss-Shot might bring to mind the Dance in the Vampire Bund franchise for some manga and anime fans, but Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp is never as disturbingly graphic (if you do not know how so, don’t google it to see). However, the violence in Oishi’s three-into-one film is just as lurid as any vampire series you might care to compare it to.
Weirdly, the film makes it look like Araragi and Hanekawa are the only two humans (or human-aspiring characters) in the entire city of Tokyo, but that intimate, bittersweet vibe is part of what distinguishes the film, along with generous helpings of gore. The teens’ relationship is so appealingly sweet, it creates real tension when the bad guys inevitably target her.
The multiple, constantly shifting animation styles also set Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp apart from other anime features and might possibly induce seizures in susceptible viewers. Regardless, all the blood and chaos really pops off the screen. Yet, somehow, Oishi manages to corral the film’s contradictory elements, making the over-the-top violence, leering fan service, and sensitive depiction teen angst work together in concert. Highly recommended for fans of vampire-themed anime horror, Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp has a special one-day nationwide theatrical release on August 28, following its eagerly anticipated Fantasia screening.
©Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival
Grade: A-
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Here’s the trailer of the film.