Kizumonogatari: Wound Tale

I feel my look on this light novel will be less bias than most of the others, simply because i haven't yet watched any of the much popular monogatari series of anime, but that doesn't means to say that because i'm less bias that i'm not going to rate this book any less than the other people.So i'll start by saying that i'm a very slow reader and that i usually take long breaks between even small sections of books, which can cause me to take maybe even a couple weeks to read a 200 page book. but this, its very well written for a light novel, yet not so simplistic that it feels like its being dragged on, or slowly boring me, and i ended up finishing this book very quickly. (which sucks because i have to wait until December 2016 for the next in the series)- extra information about the quality of the book its self belowThe quality of the cover is really nice with its matte finish and sleek but simplistic new cover art. The size is a bit strange its a bit wider than most books and a little shorter too, but it turns out the sizing of the books might actually be beneficial, since its easier to keep open without creasing the spine, and it allows the books to feel more flexible than other books that aren't as wide (good for people wanting to read with one hand) and for £7-8 its definitely worth a try if your on the edge, and if you already know you like the monogatari series, i'm sure this wont change your mind (the original cover art is displayed inside the book)

I decided to start reading the monogatari series with this novel, even though bakemonogatari was released first. This is the first chronologically, and I feel that it sets the scene quite nicely for the rest of the series. I was hooked to this book, I finished it in about a day.You're introduced to all of the charachters properly, and there's no information that you feel like is missing.When I was reading it, it was a strange experience but quite enjoyable. I found myself looking at certain plot points and being confused, but everything makes sense in the end. I think that being confused alongside Araragi (main character) made the story even more immersive.Overall, the story is very well written and easy to follow. If you're a fan of shounen, you'll like this book. I'll give it an 9/10, it was really good.

A very enjoyable read. It would definitely be in the teen/young adult section at a book shop, but despite that it was still fairly well written. I've never read any other translations of it so I can't compare them, but this one certainly was good. I must say I would have preferred a slightly more literal translation (maybe with footnotes) but that's just personal preference. The quality of the actual book though I wasn't expecting. I mean, yeah, it has good quality paper. But the cover art is fantastic. Don't worry, the original cover art is still there, only on the first page.As a fan of the anime, it's great knowing what happened in the period before the start of the series. The very start of Bakemonogatari makes sense now! Not to mention that bath scene in Nise. If you have not watched the anime, don't worry, this is a perfectly good way to start the series and even works stand alone.I hope that soon I can have a copy of Bake, and one day the others, as you can be sure I'll buy them all!

I am currently working my way through all of the monogatari anime series (six down so far) and thoroughly enjoyed it and wanted to read the source material to see what differences they are between the adaptation and the original.I had doubts I would enjoy it because I am not a big reader or even a strong one and usually avoid books at all costs but I found that I didn’t want to put down. The story and the pacing are great and it never gets bogged down in long descriptions mainly focusing on character interactions, which are interesting and get you invested in the characters and the situation they are in.I can’t wait to buy the rest in the series and cannot recommend it enough.

Very good read. Being a large fan of the anime series, I couldn't wait to pick this up. The translation is great,much better than the fan translations that are available online. If you loved the series you will undoubtedly love this, it's pretty much a must buy. It's also a good starting point for anyone looking to get into the series.I was most shocked by how much like the anime it is, the wording, the description, the dialogue, it is just like reading an episode of Monogatari. It seems that Studio Shaft did an excellent job with the adaptation of the series, which makes me want the rest of the novels translated even more!Overall, fantastic read. Start translating the rest Vertical! I'm counting on you! 5/5.

Fantastic book from one of my favourite authors, Nishio Ishin (aka Nisio Isin), the first person narrative, single perspective storytelling is very captivating, as are the witty and fluid dialogues, keeping me stuck to the pages till I finished it. My only problem with the book were the occasional spelling errors and the fact that one of the main character's name was written wrongly every time (it's "Kiss-Shot", not "Kissshot"...).Regardless, a must read for everyone who has watched the anime and those who haven't. Can't wait for the next volume.

The Monogatari series relies pretty heavily on wordplay for a lot of the character interactions and because of these wordplays and comedy skit tangents these character interactions can feel a bit longwinded sometimes. Having the vampire's name written as 'Kissshot' bugged me too, a hyphen [to make it 'Kiss-shot', I am pretty sure translations of the anime romanise it this way] wouldn't have hurt.However, it is still an awesome book and great for anyone who loved the Monogatari anime. I just hope all of the other books [as there are a lot] get translated too, it'd be a shame to start collecting them only for the translations to get dropped.

Brilliant novel and a must for any Monogatari fan.The writing style is quite interesting as it really makes it feel like you're reading an anime in the way the dialogues are portrayed. You can really see how the animated series was adapted in the way that it was, and it really reflects the books.On its own, I really enjoyed the book and can't wait for the rest to be translated. I didn't find any problems with translation and grammar when reading the book so very happy about that.

Since I don't have much time for reading books, I've read Mangas for the last few years. But they can get pretty boring after some time, so I decided to look for books, that don't take that long to read. I knew that there is a Light Novel of my favorite anime series "Monogatari Series", that's why I found "Kizumonogatari: Wound Tale first...It arrived 2 days after I ordered it (Should have taken at least one week)When I opened the package, the first thing I noticed was, that unlike other books the cover was pretty "meaningless".The front shows one of the protagonists (Kissshot Acerola Orion Heartunderblade) and the backside shows literally nothing.Story:It's quiete hard to say something about the story.Kizumonogatari: Wound Tale tells you what happened before Bakemonogatari.How Koyomi met Kissshot, Hanekawa and Mémé Oshino. How Koyomi became an abberation and how Kissshot became thatlittle girl named Shinobu Oshino, that we know from the anime.There were two things, that I loved about the anime series:1. The very special animation style2. The strong dialouges between the charactersAs the anime it's very, very dialogue based. I definitly not recommend this Light novel to people who expect awesome long fights. They are barely 2-3 pages long.Of course the 1. point can't be expected since it's a book but it brings me to my next topic:Illustration:I've already said how the cover looks like, so I won't talk about it anymore.The art style itself is very good in my opinion. Unfortunatly you don't see it very often. Unlike most light novels I know Kizumonogatari: Wound Tale has illustrations at the start and at the end only. Which disappointed a bit.But it's still an awesome book with interesting characters and a nice story development and I can't wait for the release of the Light novel: Bakemonogatari.I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who liked the Monogatari series and is interested in the Monogatari universe.

Just read it 👍

As any devoted fan will tell you, Kizumonogatari: Wound Tale has been a long time coming. It marks the first time the long-running Monogatari series has been officially translated into English, and although it's technically the third volume in the series to be published, it's the perfect place for both newcomers and folks familiar with SHAFT's anime adaptation alike to jump in. Even taken on its own, it's also simply a darn fine novel.The bottom line is that Kizumonogatari is a treat -- a perfect mixture of tragedy and comedy. Here, author NISIOISIN's love for wordplay and well-crafted characters with big personalities like Meme Oshino and Tsubasa Hanekawa that play perfectly off of each other is on full display, and the novel's occasional raunchier scenes manage to remain lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek without going overboard (which some of his later works fall victim to on occasion). It may initially take a few pages to get used to the writing style, but it adds a unique flair to the internal dialogues of the narrator Koyomi as he recounts his life-changing encounter with the legendary vampire Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade.Concerning the quality of the new English translation, the wordplay doesn't always flow quite as smoothly as one might like it to -- but considering just how entrenched the author's jokes and puns are in the Japanese language, the translator did a pretty bang-up job on getting everything to be the best that it could have possibly been. It simply reads much, much better than any past unofficial translations I've seen. Vertical also did a wonderful job with the book in the graphic design department; it's a beautifully-designed edition, and the newly-commissioned cover art by series artist Vofan is stunning (and fret not, purists: the original illustration from the Japanese edition is included inside, as well!).Overall, whether you're a Monogatari maniac or someone wondering what all the fuss is about, you couldn't ask for a better jumping-in point than here. With a little bit of luck, perhaps Vertical will decide to continue publication of the rest of the series -- and considering both the quality of the writing and of their translation job, I can only hope that they do.

Una pasada de novela recomendada para todos aquellos que quieran leer algo de literatura fantástica en inglés. Sirve de entrada perfecta a la saga, aunque sí ya eres fan de la misma te recomiendo leerla después de Nisemonogatari o incluso después de acabar las novelas correspondientes a la second season. En ese momento podrás apreciar mejor esta novela, cuya traducción por cierto, es mucho mejor de lo esperado. Lamentablemente por cuestiones de tiempo no todas las novelas de la saga están traducidas por la misma persona (Ko Ransom) y hay variaciones en la traducción. Pero suficiente con que nos las traducen y podemos disfrutar de ellas !

Si bien en algunos momentos la narrativa es algo confusa, no deja de ser una excelente pieza de literatura japonesa. El escritor ha logrado crear una épica historia que sienta las bases de su mas grande obra. Sin caer demasiado en el cliché de las historias de vampiros de siempre los personajes son cada uno excelente en lo suyo y la historia en general te mantiene siempre en la expectación del siguiente capitulo. Si son fanaticos de las novelas ligeras, o simplemente estan en busca de una historia ligera e interesante, sin duda Kizumonogatari es una gran opcion.En cuanto a la calidad del libro, la edición es muy buena; las primeras hojas son a color con ilustraciones y la portada tiene un acabado mate con algunos detalles que sobresalen con un poco mas de brillo. El empastado es bueno y no corre riesgo de deshojarse, el margen en las paginas es adecuado así como el tamaño y tipo de letra. La traducción es excelente y la calidad de las hojas también. Una muy buena compra garantizada, llegó el envió a tiempo y en perfecto estado.