‘Kizumonogatari’: The weirdness is back and better than ever

“Kizumonogatari” is back. Three anime film adaptations of author Nisioisin’s book of the same name, which were released in 2016 and 2017, have been edited together into a single film titled “Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp.”

Nisioisin’s long-running “Monogatari” series of so-called light novels (illustrated books targeting young adults) centers on a high school student named Koyomi, who survived an encounter with a vampire. The series prequel, “Kizumonogatari,” reveals the details of that fateful incident. During spring break, Koyomi (voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya) runs into classmate Tsubasa (Yui Horie), who tells him a rumor about a beautiful blonde vampire roaming the streets at night. Cue Koyomi hitting the streets that very night and discovering said vampire (Maaya Sakamoto) in an empty subway station dismembered, writhing in a pool of her own blood and screaming in pain. She begs Koyomi to save her by letting her suck his blood, and after some hesitation, he accepts. Weird guy.