The plot centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third-year high school student who survives a vampire attack and finds himself helping girls involved with a variety of apparitions, ghosts, beasts, spirits, and other supernatural phenomena, which often serve as proxies for their emotional and mental issues.

Most heroines have an item that symbolizes their spectres, such as Hitagi's stapler (the claw of a crab), Mayoi's backpack (the shell of a snail), Suruga's arm (the arm of a monkey), Nadeko's hat and jacket (the head and skin of a snake), and Karen's black and yellow tracksuit (the colors of a bee).

Although it incorporates elements of fantasy, horror, and action, the series primarily focuses on relationships and conversations between its characters, which make heavy use of Nisio Isin's signature word play and metahumor.

The Monogatari series revolves around Koyomi Araragi, a third-year high school student who has almost restored his humanity after briefly becoming a vampire during spring break.

As the series progresses, Koyomi finds himself involved with other girls afflicted by "oddities" (怪異, kaii, lit.

To deal with the apparitions, which feed on human emotions and often take forms symbolically represented by animals, Koyomi relies on supernatural guidance from Oshino and, later, from Shinobu, the once-powerful blonde vampire who attacked him and later assumed the appearance of an eight-year-old girl.

As Nisio Isin's previous work, the Zaregoto series, had been accepted as a light novel, he decided to write the first Monogatari short story, "Hitagi Crab", with a more formal approach in mind.

[7][8] The first three stories were printed in the magazine's September 2005, January 2006, and May 2006 issues, respectively; they were later collected in a light novel volume entitled Bakemonogatari (化物語, "Monster Tale", lit.

[29] The fifth Monogatari saga, referred to as "Monster Season", released between 2017 and 2021, follows Koyomi's life as a university student.

[34][35] The sixth Monogatari saga, referred to as "Family Season", which began release in 2023, follows Koyomi after his marriage with Hitagi.

[42] The audiobook for Nekomonogatari (White) was released on April 9, 2019, with narration done by Cristina Vee, Eric Kimerer, and Erica Mendez.

[43] The audiobook for the three volumes of Bakemonogatari were released on March 24, 2020, with narration done by Eric Kimerer, Cristina Vee, Erica Mendez, and Keith Silverstein.

[54] An 11-episode anime adaptation of Nisemonogatari aired from January 8 to March 18, 2012, produced by the same staff as Bakemonogatari, but with Tomoyuki Itamura replacing Tatsuya Oishi as director.

A four-episode anime television series adaptation of Nekomonogatari (Kuro) (猫物語(黒), "Cat Story (Black)") aired back-to-back on December 31, 2012.

[59] Kabukimonogatari and Onimonogatari featured Naoyuki Tatsuwa and Yuki Yase as series directors for those respective arcs under Itamura and Shinbo.

[60] Five episodes of the Second Season, adapting the Hanamonogatari story arc from the novels, were delayed from the original broadcast due to production issues and aired as a marathon on August 16, 2014.

The several opening themes were written by Meg Rock and composed by Satoru Kōsaki and Mito, featuring vocals of the main characters.

"Sing of Love"), produced by Jin (Shizen no Teki-P) and performed by Luna Haruna for Nekomonogatari (White) and Kabukimonogatari; "Sono Koe o Oboeteru" (その声を覚えてる, lit.

Monogatari Series Final Season features five ending songs: "Border" by ClariS for Tsukimonogatari, "Sayonara no Yukue" (さよならのゆくえ, lit.

[94] Disc 1 feature the opening and ending themes for Monogatari First Season: Bakemonogatari, Nisemonogatari, and Nekomonogatari (Black).

Disc 2 feature the opening and ending themes for Monogatari Second Season: Nekomonogatari (White), Kabukimonogatari, Hanamonogatari, Otorimonogatari, Onimonogatari, and Koimonogatari.

[106] The company also made a line of separate, 1/8 scale figures of Hitagi Senjōgahara,[107] Suruga Kanbaru,[108] Nadeko Sengoku,[109] Tsubasa Hanekawa,[110] Mayoi Hachikuji,[111] Karen Araragi,[112] Tsukihi Araragi,[113][114] Shinobu Oshino,[115] Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade (from Kizumonogatari),[116] Nadeko Sengoku in her Medusa form,[117] and Yotsugi Ononoki.

[118][119] They have also made figma figures of several of the characters: Koyomi Araragi,[120] Hitagi Senjōgahara,[121] Mayoi Hachikuji,[122] Suruga Kanbaru,[123] Nadeko Sengoku,[124] and Tsubasa Hanekawa.

[138] Barbara Greene in her article "Haunted Psychologies: The Specter of Postmodern Trauma in Bakemonogatari" states that the series critiques otaku consumption and the objectification inherent in consumer capitalism, using its fragmented narrative and visual style to reflect the collapse of traditional narratives in postmodernity.

Otaku are drawn to moe-kyara, stylized characters that allow for personal meaning-making, but this consumption ultimately perpetuates a cycle of suffering without resolution.

She concludes saying that Bakemonogatari portrays a world where meaning is constructed but never truly fulfilled, serving as both a product of and a commentary on the traumas of postmodern consumer culture.

By employing archaic Japanese orthography and integrating text deeply into the narrative, the anime not only highlights the constructedness of its story but also situates its themes within Japan's modern historical context.

Smith argues that Bakemonogatari serves as a self-reflexive commentary on subjectivity in the postmodern world, suggesting that identity is not an authentic, isolated construct but rather an intertextual creation shaped by social and historical forces.