Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by cronosmu
猫物語（白） by NISIOISIN
5.0
Perhaps you are simply too pure — as white as innocence itself. You do not understand your own heartlessness , nor your cruelty (...) You are simply dim to the darkness. In that case... you are a failure as a living creature. - Senjougahara Hitagi
Written from Hanekawa's point of view, Nekomonogatari (White) takes a more intimate and compelling approach than the previous novels to build what is perhaps one of the best works by Nisio Isin. The Tsubasa Tiger arc tells us the story of a pure woman, a fake, a monster, and her relationship with her abusive family and the people around her.
Leaving behind the action oriented plots, in Nekomonogatari (White) not only Hanekawa but also the people who cross her path undergoes a remarkable evolution from their previous selves. It's not an exaggeration if we affirm that one of the greatest virtues of Nisio as a writer, and most likely the factor that distances him from fellow and generic authors, is his ability to create complex characters. I'm not mistaken when I state that Nekomonogatari (White) is where his prose takes a new level. The once aloof, detached and somewhat tsundere Senjougahara and the pure and unstable Hanekawa, through the brilliant scenes that depict their interactions, are now multilayered characters and reach a new and surprising level of humanity.
If Kizumonogatari is, at the end of the road, a story about how broken people can even in tragedy form bonds, and Nisemonogatari a tale about persons becoming fakes in order to exist, Nekomonogatari, while sticking to the previous premises, is a novel about how our flaws, that part that brings us closer to be failed creatures, allow us to embrace reality and get through our daily life. Being Hanekawa Tsubasa the embodiment of this, we understand that only by experiencing hatred, jealousy, envy, loneliness and getting hold of our flaws can we understand ourselves as human beings. Otherwise, as Hanekawa, we are nothing but monsters. Pure monsters.
Written from Hanekawa's point of view, Nekomonogatari (White) takes a more intimate and compelling approach than the previous novels to build what is perhaps one of the best works by Nisio Isin. The Tsubasa Tiger arc tells us the story of a pure woman, a fake, a monster, and her relationship with her abusive family and the people around her.
Leaving behind the action oriented plots, in Nekomonogatari (White) not only Hanekawa but also the people who cross her path undergoes a remarkable evolution from their previous selves. It's not an exaggeration if we affirm that one of the greatest virtues of Nisio as a writer, and most likely the factor that distances him from fellow and generic authors, is his ability to create complex characters. I'm not mistaken when I state that Nekomonogatari (White) is where his prose takes a new level. The once aloof, detached and somewhat tsundere Senjougahara and the pure and unstable Hanekawa, through the brilliant scenes that depict their interactions, are now multilayered characters and reach a new and surprising level of humanity.
If Kizumonogatari is, at the end of the road, a story about how broken people can even in tragedy form bonds, and Nisemonogatari a tale about persons becoming fakes in order to exist, Nekomonogatari, while sticking to the previous premises, is a novel about how our flaws, that part that brings us closer to be failed creatures, allow us to embrace reality and get through our daily life. Being Hanekawa Tsubasa the embodiment of this, we understand that only by experiencing hatred, jealousy, envy, loneliness and getting hold of our flaws can we understand ourselves as human beings. Otherwise, as Hanekawa, we are nothing but monsters. Pure monsters.