Kizumonogatari Part I - Tekketsu
It's painfully obvious that this is incomplete. It feels very much like the opening act of the story, setting up the problem, laying out the course to take to get to a potential solution, and then stopping.
That said, I liked what was here very much. With the return of Tetsuya Oishi, it's clear that this is from the guy who directed Bake; Kizu's style is more in line with that show than what I've seen of succeeding Monogataris (mostly Nise). The cuts to text, the use of cartoony gag visuals, the focus on eyes - it's all here. (Didn't notice any of the famous Shaft head tilts though.) At the same time, Kizu has its own aesthetic identity, marked mainly by a striking usage of color in which black, white, and beige dominate and the use of other colors such as red leaps out at the eye, as well as a unique usage of 3D backgrounds integrated with the 2D characters. Plus there is an oppressive atmosphere that predominates, that you didn't get much even in Bake. Kizu is way more sparse in dialogue than TV Monogatari, and much more dependent on visuals to set the mood and enact the storytelling. It helps that major moments are marked by spectacular stylized animation that create a lot of energy and emotional angst filled to overflowing.
I love the way Oishi expands time here - you could say that's padding to make the material fill out three films, but it feels totally natural and beneficial to the story. My favorite scenes were the incredibly surreal, wordless opening, and Araragi's first encounter with Kiss-Shot in the subway station. Those sequences in particular, but also the general style of direction used, actually reminds me of Oshii's atmospheric moments in Patlabor or Ghost in the Shell, or the long walking scenes in Nagahama's Flowers of Evil. There's such a focus on sustained atmosphere, which is right up my alley. The subway scene especially drew me into the emotions Araragi was feeling - his fear and terror.
My least favorite scene was Araragi's meeting with Hanekawa. The lighter scenes in this film didn't tend to do it for me - though I liked some of the visual gags, particularly later on with Kiss-Shot. Also, apart from setting up the vampire rumor, Hanekawa's relationship with Araragi didn't have a payoff this film. Going from the preview, it looks like the next film will be where that comes into play more. This definitely seems like something that will benefit from being treated as a unit once all three parts are out.
I should give special mention to Satoru Kousaki's score, which was generally excellent. The music that played when Araragi was following the blood trail was especially effective.
I am looking forward to the next two parts. If they can nail the major story moments as effectively as this part did, Kizumonogatari should be something quite special in the end.