Theres a girl at their school whois always ill. She routinely arrives late, leaves early, ordoesnt show up at all, and skipsgym as a matter of course. Shes pretty, and the boys taketo whispering that shes a cloistered princess. As the self-described worst loser in her class soon finds out, they just dont know what a monster she is.

So begins a tale ofmysterious maladies that aresupernatural in origin yet deeply revealing of the humanpsyche, a set of case files as given to unexpected feelingas it is to irreverent humor.So begins the legendary novelthat kicked off the MONOGATARI series, whose anime adaptations have enjoyed international popularity and criticalacclaim.

This first of three parts introduces Senjogahara andHachikuji, and fans of the blockbuster prequel KIZUMONOGATARIwill be delighted to meet their favorite crazies again: the weirdly reliable narratorAraragi, class president among class presidents Hanekawa, shady problem-solver Oshino, and a certain pale, blonde formervampire.