Monogatari Series Watch Order

Monogatari Series consists of a complicated timeline, both in terms of release order of the light novels and anime series as well as chronologically.

First Season consists of the books / anime cours: Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari, along with Nekomonogatari Black. Kizumonogatari, originally the second released book of the light novel series, was announced as an anime movie in 2012 but was put on a hiatus up until 2015 when the film had finally returned to be released as a trilogy of films starting in January 2016 and finishing a year later.

Second Season consists of five stories total being Nekomonogatari White, Kabukimonogatari, Hanamonogatari, Otorimonogatari, Onimonogatari, and Koimonogatari. As such, the anime adaptation, Monogatari Series Second Season consists of all five books except Hanamonogatari which was later released separately.

Final Season consists of Tsukimonogatari, Koyomimonogatari, Owarimonogatari, and lastly Zoku Owarimonogatari. The Kizumonogatari trilogy of films could also in a way be considered a part of Final Season in the anime series due to their time of release and original titles, though Kizumonogatari as a whole is technically supposed to be grouped with First Season as with the light novel series.

Both the mentioned has its pros and cons

Anime Release / SHAFT Order (for first-timers)

While there are a few other reshuffles in the meta narrative, the biggest difference with this order is that it presents Kizumonogatari, the origin story, as a mysterious missing part of the story to be anticipated later in the series just before the finale of the main story.

Generally, go this order if you want to experience the series as people did when it came out, like the idea of experiencing an origin story before a finale, at the cost of missing the originally intended order by the author.

I. First Season

1. Bakemonogatari (2009)
2. Nisemonogatari (2012)
3. Nekomonogatari Black (2012)

II. Second Season

1. Monogatari Series Second Season (2013)
   1. Nekomonogatari (White)
   2. Kabukimonogatari
   3. Otorimonogatari
   4. Onimonogatari
   5. Koimonogatari
2. Hanamonogatari (2014)

III. Final Season

1. Tsukimonogatari (2014)
2. Owarimonogatari (2015)
3. Koyomimonogatari (2016)
4. Kizumonogatari
   1. Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (2016)
   2. Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu (2016)
   3. Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu (2017)
5. Owarimonogatari (Part 2) (2017)
6. Zoku Owarimonogatari (2018)

Light Novel Release / Nisio Isin Order

This is the completely original order in which stories were released by author Nisio Isin as novels. Unlike anime release order, all shuffles in chronological placement are fully intentional for the narrative.

Go this route if you want to experience the story as it was originally intended, at the cost of missing the mystery and anticipation element of Kizumonogatari, among other minor differences in the meta-narrative.

I. First Season

1. Bakemonogatari
2. Kizumonogatari
   1. Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu
   2. Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu
   3. Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu
3. Nisemonogatari
4. Nekomonogatari Black

II. Second Season

1. Nekomonogatari (White)
2. Kabukimonogatari
3. Hanamonogatari
4. Otorimonogatari
5.  Onimonogatari
6. Koimonogatari

III. Final Season

1. Tsukimonogatari
2. Koyomimonogatari
3. Owarimonogatari (Both Seasons)
4. Zoku Owarimonogatari

Source : Fandom