I love Bakemonogatari. It's the show that got me interested in kanji wordplay, makes some of the most inventive twists on familiar archetypes, and leverages an incredible visual style that holds up even when its production is arguably incomplete.

One of the other things it does well is handle flashbacks and references. The male protagonist, Koyomi Araragi, constantly refers to events that happened in the past, such as his having been a vampire over spring break, or how his Hocchan-voiced friend Tsubasa Hanekawa was possessed by a cat over Golden Week. Those events have had profound effects on him and his life in the present, yet their significance manages not to damage or overshadow what happens in the now.

Instead, they serve to hook the audience even more by piquing their interest into the cause of those profound effects. What happened back then that caused Koyomi's "paradigm shift" with regards to making friends and interacting with people? Why did Tsubasa change her hairstyle (the original, single-braid 'do appeared in jump-cuts at the show's famous panty-shot opening scene, and in the occasional flashback)? Why is she always wandering around when she claims to be at home, studying?

That curiosity led be to get all excited when a DVD/Blu-ray edition of Kizumonogatari and Nisemonogatari ("Damaged GoodStory" and "ImpoStory") appeared in a preorder listing at Amazon Japan. Acting as a prequel and sequel to Bakemonogatari, Kizumonogatari covers Koyomi's time as a vampire, and Nisemonogatari details incidents surrounding Koyomi's sisters Karen and Tsukihi. 

Unfortunately, the listings have since been removed from Amazon. Honest mistake or foreshadowing for beautiful-yet-barely-animated SHAFTing?