Takes one apparition to deal with another…
What They Say:
The bee apparition is now gone, and summer vacation where the phoenix apparition averted harm is over– Around Koyomi Araragi and the girls who started a new trimester, apparitions, or perhaps threats even worse, were creeping in ever closer.
Tsubasa Hanekawa, Mayoi Hachikuji, Suruga Kanbaru, Nadeko Sengoku, Shinobu Oshino, and Hitagi Senjyogahara. Their soliloquies, confessions – and farewells. 6 new are starting now.
The Review:
Tsubasa writes a letter to her alter-ego – thanking her for what she’s done for her in the past, and asking for a little help in dealing with her current problems, before any of her friends get hurt. Besides, if the tiger apparition is something that’s been created from her own heart, then it makes sense that Black Hanekawa – created in much the same way – should be the one to help sort out the mess. Black Hanekawa isn’t so sure that this is such a good idea – but decides not to refuse. Her weapon of choice: persuasion…
Persuasion, of course, makes this a very talky episode, even by Monogatari standards, and with it being bookended by Tsubasa telling the audience about her thoughts and the changes in her life that come after the tiger is dealt with, there’s a strong need to pay attention, lest you miss anything. And add to that more inner thoughts flashing through as on-screen text that you can’t possible read at the speed it’s being displayed – oh for a frame-skip feature – there’s a lot to take in.
Some people see all this talking as being on of the series’ main weaknesses – it’s pretentious, mostly meaningless, and they show would be far more enjoyable if it would just get to the point, they argue. I’m on the other side of the argument: it’s the talking that lets you get inside the heads of the characters – Tsubasa this time around, obviously – and there would be a lot less appeal to this episode if Dark Hanekawa had just spent 20 minutes beating the tiger to a pulp. Instead, we get to know what makes both apparitions tick, what feelings within Hanekawa have brought them into existence, and how she eventually deals with them. And gets a few other thoughts off her chest, too.
The episode’s also notable for having Araragi’s first appearance of the season – which in a strange way just goes to reinforce how well the arc had managed without him. Star status: revoked.
In Summary:
That’s the end of that arc, though. It has its ups (Senjougahara, Tsubasa working through her issues) and downs (last week’s episode, which just felt overly stretched to me), but as a conclusion this episode just about nails it and is hugely enjoyable – largely because it avoids being too confrontational. Next week, it’s Kibukimonogatari time, and Mayoi’s turn. Looking forward to it…
Content Grade: A
Streamed By: Daisuki
Review Equipment: 27” Apple iMac, 2.9GHz Core i5, 32GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.8.4
