Monogatari S2 ep3: two sides of the same apparition

So. I guess the normal rules of Monogatari don’t apply anymore?  From the beginning this series has been more “weird” than normal.  Not to say anything in Monogatari universe is normal to begin with.  Any normal in it has been a matter of perspective.

So picking up where we awkwardly left off. Senjougahara is still grilling Hanekawa over her life choices based on their breakfast. And it appears the talk has sunk in in away. As she ponders the words at school. Traveling through the halls, she comes across – KANBARU! Yay! I missed her! Wow! *ahem* And it looks like the normally short haired tomboy is continuing to grow out her hair. It sits atop her head in a very attractive set of pony tails, very similar to how Hanekawa used to wear her hair. She shows Hanekawa her text on her phone from the still absent Araragi (no wonder I can hear his voice so much in Attack on Titan). It’s a request for her to meet him at the second floor classroom of a school. Vague to the not very sharp Kanbaru, but Hanekawa deduces that it must be abandoned cram school this show has so often frequented. And Kanbaru scurries off.

Later, back at Senjougahara’s apartment, we see Hanekawa get to meet Senjougahara’s father. The conversation soon turns to the meeting with Kanbaru and the school. And though I expected both of them to show up there, they both end up agreeing to not go and hunt down the fool. The door bell rings, and when Senjougahara opens we see Araragi’s two sisters of justice.

We then get a flashback showing us what Senjougahara has been planning this entire time. It turns out that she’s made her way over to Araragi’s home, and goaded the Fire Sisters into accepting Hanekawa into their home. All it took was some prodding, mostly in the form of sh*tting on justice, to get them to fall in line. I lover her so much!

*CUE GLUTTONOUS AMOUNTS OF NUUUUUDITY!*

The Fire Sisters (as cute as ever), invite Hanekawa into their home with energetically and with open arms. They talk to her about how much they respect her, and they appreciate how she’s treated them equally. They bath with her, and assure her that their parents (who learn are police officers, didn’t we learn that already?) won’t kick her out. But you can still tell that their is anxiety bubbling underneath her calm demeanor. And that bears fruit after the Fire Sisters slip Araragi’s clothes onto her and shove her in his bed.

Black Hanekawa pops up again, and she’s quite confused. Finding herself in Araragi’s room, she has no idea what to do to address her master’s problems this time.

But oh, the surprise that awaits her. Little Shinobu shows up on the ceiling. So Araragi must be in the house right? WRONG! Shinobu makes it plainly clear that she has no idea where her master is at the moment, and is trying to address that problem herself. Araragi and her have a strong, life long bond, so seeing her without Araragi is a major issue!

Seeing as how their last confrontation (forgive me if I’m wrong, haven’t watched Nekomonogatari, yet – sorry) was one of the most memorable moments of Bakemonogatari, I expected some tension. But the atmosphere was quite a bit more relaxed, probably because they were more worried about their masters than grudges. And after Shinobu gives Hanekawa some insight into her own existence, and also tells her that she has no idea what’s going on with the white tiger apparition, they both end up going to the cram school to see if they can catch up with Araragi and Kanbaru there.

Too bad. It’s been burned to the ground!

This show is having a lot of fun forcing us to view this series through a veil. Somewhere in town, alongside these long, introspective conversations, there is pure anarchy going down! And here we are, listening to to these girls yammer on about what may be happening! It’s a pretty big tease, but I have confidence this show will deliver.

I’m finding the mystery surrounding the white tiger to be slightly frustrating. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just that – wait a minute! I think I get it. I’m a bit late, but I get it! Perhaps Black Hanekawa isn’t the only thing residing inside Hanekawa. If as Shinobu says, only Hanekawa can see it, then it’s likely that the white tiger isn’t just something that randomly appeared to her. Either she projected something negative onto that tiger, or it’s a part of her. I still don’t see exactly how or if this connects to Araragi’s situation at all, but it’s a start.

Now then, with only two of the regular cast members still unaccounted for, I’m starting to get anxious to see what all this is building up to. I’ve heard many complaints about how Nekomonogatari just repeated techniques and cadence of Bakemonogatari, but the situation seems to be different now. Or it is at least being portrayed to us from a different angle. I’m starting to get a sense of momentum now from the show. A sense that this will be building to something big.

Further Reading:

• Episode 2