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Aug 20 2013

Categories: episodic review, monogatari
Tagged: monogatari

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“I don’t understand it well.”

(Monogatari Series Second Season seven. I still can’t get over how complicated the naming is. In fact, there should be an anime series called, “I Still Can’t Believe How Complicated This Show’s Name Is.” I fully blame Oreimo for this trend.)

Remember how Mister Donut looks like it is located in the middle of Arizona or Nevada? Well, where the hell is this little corner store Araragi and Yotsugi are at? Middle of Africa? (Edit: Madagascar. Thanks all!) Gotta love this town that Monogatari is set in: full of industrial refineries, half-completed housing structures, high rises that look like Hong Kong, shipping port with massive amount of cranes, a donut shop in a desert landscape, and this place. Hold on. Let me just say it. SHAAAAAAAFT!!!

(Also, gotta love a store that has an honor code for popsicles. I can’t imagine this working in America.)

And then moments later, with no apparent movement on their part, they are at some sort of part with some sort of historic monoliths behind them? I couldn’t focus on the conversation because I was too busy trying to ascertain where they were. In fact, I hope this town becomes the locale for the next Tomb Raider game because it has so many historical artifacts and a vast diversity in biomes.

(Somewhere during this conversation of death, I realized it’s quite rare in this series to have more than two characters talk to each other. Pretty much all the conversations are centered around two people, and even scenes involving more than three characters who speak more than token lines are uncommon. And I can’t remember the last time there were more than four characters on the screen at the same time… maybe the end of Nadeko’s arc if we’re not counting the final scenes of season one? Then it dawned on me Katanagatari is the same way. I’m not sure if this is a Nisio Isin style or Nisio Isin limitation. But it feels unnatural the more I dwell on it.)

I like how Yotsugi starts talking normally and then starts tilting her head. Does this mean she’s the next potential haremette?

“Now that I think about it…”

Oh dear, time travel shenanigans. While I do like the theory of Araragi asking Shinobu to send him back in time to do homework, it was a plot staple of Doraemon, right up there with Team Rocket trying to kidnap Pickachu or Ice King trying to get laid, this is similar to the plot of the arc that derailed the Haruhi express. I mean, Nisio Isin needed a reason to show Mayoi before she died, and time travel is the easiest plot device to make that happen. Just “needing to do homework” is a lame reason, and it’s even lamer when Araragi doesn’t even bring has backpack back with him. If you’re trying to make us believe that he needs to get his homework done, how does going back in time without said homework accomplish anything? I hope the arc ending isn’t Araragi going over to Hanekawa’s or Senjougahara’s and begging for help, because that’s what he should have done in the first place.

(He doesn’t even question his return until after he departs. Safety Is Not Guaranteed at least hand-waved these points by making the male protagonist refuse to answer such questions.)

Nice nod to VOFAN’s art. Would I be happy with an ED featuring VOFAN’s style and Supercell? Yes, yes I would.

“But the 15-year-old girl named ‘Oshino Ougi’ turns such stories into massive tales of life and principles.”

Wait, what? “Oshino”? As in “Oshino Meme”? Why don’t I remember her? Is she related to Meme? Why does she head tilt like the haremette, have the same spite and putdowns as Senjougahara, and is filled with the same trivia as Hanekawa? Did I miss something? Why is she so casually talking to Araragi about traffic lights?

A staircase that looks like a snail. I expected either Senjougahara or Mayoi to be on this staircase, not Ougi.

(The last Ougi I remember in anime… that dude from Code Geass.)

So I take it that this arc takes place concurrently with Nekomonogatari White. At the end of this arc, Araragi comes back to the current time and slays the tiger, since he is wearing the same red hoodie and jeans as the end of Nekomonogatari White, and his hair is longer than it is now, suggesting he spent some time wearing the same filthy clothes in the past. Also, it seems like he already went through a fight as his clothes were ragged in the previous story, and the foreshadowing scenes in this episode suggest he fights with Shinobu at some point, though this could be a red herring as I remember being promised SHARKS BEING SLICED AND GETTING NOTHING AWESOME IN RETURN.

(Is this the same temple where Nadeko tried to rid herself of her snake?)

Snoo Snoo. I would love an Attack on Titan dating sim. Bonus points if the dating sim featured the human females while Eren is human and titan females when he goes titan. I know Mikasa would be slated for the end girl role, but I think Potato Girl is the fan favorite. She’s like Tomoyo/Kyou in Clannad over Mikasa’s Nagisa. (No, I’m not comparing the characters as Mikasa is nothing like Nagisa, just their roles. Much like how both Gyrocopter and Antimage can play the “1” role, but one is a ranged hero with tons of nukes and zero escape mechanism, and the other is melee hero with a great escape. Gyro can also be played support whereas… good luck with that using Antimage. Gyro would be like Mikasa whereas Nagisa is more like Antimage.)

(I know, I cheated. I didn’t have an end card on my source for this episode of Monogatari Series Second Season.)

(I also want to rant about the ending to Oreimo, which kind of upset me. Kyosuke basically threw away a metric fuckton of haremettes to have a non-ending. I hate that. I wanted an ending where at least something gets resolved, i.e. Kyosuke picking a non-sister haremette or Kyosuke going full bore and bone his sister. I don’t want this half-hearted tease of an ending that still leaves a crack for season three. It’s like Tenchi-freakin’-Muyo. Decide already! I also don’t understand this whole, “I’m going to full on have a raging boner for my sister, but once we graduate, I’ll put my dick away. I don’t even need a cold shower.” Even for a fantasy story, that’s out there. Even the writers of Guilty Crown, Devious Maids, and 2 Broke Girls are shaking their heads at this unrealistic portrayal of humanity. Sigh. I’d even be happy if a titan attacked Japan for an ending.)

Three previous predictions for next episode…

1. Araragi meets Mayoi, and he causes her to collide with a truck.

2. Shinobu fanservice.

3. I predict… a family diner… donuts… coffee… in the middle of a glacier.