Owarimonogatari – 12 [END]
Saying goodbye….
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When it all comes right down to it, you cannot just wallow in either self-pity or self-assurance. Put up or shut up; and the only way out of a rut is up and over, not straight ahead. |
We Try Harder…
She’s 100x better than you boy….
The truth hurts, but I always think of it as miles better than a well intended white lie. So when Hitagi flat out tells Araragi that, yes, if a better version of you comes along at some given point, then you’ll be replaced without hesitation, she ain’t pulling a punch, nor is she fooling around.
It stuff like that that keeps us on our toes, trying harder, not taking anyone for granted, nor over-resting on earned laurels. Besides, she’s also very blunt when she says Araragi has set a high bar for the competition, and that if you read between the lines a better version of you and be just that, you, but even better….
The one time she didn’t have that trademark sky of hers….
If there was one very telling moment for the whole of the franchise, and I realize I’m going out on a limb in saying it, then it was Gaen herself espousing how much she cannot trust people. She says this right on the coatails of Araragi espousing how much faith he has in both Hitagi and Tsubasa; in how much all involved in his “harem” have earned and learned to do just that. For someone that has a ton of control, and a ton of information, was thing something Gaen let slip out by accident or by deliberation?
…those Memes are getting crazy powerful…
But in the end, the duel wasn’t the most important part of the exchange, as the First Minion lost before the show even began. He was always one or two assumptions about himself over the line, as the last episode played out. He felt like he knew everything already, and that winning and the prize were forgone conclusions, the duel a formality.
But, who ever counts on a Kanbaru? As of Shinobu Mail, you should…They say that still waters run deep, but once the active water get’s there, it will flood all the same, so then you can argue for your metaphorical depth all you want. Last episode she shot it right in the heart, “You’ve still got a lot to learn, especially about yourself”, and this episode she lives up to Araragi’s trust, show just how far he’s come.
Shoulder Thing One and Shoulder Thing Two…
So finally we have one more scene that sums up the arc. As always Ougi is going to lead things on, suggesting more layers, more stories, more mysteries….and good for her, it’s what she is supposed to be doing. But for my money, Yotsugi steals the scene, reminding Araragi that he might have gotten a “less than happy middle” but that doesn’t mean unhappy now, or even an unhappy ending. Keep moving on, don’t accept complacency. Funny how he needs a dead doll to tell him that, one that might take entirely to much joy in stepping on his face with her bare feet, not that the dim bulb boy would mind.
Long Doll and the Endcard…
…so who ordered the Tsukihi and Yotsugi furo scenes? Feels like we missed it somehow….
….she’ll be back….
———————————————————————————————–
All in all I found the Shinobu Mail arc to be quite satisfactory. It was a return to some of the time tested, tried and true Monogatari formula that never fails to please, while at the same time elevating many of it’s scenes to a degree of greater maturity. It didn’t take much to be honest, but just a touch more. Araragi got to take a look back and see how far he has come, the morning of his tests, thanks to Ougi Framing Device Magic, and he has a deeper understanding of his shadowy half. Shinobu is always going to be a complex existence, and whatever metaphor-for-growth she turns out to be, is something Araragi is going to have to figure out.
All in all I found Owarimonogatri, in it’s own right, to be a fairly weak series. That is to say that if it could be seen as, say, the first entry anyone has ever gotten into the world, then it would have made a poor showing. Shinobu Time, Mayoi Jiangshi, much of the Second Season in fact could be argued to do that and more; in other words they could be watched without much previous knowledge.
As this collection of arcs played fast and loose with time and space, it did so at it’s own peril, and figuring out where it fit into the stories already told was a point of distraction. If you are going to tell a story out of sequence, than the reveals you make better be a cut above…earn that unusual framing device, don’t do it just because it’s “clever”. More often than not I was going, “when was this scene taking place again….ah screw it…”. They did it better this final episode, but only just.
But, character wise, I found this arc to be more than engaging. I loved how it slowed down, got us into the headspaces of it’s mains, and took us outside of Araragi’s assumptions and silly harem time and focused on other aspects. Sodachi’s deep pain, and Ougi’s need to keep his attention read as much part of their character’s as they did ways to focus his. So these collections of stories went a great deal in showing how the beginning of the end is shaping up. I have no doubt SHAFT has more for us in future…
Thanks for Watching!
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
So much DFC LOLi despite the lack of Hachikuji…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
From what I’ve read in the LNs, Mayoi is gonna a get a helluva big story soon. One that should properly pick some new stories and advance a plot…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I have to say that this series of Monogatari was more miss than hit for me. Disappointing characters like Ougi and too-smart-for-the-room Gaen, unnecessarily difficult-to-follow timeline as you point out, and a lot of seemingly pointless roundy-round. Maybe because only that stuff is left after they cherry-picked the better stories to adapt in previous seasons, but the blather to business ratio in this one was super high.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…and the blather to business ratio seems to be the going thing. Sometimes it’s what you want, other times it ends up like this. If they had kept Gaen like this episode, as I think short bursts of her work best. But I disagree with you, as always, with your assessment of Ougi…
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yeah, I found Owarimonogatari to be a bit weak too. It had great moments and some really great conversations, but as a whole the story didn’t excite me all too much.
I really loved the way the finale started and ended though, with the conversations Araragi had with Senjougahara and then Yotsugi.
Welp, guess Kizumonogatari is next! …I think!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Kizu is next, and it’s out in the movie houses. From what I hear tell it’s three parts and each part is round and about an hour and a half, give or take. But I’ve heard of Koyomimonogatari/Calendar Story. I don’t know if it’s a series or webshorts, or some sort of smartphone app…I do know it’s a series of short stories that kinda fill in the gaps from the beginning to where it is now. So, we’ll see what comes about in ’16…