Hanamonogatari #1

Oh man oh man. I'm back, and what with! More Monogatari, just to please my brains, and have my mind twisted in various ways!

Surprisingly Complex: Hanamonogatari #1

Lots of stuff going on... Ougi apparently changed from a girl to a boy, apparently because I think Ougi is actually neither, Naoetsu High without our trio, and Kanbaru's arm got fixed. Well, we're off with a rather cluttered start, are we not?

So, we start with Kanbaru apparently dreaming about her mother, and how she "died." I always thought it was odd that they mentioned that her mother died, but now they explained that in a way, she did. She became... Whatever she might be now, and her old self died in process... Kanbaru then wakes up and we see that she tapes her arm while asleep, even checking daily news to know if the devil has been causing havoc... And then she tries to clip her nails, but the nails on the monster hand break.

Random: Did you notice the length of those fingernails? Damn. Explainable by she not playing basketball anymore, but... Coupled with the fact that she told us that she has lost lots of nail clippers, I think it is linked to the fact that her hair also grows really fast. Which I think I elaborated on second season, but it's most probably because an side effect of the devil's arm. And she's clipping the nails again next day!? Insane, I tell you.

She then proceeds to run to school. Cue OP. Can't say too much about the OP yet, because I'm not sure who it is directed to.

Then she meets up with Ougi-kun..? Weird. Well, if he is human, it is weird, if he's not, then it's explainable. Do not know currently. Anyway, Ougi is again telling their weird facts about things, that will probably have again some impact on what's to come. Or not. Let's hope Ougi will not turn to be as mischievous as in Second Season...

She then starts investigating the mysterious Devil Lord, which she thinks is herself...

Again, Random: There were multiple occasions where taking the matter to the proper professionals was taken mentioned... I think they're up to something...

While investigating, she calls to Karen, who is casually chilling in Koyomi's room. What's that about..? I have my suspicions. Might also be about the fact that Kanbaru doesn't know where Karen exactly is, and referring way back to the character lens, she might just be putting her image of Karen talking to varying places in the Araragi household.

Now, about that character lens. This episode is layered with LOTS of blue and yellow, which are Kanbaru's colours (Her hair and the yellow raincoat). Also, Uniform things turn textured, like the lines in the race track and the ground in the "Devil Lord" scene.

Continuing, we get to the focal point of the episode, the Devil Lord, who is a past rival of Kanbaru's. With that, we can see that this arc will have lots of things about the past. Wait, what did Ougi say about the past? Well, continuing on. This Devil Lord seems to have an injury on her leg, and it is in full bandage because of that. Of course this rings the alarm of "That's not a real injury, is it?", but we have to wait and see for that.

This Devil Lord listens to other people's worries, but does not do anything to them, because the fact that when people think the problem will be solved for them, the problem solves itself, in time.

Random: Devil Lord grabbed Kanbaru's left breast. What lies under the left breast? Heart. Also, it was the left arm that was taken over by the devil. The connection is possible. Also, did you notice that after she grabbed Kanbaru's breast, Kanbaru started to understand her, even a little. Grasped her heart, maybe? And is it possible, that it had something to do with Kanbaru's devil arm disappearing? Or was that a different matter entirely?

Kanbaru dreams again, and wait? Is that Gaen's voice again? Does her aunt narrate her dreams? That's rather odd.

We also can talk about the next part of this arc: Acceptance. Acceptance of the past and the future is the way to move on in your life. Devil Lord's way of providing placebo help gives the people time to accept things, and thus lets them get on with their life.

Metaphor time! Binding her hand during sleep is the metaphor for Kanbaru restraining her life because of her past. This is linked to the Devil's Arm, and means that if she accepts her past, she could get on with her life, in this case, not be restrained by the Devil's Arm.

So, suddenly the Devil's Arm is gone. Intriguing. Is this because of her? Of Devil Lord? Or something else?

TL;DR?

Well, in short, past, future and acceptance. Make what you will of it.

Attack on Titan: Beyond These Walls

Well, I kind of saw this coming. This is insanely spoiler-filled, and from the manga, so if you want to avoid messing probably the best twist this series can pull, I would highly say, ever, steer clear.

Surprisingly Complex: Attack on Titan / Shingeki no Kyojin

Okay, so for all you in there, and I can expect a LOT of attention for this one, hopefully, I have a confession to make. This series never surprised me, not once. But, it doesn't really matter, because the most fun part was just watch things unfold, as this time it was fun to watch the characters be surprised by some of the kind of obvious twists (Unlike... Something like Lain). Oh, the Titans were human all along? What a fucking surprise. Oh, and they were... Okay, I'll go into that later.

So, as you can tell, this time I'm tackling things that may or may not come in Attack on Titan in the future, of which hints have been thrown around for the whole series. And what do I mean specifically with "Beyond these walls?" This is all just some insane theory, so... Do apply critique.

That's pretty high-tech stuff for year 850

Let's start from the beginning. From the year 0 in fact. We know, that something has happened that has reset the calendar. Why would they otherwise have such sophisticated technology as 3D-Maneuver Gear? Of course it's possible that if history had skipped the "Dark Age", technology of those sorts could make sense. Anyway, this is just a side thing, so...

The Great Lie, Part 1:

We've been lied to. The history that has been told to the characters, and as such, us, has been altered. If the calendar has been reset, it had been done way before Titans came into play, implying that there are things in the past that we are completely oblivious about. This is not much, but it gets better.

The Great Lie, Part 2:

Okay, it has been established that Titans once were humans. It has also been established that humans can be turned into Titans (Connie's hometown), in a short time. We've also seen that Eren's father gave him some serum that made it possible for him to become a Titan shif-. But wait, aren't those two things kind of different? I'd say no. I would suggest that once upon a time, someone invented the Serum A, which turns people into titans, and Grisha (or someone else, more on that later) invented Serum B, which turns people into Titan Shifters.

So where's the catch? It was always about people turning other people into titans and turning them against other people. So, where does this lead?

The Great Lie, Part 3:

The Titan War. Wait, that's not anything the series has ever mentioned?! Exactly. There was most probably a war between two nations, other being some unknown force, and the other being the people who are now within the walls. See where I'm going with this? The Unknown force had invented Serum A, and now that we know that Titans can be controlled, they probably used them as a weapon of mass destruction upon the other country. It also explains why the Titans don't actually eat people. And here comes the fun part. We know that the walls are made of Titans, right? So... What if the walls had another reason to exist. What if... They aren't there not to keep the Titans out, but to keep the people inside?

So, what exactly is beyond Wall Maria?

Where does this lead then? To a measly fact that what if outside these walls, there is a peaceful land without the fear of Titans, without the restriction of the walls? A land which uses Titans as a tool to keep the people inside the wall in check, so they can't come hinder their lives?

The Great Lie, Part 4:

So... What sense does this make? Why would the people of the outside do something so cruel? Because the high-ups inside the walls are stubborn dicks who don't want to cooperate. There may be still a war going on with the other nation, we just don't know of it.

So hey, what about Titan Shifters? What's their deal? Well, in short, Grisha invented Serum B. It's hard to pinpoint why, but it's possible that he escaped, and took documents with him, got captured by the other nation, and was imprisoned, but now the unknown force had the Serum B. It may also be that Grisha was a citizen of the other nation all along, which diverges to 2 paths: 1) After the Attack, he panicked because he knew where the attack came from, and escaped out of fear of being found out. 2) After the attack of Shiganshina, he injected Eren with the serum, and left to kill those sons-of-bitches, and probably put the same serum to his own veins. Of course the last one is the most epic, so... Why not?

The Great Lie, Part 5:

Well, this is just tying some loose ends. So... We've seen Reiner and Bertolt getting their friend eaten by Ymir, who probably had taken something like the experimental Serum B (This supports the theory that Grisha is from somewhere else and didn't invent the serum. Or the Serum B was only completed when they got Grisha) which screwed her up pretty bad, as she couldn't turn back into human. It's possible that because of that, she became a rampant Titan where Reiner and Bertolt lived (Which may actually be outside the walls).

So, what do you think? Too far-fetched?

TL;DR?

Titans are probably a weapon of mass destruction. Also some insane theory of an other nation or something.

E: Shit, plotholes. Gotta... Repair...

E2: Why did I split this into parts, again? I dunno.