Nekomonogatari: When love is not enough

First off... Let's change the name of the Summer Triangle Drama... It's what I call the Hanekawa Triangle. Why? Because, even if it's seen through the eyes of Araragi, Hanekawa is ultimately the most important aspect of it. There's a reason why it's shown only in her openings. And I'll try to make more sense in this text, as I've failed miserably in making the previous texts make any kind of fucking sense. Thus, now I'll try to reconfigure my thoughts in a proper manner, and try to explain this shit.
Hanekawa Triangle, the very existence of it is formed AND destroyed in the end of Nekomonogatari, as Araragi says: "I will find another woman to love than Hanekawa", in a way to honor her as more than just a target of love. He says it has become something more, and this was actually one of the points where the series REALLY touched me. I may seem like an analytical motherfucker, but at that exact moment, I realized that Bakemonogatari HAD to be my favourite series of all time.

I gotta rewrite this and some other updates... Or maybe I'll just save it for the later retrospective. Just a heads up, the text here is kind of dated, but still relevant. By dated I mean extremely confusing.
PERSONAL CORNER

The reason why I loved the series so much before that very line, was because I loved the art, loved the music, loved the characters... But at that moment, it ascended to a point beyond love. And the reason is simple, as I am talking now of my own life. I have said in my mind, exactly the same words to myself, for the exactly same reason (Without the bullshit with oddities), the feeling of going beyond love. Now this may sound like cheese, but it can't be really explained. The reason why I started to watch the series again, that led to my discovery of the absolute character portrayal of Araragi, the reasoning beyond the summer triangle, about everything that is ESSENTIAL to my love to the series as is, was of two reasons, one of which it's kind of portrayal of my own feelings quite some time ago, of which I'm still lingering with, and the other... I'll explain it in soon.

Surprisingly Complex: Nekomonogatari

Good fucking question!

Fake. That's what Senjougahara's and Araragi's relationship felt to me all this time. And in that way, the series succeeded in simultaneusly getting me question it and believe in it, and then just pulled the carpet under my feet. I fell, hard. I realized that the most important aspect of the series, the love between Araragi and Senjougahara, was just a fantasy of both of them. For Senjougahara, Araragi is the prince who comes to save her from the cruel world, where as for Araragi, Senjougahara is a target of fake love. BUT. Taking account the very philosophy of Nisemonogatari, this shit is AGAIN turned on it's head. Because fake love can be more real than the real thing, as it involves trying. They both try so hard to love each other, that they manage to pull it off, even when they both should not, in a way, be capable of it. This makes this shit so interesting. As all the triangles we've been fed are actually, in a way, just red herrings. Because Hanekawa believes so hard it being a triangle drama, it stops being one. Araragi doesn't believe that there is triangle drama, as he doesn't really love Hanekawa as he cares about her in another level. Overanalyzing? Maybe... But...

There are hints to their love being genuinely fake in the first episodes, before Senjougahara's initial confession. Senjougahara asking about love out of obligation, and her mentioning that maybe she is deceiving herself (3rd and 2nd episodes, consecutively). It actually gives their love story lot more depth. And I think that's where I got the idea, it just stuck to my mind until I forgot that I actually got it from the series itself.

So... Hanekawa is the most important character in the series, so why not talk about this girl for a while. It's actually shown in Nekomonogatari that she doesn't know everything, yet she does. It could be even so absurd, that in the final fight she almost killed Araragi because she knew that she could get rid of the cat that way, as she knew that Araragi wanted the cat out of her. She could just feign ignorance about knowing the sword. I don't know how much Kizumonogatari will change this again, but I hope it will again pull the carpet beneath my feet. Also, on the same note about Hanekawa. With the fake theory again (Damn, it's like I wanted to people to forget what I said earlier, WTF am I supposed to do with this conflicting information? Let's just call them differing viewpoints...) Hanekawa is seen as so fake, that she becomes real by being incapable of being real. Again, I apologize for the pseudo-philosophical bullshit feel of this, but it's true. When we try to become something, it already means that in some ways we are. Some things we can reach, some things we can't, but that's what makes us humane, right? Her incapability of being normal/real makes her such, at some level.

Continuing... The portrayal of Araragi's feelings is less over-the-top than Nisemonogatari, but it makes it more real. If you think about it, the whole scene where the cat appears in the school could just be Araragi's imagination. I saw it that way. It was more like his own analysis of the situation than the cat telling him directly about the things. He knew that Hanekawa feels no pity, and when he heard the story about the cat, something didn't add up. He then came up with this idea. Remember, it's just a theory. Ok, if the whole scene is not just in his mind, the end of the scene definitely is (Thinks I), where Black Hanekawa is leaving, and he tries to run to her, but stops, as he can't touch her. And as she says: "The right choice", it was actually Araragi's subconscious saying that to him, and NOT about physical touching. It was his mind telling him to let go of her. Which is a heck ironic considering what will come in the future.

Last stop, Araragi.. If you don't jump off now you may not even walk home.

Hey, remember when I said that when in Bakemonogatari there were flashbacks of Nekomonogatari, that they were inaccurate, but explained how they could really work like that? As we see in the last episode, they are in an abandoned building, not an alleyway. I think it's intentional. The abandoned building was where he was, but an alleyway leading to a dead end what he felt was. There was no way out of the mess that didn't go through Hanekawa.

Well, in the same way as Araragi's feelings toward Hanekawa are so much deeper than love, so much that it cannot be love, in the same vein, my feelings for this show are really hard to describe. I've always loved series that somehow portray myself (So does everyone, right?) but Monogatari really did it in a way that I could say almost no other series could. Also, it's very interesting philosophy made it a BLAST to watch, giving me much ammunition to use in my own life. It heightened my philosophical angle, made me cry a wee bit while doing it, and killed me in laughter more than once. It also made me feel very uncomfortable in an engaging kind of way (That one trip to Hanekawa's house). I will make more of Monogatari when there is more (This summer, to be exact), but on the meanwhile... It's time to watch something else.
Nagaru Tanigawa time it seems...

TL;DR?

It's practically just me getting all feely about why the series is the best, and everything's fake you should know the drill?