M.S.S.S Episode 1

My god. I've got lots to tell about this. Now I'm starting a new branch of this series, where I'll keep up with you, every single week with a new episode of Monogatari Series Second Season, which I'll shorten to M.S.S.S

Surprisingly Complex: M.S.S.S Episode 1

When I heard that one of the novels is from Hanekawa's point of view, I went nuts. I was so damn waiting for this, and the second Hanekawa started narrating, I was so damn pleased. There would have been no better place to put this. I knew it was coming, and I loved it.

Basically, the first episode is just setting us up with the Tiger, and we don't really know what it is yet. We also see hysteric Senjougahara, of which I will talk in a bit and some lesbian tendencies, which are actually not lesbian tendencies. We also confirm, that yes, Hanekawa sees Hachikuji from time to time, which makes lots of sense.

So. Starting off with the character lens, which I goddamn love to talk about. There isn't a major change in art style, which means that the animating studio thinks that this is how everyone sees the world, with less color than normally, but with more accented ones. Like the reds stand out as RED, greens stand out as GREEN. This is an interesting perspective into the human mind, be it intentional or not. We humans categorize things easily, thus every green thing we see is green, not exactly the color that it is, like seafoam-green or forest green. I couldn't have talked about this before, because we've only seen the perspection of Araragi.

El Tigre here is very colorful

Hanekawa's character lens is actually quite different than Araragi's, and it's noticeable if you pay attention. The color palette during the Tiger scene is one where we can see the difference. There where in Araragi's view this kind of scenes accompany lots of pure white and pastel colors, Hanekawa's have more creamy feel. Like the greens in the sky are very lime, and the Tiger itself is more color-FULL. Not that there are more colors, but the colors are much more vivid. This is a minor thing, but someone who pays attention can notice this.

There's also the fully new "scene", White scene, which I think are somehow connected to the cat. Like how red scenes are usually connected to some strong feelings, and black scenes to the narrator simply closing their eyes. There's also a purple scene for a while, that is probably connected to Senjougahara (Big surprise there).

Also, in the middle of the episode, there is a chapter that's missing. It's that Hanekawa either turned into the cat or the tiger in the night, or there's something she just tries to forget. I guess it could be that Tiger is the white, where as the cat is the black, and in the end there's some kind of mental showdown? That'd be cool.

Her response to this was pretty stupid for a genius

Onto Hanekawa herself. As she narrates, she says that this story is meant to tell us how she is actually just a puny human being, not the inconceivable Codex of Ultimate Wisdom we've come to know her as. She also does act slightly different during this episode than she does usually, which could be of two reasons: She either acts the way we see her normally as because of Araragi, or Araragi's perception of what Hanekawa is has tricked us. Remember, now she cannot lie to us without lying to herself, which could be an interesting plotpoint somewhere during the series, where we are led to believe something is different than what it is because the narrator lies to themselves and thus to the viewer.

She also states in the end that she still loves Araragi, which is kind of pointless, because of ending of Nekomonogatari. Hanekawa Triangle is brought "back", but it only exists in Hanekawa's hopeful mind and Senjougahara's nightmares. Araragi is not the kind of guy to sway from his promises easily, especially for himself. He promised to find someone else to love, and he did. Or more like he forced himself to love her, depends on the viewpoint. But remember, forcing yourself can be good because with trying can it become something beyond. Depending on the viewpoint.

Even Senjougahara loses her shit sometimes!

So, to our other protagonist, Senjougahara. I haven't talked about the fact yet, that every single character in the series also somehow symbolize the oddity or apparition they have come to deal with. Senjougahara's has been the crab, and it's more abstract than of the others. Where as Hachikuji has her backpack as a shell and talking to her slows you pretty much, Senjougahara's crab lies inside. It's a god, so it is always there, yet isn't. The idea is, that she's a tough on the outside, but soft in the inside, as we see in this episode. She goes absolutely hysteric when she finds Hanekawa sleeping in the ruined Eikou Cram School. She loses the tough shell and becomes incredibly soft. It could also be seen, that Senjougahara understands that if something happens to Hanekawa, his and Araragi's relationship would definitely go to ruin. I believe she worries for all three of them, and that she's actually one of the more emotionally soft characters, she just hides it well.

Also, Senjougahara's lesbian intentions weren't actually sexual, she's just curious of Hanekawa's body, because Araragi is... You know... And also bragging rights.

NEXT WEEK, MORE!

TL;DR?

Change of perspective? Awesome!