Update on Monogatari Retrospective

I have not started it yet.

There. I said it.

Zoku Owarimonogatari was released this June, and it has been 3 months since. My situation has changed again (I have started at a University), so my time will be limited.

However. I will start the rewatching and writing process NOW.

It has been too long, and it all comes to an end.

I will probably do it all in a long-form video format instead of text because I feel like it deserves it. However, this means that it will take a long time.

So, until that time.

I'm coming back

Probably.

Zokuowarimonogatari is released on October, I think. I hear that while not the final part in the series, it does have a sense of finality in it, being the end of Araragi's school life.

I have not actually followed the series since, what, 2015? I'm planning on watching and rewatching everything up to this point. I don't even know what happens in Kizumonogatari even though I have it as a book.

Anyway. For the people who are interested in hearing the dying words of the Surprisingly Complex series, I will probably make it as a video essay, though with a different username. I am too busy to start working on SuCo again (I have a working life now, involving a lot of writing), but I need to get this series off my shoulders. I know Musubi had some new plot threads, but I will get to them when I see animation of those. Maybe.

Owarimonogatari, Part 3

I didn't update last week, I tried to, but couldn't write anything of substance. But now I've come back, but... Sadly, having accidentally read spoilers (Damn you non-alerting writers / commenters on the internet!) about Ougi, some of the post will be whited out to avoid spoiling people. Because like this series often likes to do, the change of perception before and after the twists are massive, so after the twist is revealed, feel free to check this post again! Ironically the spoilers I've seen have been really non-descriptive, so their true nature might be wrong in my head. Anyway, let's get this party started. 

Surprisingly Complex: Owarimonogatari, Part 3

How formidable a foe is Ougi? Formidable enough for Hanekawa to use her last resort? Nope. Even more formidable. Formidable enough for Hanekawa to make mistakes.

By mistake I mean Hanekawa's last line in the episode. It implied that Araragi took Hanekawa's offer seriously, where he himself just thought that making the offer itself was a point strong enough to choose her. Such a little slip of character might be normal for other people, but not for her. It just is to show how much she's taking in. Take a look at the scenes going on, it would seriously seem that Hanekawa is out of her element. Not being able to resolve a conflict that ended in violence (Oikura and Senjougahara), not being able to argue Oikura about her clothes. It's like she's being pushed into situations where she has no time to plan, and cannot use her knowledge bank to her advantage.

If Ougi is even remotely the reason Oikura came back, one of the reasons might have been to throw Hanekawa out of the loop. Having to confront a two new people who seriously affect Araragi at the same time would throw her out of the loop pretty bad, and it seems like Ougi was rather successful.

Before Ougi, Araragi is zero, nada. That is why in the first episode of Owari, he stated that all is zero before Ougi. While it is true in his case, it's only true in his case. Only Araragi seems to be so absolutely affected by Ougi. While she has power over others (Nadeko, for example), her powers are not nearly as absolute as when she's dealing with Araragi. 

And then there was this. I don't think I have ever seen that kind of expression on Hanekawa before. One of the first times her normal self has even shown an negative expression. It's kind of amazing, really. To get such a strong reaction from Hanekawa means that Ougi is business.

And going back to the beginning, let's talk about Araragi's amnesia. He had forgotten Oikura, and he had also forgotten Nadeko before. Is it connected to the Class Assembly? Or did something happen before starting High School that made it hard to remember? Or does he simply have an extremely bad memory? We know that his face memory seems to be pretty bad, but his name memory is good, (Which might explain why he forgot Oikura, as he never heard her name). But it doesn't explain Nadeko... Perhaps he these incidents are separate, and he forgot about Oikura before the Class Assembly, and forgot about Nadeko after the Class Assembly? We may know at some point.

And next, a very swift thing that one might miss: Hanekawa presumed that going to the ruined house was Araragi tagging along with Ougi. It might seem irrelevant, but do not forget who we're talking about here. Hanekawa even elaborated later that they weren't on the same page as Araragi didn't undestand that when she was talking about a dangerous person, she was talking about Ougi, not Oikura. She then said that "It's as if you're diverting the point of this conversation on purpose." It seems as if Araragi is subconsciously trying to avert talking about Ougi. Weird...

And wasn't it weird that Ougi knew things like where Senjougahara and Oikura lived? Even though she just now heard that Oikura lives on her own? And knew the addresses well enough to know that Senjougahara lives further away? Weird...

Does this look familiar?

Does the picture of traffic lights seem familiar? When was traffic lights last mentioned in the series? Was it... Ougi?

Ougi talked about traffic lights way back in the beginning of Kabukimonogatari. Interestingly, the placement of this seemingly random part of the Second Season is still kind of ambiguous, but I would place it somewhere around here in the timeline. Exact day and time is uncertain to me, but I think it could be during the first episode of Owarimonogatari, when they went to the third floor of the school building.

The original idea behind the traffic lights was that when people are vigilant of danger they are more safe than when they take safety for granted. I am unsure if it connects to the matter at hand or if the traffic lights and the rush hour in the street was just allegories thrown around in the novels.

Okay, now let's see this again from the perspective of spoilers. Unspoiled people, I really hope that you won't spoil yourselves!

[Drag to see spoilers: Ougi is apparently an apparition created by Araragi's unconscious, and thus IS Araragi, or as I like to think right now, his doubts and secrets]

Now that we've got that out of the way, taking that into account, I can continue theorising. Everything will be in white though so unspoiled people don't have to look at them.

In this new light, Araragi diverting attention away from Ougi in the conversation seems obvious.  He doesn't want to doubt himself.

Araragi being absolute zero in front of Ougi makes sense now, because fighting one's unconscious is pretty hard.

Hanekawa knows about Ougi's true nature, maybe not entirely, but she knows that Ougi is an apparition, but realizes that as she is connected to Araragi, she cannot just say that Ougi is an apparition to him.

Though, if Ougi is an apparition created from Araragi's mind, does that mean that Araragi has started doubting Hanekawa? If taken from this stance, I'd actually say... That Hanekawa has tried to grasp the situation of Ougi from afar, resulting in her absence during Araragi's recent adventures. She does this because she knows that interfering could be dangerous, ironically creating a vicious cycle where her calm observation creates more doubts for Araragi, making Ougi stronger as consequence. Of course, as she noticed this, she took action and stopped Ougi on her tracks. Interested to see how this develops.

And of course Ougi knows that Senjougahara lives further away than Oikura. It's Araragi's knowledge, after all. Like she said before, she knows nothing, only Araragi's knowledge matters.

Owarimonogatari Part 2: √ARARAGI

Surprisingly Complex: Owarimonogatari Part 2

√ARARAGI

Oikura hates Araragi. Araragi cannot hate Oikura.

√Araragi = Araragi cannot hate Oikura.

The equation is incomplete, we need more variables.

My horrible attempt at witty math aside, this somehow holds true. Almost as if the fact that Oikura DOES hate Araragi makes him unable to hate her.

Guilt? Pity? Both? Something else entirely? We will know when all the pieces have been placed.

Wasn't it odd, though, that Ougi was mentioned in the intro, without any particular meaning? I think it's a clue toward Ougi's true character, which is still a mystery to me.

Anyway. Let's start with the opening:

Mathematical theme, unsurprisingly, knowing Oikura's fondness of Mathematics... Now I can only wonder what Araragi's opening would look like... Excluding a million pantyshots, of course. We may know when Araragi Stories and Kizumonogatari come.

Anyway, sadly, there is no translation for the opening song, so I cannot analyze the lyrics, but I can analyze the imagery. Remember when I said that I don't actually care for theoretical mathematics? I did mean it, but I happen to know most of the things that appear in the opening (Which is, by the way, one of the best IMO. Owarimonogatari started with two REALLY STRONG openings. Maybe Mr. Haneoka is at his best with Openings?).

There are fractals, tori (torus) and tesseracts, all of which represent, more or less, the fourth dimension. I think that's what they we're going for. The fourth dimension is time, so it might be relevant.

Anyway. After the Opening, we start at the middle school Araragi attended. They're retracing the steps of the mystery that is √Araragi (I'll stop using that, I swear). Anyway, to find the root of Araragi that Oikura so desperately wants Araragi to find, they need to retrace Araragi's movements from five years past, back when he was just a wee seventh grader.

It becomes apparent that Araragi didn't even know Oikura was in the same class as him, and suddenly when he had "solved the puzzle", Oikura returned to class. But I'd say that it isn't that simple. Of course, it NEVER IS that simple, eh? I'd say that it's more probable that Ougi is a reality-bender (and made it happen than) believe that it was just that simple. Or even so simple that Oikura replaced the culprit, the teacher.

Though, Ougi being a reality bender would not surprise me at this point. All her/his appearances have had this eerie feeling. Changing sexes? Causing memory loss? Weird coincidences and being unable to lie to her/him? Yeah, I'd say Ougi is a reality-bender, or at least a perception- or memory-bender. Something akin to that. Probably not "there" at all.

They find the envelopes that were conveniently in the locker. Of course, I'd rather say that they never went to the middle school. Araragi was just telling it in story format to Ougi. My proof? There's no point in going there. Araragi just skimmed over the middle school part, which was to prove that your initial, snap logic, might be wrong. Afterwards they just go to the ruined mansion, but first, Oikura.

Araragi seems to be taking well the fact that Oikura was asking all these private questions about him from Hanekawa. He thought it would be easy cake, because why would anyone ask those questions unless they're in lov- Yeah, no. 

He then very indiscreetly (Allegory, shown with his exaggerated movements and tone of voice) confronted Oikura. Trying to get her attention by calling himself being the former attendance number 2. He's probably just trying to stay within his life's more irrelevant facts, because he knows that Oikura remembers him.

What's with this "Thanks to you" business, honestly?

She then blows up and starts telling Araragi how much she hates him. Like he had killed her parents or something. Araragi uses that line a lot, and I think it might actually be what this is about. I would theorise Araragi being the indirect cause (At least in the mind of Oikura) for a death of a person close to her. Or better, her parents. Of course, rather often these kinds of things turn into red herrings, so it could be anything. Anyway, Oikura feels that Araragi has seriously wronged her in the past, and now hates him with passion. Note: Oikura's breakdown was most probably overplayed a lot. Araragi's perception of how she broke down might be way different from the reality.

As Araragi tries to calm Oikura, she decides to stab his hand, for she already told him not to touch her, and he just did. As Araragi walks back toward his seat, he realizes that not only was not Hanekawa done with her thing, another person had come also. Senjougahara. Just the second I knew it was Senjougahara, I just stopped the video for five minutes. I knew this was not going to end well. 

I was surprised when Senjougahara just went "hmm" in an interested matter... "I will kill you." Okay, this train has wrecked. Evacuate the citizens, please stay in line, don't walk over other people. We're done.

Hanekawa is trying to stop her (Shown as her clinging to Senjougahara futilely), but she is rather unsuccessful. Isn't it interesting how the dynamic between Hanekawa and Senjougahara suddenly changed? Usually Hanekawa is very much in control, but now, she's unable to stop her.

And then a little surprise (If one read the quick notes, it might be less surprising), Oikura and Senjougahara knew each other. And if you rewind the last episode, you remember Oikura asking Senjougahara specifically for her opinion. And it was OIKURA who started the class assembly, suddenly it makes sense for Senjougahara to be there. But this also leads to something way back. Oikura was probably one of the first people to help Senjougahara with her illness. I think it is relatively important to note that she was one of the first. How do I know she was one of the first, if not the first?
Timing.
Senjougahara lost her weight at the end of middle school, and Oikura and Senjougahara were close to each other (Thinks I) by the time of class assembly, July 17. if I recall correctly. That's only a few months of difference, so her being one of the first to help is not a hard equation to complete. Only under a year after this was when Senjougahara threatened Kanbaru with the stationery knife, so I deem that part of her life pretty important for her hardening of character.

In the conversation, we hear tidbits, such as Oikura taking care of people below her (It was probably just Senjougahara provoking her), and Oikura believing that anyone can actually care for Araragi... Interesting that only when Senjougahara bluntly told Oikura that she wants to be with Araragi does Oikura slap her. Weird, isn't it? The other things she said were way more provocative, and that happens to be the single thing that triggers Oikura. Like she doesn't want to admit that anyone might not hate Araragi.
*Slap*
*Punch*

*Faint*

*Double KO*

Jump back to Araragi and Ougi. They go through the Monty Hall problem, and how it works. Notice how Araragi does remember what the letter contains before even seeing it. He hasn't forgotten.

NNNNO

AND HOLY SHIT I REALIZED ONLY NOW. GODDAMNIT OUGI. GODDAMNIT. Don't go looking at Nadeko's shoe locker. Stay one million miles away from it.... So, post-foreshadowing for that. Took me a while to realize that.

After they break into the broken mansion, we get to know that Araragi's parents are police officers. Thus, unsurprisingly they are seen very rarely. And they are also obviously the source of the Araragi family's obsession with justice (Of course, this might stretch more generations). Ironically, they all have different concepts of justice, but they are all equally enthusiastic about them.

Ougi then explains the exchange between Ms. Tetsujo and Oikura, but this is probably a red herring, in my opinion. The real reason is Ougi doing something shady again, probably. But, if we DO go with the presumption that this exchange happened, there is an interesting thing to explore. What was the reason for the class assembly if Oikura knew that Ms. Tetsujo was to blame? Was it to frame Araragi to be the cheater? Was it to make the truth bend with the opinion of the majority, so she could forever be the winner, for Araragi was the culprit?

Ougi then explains that Araragi not knowing his roots is the problem why Oikura hates him. But isn't this odd? Instead of going through his own character, he jumps and starts talking about... Oikura's justice. As if he already knew his part of the story. The only mystery is Oikura's part. But that most probably is the fact. 

Then we go back to Araragi's inability to lie to Ougi. I accidentally read a spoiler left loose in the comments of a video, so now I'm slightly mad. But I didn't understand it completely, so whatever. And then Araragi starts to tell a story of his roots. So he does know them. 

Okay... Sorry this one took so long, but... I was busy this week. And there wasn't too much I could squeeze out (Contrary what one might think from the length of this post).

TL;DR?

Well, basically there was just a little post-foreshadowing and other cool tidbits, but otherwise I've been a dry well, to be honest.

Owarimonogatari, Part 1

We'll see if I'll make these on schedule again. I hope I will, I hope I do.

Opinion time: Love the opening, can't wait to read the lyrics. And Haneoka Kei really keeps growing on me. He really stepped up and really has made Monogatari's music his own. I still think Master Satoru is "better", but this is simply magnificent.

Kizumonogatari PV
HOLY HELL! Maybe we'll finally get it?! My god. The old crew is back, it has the same director as Bakemonogatari, and Satoru is back on the mixing board. I am so goddamn excited, even though I know that it might get delayed once again... Now I'm just wondering whether I should read the book before the movie comes out, or after. And doesn't that PV just look... Awesome?

Anyway, the first episode of Owarimonogatari also came, so here's what some people may have been waiting for:

Surprisingly Complex: Owarimonogatari Part 1

A double episode to start with, and lots of things to talk about.

Visuals / Lens:

Holy crap. That visual flair was insane! And we actually see new things about Araragi. 

People: During several wide shots of the class assembly, all people save Oikura, himself, and during the one short part with Senjougahara, people are seen as their names. This can mean several things:

-Araragi has a horrible face memory

-Araragi has an excellent name memory (I couldn't tell the surnames of all my classmates, not by a longshot. And with kanjis? Even harder)

-He personifies people by their names

Or it can mean absolutely nothing. 

The Classroom: The classroom is glitched. It is an anomaly that does not exist in time and space. The only times it is seen "normally", are parts of the flashback and before and after the lockdown. 

Looks like hugging at first, advances to a mental chokehold

Ougi: You think Ougi was violating Araragi's personal space? So does Araragi, shown by her (At least the alleged gender Ougi has at the time) extreme closeness (Hugging from behind, chokehold, sitting on lap). But! It might not be PHYSICAL space she violates. It might be Araragi's privacy and memories she is violating.

Space: We know from before that Araragi is an astronomy nerd, so it showing up when he's thinking about the beauty of mathematics is not surprising.

Red and Green: Kinda simple, made to show how much Oikura and Araragi differ from each other. Most of the episode is focused on green colours, Araragi's colour, with the background being green for most of the time while "glitched",

Lucky cats: A visual motif during the episode no doubt. They just simply express automatically raising one's hand / arm.

Favorite visual? I loved it when Oikura went to the front of the class and shouted, the chaos of desks and chairs suddenly stops and they go back into neat lines. This, after seeing Araragi get stressed in the middle of the colourful chaos, just nails in the power of Oikura.

So, onto other things...

We start with talk of the Euler's Identity. I am not a mathematician, but I did some research on it. Euler's Identity is a mindboggling theorem that is still a mystery. It is a theorem that has been proved, but not understood. From what I've understood, the idea is that it represents the perfect circle, created by using all the most important parts of mathematics, which results a perfect circle, zero.

I won't even try to claim to understand it. I don't. I'm way more into pragmatic mathematics than theoretical, but Euler's Identity still interests me. Anyway, how does the Euler's Identity connect to the story at hand? It is an metaphor of Ougi. Even though it is said indirectly, what does it mean?

Some would use this to say that Ougi is the most beautiful existence in the world, or to imply that Ougi is a god. I think it means that fundamentally we, the viewers, cannot understand Ougi (Because to most narrators cannot). But she's still there, he's still there, and does things that leave us scratching our heads.

The next thing is going through Araragi's change during and after this class assembly. After the assembly and before meeting Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, his catchphrase was:
"I don't need friends, because if I make friends, my strength as a human decreases."
It is an statement against the fact that if enough people tell a lie, it becomes "true". We can deduce that this actually has a lot to do with the fact that Araragi is a math genius. If we induce that his prevalence in math also causes him to see himself as a "logical" person, this sort of illogicality would definitely be distasteful, if not revolting to him.

But here's the kicker: He is not like that anymore. What happened? Well, naturally, Hanekawa happened. Every time I start deducing anything, Hanekawa always comes into play at some point. That is why I'm so excited to see Kizumonogatari, to see the pinnacle of Hanekawa, so maybe, finally, I could start to see what is going on in here...

But once again, we've found more evidence on how Hanekawa saved Araragi. She saved him from the curse of self-inflicted solitude. More reason why she is so important to the series (If I haven't hammered that point down enough times already, there's some more).

And to think we haven't even started on the mystery itself yet... To be honest though, the mystery, while being the star of the episode, does NOT have that much I could grab hold of, for me at least. Of course, the story being told from Araragi's point of view, some details are muddy.

Authority level < 9000, or is it?

Araragi said that what is important is not assembly itself, but the outcome. But what about the reason why the assembly itself was held? One could say that Oikura is a justice freak, or that it's her duty as class president, but this might be more personal.
Hypothesis mode activate:
It's invalidation. She resented Araragi for being better than her in mathematics, her favorite subject. But what triggered this was the fact that she feels that her efforts are invalidated by the fact that even when she "cheated" in the test without knowing about it, Araragi still beat her.

/Hypothesis

But back to the conclusion of the assembly. More than half of the class raised their hands to vote for Oikura, and after that she never came to school. This made Araragi uncomfortable at school, making him become a slacker. He also never got a perfect grade in mathematics again.

The way it was told, the last one would seem to imply that it was more or less intentional, like he's afraid of getting a perfect grade in math. 

Oikura wasn't the top student, hmm? Senjougahara beat her by one point. 

Well, I did not stay long on that subject, but hey, I can't control when and where I get my realizations.

So, we all probably know that the reason Oikura is back because Araragi finally solved the mystery, right? I'd bet the opposite. I'd bet the reason, while still being connected to the classroom, is not the fact that Araragi "solved" the mystery, but something else entirely. Can't say what though.

TL;DR?

Ougi is a metaphor for Euler's Identity, the reason for why the assembly was held was revealed to be Oikura's insecurity, and as surprisingly as ever, the obligatory cat was let out of the bag.

I'm Back! and Re:Re

Well hello again... I started posting again on tumblr, but I thought I could spread words more efficiently here... This blog STILL has some traffic every day, and it amazes me. Well, enough of that, now for some more Gatari!

MONOGATARI RE:RE

In case you missed my Monogatari Revamp and Rewatch part 1, they're here:
ReVAMP
Rewatch 1/?

Well, what the heck is Re:Re then? It is about theories that I figure out after writing the original post, like Meta Redux in the older posts.

So, today's subject will be Senjougahara again. Actually it's just an amusing point about her staple item, the stapler.

Because what does a stapler do? Connect things to each other. In the first episode, Araragi was stapled, and interestingly enough he ends up being connected to the one who stapled him.

One can also meander deeper to the nature of stapling, such as taking it as a FORCEFUL union, which does seem to fit those two. Both are more or less constrained by their union, but trying to separate them would probably result to rips and tears.

Extending my reach

To TUMBLR!

You can find me there by the same name, but the things I discuss there will be more bite-sized (and sometimes aren't even about anime), so maybe I'll keep doing this blog, for all the insane walls of text that look really unappealing in people's feeds.

Hyouka: Of character and mystery

Oh well... I didn't finish Hanamonogatari yet, so here goes.

Surprisingly Complex: Hyouka

If I may start gloating, this was one of the magic series again, grabbing me with great intensity from the beginning, keeping the grip tight, then suddenly changing hands and gripping even harder. One of my top five currently, beat Clannad to the sixth on my list of favorites... But anyway, let's bite straight into this ice cream. (Hue hue hue)

Even though "characters" is before mystery in the title of this post, I will get the mystery out of the way so we can delve more deeply into these characters, mainly our two male protagonists, as they have more things that I especially can talk about. Not disregarding our female leads, but this time the men get some of that delicious analysis pie.

Mystery, the very genre of this series, is actually pretty much a ruse. Especially when the series goes further more and more, it even becomes a thing: Houtarou is not solving these mysteries, he is creating theories that satisfy the curiosity of Eru. He just happens to be right often, and he notices it later in the series. He even stated it in the movie arc: "I'm not a detective, I am a mystery novelist." Taking that out of context is practically the whole story of his life in the Classics club. He just comes across mysteries, and he has to give Eru satisfying solutions to those mysteries. He says that he is just lucky, and he is right. Solving the mystery is not on his menu, he just happens to be right. There comes the problem...

Ain't that amazing, guys...

But how could it be a problem? Because he is mistaken for a genius, a superb mind of deduction. In the end he never tries to solve the mysteries, he just wants Eru to not pester him about it anymore. Yes, that makes him sound like a selfish dick, but the quicker he can give a satisfying solution to her, the quicker he can go back to conserving energy, which is also his way of life (To which I can absolutely attest to). But that tells us something about his character too. He just wants to chill, but the circumstances absolutely deny it. He just cannot say no to those eyes.



So what about our other main man, Satoshi? By the end of the series, the situation between him and Mayaka is left in mystery, but that is not the point.

Satoshi, by his own words, does not want to obsess. He doesn't, because it quickly makes his life boring. It also means that, to him, those years trying to obsess over things were not worth it, and he regrets being a person like that. He has changed, but not easily. He has had struggles with the change, so much so that he can see himself being obsessed to something to undo all that process and make his life boring again. Solution to this is to try to maintain the status quo to make the changes stay.

We know he's done goofed, but still it's understandable

And there comes the X, Mayaka. She is the part of his past that he is afraid of. A girl he loves, but a girl he sees himself regretting loving. Perfect match for him, but not for him that he tries to be. This then presents the main question of the character: if you have achieved happiness, and try to hold your integrity of character together, would abandoning that integrity (and possibly the happiness) in the hope of more happiness be worth it? This question becomes more apparent when you take into account that the happiness gained will not most probably be his, and not even too lasting.

Integrity of character is one of the running themes of the series, from Houtarou questioning if the path he has chosen in life is right, or even right for him, to Satoshi questioning if the path his development is the one that will lead him to happiness. Even though the questions are often thrown in a comedic light, it doesn't devalue them, as the characters (Especially Houtarou, because he is the narrator) ponder about them time to time.

TL;DR?

Hyouka definitely asks some heavy questions, if you look into it... And yayyy, the return of the pictures!

Impressions from Hyouka

After the first 2 episodes, I'm impressed. KyoAni doing Character Lens so aggressively [b]really[/b] makes this show a must-watch to me. Combined with Tanaka Kouhei's awesome OST, we're set.

The character lens itself is more straightforward, and definitely a focal point of the series. But I liked the more... Subtle way Monogatari did it. But they're entirely different series, so...

Just wait. If this series blows my mind, you will soon see the first full-series-analysis in a long time.

PS. Yes, I do know I'm just sitting and eating dust with Hanamonogatari, but since the second episode was cut short in all players the day it came out, I didn't want to do a blog before I saw it in the full... And it's long overdue, but I've had lots of things, now more with Hyouka.

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.

Steins;Gate Visual Novel First Impressions

I have landed on a golden mine, not a gold mine, mind you, a golden mine.

Starting this VN has really surprised me positively...

Even though I've just started, I can already tell, that I called it. I absolutely called it. It's not so apparent in the anime as it is in the VN. In the beginning of the story, Okabe is insanely deep in his delusions, and I hope that I find more stuff to analyze from the VN.

Also, the soundtrack is insanely good. So good in fact, that I will take notes from it to writing OST to a VN (Such is one of my projects).

Rick and Morty: Welcome to C-137

Was supposed to do Haibane Renmei, but it starts so slow that I need to try watching it again sometime later.

Well, this is the first time an American cartoon is under the magnifying glass, so it's some kind of first.

This series has really risen up from all the series out there, with it's hilarity and ingenious plot twists. This time lots of this text can be found in Reddit, because I've taken part into the conversation there, but there were some people with a keener eye than me, so all credit to RickAndMorty subreddit, here we go!

Also, the title is kind of relevant, but kind of irrelevant

Surprisingly Complex: Rick and Morty

So, what should we start with?

The Evil "Eyepatch" Morty definitely has a connection to Rick C-137 in some way. Here are some of the possibilities:

There's definitely something going on

• "Eyepatch" is Morty C-137.
• "Eyepatch" is one of the later Mortys that Rick C-137 has had.
• Rick was in an operation to take down "Eyepatch" some time in the past.

They all have almost zero hard proof, but they are implied, and it can be deducted:

• Rick makes a statement about cocky Morties, and the next scene is the reveal of the Evil Morty
• In Rick C-137:s memories we see Morty as a toddler, even though in the dimension that the series started in Rick had been gone for twenty years, longer than that dimension's Morty had been alive
• The Evil Morty wanted to download specifically C-137:s brain, even though he had already killed numerous Ricks who should have the same intelligence. 

With those points, I would lean onto Morty C-137 or later Morty theories, because they imply a deeper mutual understanding. 

Following with that, I'd like to delve deeper to the C-137 theory (My personal favourite):

• It would seem Rick C-137 cares for his first Morty more than others (He gets teary-eyed at the toddler Morty). Having the first one be the Evil Morty would make sense because he could be the one who abandons C-137.
• Right after the toddler Morty, we see a Morty, shocked with a jumper cable. This could be a mark of his current "not giving a shit" attitude coming from losing his first Morty tragically.

Now an expanded theory of the dynamic of Mortyness:

Maybe there is something behind this hatred...

• Morties have a maximum years of usage.
• After that time, they start to rebel and become cocky
• Going with this, we can see our Morty struggling with this in the future.
• Extra: Council of Ricks aims to liquefy Rogue Morties and it is partially the reason for Rick C-137 not being in the Council

So, how does this make any sense?

• When giving Rick C-137 the voucher for a free Morty, C-137 cuts the Council Rick short. Knowing how this series is, there could be vital information there.
• Rick talks about a cocky Morty like he has experience, and deducting the fact that he was in contact with a Morty when he was just a toddler, we can see a possible connection with extended exposure of Rick and Rebelling of Morty.
• Extra: Rick seems to be in very toxic relationship with the Council. Knowing that all the Council's Ricks ARE Rick, there must be some good reason why he's not in the council. There was probably a big fight regarding something, and this Morty liquefying is just an honest guess. It would also explain Wubbalubbadubdub, as Rick could easily still be depressed over losing his first Morty.

There would definitely be more, but... I don't remember them just now.

TL;DR?

I dunno. A Morty's a Morty.

We hit 10k! Also future updates

10k Hits! That's nice... Anyway, there's hopefully something to write about this week... When did Hanamonogatari start again? End of May? Dammit.

Well, a series called Haibane Renmei sparked my interest... We'll see if I'll pull my head out of my ass and actually write and figure something out. We'll see. Haibane Renmei is written by the guy who wrote Lain, so my expectations are high, sadly. Sadly because the expectations I have usually may break the series, because I overanalyze, or should I say PREDICT the outcome too easily. I had REALLY high expectations with Lain, as it's hailed as one of THE series, and now, months later, I see what the buzz is for. My initial text may be a little harsh on it, but the series kind of sinks in and in retrospect is better than I initially took it for.

All of my favourite series I started to watch with either expecting for something else or totally ex tempore, without much thinking. Okay, except Clannad, but I got the tearjerker I asked for.

So let's see if Haibane Renmei will climb the list.

Finals are over

I'll try to go back into some kind of schedule, but I ain't sure. We'll see.

Taking a break

Well.. I'm taking a break of sorts, because my high school finals are coming. I'll see you after those probably.

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.

M.S.S.S Episode 26

Okay, that was a good ending for a series.

Surprisingly Complex: M.S.S.S Episode 26

Well, going with a bang, so to say. It was more CHOCK! (Wood hitting head), but still.

It was never confirmed that Kaiki is dead. Thus he probably isn't. If he is, well shit. He may be lying about his death, or he may have faked his death, we won't know until the next time he appears or doesn't.

We finalize the current series and the current arc, with something to learn from. Think about the word "deceive." How many times was it used in this episode? The answer is a lot. There was the final deceit, which would seem pretty improvised, but I'd say it was Kaiki's contingency plan. It was the ultimate move he could use, the words of reassurance. Words assuring that her own fatalism is not always right, that what she thinks her destiny is and always will be, is just an illusion. Words about the possibility of change, of other lives. He of course later defines the words as the obvious, as the obvious things adults tell to children. He didn't define them as the lies adults tell to children, even though from the way he speaks, he would seem to see those things just as illusions. But he acknowledges that for others it might not be too late, even though the basis of his words is that it is never too late, even if he may believe that it is already too late for him.

Kaiki told us that he hates irreplaceable things, and that he loves money. Of course, it comes from the pain of losing something irreplaceable, probably more than once, that led him to a choice of either clinging to those irreplaceable things and being in pain, or letting them go and never thinking of them again, never putting scarcity value on anything. He made the choice he believed in, the one where everything loses their scarcity value, where individuality becomes almost nonexistent. It became his curse, as he became unable to put value for things outside money, that was the ultimate idea of value without scarcity value.

That's all theory though, as he might just be lying. But there is evidence for it. He has talked about money before, when he talked to Karen. Then he emphasized on the fact that money is practically everything, but I think back then it was more important to make the point for the oh so justice-driven Karen that he didn't say everything. I think that his point there may be a hidden one: Money is everything, money is replaceable, thus everything is replaceable. And to some extent, he's right. But he's also wrong, and that he knows. He knows that the only irreplaceable thing is your own self. If you escape and hide it forever, you will never get what you want.

So... Back to some of the things I said about previous episodes. Nadeko, this time, Nadeko as in Nadeko, not Medusako. Nadeko is one who hid her true self, hid what she wanted, and let on an image of herself that just wasn't true. That made her dream unachievable in the sense that she lied to herself that she didn't even want it. This led to her internal fall, as she denied what she wanted, and replaced those desires with desire to be with Araragi. She wanted to hide her true dream so hard, that she accidentally denied the whole world. So in some sense, we could say that sometimes your dreams outweigh even the whole world. It may not hold water for every single one of us, but for many it does. It is the one singular thing that we want. The one we know may not make us happy, not even the most happy of all the options, but the one we want.

Okay, my text is turning weird, so I think it's time to wrap up this season. Oh wait, It's still not time for that. I will first wait for the Bluray and torrents to come so I can watch it in HD again, and then make a full-sized text (WITH PRETTY PICTURES, SO ALL THE BETTER). Even though this, as the final text of this series' singular episodes is already quite long. The format of the coming text will probably be little different, with me analyzing different theories I have in detail, so it will be a long-ass text. Most probably the longest that I've written so far. But, I haven't even begun my whole Monogatari retrospective yet, so we'll see.

TL;DR?
Err... Nothing is irreplaceable, and Kaiki's obvious is obvious to everyone but him.

M.S.S.S Episode 25

WHAT, IN, THE, ACTUAL, FUCK?

Surprisingly Complex: M.S.S.S 25

There was so much stuff here. And the ending is the worst (best) cliffhanger in a long time.

First off, we never got to know what was in the closet, and I think it's a good thing. Of course, there was something there, and you can know what was there (It will be told in the next episode probably), but for now at least, all we know is that it's something that Kaiki looks at with disgust. But even if I never get to know what it is, I'd be content, but would probably get the information just in case.

So... Kaiki vs Hanekawa, the battle of the minds, or more like conversation. Hanekawa also again talks with her cunning undertones (referenced from my last post) and almost gets the information she wants. But, that's just theorem.

The real meat comes from Hanekawa's analysis of Nadeko being so deep in the pool that is her self that she cannot see other people anymore, only reflections of her own self as other people. "No matter what is said, their words will not reach them", you should have heeded those words, Kaiki! It's not that she couldn't be deceived, but that she wouldn't want to believe in the deceit. She would deny the deceit wholeheartedly, and probably go on a rampage. She didn't want to kill Araragi and co., she just concluded that she wanted, in her own insanity. It wasn't about killing them, it was about her own deceit of herself of killing them. Sounds like a tangent, but it was like her love towards Araragi, she clung onto it not because she loved him, but because she concluded that way. Not by introspection, but by pure delusion of a world she thinks she wants.

Chronologically, the next step is Senjougahara admitting that Kaiki never lied to her. Where does such a frivolous idea come from? Ironically, from the truth. It's just the use of right words. It's true that Kaiki never lied to her, but it is true that he deceived her. If for example, she was pleading if Kaiki could help her, he would say yes. BUT, the point is not if he can, but if he will. It's not the things he says, but the things he doesn't say.

Then we enter the world of theorem and hypotheses. It is revealed that Kaiki has done things before to benefit Senjougahara that were of little or no gain to him at all. He wiped out the cult Senjougahara's mother was involved in, he had driven Senjougahara's parents to a point of a divorce because Senjougahara would have no future otherwise. Who is a good guy, who is a bad guy? That question is a ruse. No person is good or evil, people just do things that are perceived either selfish or altruistic, and they do them of their own reasons. Kaiki believes this, and thus justifies everything he does solely on the fact that it is to his interest, no matter the real reason behind it.

The real abstraction comes from the fact that last time he tried to help someone, it was an enormous failure, granting him next to no money, and the subject to be "saved" was too weak to accept the rescue. Maybe it's just some kind of karma, that Kaiki cannot save people. It is not touched here, but I think that all this has something to do with Kanbaru's mother. But it's not brought up because Yotsugi either didn't exist back then or doesn't want to offend Kaiki.

This leads to an interesting part about Kaiki's conscience. Maybe he failed to actually help Senjougahara, even though he tried, and that led to him making a compromise of driving her parents to divorce because it was the only way to let her have a future. Something similar may have happened with Kanbaru's mother. It's a possibility. What if he actually blames himself for a lot of things, he just never shows it? He has motivations beyond money, that much is known. But does it come from actual altruistic intent, or from just paying back something that he regrets? It is surprisingly hard to actually answer that.

So, with all this in mind... When Kaiki goes and executes the plan, he seems to be deliberately helping someone, which has been proven to cause failure in the past. He seems to regret those failures, and that's why he wants to set things straight. Sadly, it seems that the plan has gone awry. Kaiki really isn't very good at helping people...

TL;DR?
Kaiki has more to redeem than meets the eye...

M.S.S.S Episode 24

Cool stuff happened in this episode, so... Hmm... Prepare your anuses for more Hanekawa, my favourite theory subject.

Surprisingly Complex: M.S.S.S Episode 24

HANEKAWA! Kind of compresses my feelings about this episode. And now we actually got Kaiki's opinion on her. Which may seem pointless now, when she's finally become a real person, but! He did raise an eye-opening (for me, at least) question for her. Why doesn't she ask questions? How does she know so much, when the very basis of information gathering is asking questions. It also led me to another question, DOES Gaen really know everything? Of course, I haven't watched Suruga Devil yet, which probably will touch upon that, but nonetheless.

Sidenote: Has Hanekawa really become a true human? Yes, look at her hair. If she was bothered with the fact that her hair looks abnormal, she would've dyed it.

Why doesn't Hanekawa ask questions? The answer seems obvious. She doesn't need to, right?. But looking from another point of view, it may not be true. What if she DOESN'T know? That is exactly what I need you to think about. What if, by her nature, Hanekawa feels that asking questions doesn't give her the information she wants? What if ACTING she knows actually provides her with more in-depth information, which she can use to actually figure out what she wants to know?

Taking this episode for example. When she was ASKED if she wanted to ask a question, she didn't, like she already knew. Like she already knew the whole story, she refused. It's brilliant. She knows that by actually asking, she won't get all the pieces of the puzzle she needs, just the ones she's asking for. Even her tagline: "I don't know everything, I just know what I know" is a smokescreen, to fool the other person to think that she knows more than she does.

It also goes even further. How much did we actually know about Hanekawa before Nekomonogatari Shiro? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She's so good at gathering information and hiding her own that we didn't even notice how mysterious a character she was. She never told us anything, and I find that goddamn brilliant. By hiding what she knows and acting in a certain way, she has fooled all of us to thinking that she actually knows so goddamn much.

Of course, there is a point to this. She also does know a lot, you know she does, but her actions and every aspect of her implies that she knows, almost literally, everything. So while she actually might know more about the matter at hand than the other one, even if she doesn't, the other wouldn't notice her lack of knowledge before she actually knows about the equal amount or more than the other. I find it super-fascinating. I'm proud of this theory. 

So what about the person that is said to know so goddamn much, as everything? Izuko Gaen... We've seen her twice, and in neither case was her omniscience actually proven. I do think that it is possible that she knows everything, but I prefer another theory, right now at least. What if she didn't know everything, but she just could read minds? It might seem stupid, but think about it. Rarely the things we see in this series are what they actually appear to be. The ability to read minds would give her an insurmountable amount of information, and her bragging about knowing everything gives even more. When she says: "I know everything", you cannot prove her wrong. Why? Because if you ask her a question that you know an answer to, she can read your mind to know the answer. If in turn you ask her a question you don't know the answer to, she may have that information by reading minds. It's quite simple. Of course, this one is pure theory.

Addendum: Actually, combining these two theories make the first meeting between Gaen and Hanekawa tad bit more logical. Gaen could see right through Hanekawa, as she could read her thoughts.

TL;DR?

HanekawaHanekawaHanekaGAEN.

M.S.S.S Episode 23

The suspense! What may be in Sengoku's closet? Will Kaiki be violently murdered, by Gaen's followers or Nadeko? What is Kaiki's 100-visit wish? Next time, on DRAGONBALL Z!

Surprisingly Complex: M.S.S.S Episode 23

The opening tore my mouth open from laughter and amazement. This series never ceases to amaze me with it's superfluous yet ridiculously fitting trolling. But yeah, maybe we've got something to talk about.

Actually, I'm not too sure about that. I read on MAL a nice idea of Gaen trying to convince Kaiki to leave just to make him stay, and provide him with some money so he can do his job properly. It was the only cool one I at least found, but what did I think about?

There were some nice scenes that threw some very subtle backstory in there, like the little prompt that had Kaiki thinking: "She probably means Izuko" when Ononoki talks about Gaen. So it's not obvious that it would be Izuko? Also, the fact that Ononoki is "keeping an eye on Kagenui" may have something behind it. We've previously seen Kagenui as easily the most extreme of our specialist trio, so maybe she's been somewhere beyond the correct path at some point? Hmm?

Also, Izuko's plan to make Shinobu a god isn't out of nothing, and it explains why the charm with the snake god's soul was in Araragi's house. The question lies in the fact did either Araragi or Shinobu know of this plan. It also mystifies the existence of Ougi, as she was the one that is behind this scheme. What is her goal? Prove something to someone?

We've also seen some promotional material for this arc and the had Oshino in there. Definitely a thing to look forward to. It could easily seem that the specialist trio, or even the college quartet would soon meet. Interesting times ahead of us.

Sadly, I spoiled myself, much to an accident of a forum poster. They had written a word that loosely implies what kind of an object is inside the closet, but I will not spoil it.

Also, when Kaiki broke in to Nadeko's house... Did hewallrun and pull himself up to a second floor window with one hand? My god, this guy is agile. I've noticed that the whole specialist trio is agile. Maybe it's part of the job.

TL;DR?
If you think that this series has ever failed, this opening WILL make it up to you.

PS. Kind of jubbled, maybe someone makes some sense out of it.