On-going Thoughts: Nisemonogatari 5/12

Essentially four pages of text.

On-going Thoughts: Episode

He asks Tsukihi to explain the details of what happened previously, she says she will if he promises to not get mad at Karen, but at her instead, he refuses. She then reverses the promise for him to get mad at Karen, but not her, he refuses once more. Tsukihi mentions that she’s not the type to regret things, Koyomi on the other hand is. However, this leads to her regretting that she doesn’t regret things when she should be.

He tells her to focus on the situation at hand, and to stop cleverly changing the subject, because it’s pretty obvious that she does care. She asks him to tell her something that he regrets, so she feels more comfortable diverting the details, much like sharing secrets. He realizes that it’s pretty hard to remember something he regrets. They divert to the subject of his friends, he proudly declares that he has five, that results in Tsukihi stating that he’s almost certainly going to die on loneliness. Anyhow, he then compares his old mindset towards friendship with his new one, he begins a speech on how he assumed that having friends softened human hardness and – , Tsukihi interrupts and spares him the embarrassing speech.

Hanekawa interrupts their dialogue from second floor. Inevitably, this results in him dropping his towel, and then it shifts to the OP.

It shifts from the OP to a monologue by Koyomi, the attention at hand, his sister, Karen. The story he tells may not be entirely accurate he mentions, it’s based off the knowledge he was given by Tsukihi and Hanekawa, so they could essentially be telling him an entirely false story.

It starts with Kaiki greeting Karen. He questions her on what she requests, a charm, or perhaps a remedy for one. To learn a charm it’s 10,000 yen (~$131.23 USD), to remove one, it’s 20,000 yen (~$262.47 USD, she retorts with a neither, and instead, offers to “punch” him instead. He questions the “punch”, quite amused. He then states that the message she sent him was a fake, and that this was a trap, however, he remains calm, showing no signs of being temperamental. He doesn’t view her as much of a threat. He then states that she’s much too “simple” to reach him alone, only someone that’s a “touch abnormal” could, in this case, through the aid of Hanekawa.

She reaffirms her bravery, he scoffs at him being a “pain”, he states that he only does what the “kids” want, how they decide to use it, is solely at their discretion. In other words, giving supernatural abilities to temperamental teenage kids is the best business plan. She’s outraged by that statement, and argues about how he’s ruining relationships, and so forth. She then questions him on his mindset, he replies stating that the question is quite “deep”, probably with a philosophy behind it. Unfortunately, since he doesn’t view her as anything but a simpleton; he can’t help but give her a shallow answer, and that is, for the money.

He then moves on to discern her intentions, and that is, her primitive sense of justice. He states that that was a mistake, he states that she could have earned 100,000 yen for this (~$1312.34 USD). Assuming that’s a metaphor for saying “You made the mistake of volunteering with a childish sense of justice”, the danger she’s in at the moment would be equivalent of contracting a 100,000 yen deal. He seems to be brusque when it comes to money, although like previously stated, it’s only the shallow reason behind his motives, not the “deep” one.

She furiously retorts once again, still caught up in her sense of justice. He understands her predicament, he suggests that she should have had someone ask her. She retorts once more saying that even if money was involved, she would have declined the offer. He scoffs at her naïveté, however, he isn’t at all jealous about it (insinuating that it rules out a “positive” philosophy behind his actions). He questions her on why she’s shaking, is it out of fear, or is it perhaps anger?

He then resumes the situation at hand, she’s heard his desires, now it’s time for hers. She reaffirms her desire to “punch” him, he questions the “punch”, and she retorts with “an additional kick too”. He then states the blatant clarity that she’s here for violence, which would ultimately stop him, the questionable adult in this case. He confirms that he is in fact, an adult, he states that he’s a conman. He tells her that physical violence will do little to hinder him, in fact, the quickest way to alleviate his burden would be to get him the money faster, in this case, his target of 3,000,000 yen (~$39370.20 USD). He states that it took three months to set up the business, any lower wouldn’t be worth his time.

She questions his humanity, he unfortunately confirms that he is human. He states that he’s willing to stake his life to protect what’s dear to him, much like she fills her heart with good deeds. He states that there’s no difference between their motives, they’re both simply doing what makes them both truly happy, his “evil” money, and her “foolish” justice. Her activities may make someone “happier”, however, he mentions that he does the same if he uses his hard-earned money to grease the gears of a capitalist economy. He then states the lesson of her affairs, and that is “there isn’t a problem that can’t be solved with being right, there isn’t a problem that can’t be solved with money.” In other words, Karen’s relatively feeble-minded, she’s simply getting out-talked by someone psychologically experienced. Then again, it isn’t exactly difficult to outargue a junior high school girl.

He then states that his victims did the same, they paid him in money, recognizing that money is an object of value. He mentions that she did the same, when she initiated the meeting.

She brushes off his argument, and reaffirms on whether he wants to be kicked or punched. He retorts saying that he would prefer neither since he dislikes pain, thus, he gives her the bee. It’s essentially self-defense. The effects occur immediately, she becomes crippled. It appears that he does have powers, or that is, according to Hanekawa and Tsukihi. He then reaffirms his acceptance of a monetary bribe in order for him to cease his activities, in this case, an increased price of 10 million yen (~$131,234 USD). He then charges her for his service of the bee, in this case, 4,000 yen (~$52.46 USD), being the gentleman that he is, he plans on leaving her some fare to get home, however, he realizes that she already has her return ticket, leaving nothing but the chat that they had as complementary. He wishes her luck on getting home, suggesting her to call a friend before the poison immediately takes in effect, he thanks her for the didactic lesson on not meeting your characters in person, then departs.

The story ends and Tsubasa converses with Koyomi. He questions him on whether or not he’s angered at her intervention in the affair. He’s not mad at her, but would have preferred being informed beforehand. She apologizes then offers him a ticket as compensation, the ticket allows him to touch her breasts. However, if he uses it, it’ll result in disdain towards him. She tells him to go easy on his sisters, they did it out of good-will, he doesn’t doubt that. She reaffirms that his sisters are quite similar to him on the inside, and that’s true. Koyomi essentially spent the entire first season helping everybody, he’s doing the same now. His sisters merely imitate, however, they don’t have magical bloodsucking powers.

Out of the blue, she questions where Oshino is. He states that he doesn’t know, but he states that “he’s watching over us from somewhere”. He then recalls that Shinobu said that the fire-wreath bee is relatively low level, he then realizes that he forgot to inform her. the scene shifts to after their conversation, she’s informed, and she’s glad that they’ve made up. He said that he’s not upset about it, but…, she interrupts saying that the reason that Meme left was because he believed that Oshino could be left to him, he accepts that fact and states that it took a long time., and that he’s been slacking. She follows his statement by saying that she knows that he hasn’t been slacking, he’s been making an effort. I really don’t know what happened in Kizumonogatari; I’d read it, but I really want to wait for the movie release instead. He then states that she’s omniscient on everything, she replies by saying she only knows what she knows. She leaves him saying that the real battle begins after forgiveness. I’m actually starting to like her character a lot more now. My watching of Bakemonogatari is nowhere near as analytic as Nisemonogatari. All I really remember was her being that annoying chick who cockblocked him and Senjougahara, I really do need to rewatch it. I watch Bakemonogatari for all the wrong reasons initially, and that was, for a simple tsundere romance. Oh well, it’s on my external right now; I just need to get to it eventually.

Karen seems to be getting “better”, but she also detests how much he’s babying her. He then alleviates her condition by wiping her sweat off, essentially fan service done correctly. Anyhow, she states that she’s aware that strength is more important than the raw sense of brittle justice, however, she mentions that she can’t build strength suddenly, she can’t just ignore all the injustices she sees, regardless of how “weak” she is. She then initiates a tirade on how much she hates Kaiki, his avarice and his practices, both of a serpentine caliber. However, the phrase that irritates her the most was “Children are easy to fool”. She goes on to mention how Sengoku’s condition was perilous, however, regardless of the peril, he didn’t hesitate to do everything he could to aid her. Other kids, lacking a catalyst of aid, went to Kaiki for help, unknowing that he was the initial source of the curses, and when they tried getting the money, he had them arrested for shoplifting. He essentially made money off giving curses, and more money by healing his own curses. She then reaffirms her question on whether or not he could have stood for such injustice. She questions him if he could have said “I’m not strong enough, so I won’t do anything” to the victims, nevertheless Sengoku, she recalls how Kaiki incessantly reaffirmed how money was everything, that mindset was unbelievably foreign to her that the mere thought of it could have only originated from manga, not in actual life. She states that money is important, however, there are other things that are far more important, like love. She then reaffirms that she and Tsukihi are serious about this, they won’t cease their activities just because they’re not strong enough. If met with the same scenario, they would with impulse, and without regret, do it again. She may have lost physically this time, but she states that she held up mentally.

He’s surprised by this response from his sister, the sister who always strives to win. She states that you can lose the match, even the game, however, you don’t truly lose if you don’t lose to yourself, that’s her way. He then affirms how her actions will inevitably affect those around her negatively, and that’s why she’ll never grow up. She states that she is in fact an adult, she proves this flawlessly by presenting her bust, however, Koyomi retorts with the inevitable bolstering size of Hanekawa, a staggering defeat. He then states that he would much prefer it if they didn’t hang out with Hanekawa, however, this could be a “good chance” if they learn from her. Then then proceeds to resume wiping her sweat, however he tells him to stop, she doesn’t want to get him sick. Suddenly, Koyomi gets his House moment.

He dashes from the room and converses with Shinobu, he questions her on the possibility of transferring the disease. She says that there is a way, but she can’t really recommend it. Being House, no is just a euphemism for do it. Being her older brother, she affirms that regardless of the risks, he’s willing to take it if it means alleviating her suffering. She tells him to do as he wishes.

Needless to say, the only way to transfer the curse is through a kiss. The fuck.

On-going Thoughts: Concluding Thoughts

I liked this episode, all the characters seem to be developed in some way, they don’t exactly all fit in any given archetype. Hopefully this continues.

On-going Thoughts: Downloads

Still expected more from this song, ClariS and Supercell, seriously. Supercell did an amazing job with the ED of Bakemonogatari, and I really liked ClariS’s songs with OreImo and Madoka. Bleh, it’s not completely terrible, but whatever. Just expected more I guess. The song’s name is Naisho no Hanashi (ナイショの話)” by ClariS.
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