Alright this episode turned out being much more thought-provoking than I expected it to be. Then again, Yotsugi has always been a rather "thought-provoking" character, so I shouldn't be suprised.
I loved the message about how, even if on paper that "People save themselves" line works, in the end it doesn't entirely since people cannot live all by themselves. I never really agreed with Oshino's line and lately, I found the show to be more and more going against it while still giving it weight. Basically, it seems to be showing that people cannot depend on others, but also cannot rely only on themselves. Trying to do things by yourself is important, but that doesn't mean accepting help isn't just as important. I'm glad the show is acknowledging that.
Now, aside from how adorable that was, Yotsugi's whole act had me thinking. She mentionned something about how someone's watching over Arargi in order to maintain a balance. It's obvious she was talking about herself (and I'm glad Araragi is finally realizing how much she cares about him), but what surprised me is how that whole thing about maintaining balance is basically what Ougi claimed to be her mission two episodes ago. Considering that in the same episode, she also confirmed herself as being an oddity, could it be that we're actually getting some strong hints about the oddities' purpose ? That's very intriguing, and it makes sense. I definitely should rewatch episode 8, since I remember a lot of things going in the same direction but I don't remember exactly what that was.
Another thing, not about Yotsugi or oddities in general, but just as intriguing : at some point we've got a text saying that Araragi's chat with Hanekawa takes place after he saved Kanbaru and her sisters from someone whose name I forgot. I have several questions. Since when does Kanbaru have sisters ? Who is this person ? Why is the show mentioning it as if I should know about it even though that's the very first time I hear about this event ? And why can't I find this character being listed in any of the seasons ? What is going on ? Is that normal or am I stupid ? I don't get it. I'll just wait and see if I get my answers. If I don't... Well that's gonna be awkward.
There's another thing that had me thinking, which is about how Yotsugi prevented Araragi from meeting Kaiki. I don't get it. They did meet. More than once. So what are they talking about ? (When she's talking about an impostor, we can all agree that's Kaiki she's talking about, right ? Or am I just truly stupid ?)
Also, I wonder why does Yotsugi care so much about Araragi. They never seemed that close, so I wonder if Yotsugi actually has a specific connection with him or if it's just her personality. Both theories could work, though the latter seems more likely considering that she seems to view Araragi as a model of some sort, she pretty much said herself that she is learning from him which makes sense since he is the only "normal" human she knows.
There's one last thing I wanted to mention, which is the timeline, once again. For some reason I was convinced Tsukimonogatari took place after Hitagi End so I was very surprised to find out there's still 6 months left before this arc, which means Tsuki actually takes place right after Nadeko Medusa. A lot happened in just a month or two, that's crazy.
Oh, and I forgot but there's something I found particularly interesting, which is that I finally understand why this season is called "Koyomimonogatari". This is literally Araragi's arc throughout the entire show. |