Hanekawa's arc: Absolutely brilliant. This arc is about her going through some self-discovery as she tries to cope with her love for Araragi, which lets us viewers get a new glimpse of what her true personality is. Before, she was always that intelligent girl who was deeply caring and didn't discriminate against anyone who needed her help, but this arc reveals that there is much more to her, and it also teaches a lesson that while being nice is good, lying to yourself is not. This arc's strongest point, is therefore its character development of Hanekawa, which features her journey to reconciliation with her true self.
Mayoi's arc: Not satisfied with the relationship between Araragi and Shinobu? Wished there was more about them two? Well this arc does exactly that, as Araragi and Shinobu deepen their relationship as the two encounter an extremely interesting conflict, as you will see.
Which leads me to say that this 3rd installment did an excellent job with its plot development: there are more cliffhangers, and at no point will you find any episode to be filler-like or boring; the end of each episode forces you to click the Next Episode button. However, the tradeoff is since there is more action and plot, we do miss a tiny bit of that "intelligent dialogue" that all of us fans have fallen in love with, where the characters sometimes simply talk for 90% of an episode about things that make sense, and yet don't make sense.
Anyway, Mayoi's arc is fantastic for those Araragi x Shinobu fans, as you get to explore their weird relationship since in Nisemonogatari you know they reconciled, but that Shinobu also said "I'll never forgive you and you'll never forgive me, and that's how it will be." It's strange because this arc is called Mayoi's arc, but the real focus is on Araragi and Shinobu. Mayoi's true arc comes later.
Nadeko's arc: This arc will probably be the most shocking, and it really reveals the central point (in my opinion) of Monogatari Second Season: kindness is sometimes a facade, and kindness is not the solution to everything. In Bake and Nise, we saw that Araragi's kindness was enough for almost any situation: his genuine intentions to help people overpowered any conflict, but that's not really true in real life is it? In this season, we get more of a taste of just how manipulative and secretive humans are, and that adds a lot more legitimacy to the story (even though it's still about apparitions). Nadeko's arc allows us to re-explore this quiet and shy girl who has a weird obsession with Araragi. Just like in Hanekawa's arc, we learn the truth is often hidden not by those around us, but by we ourselves, and this arc will certainly offer you a new perspective on how you portray yourself, not just to others, but to yourself as well.
Shinobu's arc: This is more of Mayoi's true arc, but Shinobu plays an equally big part in it. Much of the arc is Shinobu narrating her past, and it's pretty interesting, but the real conflict is that Mayoi, Araragi, and Shinobu are being chased by "darkness," something that isn't an apparition. As a huge fan of Shinobu, this arc was enjoyable, and once again we are brought to this point: kindness and even willpower cannot solve everything. Sometimes fate decides things that are out of our control, and the solution is to accept it and move on. It's not supposed to be a depressing message, but more of a realistic one, so this arc definitely does a lot to develop Araragi's character as he slowly realizes he cannot help everyone, and that acceptance is necessary to cope with certain results.
Hitagi's arc: This arc was the only thing that prevented me from giving his series a 10. Don't get me wrong, I actually thought this arc was one of the best ones: Kaiki Deishu makes a return, and befitting of the central theme, we discover he's not just a con-man, he's way more complex than that. His interaction with Hitagi makes us ponder further just what kind of girl she is, but it's her complexity that's so intriguing to watch. This arc did a fantastic job of both plot and character development as you will be dying to discover the ending the moment you start this arc, and well, who doesn't like more Senjougahara. My only problem was with how this arc ended, which is also the ending of the whole series.
I kept trying to remind myself after I finished that one episode does not determine an entire series' worth, but the truth is endings have a pretty big effect on me since it's what I remember most clearly. It wasn't that I was entirely unsatisfied with the ending, but one of the things Monogatari fans love most is that "intelligent dialogue" I mentioned where the characters seemingly resolve conflicts in a roundabout and yet logical way. And with someone like Kaiki Deishu, you would definitely expect some clever answer from him, but the ending was not like that. That was really my only complaint, but like I said, there was a general lack of that "intelligent dialogue" throughout the whole show in return for a more interesting plot.
Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the series, especially since this season featured a lot of metafictional elements (google that term if you don't know what it is, and you'll get right away what I'm talking about) that weren't as prominent in the first two. As far as art and sound go, it's the same fantastic stuff we saw from the first two, and I'd even say they did a better job this time with picking their music, which has that unique style of being so simple and yet fitting of the situation.
There's a reason why this anime is ranked so high, so if you're hesitating to start it, don't. Just click Play.
