I did actually like seeing what I felt was a different side of Kanbaru, and I think transitioning her into a narrator for Hanamonogatari went fairly well. Not every character can carry a narrative, and even though I didn't enjoy following Kanbaru as much as some, she was presented to be a strong and effective main character. Because of that, a lot of awesome stuff was either added to or revealed about her.
These five episodes felt more like a philosophy debate than anything, though there were points of tension and emotion around it all. While the idea of two differing worldviews clashing through the two main characters was interesting, I wasn't a huge fan of the pacing of Hanamonogatari because of it. By the end of it all, the payoff for it was nice and emotional--I even enjoyed seeing Kanbaru settle into herself after having experienced what she did in Hanamonogatari--but everything before the last two episodes didn't keep me as hooked as previous installments have. That being said, the themes and ideas presented over five episodes was engaging enough to get me thinking about what messages I could take away from this piece of fiction, and maybe that was the point of it. If you're a hardcore Monogatari fan, I don't see why you wouldn't really enjoy Hanamonogatari, but for someone like me who doesn't love all elements of this story equally, this one was just average.
