Nadeko Draw
Story: Definitely one of the stronger stories so far. A very moving culmination of a decade’s worth of character development for a very complex, well-written character. As with past stories, Nisio Isin’s usage of his aberrations to give shape to the inner complexities of his characters is fascinating, and with this story, very well executed. This story seems like a great improvement on the author’s unique storytelling method, and Shaft presented it very well.
Music: Some pretty clever usage of Renai Circulation’s main melody. Definitely an old fashioned approach to scoring, but executed perfectly. A tasteful use is heard in the main opening, but also the utilization in character themes was done very well. Also very appropriate to the theme of the story. A story where the main character is confronting their storied past is perfect for this form of musical expression.
As for the ending. YOASOBI loves their 4-on-the-floor dance grooves, but I would be lying if I said this song wasn’t catchy as hell. And the visuals were also quite simple, but stunning in their own right. Quite a testament to their confidence and commitment to making quality music.
Overall, one of the best if not the best stories of the entire franchise so far. Quite simple in some ways, such as the music, but I don’t view that negatively at all. In my opinion, the later installments to the monogatari series, such as Hana, Tsuki, and all of Owari, were straying from the simplicity that really made me enjoy the earlier installments like Bake. So seeing Nadekomonogatari really makes me feel refreshed. The vision is still alive. 9.6/10
Shinobu Mustard
Story: To start with, let me just say the short story that prefaced this arc was very good. I think it set up Suicide-Master's character well and gave good insight into Shinobu's origin. However, the main arc leaves much to be desired. The pacing of this arc was pretty bad. It took me a lot of willpower to remain interested. Its cool that Araragi came back, and there was definitely some great humor thrown in here and there, but overall, the story was boring, didn't have much at stake, and mostly served to reunited Shinobu and Suicide Master. It seemed unnatural and awkward to me and I think that it was executed poorly.
Music: A good third of the arc actually lacked any sort of opening theme or overarching motif throughout the story, and when it did finally show up, it was just a recycled version of past Shinobu arc OPs that was executed uncreatively and didn't have much going for it in terms of visuals. Uninspired and uncreative. Very dissapointing.
Overall, boring. Not much to say. I really feel like they flubbed the momentum they built with the first arc. Suicide-Master ended up being quite boring and didn't add much to the story. The twist at the end was unexpected for sure, but it was weird and random.
