Monogatari S2 – Episode 19

Can Monogatari top last week’s thrilling twenty-minute monologue? It seems difficult to imagine, but I guess we’ll see. Personally, I’m kind of set for this arc – that episode was impressive enough to cover my “wacky formal experiments” quota for the moment, and it also focused on one of the most interesting and emotionally charged relationships in the show. So I guess I can accept it if Mayoi has to go and regain consciousness or something.

Episode 19

0:21 – That spotlight is continuous now. So it looks like last episode’s slow build has led to a point of continuous sincerity between the two of them?

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1:24 – Someone disagrees! 

2:29 – I can’t possibly imagine why 

3:06 – You’re only just noticing this? 

3:21 – Total honesty: not necessarily a good thing 

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3:52 – Godfuckingdamnit Isin 

4:15 – You and your goddamn double standards 

4:23 – They’re kind of burying it in the jokes, but this is actually a really nice direct continuation from last episode. Shinobu basically bared her soul in that one – now she’s being playful and irreverent, but also continuously asking, “how much do you care about me?”

4:51 – Jeez, no one’s letting him out of this one 

5:47 – Okay, that expression’s pretty fantastic 

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5:53 – The episode I’ve earned 

6:11 – Araragi addresses his loli army 

7:30 – Mayoi addresses her loli compatriots 

7:50 – That’s a nice expression 

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8:13 – I appreciate this. You’ve had your fun, knock it off

I normally focus on the more charged stuff, but it’s true that this show is really good about portraying a wide variety of natural-seeming friendships. Which is obviously one of the things Isin’s style most naturally lends itself to – he’s often accused (by me as well) of writing scenes where characters just banter about nothing, but that’s kind of what friends do, and each of the relationships in this show has a “character” of its own beyond the different perspectives of the two individual characters involved

8:50 – That’s adorable 

9:25 – Oh jeez oh gosh 

10:18 – Here’s a very nice one 

10:25 – No, here’s a very nice one. They’re leaning on that spotlight very heavily in this episode… it seems to still correlate to the same moments it did in Medusa, but it’s kinda odd to see it this consistently

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10:32 – This scene might take a little while. Goddamn that’s a pretty background

11:16 – Monogatari stop it 

13:20 – The show goes grayscale as soon as Shinobu is mentioned. Interesting

13:31 – Capping this one, because I think we’re reaching the crux of this conflict. Araragi can’t lose sight of Shinobu, but he also never really sees her, either – he doesn’t acknowledge her wishes as a person. He assumes her presence – she might not be an unacknowledged part of him in the same way Hanekawa’s envy or Nadeko’s desires were, but she is connected with him and emotionally unacknowledged

14:04 – Work work work 

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14:19 – You have badly injured her emotions, Araragi. Shame shame 

14:44 – No better in context or out of context 

14:47 – Oh my god Araragi’s pose 

15:08 – I never asked for this 

15:46 – Oshit no worst scenario Shinobuuu 

Great image though

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16:13 – They’re really succeeding in making this “nothing” enemy very creepy. So what, she went to fight it herself, then?

17:02 – Yep, we’re going there. This is actually better than arc two, since they’re not just hanging out, we’re actively discussing the relationship

Love the colors in this shot

17:08 – And another nice sad one 

17:55 – And here are the key frames. Kind of absurd how not-optional these frames are 

19:02 – But those are the only things Araragi knows how to do! 

19:22 – A nice evening 

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20:06 – Another nice shot 

20:37 – We’re just now reaching that point in the chronology? Gyeaaahhh 

21:10 – Oh don’t say that you know they’re all gonna be dead now or something 

22:40 – Right, of course. Not like any civilians exist in this world 

And Done

Alright then. Fine, workmanly episode – point A to point B kinda thing. I like where we’re hopefully going regarding Araragi and Shinobu, and Araragi’s ridiculous faces this episode were pretty great. It was kinda too plot-focused to be a standout, but it at least moved that plot in a direction I’m interested in seeing explored. For an episode focused on three of the least interesting characters in this show (that’s right I said it), that certainly wasn’t bad.