It’s time to begin Suruga Monkey! This was a bit of a transition episode, but still offered plenty to dig into regarding Araragi’s character, along with adding new wrinkles to his relationships with Senjougahara and Hanekawa. I’m almost surprised by how directly all this material reflects on Araragi’s fatal flaws – I’d expected that stuff to come up, but it feels like the focus even as we’re being initially introduced to the rest of the show’s main cast. For a show that’s rambled through over fifty episodes, Monogatari still feels like a pretty focused thing.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

The opening sequence combines the usual martial beat of the episode introduction with our new focus character running

And we open with Mayoi and Araragi hanging out. The handoff of focus characters

Senjougahara helping Araragi study

Their usual repartee

And Kanbaru dashes past, Girl Who Leapt Through Time-style

She already knows him

Lilies in the OP

And the narrative of the OP is her chasing after Senjougahara

“Now that’s what you call a witty comeback.” Kanbaru puts Araragi off his game in a very different way from Senjougahara

She also acts like kind of an idiot

“I wanted to ask your opinion on where the political situation is headed in Russia”

He keeps staring at her bandaged left arm

She’s clearly plugging him for info, but he can’t tell

Nope, he can tell. She’s been following him around for days

Nice smooth transition from the Mayoi conversation to Senjougahara’s house

Araragi distracted by Senjougahara’s body while trying to study

“What are your plans for the future?”

Senjougahara already takes their relationship very seriously

The two have very different personalities and styles of conversation. Araragi is continuously flippant, while Senjougahara jumps between that and dead seriousness

But as always, she’s putting up a strong front. She’s actually very nervous about this study meeting, and still giddy about their new relationship

Araragi realizes neither of them know how to express their feelings

Kanbaru and Senjougahara go way back

“I’m the only one who can kill you”

A scene dominated by Senjougahara’s presence

“Senjougahara was the senpai that Kanbaru worshipped”

There’s a bit about “past debts,” a bit about Araragi sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong

Araragi calls Hanekawa

And we once again get slight context on Hanekawa – she’s sitting on a swingset at night, not at home

And she lies, saying she was studying

Senjougahara and Kanbaru were known as the Valhalla Combo in middle school

Hanekawa is talking about Senjougahara, but seems to be reflecting on herself. “Seems like a straight arrow, but a complicated person. Don’t get caught up in a sordid relationship with her”

“You and Senjougahara both have impregnable self-fields”

Hanekawa warns him not to meddle in his girlfriend’s past. But Araragi can’t help wanting to help everyone with everything. We already see how his heroism is also a flaw, in a grounded emotional sense here

The train crossing light and buzzer are so good in this scene. And the build and release of tension

After five straight episodes that were largely restrained to talking, this burst of violence is really something