Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we’d check back in on Araragi’s progress in Zoku Owarimonogatari, wherein he most recently stumbled across an unexpectedly human Kiss-Shot. Aside from that, Zoku’s last episode was mostly consumed by Yotsugi wandering around and repeatedly mocking Araragi, i.e. your classic mid-arc Monogatari nonsense. Also, Nadeko did the Misato Big Gulp, so that was also some essential content right there.
As far as Zoku’s themes are concerned, the most impactful sequence of the episode was undoubtedly Sodachi’s reflection on the nature of mirrors. As she pointed out, mirrors are not perfectly reflective: they only reflect around eighty percent of the light they take in, meaning some portion of what they reflect is always lost in the balance. Beyond their literal meaning, her words can be interpreted in two ways that are both relevant to this story. First, in a “fantasy mechanics” sense, it is likely that this loss of essence is the reason all of mirror-world’s characters seem so diminished, only expressing one partial aspect of the original people they represent. And secondly, in a more philosophy-of-Monogatari sense, her words speak to the impossibility of fully knowing ourselves, as our impressions of our own identities will always be blurred and incomplete.
Nisio Isin is wise enough to understand that the clarion call of Monogatari – “you must come to know and love yourself, for only then can you truly connect with others” – is more of a hope or prayer than a truly achievable goal. It is what is most difficult and also what is most essential; in a world of chaos and disappointment, self-love is the only route to harmony or contentment. This path towards accepting the self has taken many forms over Monogatari’s various adventures, and in Zoku, this directive is further complicated through the admission that our “selves” are also variable, and impossible to draw fully into focus. But all that’s basically why I love Monogatari; it’s smart enough to understand that true self-actualization is likely impossible, yet optimistic enough to still hope for happiness for all its muddled-up heroes. Let’s get back to the action!