1/8 Hanekawa Tsubasa (Good Smile Compa...

Alright, I was on a bit of a roll last night, and after taking some shots of figutto Seena, I decided to try taking some nice shots of GSC's Hanekawa, I was too lazy to write another post about it though, so I waited 'till the morning to get onto it (I am just that lazy, haha).

Before we begin, I must warn you that this review contains minor instances of painful affronts to the phrase 'the shakes' and probably German and French. All in the name of mild humor though.



You'll notice that she's not holding her phone in most/all of these shots - this is mostly because it's pretty hard to put in her hand (although I've only had problems with it more recently, I blame 'the shakes' or, if you want to see me butcher some other language, 'die) shakes' or 'des tremblements'... have I mentioned that French has some great sounding words? Tremblements. I like it. Kinda wish I took that in high school...)

ANYWAY. Getting back to the point. Firstly, let's take a looksie at her box.




It's a box. Now, I actually quite like it, so that's nice for me. It's similar in design to GSC's other Bakemonogatari 1/8s, which means it has 4 windows (front, sides, top), and a nice display on the back, for which I have some detail shots of the text (how to write her name, and some other stuff that feels pretty faithful to the show).



Now let's move to the figure herself. Firstly a quick whip-around the figure.



I'm mostly displaying her with the cat-hair piece and glasses because catgirls are cool, and glasses makes you sexy.



Her face is very pretty, as is her pose in general - taken from the cover of the 5th Bakemono disc item #59955 .



The other thing to note is her frilly under-dress thing (petticoat? I am not one to know things about fashion). I love it. But that might just be too much time spent playing Touhou games and it warping my brain.

Anyway, time for the scores!

SCORING

(Note that scores of 10 will not be given as things could always be better - also scores of 0 will never be given, as things can always be worse, which is much more often useful)

Sculpting: 9/10 - No flaws that I could find. Seems are mostly hidden, nothing at all to complain about - GSC have done very well here.

Painting: 9/10 - Paint job was perfect on everything, even the tiny buttons on her phone were all done well.

Posing: 9/10 - Not only is it accurate to the illustration, it's a very nice pose on it's own. The hand stopping the dress from flying up, the way she's looking towards that direction, it's important to note that you can feel the presence of another person in her pose.

Base: 9/10 - The base is just her desk, and it's actually really nice - quite stable, although obviously not as much as a flat base - and it looks good and suits the figure. Better than just a boring flat disc, at least.

Packaging: 9/10 - The box design is nice, and the blister inside has done a good job of protecting her and stopping any unwanted paint transfer.

Enjoyment: 9/10 - She's just that pretty. Also it was fun to take pictures of her - to be fair, a scaled figure needs to try pretty hard not to get a 9/10 here.

Creature Feature: Monogatari Series Second Season

The formula should seem familiar by now: 1) numbered episodes allotted for a certain feature heroine; 2) said heroine's arc is characterized by a particular animal; 3) noted animal represents an oddity of the occult that highlights a certain character flaw in the heroine; 4) enter protagonist hero who saves the damsel in distress; 5) add a little comedic banter ala-manzai-style to the mix, and; 6) a dash of fan service and panty shots for good measure. The sum total pretty much describes what the whole Monogatari franchise is all about. Even so, this current season incarnation for the Monogatari Series proves that the very same formula is anything but redundant; rather, that its content is still fresh, inventive, and purposely deep.

The continuation dubbed "second season" of the Monogatari series takes place immediately after the events of Nisemonogatari. Resident protagonist Koyomi Araragi is your typical high school student who figured in a not-so-typical turn of events when he met a vampire during the spring break of his first year. Through the help of a certain "specialist" in the occult, Koyomi's life was spared at the expense of becoming a half-vampire. Being intrinsically linked to the occult, the Monogatari series revolves around Koyomi's adventures as he gets involved within the lives of various girls that are affected by similar spiritual oddities.

It may sound like an overly grandiose excuse for a harem show, but coming from the mind of NisiOisiN - writer of Katanagatari and the Medaka Box series - we can expect otherwise. And surely, the Monogatari Series is more than just a showcase of beautiful women (although to a certain extent it is). Beyond the show's obvious eye candy appeal and its curiously unconventional cinematic approach to visuals, it could be argued that the series is, in fact, an "mystery show" of sorts. Mystery in the sense that a certain enigmatic human emotion that gives birth to these "oddities" is brought forth as a challenge to the viewer to name. And naming is a central theme that is used by each of the characters to point towards their own identity. With much weighted focus on the use of language and semantic cues as our piecemeal clues, the Monogatari series threads together these seemingly unrelated dialogues in order to name what it is these animals actually represent for each heroine. To that end, the series is indeed purposely deep - at one point appearing nonsensical, but ultimately delivering a convincing reflection on the mystery of human emotions.

Quite ingenious of NisiOisiN, and all the more so since this type of character introspection is more apparent and developed in the current Monogatari season. This was, for example, achieved with the change in perspective to Tsubasa Hanekawa's point of view in the initial "Tsubasa Tiger" arc. In fact, this arc is by far the most progressive in terms of character development and maturation (not to mention fan service as well), which makes me hopeful for the outcome in the succeeding arcs. It comes as a shame, however, that some of the semantics intrinsic to the show's formula ends up being lost in translation. Some of the words and connections used, for example, rely heavily on cultural connotations and idiomatic expressions, making it more a loss than a gain to force such sensitivities into the English format. This doesn't mean to say that the essence is lost, however. One can still enjoy NisiOisiN's acute grasp on the Japanese language and how he uses it to throttle forward his reflections on the human creature throughout the show.

On a lighter side, though, everything we've come to love and enjoy about the show is still present, but with a refreshing twist. For one, the fan service is still alive and as blatant as ever. What's more, rather than seeing things from Araragi's perspective, there's a heavier focus on the heroine's point of view. And last but not least, almost all of the girls sport a different hairstyle from before. The result is a wonderful intermingling of elements - both new and old - that unites to build up and enrich the ecosystem of the Monogatari series as a whole.

New comers to the series may be taken aback by the eccentric presentation of the visuals. One must also contend with the show's assault of wordy dialogue that could border incoherent to the impatient viewer. What's more, culture-specific cues and memes may also serve as a barrier to fully understanding the context of some of the plot scenarios and themes of the show. Regardless, those tolerant enough to look past these shortcomings will be rewarded with a rich story that pays tribute to the human creature and the emotional features it has to show. Be you a vampire, tiger, lion, llama, or octopus, one can resonate with the Monogatari series' characters to a great extent. Either that or you can simply enjoy the uniqueness of the show and its avant-garde choice of presentation.

That said, much can be expected from the show as the season unfolds. At the rate it's going, it will probably live up to those expectation and perhaps go beyond them. It goes without saying, therefore, that you can make the best out of the series by brushing up on the previous seasons that came before it. If you want to go chronologically, start with Nekomonogatari Black, followed by the original Bakemonogatari series, then Nisemonogatari. If you're really gung-ho about it, check out the original light novels and delve even deeper into the world of Monogatari. Otherwise, the current season is turning out to be quite the pinnacle of NisiOisiN's works, effectively translating into the visual format what could arguably be the most profound and deep work the author has ever written to date.

Tsubasa Tiger

01

The first scene already sets the tone for the arc and the rest of the season, as well as introducing the main focus of SS. Where Bake and Nise served mostly as character introduction through the various arcs for everyone besides Araragi and Senjougahara, SS is all about how these characters find and define/redefine themselves and their identities.

In Hanekawa’s case, it’s clear from the seemingly rhetorical questions she asks herself and the audience in the first scene. There’s a motif of emptiness/undefinedness in that first scene in her hall that contains only a futon and a roomba, with nothing that reveals her personality, identity, or self. It’s too “clean.” So Hanekawa tells us this story will betray or invalidate Araragi’s claim that she’s a saint, and show that she’s a flawed human being, just like everyone else, and in doing so, she will find herself.

There’s a crapton of literal red flags or I guess war banners in this case when Hanekawa meets Hachikuji. Hachikuji is no longer the lost snail/cow but it’s still accurate to say that Hanekawa doesn’t feel at home at home, so she’s still, in a sense, lost.

More red flags as Hanekawa encounters the tiger at a crossroads. It’s both literally a crossroads and metaphorically one as she faces herself at a personal crossroads. “White” ties into that motif of emptiness, blankness, and cleanness that was established in the first scene.

Senjougahara cuts directly to the chase. Araragi’s not around, and Hanekawa’s reluctant to call on his help anyways. So what can she do? (Also cool tiger stripe imagery scattered around the episode)

And then her house burns down, wiping the slate clean, while disrupting her daily routine again. She ignores or forgets that Senjougahara had offered to help her out if she needs it and instead heads to the cram school for the night.

The scene numbering skipping was a neat tool to let the audience figure out what was going on ahead of time.

Senjougahara and Hanekawa are foils and parallels. Both of them hide behind a facade, but Senjougahara’s is brutal honesty that comes off as cold and indifferent, whereas Hanekawa’s is self-delusion in thinking that she can handle everything by herself. She claims she doesn’t know everything, only what she knows, but she sure doesn’t act like it. Hanekawa’s mindset blinds her to better options, as in the case of choosing to sleep in the cram school instead of asking for help.

The theme of whiteness and cleanness is juxtaposed with its opposite, with Hanekawa’s disheveled bedhead and the burning house imagery.

Nice bonding moment with the two girls, and then the big question comes out.

Bonus glorious Gahara shot.

---

02

That Kizu tease though.

Hanekawa admits her own problems have not gone away, and she hasn’t changed, even though she’s gone through the cat stuff twice (plus Kizu stuff). Her home situation has only reached a stalemate, a stopgap, not a solution, just like herself.

The food conversation becomes relevant later on if I remember right.

Another crossroads. Running away from her problems doesn’t work.

Senjougahara offers a hint at the solution to Hanekawa’s problem. She accepts Black Hanekawa and acknowledges her as Hanekawa and not just a kaii.

The food conversation returns! The discussion of Hanekawa’s taste, another element in the clean/bland/empty/white theme, ties directly into a discussion of her character. But she’s only able to accept everything by ignoring and pushing off all of her negative emotions onto Black Hanekawa, which, as has been pointed out earlier, isn’t a solution,only a temporary measure.

Again we end with the pivotal question, this time asked more seriously.

---

03

More discussion on how Hanekawa is too “white.” And we know that she’s only that way because she pushes anything that isn’t “white” onto Black Hanekawa. Throwback to the fake/real theme in Nise.

Kanbaru meeting was more just a glimpse into another arc, while at the same time once again emphasizing that Hanekawa needs to face her problem by herself first, and actually face them, not just avoid them.

Convincing Karen to let Hanekawa stay was a nice, light comedic scene.

Love this shot right after she talked about falling asleep around midnight, and when she falls asleep she switches personas.

Shinobu and Black Hanekawa talk plot but then Shinobu gives her insight into Hanekawa’s situation. Like Senjougahara, she claims Black Hanekawa and Hanekawa are one and the same entity. Also just look at that shot, the lighting cutting starkly across the diagonal. So much symmetry there. Like two sides of a coin.

---

04

The beginnings of self-awareness. She can’t continue pushing her problems onto Black Hanekawa.

Nice contrast to the breakfast scene in the first episode.

Mamaragi gives the adult perspective. Direct and straight to the point, she describes exactly what Hanekawa does bypushing everything onto Black Hanekawa. This whole conversation stemmed from Hanekawa saying that she’s heading out (ittekimasu), once again relating to homes. So what she needs is to find herself and a place where she belongs.

More plotty things and Kizu teases with Episode. Episode sees right through her as well.

Ah the one who actually knows everything, and the one who only knows what she knows. Amazing introduction scene actually, with Hanekawa serving as the point of reference. Gaen tells her again that she must face this problem herself, because it’s her own problem.

Home motif comes back and ties into the Tiger/Kako kaii. The discussion with the Fire Sisters on the word fire neatly combines both aspects of her previous stress, her home situation and her unrequited love. And then she realizes what it actually is, that she’s envious. Her house of cards collapses upon this realization.

This is such a great moment. She’s ready to accept the part of her that she cut off so long ago.

---

05

The letter writing scene is fantastic. Screenshots don’t do it justice so just watch it, someone else linked it in the thread. The scene transitions and cuts, just everything. Her realization that she didn’t belong but she wanted to belong in her home, that she was jealous of it, and her decision to move forward and find her place is represented by the travel sequence. The conclusion is so powerful.

Black Hanekawa’s response and reaction to it is excellent too. They’re no longer lost. Ittekimasu.

Tiger talk is mostly stuff already reiterated multiple times throughout so I won’t go into it, but Hanekawa rejects this,and she becomes one with Black Hanekawa.

I actually hated that Araragi had to show up at the end the first time I watched since it sort of invalidates the entire arc, but I’ve since reconciled with it. Beating the Tiger isn’t what Hanekawa needed. She needed to be able to move on, to truly set herself free. Confessing to Araragi and being rejected allows her to finally do so. It allowed her to feel. To hurt. To live.

List of Monogatari characters

Koyomi Araragi (阿良々木 暦 Araragi Koyomi?)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya[1]

Koyomi, the main character of the story, is a third year high school student who is close to failing every subject except math. Shortly before the first novel begins, he was attacked by a vampire during spring break and became a vampire himself. Although Meme Oshino helped him become human again, there are several lingering side effects: he can see in the dark, his eyes turn red when he gets angry, and he heals incredibly quickly. As a result he has concerns regarding his lifespan. These side effects are later revealed to be due to the bond that Shinobu and he share. He remains scared of morning sunlight despite the fact that it no longer has any negative effects on him. He started dating Hitagi at the end of Mayoi Snail.

Although he is shown to be attracted to the other girls, he turns their advances down due to his loyalty to Hitagi, whom he is shown to be in love with in both the novel and anime. Other characters, particularly Mayoi and Hitagi, seem to speculate that Koyomi is a lolicon. Koyomi is the only person who thinks that his family relationship is bad, while Karen and Tsukihi believe otherwise.

Hitagi Senjōgahara (戦場ヶ原 ひたぎ Senjōgahara Hitagi?)

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō[1]

Hitagi, the main character of Hitagi Crab, is a weak-looking girl with an "incurable disease". She is in the same class as Koyomi, but she rarely speaks. During the period between graduating middle school and entering high school, she encountered a giant crab who stole her weight. Ever since, she has avoided contact with everyone else, and threatens anyone who discovers her secret. She became anti-social and was very different from her personality from when she was in middle school. She calls herself a tsundere (but is mostly a kuudere) and always speaks in an abusive style. At the end of Mayoi Snail, she admits that she loves Koyomi, and they start dating.

After the events in Tsukihi Phoenix, she overcame all of her trauma, and finally became a completely normal and cheerful girl. She starts referring to Araragi by a cute nickname, chuckling at small things and sending e-mails full of Emojis, although her sharp tongue is still present, but toned down. She seems to also have a father complex, getting excited when she uses her father's blanket, so much so that she can't fall asleep. Koyomi says that he loves Hitagi the most. She seems to not be on very good terms with Karen and Tsukihi.

In Hitagi End, continuing on the events of Nadeko Medusa, Koyomi is in deep trouble and to help him, Hitagi must swallow her pride and feelings again to ask Kaiki - the one person whom she truly despises and hates - for help.

Mayoi Hachikuji (八九寺 真宵 Hachikuji Mayoi?)

Voiced by: Emiri Katō[1]

Mayoi, the main character of Mayoi Snail, is the ghost of a fifth-grade elementary school girl. She was killed in a traffic accident while trying to reach her mother's home, and has since unsuccessfully attempted to do so. She can only be seen by people who do not want to reach their destination. Koyomi met her in a park on Mother's Day and offered to help her find her mother's home. She makes a lot of spelling mistakes and has a habit of mispronouncing Koyomi's family name. Her family name before her parents got divorced was Tsunade (綱手?) She later graduates to become a "Wandering Spirit," after Koyomi and Hitagi help her reach her destination.

In Mayoi Jiangshi, Koyomi and Shinobu accidentally travel back in time 11 years, the day before Mayoi's death. Koyomi, wanting to prevent Mayoi from turning into a wandering spirit, helps her travel to her mother's house. After they return to the present, they find out the whole town is infested with zombies. In this history, Koyomi did not meet Mayoi, so during the events of Tsubasa Cat, he didn't get the information regarding Shinobu, or go near Mister Donuts, so Black Hanekawa killed him, causing this timeline's Shinobu to vow to destroy the world and fill it with zombie vampires, or 'Jiangshi'. While searching for a power spot, Koyomi and Shinobu attract the zombies but are saved by a grown Hachikuji. It seems that Mayoi was not happy that she became a spirit, but was happy that as a spirit, she was able to meet Koyomi. Koyomi also stated that he's the happiest when talking to Mayoi.

Suruga Kanbaru (神原 駿河 Kanbaru Suruga?)

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro[1]

Suruga, the main character of Suruga Monkey, is Koyomi's underclassman, star player of the school's basketball team and one of Hitagi's acquaintances from junior high school. Immediately after she entered senior high school, she became aware of Hitagi's secret and was threatened by her, just like Koyomi was. She's an admitted lesbian (although 'jokingly' desiring to be Koyomi's mistress if he ever gets married), fujoshi, lolicon, and masochist. In elementary school, she inherited what she thought was a Monkey's Paw. When she made her third wish, a monkey-like paw started growing in her left arm. She started stalking Koyomi after she discovered he was dating Hitagi. She became friends with Koyomi and Hitagi after Koyomi rids her of the Rainy Devil. She also has been growing her hair longer since.

In Suruga Devil, there is a rumor about a devil solving other people's problem. Fearing that she might be the rumored 'Devil', she decided to investigate and found out that the rumored Devil is actually an old basketball rival of hers named, Rōka Numachi. Kanbaru is still worried about the effects of the Rainy Devil, even though is has been dispersed, to the point that whenever she goes to sleep, she binds her devil's arm to a pillar so that she cannot start sleepwalking and commit crimes. She checks the newspaper everyday so that she can make sure she didn't do anything unconsciously. She also has dreams of her mother once in a while which give her weird life lessons.

She is named Suruga Kanbaru now but she was previously named Suruga Gaen. Suruga's mother had some kind of connection to oddities as she had inherited that devil's left arm from her mother. Her mother and father were revealed to have eloped as the Kanbaru family did not approve of their relationship. Kanbaru is also the only person that Kaiki will ever treat in a good way.

Nadeko Sengoku (千石 撫子 Sengoku Nadeko?)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa[1]

Nadeko, the main character of Nadeko Snake, is Tsukihi’s friend from elementary school. She always wears a waist pouch, always casts her eyes downward, has her bangs covering her eyes, has a shy personality, and can be easily amused. Koyomi played with her a lot whenever she visited his house after being invited by his sisters. She was put under a curse by a classmate causing an invisible snake to strangle her. She was going to die from the curse until Koyomi found out and offered her his help. It was revealed that there were two snakes strangling Nadeko. One was placed by the girl who was in love with the boy Nadeko rejected, and the other was placed by the boy Nadeko rejected. Koyomi managed to get rid of the first one but was unable to remove the second one. The snake then returned to the boy who cursed her, cursing him instead. She refers to Koyomi as Koyomi-onii-chan. She's quite protective of her hair (particularly her forelocks) thinking that it's her place to guard more than her panties. When she finally combed her forelocks aside in Nisemonogatari, Koyomi commented that she has a glare just like a serpent.

In Nadeko Medusa, during Halloween, Nadeko meets a girl named Ōgi, after which she was able to see a white snake who claimed to be one of the snakes she killed during the events in "Nadeko Snake". This snake pressures her to atone for what she did by finding the remains of the snake when it was alive. In the official guidebook, Nisio Isin did an interview with all of the voice actors, and asked Kana Hanazawa on what character she would like to play, to which Kana Hanazawa replied that she'd like to play an evil character, probably becoming the basis of Nadeko Medusa. It seems Hitagi and Shinobu both dislike Nadeko.

Tsubasa Hanekawa (羽川 翼 Hanekawa Tsubasa?)

Voiced by: Yui Horie[1]

Tsubasa, the main character of Tsubasa Cat, is Koyomi's classmate and the class representative. Koyomi describes her as "the class representative of all class representatives." Prior to the novel's beginning, she was possessed by a bakeneko during Golden Week due to stress over her family. Although it has since been resolved with the help of Shinobu and at the cost of her own memories, problems emerge again right before the school festival because of different stress. It was revealed by the bakeneko at the end of episode 14 of the anime that the source of the aforementioned stress was her feelings for Araragi. The stress was so severe that the cat resurfaced again after only 2 weeks after Hitagi and Koyomi started dating, as compared to the 17 years of stress that Tsubasa got from her family. Despite Black Hanekawa possessing a female body, the spirit itself is male. When Tsubasa turns into Black Hanekawa, her hair turns into white and she grows cat ears.

Tsubasa Family tells the story of what happened during the nightmarish Golden Week when Tsubasa was possessed by the cat demon. On the first day of Golden Week, Koyomi, after thinking that he was in love with Tsubasa, went out and stumbled upon Tsubasa with a bruise on her face caused by her "father". Shortly after, Tsubasa and Koyomi found a dead white cat without a tail beside the road. Tsubasa, then picked up the cat and asked Koyomi for help in burying it. Throughout the whole week, a monster cat was rumored to be seen attacking people. Oshino said that the oddity itself is a weak spirit, but having possessed Tsubasa, it gained knowledge and strategy strong enough to rival even a vampire. If Black Hanekawa doesn't disappear soon, Tsubasa and the cat will merge with each other and the only way to stop Tsubasa then will be to kill her. It is interesting to note that Black Hanekawa has the verbal tic of changing words with "na" to "nya".

In Tsubasa Tiger, while on her way to school, Tsubasa meets a gigantic tiger named Kako who has the ability to talk. It was revealed that the tiger was created by Tsubasa feeling envy at her "parents" getting closer to each other, similarly to how stress caused Tsubasa to facilitate the second appearance of Black Hanekawa. If she is unable to resolve her problems, she will continue to create cat-like animal oddities fueled by her negative emotions, which will become stronger each time they appear. The sawarineko revealed that one of the reasons why it tried to help Tsubasa was that Tsubasa treats everyone as an equal. Tsubasa Tiger was written from Tsubasa's perspective instead of Koyomi's. Her catchphrase is "I don’t know everything, I just know what I know." Koyomi stated that he respects Tsubasa more than anyone else.

What's scary to note about Tsubasa is that all of the kai specialists noted her as "dangerous". Meme was wary of the first time he met Tsubasa, Episode thought that something was off about her and Kaiki stated that the person who arranged the meeting between him and Karen during the events of "Karen Bee" was not normal. Kaiki later on stated that he had no ideas about Tsubasa nor any information on what she is like, but that he would try to run away so as to never meet her. Tsubasa is so unnatural that in the near future, she would essentially become the second coming of Gaen. That is partly the reason why Black Hanekawa became a monster-class oddity despite the sawarineko being a low-class oddity because it had possessed Tsubasa. If the sawarineko possessed somebody else, it would not be as strong as when it possessed Tsubasa.

Karen Araragi (阿良々木 火憐 Araragi Karen?)

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura[1]

Karen, the main character of Karen Bee, is one of Koyomi's sisters. She's older than Tsukihi and enjoys doing outdoor activities. Despite being younger, Karen is taller than Koyomi, much to Koyomi's dismay. In Karen Bee, her hot-headed personality and her habit of acting before thinking lead her to be stung by a bee, which leads to being poisoned with a terrible fever that lasts for 3 days. Like Hitagi, she refuses help from anyone which eventually leads to her and Koyomi fighting each other. Later, it was revealed that this event was set up by Kaiki. Karen and Tsukihi are nicknamed Tsuga no Ki Nichū no Fire Sisters (栂の木二中のファイヤーシスターズ?, lit. Fire Sisters of Tsuga no Ki 2nd Junior High). It was revealed that the reason she and Tsukihi found boyfriends was so that Koyomi would become jealous. They found boyfriends in Koyomi's image with Karen's boyfriend being shorter than her. She and Tsukihi also thought that Tsubasa was Koyomi's girlfriend. In Karen Bee, it is revealed that she has fallen for her brother though does not voice it.

In Suruga Devil, she became a high school student and she also has gotten closer with Araragi to the point that Kanbaru worries that their relationship will go down a wrong turn (in other words, incest). It also seems that when Karen went to high school, her and Tsukihi's 'Fire Sisters' duo was disbanded.

Tsukihi Araragi (阿良々木 月火 Araragi Tsukihi?)

Voiced by: Yuka Iguchi[1]

Tsukihi, the main character of Tsukihi Phoenix, is one of Koyomi's sisters. She's the youngest of the Araragi family. Unlike her sister Karen, she prefers doing indoor activities. Contrary to her personality, she constantly changes her hair style and is short-tempered to the point that Koyomi describes her as having hysteria. She revealed that she, unlike Karen, was not that invested in preserving justice and was just using Karen's vision to run wild. She is actually the reincarnation of a phoenix and has been since before she was even born. The phoenix entered the baby's body when it was still in the womb and by now both beings' minds have become one. She is immortal, except the only thing that can end her life is a natural death from old age. When she was a child, she fell down a building due to antics related to the fire sisters and was hospitalised and her body was covered with scars, though there are no traces of them now. Tsukihi constantly changes her hairstyle due to her fickle attitude and the fact that her hair and nails grow longer in a short period of time. If styled in a bob-cut, it will grow to her back within a month. Karen and Tsukihi were supposed to be twins however, due to the phoenix possessing her, Tsukihi was born a few months later. Koyomi is actually more scared of Tsukihi than Karen despite Karen being physically stronger due to Tsukihi's unpredictable behaviour. Tsukihi and Karen are nicknamed Tsuga no Ki Nichū no Fire Sisters (栂の木二中のファイヤーシスターズ?). It was revealed that the reason she and Karen found boyfriends was so that Koyomi would become jealous. They found boyfriends in Koyomi's image with Tsukihi's boyfriend being taller than her. She and Karen also thought that Tsubasa was Koyomi's girlfriend.

Shinobu Oshino (忍野 忍 Oshino Shinobu?)

Voiced by: Maaya Sakamoto,[2] Aya Hirano (Hyakumonogatari)[3]

Shinobu is a girl who lives with Meme in the abandoned building. She appears to be an eight-year-old girl, but she was originally a beautiful vampire named Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade (キスショット･アセロラオリオン・ハートアンダーブレード Kisushotto Aseroraorion Hātoandāburēdo?) who has lived for more than 500 years (and happens to be the vampire that bit Koyomi.) After the events at the end of Koyomi Vamp, she was left in a weakened condition with no powers or traces of her original personality, and therefore had to abandon her former name. She was named Shinobu by Meme at the beginning of Hitagi Crab, suggesting her kanji name Shinobu (忍), having "heart" (心) under "blade" (刃), matches with her original personality (but in typical Nisio Isin playing with kanji, the しのぶ pronunciation of the kanji 忍 means "fern").[4] She doesn't openly talk to anyone until "Karen Bee." Ever since "Tsubasa Cat" where she starts living in Araragi's shadow, she no longer needs to suck his blood on a regular basis in order to stay alive. She forms a physical connection with Araragi where they can feel each other's emotions and senses.

In Mayoi Jiangshi, in the alternate timeline, Shinobu went berserk when Koyomi was killed by Black Hanekawa and swore to destroy the world by created the Jiangshi that had been swarming the town. It seems that she truly cares about Koyomi and when she saw Koyomi from the alternate timeline was alive (and seemingly to the point she fell in love with him), she started weeping blood. Koyomi states that he will die with Shinobu when the day comes. It seems that she does not like Nadeko very much. In "Shinobu Time", a mysterious entity seems to be after her and she told Koyomi that she had encountered and fought this entity before in her past but was unable to defeat it.

Yotsugi Ononoki (斧乃木 余接 Ononoki Yotsugi?)

Voiced by: Saori Hayami[2]

Yotsugi was first introduced in Tsukihi Phoenix. She is Yozuru's shikigami. She always address herself with the masculine first-person pronoun boku and thinks of Yozuru as her sister. She has an ability called Unlimited Rulebook where she can shape-shift her finger. She was challenged to a fight by Shinobu in the end of Tsukihi Phoenix and was beaten to a bloody pulp by her. Just like Shinobu who had her name set by Oshino, her name was helped set by Kaiki as Yozuru didn't have the courage to bind Yotsugi. She was once a human and was resurrected and created as a tsukumogami by a half dozen genius specialists (which includes Kaiki and Yozuru) as a school project. They all had ownership over her but most of them gave up their claim. Yotsugi decided to have Yozuru as her master and in exchange, she becomes Yozuru's fighting partner. However, as a shikigami, she does not suffer any permanent damage. She is a shikigami and a tsukigami and that she was previously a human.

Ōgi Oshino (忍野 扇 Oshino Ōgi?)

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi

A mysterious girl who claims to be Meme's niece. It is mentioned by Kaiki in season 2 that Meme Oshino had no family, thus the veracity of her claims is unsure. She is the main cause of leading Nadeko to become a Snake God (having leaked the information about the whereabouts of the talisman). She also happens to be the main cause of Deishū Kaiki's presumed death, having told a former victim of Kaiki's con about his whereabouts. She somehow seems indirectly related to Hachikuji's fate, with her appearance at the same time as the black object leading to Hachikuji to pass off to the next world, and her stated 'job' as that being of punishing liars, similar to that of the black object.

In Suruga Devil, a boy calling himself Ōgi Oshino told Suruga that he is Meme's nephew. The relation between the two versions of Ōgi is currently unknown. Interestingly, it also seems that no one can seem to remember having encountered Ōgi while not in his/her presence.

It is eventually revealed in Ōgi Dark that she is the alter ego of Koyomi created by Koyomi himself. As Koyomi realizes that he is too weak, too hesitant and too emotional to make harsh decisions during Shinobu Time, he subconsciously wished for a being that can judge him and correct everything wrong in this world. His wish came true as Ōgi Oshino, who will act as Koyomi's ultimate critic.

Sodachi Oikura (老倉 育 Oikura Sodachi?)

Voiced by: Marina Inoue[1]

Sodachi, the main character of Sodachi Riddle and Sodachi Lost, is a girl with twin-tails and was the class president of a first-year class where both Hitagi and Koyomi also belonged to. She loves mathematics and deemed it as beautiful. She despises Koyomi for an unknown reason but Koyomi thinks that it's because he is better at math than her. (In a class test, Koyomi scored a 100 while Sodachi scored a 99). At school, she wanted to be called as "Euler", but ends up getting the nickname "How Much", a pun on her surname (お幾ら, o-ikura) and a reference to her personality.

Koyomi recalls an event involving Sodachi in "Ōgi Formula", in which two years before the present time, an incident regarding a suspected cheating on a math test. There were disparity among results of the math exam between those who attended the group study, and those who did not attend. Sodachi held a class meeting in order to determine the culprit who had leaked the questions for the exam and appointed Koyomi as the moderator of the class assembly as he was the only who who scored a 100 on the test. The class assembly itself was inconclusive, but Sodachi was pinned as the cheater who leaked the math questions through a majority vote. Koyomi is sure that Sodachi was not the perpetrator, but powerless to stop the accusation because of the fact that Sodachi herself was the one who organized the assembly. She did not attend for two years after the incident and had come to school randomly 6 months before graduation.

WHO IS HANEKAWA TSUBASA?

Nekomonogatari Kuro is a prequel OAV that tells the story of what happens during the Golden Week immediately prior to the events of Bakemonogatari. The focus here is all on Hanekawa Tsubasa and her original synthesis with the cat demon Sawari Neko. Throughout the final two episodes, the characters (including Tsubasa herself) attempt to suss out her nature and her motivations via a whole lot of expository dialogue. However, it is my contention that, rather than getting a clearer picture of who Tsubasa actually is, we get a couple of competing ideas of who the characters (including Tsubasa herself) think she is. I happen to think that these constructed identities ignore crucial information and, therefore, are inaccurate. In this piece, I will illustrate the casts’ interpretations of her character, and then I will provide my own thoughts on who Tsubasa Hanekawa is.

Suggested Soundtrack for Reading – Jamie Cullum & Gregory Porter “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”


ANGELIC MONSTER

On your first viewing of Neko, I think Oshino’s verbal portrait of Tsubasa comes across as one of its most jarring and unsettling elements. He returns from visiting her recently-injured parents with quite a dark impression of her. His view stems from the Hanekawas’ recounting of a recent incident in their household. Tsubasa’s father strikes her in the face, and, instead of getting angry or distressed, she looks up at him with emotionless eyes and says, “No, Father, you shouldn’t hit a girl’s face.”

Based on this report, Oshino paints a terrifying picture of Tsubasa. No ordinary human girl, he argues, can display such a “disgusting” level of natural goodness. The incident described above is indicative of a being whose righteousness is so great that it harms all who come into contact with it. Living with such a creature, says Oshino, would be a waking nightmare because your own sins would continually be thrown into sharp relief against her inherent, overwhelming goodness. This angelic monster is more frightening than any run-of-the-mill demon Oshino has encountered because human beings lack the ability to comprehend it.

Perhaps Oshino’s most repulsive claim about Tsubasa is that he maintains that her misfortune is her own fault because she doesn’t play the part of a human very well. The idea is that, since she is more-than-human, she should be aware of the degree of influence that her power holds. Essentially, she ought to be aware that her goodness will offend mere humans, and their violent reaction is no surprise. So, if Tsubasa occasionally threw tantrums or yelled at her parents, maybe broke a few rules from time to time, they wouldn’t feel bad enough about themselves to be compelled to hit her. This viewpoint is a real winner.

I guess you could try to argue that Oshino was just constructing this image of Tsubasa in order to get Araragi fired up for his fight against the Sawari Neko…but why? Why would he need to do this? The kid is plenty motivated to help his friend. Araragi has proven himself to be a character of sufficient resolve; Oshino knows as much. What is more, our protagonist already has his sword in hand when the guru arrives on the scene. This argument seems shaky to me, at best.

HOTTIE SEEKING SYMPATHY

We know from Bakemonogatari that Araragi saves Tsubasa from her predicament with Sawari Neko. We know, but it’s still fun getting there. What were a brief flashback and a few lines of dialogue in Bake become a gorgeously-animated, fully-realized climactic confrontation in Neko. During this scene, Araragi delivers a monologue on who he believes Tsubasa to be.

Before going into that, though, I should note the following: Oshino does not claim that his Angelic Monster theory is true, but neither does he say it is false. Rather, the urban sage presents this view as a single interpretation among many possible, equally valid ones. But, Oshino’s statement begs the question, how do you choose an interpretation? Whichever one is most convenient for you is the one you will choose, according to Oshino. Araragi rejects this schema. He insists that Tsubasa’s parents are in the wrong, that she isn’t who they claim she is.

Monogatari has established that Araragi is willing to do many things for Tsubasa, but one thing he will not do is pity her. He seems to believe that most, if not all, of the entire episode with Tsubasa and the “harmful cat” has been an elaborate attempt by Tsubasa to get people to feel sorry for her. She is a willing participant is all of it. Certainly, Araragi is factually accurate in stating that Tsubasa accepts the Sawari Neko into herself. She is neither unwillingly nor unknowingly possessed by it. But, is it all an appeal for pity?

Here, we come to a key idiosyncrasy in Araragi’s view. Unlike Oshino, Araragi never comes out and says that he thinks Tsubasa is not human, though his rejection of the Angelic Monster theory seems to imply as much. So, since she is human, she is not responsible for her abuse (a real triumph for Araragian thought). But, she is responsible for being happy in the midst of her suffering.

More than any other character in the cast, Araragi knows the harsh realities of Tsubasa’s life, yet, he tells her outright to stop using Sawari Neko as a crutch. Instead of closing her eyes and relying upon an apparition to temporarily fix things, Araragi urges Tsubasa to face her problems and take independent steps toward resolution. In what struck me as a particularly selfish portion of his speech, Araragi reminds Tsubasa that there are people who have it much worse than she and still retain their happiness. People hold their heads up and get on with it, he says.

One could claim that Araragi is lying, that he is saying all of this to entrap the Sawari Neko. I’ve always found him to be an extremely honest character, though, so I’m hesitant to attribute dishonest intentions to him here, when it would be convenient. It appears equally plausible to me that he knows he can lure the demon into a trap just by being honest with Tsubasa.


MORAL MACHINE

Now, onto Tsubasa’s view of herself, a view not too dissimilar to Oshino’s Angelic Monster idea. It’s important to point out right away that I believe statements given by “Black Hanekawa” (the intentional fusion of Tsubasa with Sawari Neko) can rightfully be attributed to Tsubasa. They may be things she would not normally say, but the fact that Tsubasa responds to Araragi’s text message in the way that she does indicates that she is firmly in control of Black Hanekawa.

Tsubasa believes she is not normal. This notion is fundamental to the way she sees herself. In the third episode of Neko, Tsubasa describes an event that encapsulates her abnormality: She and Araragi discover a dead cat near the road, and she buries it. This action is not committed due to any feelings of pity or sadness for the deceased animal. On the contrary, Sawari Neko takes an interest in Tsubasa precisely because she is devoid of emotion during the burial. The young honor student geso through the trouble of burying a dead animal just because it is the proper thing to do according to established convention.

It seems that Tsubasa sees herself as a sort of “moral machine,” someone who always chooses the right thing to do automatically because it is what convention dictates should be done. On this view, she never does anything because she feels it is right; rather, her decision-making process turns on a single question: Is this the rule? If yes, then I will do it; if no, then I will not. The Moral Machine is similar to The Angelic Monster insofar as both conceptions have Tsubasa always making the correct choice automatically and without emotion figuring into the desicion. However, one picture presents her as a heavenly being, while the other claims she’s nothing more than a base machine. Since she doesn’t think highly of herself, Tsubasa naturally gravitates toward self-identifying as a “lower” being.

Tsubasa believes the only way she can break from an endless cycle of automatic processes is by choosing to allow the Sawari Neko into herself and giving in to the will of the feline apparition. Now, her making this choice in the first place shatters the truth of the Moral Machine theory. Deciding to integrate that level of chaos into oneself seems to run counter to convention, doesn’t it?


VICTIM

So, here’s where I set out my own “right and true” theory…only I’m not going to do that. The truth is, I don’t have a holistic, overarching story about who Tsubasa Hanekawa is, who she is in total. I do, however, have a clear idea of who she has presented herself to be in the franchise thus far and also knowledge of some significant, traumatic events in her life. In short, I don’t know everything, I only know what I know. Thus, according to what I know, I will outlines some thoughts on a single facet of Tsubasa’s identity. I do not believe that this facet defines her, just that it invalidates the alternate definitions above.

Given what they know about her, I find it incredible that other characters could entertain the idea that Tsubasa is not human based only on the fact that she doesn’t show emotion when most people would. Give me a break. Tsubasa is a victim of horrible neglect and egregious physical and emotional abuse. Oshino finds it ‘disgusting” the way that Tsubasa responded to her father? Know what’s disgusting, Meme? Parents who beat their children. And, anyone who believes that the “incident” discussed in Neko is the only time it has happened is just simply naive. Sure, Tsubasa says it only happened one time, but the abused always minimize their abuse. She has such a low opinion of herself that it’s possible that she believes she deserves her abuse. Also, those who have seen Neko has seenBake and can remember the big bandage on her cheek during episode 11 of the latter.

Tsubasa has been neglected by every adult in her life. I’m on record stating that parents in Bakemonogatari to be fucking terrible. Well, the trend continues. Unwanted, Tsubasa is passed from parent to step-parent. By the beginning of Nekoneither of the adults she is “living” with are actually related to her. I put the word living in quotes because, in the house she currently claims to reside in, Tsubasa does not have a room. The only discernible evidence that she stays there is that her school uniform, a single school uniform, hangs on a coat rack in the kitchen. Throughout the show, Tsubasa makes statements like, “I could cut off all my hair, and [my parents] wouldn’t notice.” To me, such assertions don’t allude to parents who live cowering under the weight of her righteousness, they paint a clear picture of two people who don’t give a shit.

Alright, where is all this going? Well, I think most of the above is known by Oshino and Araragi (certainly by Black Hanekawa herself), so I find it tremendously frustrating when they contextualize Tsubasa’s behavior in such needlessly complex and ultimately baffling ways. Taking into account what she’s suffered, it is no surprise to me that her emotions have deadened and she instinctively acts in accordance with convention. When horrible things are happening to you, especially when you’re young, you develop survival mechanisms to cope with the pain. Of course Tsubasa does every single thing meticulously right. Of course she doesn’t get angry, distressed or otherwise emotional in front of her parents. She is an abused, child desperately seeking affirmation. Her behavior makes sense when you think about it as the behavior of a child methodically trying to avoid punishment. If she acts on her feelings, she may get hit. And, what good have her feelings done her anyway? Did they keep her parents together? These are the (probably) subconscious thoughts going through Tsubasa’s mind. What Oshino sees as innate goodness, I see as hollowness.

And then, there’s Araragi. Ara-fucking-ragi. How dare he tell Tsubasa to suck it up and get on with it? His monologue demonstrates an uncharacteristic lack of awareness and empathy on his part. I understand he wants to communicate to her the idea that she can still have happiness in life despite her awful circumstances, but telling someone in the throes of emotional pain that “other people have it worse than you” is unforgivably stupid. The abused is not trying hard enough. With friends like this, it’s no wonder that Tsubasa felt she had to abandon her traditional survival mechanisms and release her pain by means of voluntary demon possession. This choice provides tangible proof that she is neither righteous heavenly beast nor perfect robot. Those beings would continue their pattern of behavior, since it is what they ought to be doing. Tsubasa knows that so very much is wrong, and she wants change in any way possible.

Who is Hanekawa Tsubasa, then? She’s not a monster, a machine or someone unnecessarily seeking pity. She’s a hurting soul who is crying out for emotional support. I hope that Hitagi, the Araragis, anyone will provide that for her going forward.