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.
0 comments:
Post a Comment