Summary:

Koyomi is followed on his way home from school by Mayoi, and when she asks, he tells her about his plans later to study with Hitagi for the upcoming placement tests. His walk home, however, is interrupted by the sudden arrival of underclassman Kanbaru Suruga, the ace of the basketball team. She calls this an unexpected meeting, but Koyomi knows that she’s been following him, and he finds out that she hasn’t been doing basketball lately because of her bandaged left hand. Suruga claims to want to talk about current world affairs, but Koyomi doesn’t want to, and he ends up telling her about the studying that he’ll be doing with Hitagi. After Suruga runs off again, Koyomi explains to Mayoi that Suruga has been following him around recently, and Mayoi suggests that Suruga may be in love with him.

Later that day, when Koyomi is with Hitagi, she asks him about his plans for the future because she wants to go down the same path as him. Since he doesn’t have the grades to make it into a university, she suggests that they could live together, and Koyomi ends up agreeing. Hitagi also reveals that she’s never broken up with a man, and she has no intention to do so with him. Koyomi then asks her about doing track back in junior high school, so she emphasizes that she has no reason to do it any more because she doesn’t want to return to those times. That leads to Koyomi asking her about Suruga, and Hitagi almost attacks him for implying that he’s close with Suruga. Hitagi admits that she and Suruga used to be close, but the two of them fell apart after Suruga found out about Hitagi’s secret and Hitagi treated her the same way she initially treated Koyomi.

Hitagi thinks that Suruga is following Koyomi around after finding out that they were dating and that Suruga had a crush on her. The two then finish their studying, and Koyomi heads home, but along the way, he decides to call Tsubasa to ask about Hitagi and Suruga. Tsubasa explains that the two used to be known as the Valhalla Combo based on the word combination of the ends of their last names, and she also gives Koyomi some advice on his relationship with Hitagi. She believes that Hitagi has put up an impregnable self-field around herself and doesn’t like associating with others, and she suggests that it’s better for him not to look too much into Hitagi’s past.

After ending his call with Tsubasa, Koyomi thinks about how he wants Hitagi to regain what she lost and threw away. He also remembers that he forgot to take with him the payment that Hitagi wanted him to give to Oshino for his services. His thoughts, however, are interrupted when he notices a cloaked figure behind him, and this person suddenly punches him in the face. Koyomi is still reeling from the first hit when the person delivers several more, and he ends up collapsing with a bloodied face. He notices though that there are bandages hanging out from this person’s sleeves, and he’s reminded of Suruga’s bandaged left hand. The person then disappears however, and the next thing Koyomi knows, Hitagi is standing over him with the money he forgot.

Preview

I understand that this series has a lot of exposition that can pay off in a satisfying way once everything is revealed/explained (as evidenced by last episode), but I have to say that it doesn’t make me feel much better about the set-up episodes like this one. Certainly Hitagi threatening Koyomi’s eye was interesting, as was the very brief action scene at the end of the episode, but I zoned out at least twice in between, like when Tsubasa was trying to give Koyomi advice. I’ve said before that I like how Horie Yui voices her, but that segment was just boring, and nothing she said after the Valhalla stuff struck me as particularly important.

What I do think is noteworthy though is Hitagi and Suruga’s past relationship and how Hitagi said that she’d never broken up with a guy. The implication of course is that she could have broken up with a girl, and that statement would still remain true. I also think it’s pretty obvious that they’re pointing us towards Suruga being Koyomi’s assailant, and I imagine it’s because she still has feelings for Hitagi or something along those lines. The fact that it’s her arm that’s bandaged and that the title of the arc is Suruga Monkey reminds me of the monkey’s paw story from xxxHOLiC, which was in turn based on the original short story, and it made me wonder if something similar is in play here. We’ll have to wait an extra week to find out though because most of the channels broadcasting this are still catching up after airing that recap special, and MBS is taking a two-week break. Episode seven will air on August 21st.

40 Comments

  1. hey i was also reminded of the Monkey paw story from xxxHOLiC, i thought they might be similar in legend or something, anyway this was a good episode, sucks that we have to wait like 2 weeks for more, after the end like that. still there was plenty to enjoy here.

    Chimasternmay
  2. I think Hitagi saying she’s never broken up with a guy can also mean that she makes the guy break up with her.
    i liked the end of this ep, i laughed abit after realizing Koyomi can heal up afterwards.

    xcswmboy
  3. @Burnt Toast, I was under the impression that the only abilities he’s got are faster than normal healing, possibly sight from episode 3, but that could be explained as Senjougahara just couldn’t see Mayoi.

    I loved when Hitagi completely caved and told Senjougahara that he wanted to live together with her. Her witty comments make her one of my favorite characters of all time.

    ReshenKusaga
  4. @ReshenKusaga, True. But it still would have been cooler if he still had other residual powers. There was a part at 22:03 where it focus on his mouth and him breathing. Would have been cool to see some fangs slowly inch down a bit.

    Burnt Toast
  5. I’m completely drawn in by the word play in this anime. =)

    By the way, I noticed that in that flashback, Kanbaru took a basketball shot without any bandages in her arm. And then the next stills show her lying on the floor already with bandages.

    So given the Monkey’s paw original story in Wiki, I’m guessing that her basketball skill is the “payment” for her wish? So maybe she can’t play anymore? or that her arm will forever be disfigured?

    I’m just wondering what she wished for though. One would think that she’d wish for Hitagi to get back with her…

    Aarrggh…. the suspense!!! And a 2 week wait at that. This is driving me mad. =P

    Reekon
  6. @Wuuhuu: If you slow-mo the action you would be able to see the a left hook coming staight at Araragi that caused him to fly and roll at around 50 feet or so. The first punch itself was just pretty fast, in which I think was animated in that way to see the bandages…

    Dando008
  7. It’s kinda sad… Araragi lies on the ground covered in blood and all Senjougahara has to say is “oh you forgot the money” ?? I seems like she has no feelings for him at all
    poor Arararagi (oh I stuttered :P) anyways is this going to keep up? or will Senjougahara someday realize what a kind, reliable lover she has (for teh lulz)
    looking forward to the next episode ofc!
    I agree with most of the comments here.. they set up a scene and you have to watch the next episode to be satisfied..

    ok thats all cya 🙂

    Fon
  8. Boring? We watching the same episode, right? I watched the one that wasn’t boring at all.

    I’m confused though, because reading the synopsis above sounds like the same episode I watched, but your thoughts on it don’t match up at all.

    Karisu
  9. You ppl are easily entertained or something. This crapper was a yawn-fest. It was too predictable. They tried to fix it in the end but the scene was over 5 seconds after it started. Rejection drama never fanciedmy tastes anyway. It my experience, they always end with someone flying through a window or getting slugged down the street, yawn.

    If I was Hitagi, I also wouldn’t be concerned about a sub-immortal lying on the ground covered in blood…especially when he’s up & kicking in a minute or so. Oh, & I’m starting to can’t get enough of how goofy Koyomi & Mayoi can be when they start to interact. He’s basically treating her just like his sisters. I love how ddirect he is with everyone…maybe that’ll help him solve that beast bitch too.

    Megas
  10. Same here, if Araragi could summon some of his lingering vampire abilities, like his speed and strength then the fight would’ve been awesome! I mean I just watched the first opening in the first episode, when he was shown fighting the vampire, it was really cool. So I really hope that they animate Koyomi Vamp arc.

    @minitune and Ronnie: Isn’t that because Senjougahara’s family is rich? I mean initially they were very rich, until of course her mom got into the cult and lost a big fortune. So her parents got divorced and she ended up living with her dad, so that would mean her dad is at least financially viable. Plus we never heard of her dad having any problems, it was entirely her mom’s fault that they had lost their house and most of their fortune, but in the end I guess her dad must be bringing a good amount of money. Also I doubt the job is indecent, after all we heard her confess that she is a “late-bloomer crazy virgin girl” lol.

    X
  11. Can’t wait for the next episode!!
    When his covered in blood his fangs do seem a bit longer. It may be due to a sudden blood loss. His vampire abilities may be fading, but in such situations faster healing may not be enough and his body may crave for fresh blood:)
    Also Araragi doesn’t seem to be surprised at all when he sees Senjougahara. Interestingly he greets her in a very formal way: “gobusata” instead of a informal and highly used “hisashiburi”.

    shido101
  12. Senjougahara is scary when she gets jealous.

    Dude, I’m beginning to think Araragi will end up with someone else other than Senjougahara. But, biggest question is “HOW THE HELL IS HE GOING TO BREAK UP WITH HER WITHOUT GETTING HIMSELF KILLED?!”

    I feel pissed that I have to wait two weeks for a brand new episode and I’ll be in College by then! Oh well!

    Black_Otaku
  13. Im glad Mayoi was kept around. her interactions with araragi make for some good laughs

    On another note, are we ever gonna see those scenes from the first episode showing Araragi’s fight scenes as a vampire?

    damian
  14. As usual the interactions between Senjogahara and Hitagi were interesting and fun. It does seem like whenever its not Hitagi interaction it drags but thats ok as long as they keep her in every episode.

    Jin
  15. Yeah Omni if you are expecting a fight/revelation per week than this series isn’t for you. ‘Course I’m not 12 and I don’t find the standard shounen story arc structure very interesting anymore so different strokes for different folks I guess.

    Diss

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