Bakemonogatari / First Impressions / Monogatari Series

OP Sequence

OP: 「sugar sweet nightmare」 by 堀江由衣 (Horie Yui)
Watch the OP! Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Streaming ▼

I didn’t really like the Horie Yui song here (of course I generally don’t like her songs despite being a fan of her voicework), but the accompanying images were interesting, to say the least, thanks to the Tsubasa cosplay, cat ears, and nudity.

Summary:

After tying up Tsubasa, Oshino explains to Koyomi that reason that she became like this again is because she’s built up a lot of stress again. They don’t know what’s behind that stress, but even if they did, they still need Shinobu, and Shinobu has gone missing. Koyomi thus decides to go look for her, and he gets the help of Mayoi, Nadeko, Suruga. He tries to call and get Hitagi’s help as well, but she refuses because Tsubasa earlier asked her to help prepare for the culture festival at school. During his search, Koyomi is joined by the transformed Tsubasa who had escaped from her binds and claims to be there to help him. Koyomi isn’t sure if he can count on her, but he decides to use her senses of smelling and hearing for the search. While they’re looking around, she brings up how Koyomi has gotten involved with a lot of supernatural things recently and how she thinks that humans and the supernatural are incompatible. This talk of the supernatural leads Koyomi to realize that Shinobu is just a child right now, and the transformed Tsubasa suggests that Shinobu might not have liked seeing him get involved with so many other supernatural beings because it lessened her own uniqueness. She also explains that there’s another way to force her back inside Tsubasa without relying on Shinobu: get rid of the root of her stress. The stress is actually because Tsubasa has feelings for Koyomi, so all he needs to do is to fall in love with her.

Preview

Before anyone asks, the reason this post is so late is because the online broadcast of episode 14 caught me off-guard (I swear I checked a few weeks ago and there wasn’t any indication of when it’d air), and I wasn’t able to make any time for it until now.

Anyway, this was another fairly strong episode of Bakemonogatari and it made for a good set-up for the finale. The middle parts where transformed Tsubasa and Koyomi were talking went a little long, and I think episode 13 ended up being a little funnier overall, but it was nice to see all the cuteness of Tsubasa’s alter-ego here, even if it was essentially fanservice. What I really enjoyed, however, was how all the story threads seem to be coming together. Beyond just the fact that Koyomi is making use of all the girls to find Shinobu, I like how his involvement with them has an effect on this story, and it makes sense now why episode 12 was a significant Hitagi episode. Also, having the final shot here be of Hitagi cutting paper was a great way to finish the episode on a note of extra emphasis since she’s obviously already Koyomi’s girlfriend and not someone he’d want to cross. I’m curious now to see what his solution for this is since I can’t see him falling in love with Tsubasa just to fix her situation, and conversely, it would be a bit too straightforward and convenient if her stress got relieved by just hearing him properly reject her.

On that note, there’s no online broadcast date for the final episode yet, but given that the final DVD is due out later this month, it can’t be too far off.

45 Comments

  8. I certainly don’t mind Hanekawa being possessed by the cat. In fact, I like her more this way. Despite being an arc dedicated to Hanekawa, I find myself more interested in Shinobu and her sudden disappearance. Hopefully, we don’t have wait another four months for the final episode.

    On another note, SHAFT’s got some real guts to put a naked body in the OP. Oh well, guess that’s just SHAFT being SHAFT. “Sugar Sweet Nightmare” isn’t bad (listening to the full ver, now while writing this). But in terms of cuteness, “Renai Circulation” wins by miles.

    pierce
    Reply

  10. Episode was solid, but the opening was kind of boring. Maybe it’s because I was looking forward to seeing what they would do with it, but it’s relative lack of animation and color was just…. I didn’t like it as much as the other arc OP.

    AuroraFlame
    Reply

  12. &Pierce
    You should listen “Renai Circulation” in Pi.(song is found in Jpz Records)

    to Omni:
    Took ya long enough to post this episode. But i hope the final episode comes soon.
    What’s wrong with the OP song? To me it was the best out of all the other songs Yui Horie sang.

    Karis
    Reply

  14. yall took too damn long!, do we even still care about this show??…but admittedly, it was solid and enjoyable, and i never get tired of his reactions. “SOO CUTE!!”

    BROOKLYN otaku
    Reply

  18. I’m not generally susceptible to otaku-bait, and actually find most of the fetishes to be retarded when not plain degrading, but Horie Yui certainly succeeded in making catgirl amusing. Whereas they often over-stress the inserted nyas, which makes the characters annoying, she reads them off like they belong there. Her catigrl is simply cute by construction. This stands in contrast to the visuals, which are rather overt efforts at fanservice.

    m
    Reply

  21. crab>cat>snake>vampire??>monkey>snail

    cant wait for gg to release a sub for my archives T_T because i have their 1-13 ep. i cant find any other subbed that is not in bd, i liked the tv version than the bd.

    Spec
    Reply

  26. にゃ　にゃ　にゃ　！！！！！

    This series is of the charts. Hitagi is great; but Arararararagi kun is in trouble now. Maybe a mercy kiss will fix Tsubasa ? As for me I’ll go the threesome way. Hopefully tsubasa can end like Himari (omamori himari) and keep some of the neko form (^_^) and that can be a happy ending for all 🙂

    As a side note is it true that Shaft just killed Dance in the vampire bund in episode 7 to be able to meet Bakemonogatari dead lines ? Is sad a studio can produce both sides of the spectrum great and terrible. That’s bad for business and I really hate to see shaft hit the dust.

    Island Esper
    Reply

  28. Another great episode.
    Not too fussed on the OP at first, but after repeat viewings, it’s grown on me.
    Really interested to see how this all concludes though. Convient how Oshino didn’t seem very willing to help Kyoomi out this time and the fact Shinobu, the cure to Neko Tsubasa, has gone awol.
    More than likely Oshino wants Kyomoi to stop relying on him and for this final capter, solve the problem once and for all without the help of others.
    Roll on final episode!

    blinx01
    Reply

  32. re: blinx01

    Show Spoiler ▼

    BigFire
    Reply

  35. Someday someone has to pry open Kanbaru’s head and figure out how it works. When Araragi called her she answered “I’m Kanbaru Suruga. Currently employed as Araragi’s love slave.” Please note that she had no idea who was on the other end of the line. Also note that she took this call while at a supermarket surrounded by CHILDREN waiting to play a game.

    Grant
    Reply

  36. Another great episode, if not a little fanservicy(isn’t a fan of blatant fanservice like LvB). Neko Tsubasa was awesome though, no questions asked. So was the Nadeko Lingerie *nosebleed*. As for the opening, I really enjoyed the full version of sugar sweet nightmare, it’s an improvement over Yui’s other songs.

    Avenger
    Reply

  37. I actually love sugar sweet nightmare. I’ve been waiting to hear more of it ever since I saw the promo for it. We now have the t.v. size version AND full version =P.

    Tsubasa is hot, btw.

    Disillusion
    Reply

  38. Once I managed to squeeze past the irksome level of otaku fanservice I discovered the vast amount of plot this episode contributes. I suppose this is why Hitagi had made an appearence in what was labeled as an episode meant for Hanekawa as Omni had stated earlier. I’d love to see how Koyomi manages to get himself out of this, especially now that our (REAL hero) Oshino Meme has decided to take his leave, or so it seems. As for Shinobu, can’t say I care much once you’ve taken time to factor the amount of dialog she’s contributed to the equation.

    On that note, anyone know where I can get a downloadable/torrent copy of this episode? The Bakemonogatari website is denying my viewage. As well as everyone state-side.

    Ouse
    Reply

  39. According to MAL, the Blu-ray and DVD of Vol.6 has been postponed till June 9. It will include ep 15.

    Well, although I’m not happy to hear that, I was even more pissed when they announced that ep 2 of Gundam Unicorn won’t air till this fall…

    pierce
    Reply

  42. I heard Volume 6 will not be out til June 9, 2010, which was delayed from the press release March 28. Somebody told me that the ep 15 will be online sometime in the first week of June…I just hope the final ep is worth the 2 month wait. T-T

    I am hoping for some OVAs or at least season 2 since the manga continue after Tsubasa.

    king
    Reply

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