Once again that constant throughout the series for Hanekawa, the fact that she always seems to know everything according to Araragi, and her constant, unchanging (not even in tone!) reply that she does not know everything, just happening to know what they are talking about. This constant line of exchange and the same tone every time is seriously an anchor for the relationship between Hanekawa and Araragi as well as for Hanekawa’s character.
 

“Don’t tell me it was to talk with a cute middle scho-”

Nice punchline, Hanekawa. Seriously, the humor in this series is so sublime and so implicit, not outright at all, something of a higher kind of intellectual comedy we can all enjoy without having to actually read between the lines.
 

GG Araragi, you been busted.

Truly, how many of us can say that we do not lie often? It is difficult to be truthful, because the truth can hurt. As I also mentioned in the previous post regarding Princess Lover!, what Hartmann said about people believing a lie is true for the most part, and Araragi’s comment here is certainly a big compliment for Hanekawa’s character and what she is like. She then replies that a lot of people are honest too, but how many of us can also honestly (pun intended) believe that?
 

Damn straight, but that mature side has a much darker secret, as we can see.

Actually I wonder if Araragi is the one Hanekawa feels is special about. Her kindness simply extends beyond simple “kindness” when it is applied to Araragi, but since we are not actually shown how she interacts with others, the jury is out on this one. I can hardly believe though she will go to such an extent including advising Araragi on his relationship with Senjougahara for a friend.
 

I liked how Oshino did the explanation once more for this particular oddity. Now that I think more about it, the oddity’s name does have a relation to cats, but it is not the realistic cat we are thinking about. Rather, it is more the image of a cat. Oshino’s explanation provides a good hint.

The Meddlesome Cat is also known as a tailless cat, a cat whose tail you cannot pull (since it has no tail, obviously). Why though, would one pull a cat’s tail? It is well-known that pulling a cat’s tail puts you in great trouble most of the time, so this might have something to do with it. Look at how Tsubasa Cat acts too. It is mischievous, to the extent of placing great harm on anyone it wishes in order to relieve its mistress’ stress. Is that not how a lot of people see cats in general, that is to say, playful creatures? And one way of stopping the cat’s mischief would be to pull its tail, would it not? That would irritate it no end.
 

Thus, by having no tail, the cat’s mischief, in this case, cannot be stopped by conventional means, hence the tailless cat. Of course, this is stretching it, but it sure is food for thought. Of course, the “scientific” explanation for the phenomenon and the oddity taking place, the multiple personality disorder, is indeed a good background for Tsubasa Cat to appear. The stress her family caused her certainly could have caused such a change in Hanekawa, since she has been suppressing her frustration for so long. The contradiction regarding the color of the cat and the oddity’s character, white and black, is also a nice touch. The Meddlesome Cat is white because it wants attention (in a way), yet the heart it is made of is black in color (with evil intent, in other words).
 

This should come as no surprise, since the oddity has possessed someone Araragi has always looked up to and been helped by. Throughout the series, Araragi’s kindness has been reflected in the deeds he has done and the lengths he has gone to in order to help others, yet never bothering about himself in the first place, as has been mentioned a few times already in my posts. It is both one of his good points, and one of his bad at the same time.
 

It is very serious stress since Hanekawa had been bottling it up and never even really letting it out once. The closest she probably came to venting any of it was when she told Araragi about her father hitting her. Small wonder that the oddity was so strong and also possessed her so easily. It was certainly serious enough to cause a multiple personality disorder, in which a Black Hanekawa emerges.
 

The way these scenes were done reminded me of the really old Batman scenes where they went “WHAM!” and “BAM!”, both cartoon-like and in live action drama series. Nice one, SHAFT.
 

This would make sense – the first thing one wants to do when dealing with stress is to take out the source of that stress. Unfortunately in this case the Meddlesome Cat used the wrong method to do it, and also dealt the most damage to both. Beyond her parents, the cat was up to no good, but did not do any more harm than injuring the person, because no one else was landed in hospital. Thus, after the stress was taken out, the cat continued to relieve Hanekawa’s stress, but more through relatively small acts of mischief than actually doing some serious damage.
 

“You’re really timid, Araragi-kun.”

Hanekawa then softens and says instead that it is more like Araragi is kind. It is true; after all, he always worries more about others than himself. He is not truly timid, but more indifferent about himself and caring a lot more for others.
 

Pwned, like totally. This just goes to show that Hanekawa had noticed them from the start and waited for Araragi to do something about it. Obviously, he did not.

General Impressions

This episode was one of the best lead-in’s throughout the series, but that could be largely because we instantly got the background story for Tsubasa Cat and know what happened in the past. This does show though that the problem was not resolved fully and the oddity remained within Hanekawa, which sets up the premise for this arc – the final resolution of Tsubasa Cat.

Once again I am struck by how several characters are the foci of each episode. Every episode only has at most several characters in it, and their interactions and dialogues are the backbone of the series. Is it not through their conversations that one gleans the most out of Bakemonogatari? Their subtle nuances, intricate wordings, and the way they communicate – all of it combine to make Bakemonogatari the great series it is. SHAFT, as I mentioned, is also fitting for the job, and this is, so I heard, their best animated work so far.
 

A lot of clues were provided as to certain relationships in this episode, such as Hanekawa’s with Araragi’s and their past, including the former’s oddity problem. We also saw that Shinobu still has a problem with Araragi that is unresolved, which obviously will not be shown in the TV series since Tsubasa Cat is the last arc.

From the start I mentioned Hocchan’s superb work – you can compare Hanekawa’s normal self to her possessed self. A lot of difference and much power to her for being able to carry the cat part off so well. Then again, she can be considered a veteran in the field, so it should come as no surprise that she managed to land a role as a major character of this series. The seiyuu in this series are all veterans or really promising ones so far (other than Hanazawa, for me anyway), which of course adds to the popularity as well as strength of the series.

For the oddity, it must be the most appealing to me so far. I have a soft spot for catgirls, and Hanekawa in cat form is carried off well, especially in her nightgown, and Hocchan’s “Nyahahahaha” sounds like a more quality rendition of cartoons past that had used the same catchphrase. Hanekawa herself is not as good as Senjougahara, but where oddities are concerned, Tsubasa Cat beats all the others out flat in appearance and appeal.
 

Each time I read the episodic summaries first on Random Curiosity, but it never takes away the enjoyment of watching the episode even if I know what is going to happen, because for Bakemonogatari, the real deal is in the conversation, never in the summaries. This has been proven to me time and again, and I am sure it is the same for many others. Next episode we have Araragi X Senjougahara, before moving back in the webcast that was streamed only recently to the main storyline of Tsubasa Cat.

Related posts:

1. Bakemonogatari 13 – Return of Fetishes
2. Bakemonogatari 06 – In Your Face Part 2
3. Bakemonogatari 10 – Tasukete, Araragi-kun
4. Bakemonogatari 09 – Loliconmonogatari
5. Bakemonogatari 01 Impressions