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Synopsis:
Launching into new territory that the author hadn’t mapped out when he embarked on the series, NEKOMONOGATARI (White) tells the tale of heroine Tsubasa Hanekawa from her own perspective, in her own voice—if that can hold true for a damaged soul who, depending on who you’re asking, suffers from a split personality or a supernatural aberration.The bone-chilling brokenness of her household, where father and mother and daughter keep three separate sets of cookware in the same kitchen and only ever prepare their own meals, and the profound darkness nurtured in the genius schoolgirl’s heart, come to life, if that is the word, through her self-vivisection.
As for our customary unreliable narrator, Araragi, we seem to learn revealing tidbits about him now that we have an outside view of him at last, while his lady friends Senjogahara, Hachikuji, et al, freed from his predilection for proudly inane banter, show subtly new faces to us via their female interlocutor. Welcome to the Second Season.
Information: [26 EPISODES]
AIRED: Jul 7, 2013 to Dec 29, 2013
GENRE: Comedy, Romance, Supernatural, Mystery
THE STORY
The story follows Tsubasa Hanekawa, as she awakes and heads to school, the first day back from summer break. On the way, she runs into Mayoi Hachikuji, who mentions that she was with Koyomi the day prior, but forgot her backpack at his place. After a quick chat Tsubasa tells Mayoi that she’ll let Koyomi know if she sees him at school. After this, Tsubasa comes across a tiger. Towering over her, the tiger stops and says a few words for a moment before walking past her.
At school, Tsubasa tells Hitagi Senjougahara about the tiger, and the two talk about Koyomi for a bit. They head to class and spot a fire in the distance – Tsubasa’s home was on fire. After this realization, Tsubasa gathers the few belongings she has and heads to the abandoned cram school for the night
THE CHARACTERS
Hanekawa Tsubasa "short haired ver" <3
Tsubasa Hanekawa is Koyomi Araragi's classmate, close friend, and a class representative in Naoetsu Private High School. She is known at school as an overachiever and model student who is admired by many. However, hidden by her achievements in school and her kind personality is a tense family life caused by unfortunate circumstances. She was bewitched by an oddity on the first day of Golden Week, giving birth to her "alternate self" called Black Hanekawa, and for some time was responsible for a series of attacks on various people in town. She and Black Hanekawa are the narrators of Nekomonogatari (White), and she is also the narrator of an arc in Wazamonogatari. She is the titular protagonist of four main arcs: Tsubasa Cat, Tsubasa Family, Tsubasa Tiger, and Tsubasa Sleeping, and of three minor arcs: Tsubasa Song, Tsubasa Board, and Tsubasa Lion. Tsubasa is a teenage girl with glasses, black hair, purple pupils, and a fair complexion. She is stated to be beautiful by Suruga Kanbaru, Hitagi Senjougahara, and Koyomi Araragi. She is almost always seen wearing her Naoetsu Private High School uniform, even outside of school days. Chronologically early on in the series she wears glasses and styles her hair into braids. In Kizumonogatari, she has only one pony tail while in Nekomonogatari Black and Bakemonogatari, she ties them into two with a hair ribbon that has a cat design. After the events of Tsubasa Cat, she allows Koyomi to cut her hair as a symbol of her growth (Koyomi secretly keeps her braids). She also begins wearing contact lenses instead of her usual pair of glasses. After the events in Tsubasa Tiger, her hair has silvery-white stripes, resembling a tiger's, although she commonly dyes her hair back to its normal color each morning. As shown during her moments as Black Hanekawa, Tsubasa has a slim figure and is well-endowed. Koyomi once commented in Tsubasa Family that Tsubasa's breasts are "so appealing that one would want to cop a feel." Another interesting detail is her rather unique choice of underwear, which is often decorated with lace. To most people she interacts with, Tsubasa is a soft-spoken girl with a kind heart and a positive personality. Her top grades make her a favorite of the teachers, while her approachable character makes admirers out of her classmates. Tsubasa is also a wealth of information due to her study habits, but keeps humble about it, always stating that "I don’t know everything, I just know what I know" to those who commend her knowledge (although it should be noted that she only says this to Koyomi as this catchphrase makes Koyomi happy). She is never seen angry, but even when she does get mad, she retains her positive appearance, and often resorts to scolding the offender like a teacher, only to show a smile afterwards. The only instance where she is seen with a genuiely angry expression is during Sodachi Lost, when she confronts the trickster Ougi Oshino. However, those who are familiar with her true identity know that all of those are a facade that she shows to the public. The truth is that she often does things without the sentiment that comes along with it, and moves only through common sense. She also possesses a strong sense of righteousness that becomes a double-edged sword, to the point of interacting with her may cause oneself to notice one's imperfections. In Tsubasa Tiger, her personality was described as "accepting whatever comes her way without any objections" and "shunning all of her undesirable traits somewhere else". The latter was what caused the manifestation of Black Hanekawa and Kako, which symbolizes her stress and her envy and negative emotions, respectively. Despite this, Koyomi stated that Hanekawa is the individual he respects the most. She is his first and best friend as well as his "savior" during Kizumonogatari, causing him to deify her as his "ideal girl."
In "Tsubasa Tiger" (Nekomonogatari: Shiro), on her way to school, she met a tiger spirit which spoke to her. Soon buildings important to Hanekawa began to mysteriously burn down and "Black Hanekawa" (her bakeneko form) began to take over her body every time she slept. The inevitable showdown was afoot and led to some surprising events.
"Tsubasa Tiger" is written from the perspective of Hanekawa rather than Araragi.
Black Hanekawa is the "alternate identity" of Tsubasa Hanekawa which manifests whenever the oddity called the sawarineko takes over Tsubasa's body. She is the product of Tsubasa's encounter with the oddity, which is known for its ability to possess people. In contrast to Tsubasa's more reserved personality, Black Hanekawa is playful, shameless, and rather sharp-tongued (both figuratively and literally). She and Tsubasa are the narrators of Nekomonogatari (White). Since Black Hanekawa is simply the sawarineko assuming control of Tsubasa's body, she mostly acquires Tsubasa's physical traits: long hair, a voluptuous figure and a pair of plump breasts. However, the sawarineko changes some aspects of Tsubasa's appearance, changing her hair color to a silvery white, her eyes into a golden hue with slit pupils, a pair of cat ears, and a paler complexion. Black Hanekawa appears to prefer being scantily clothed, and is often seen wearing the underwear Tsubasa wore before the sawarineko took over. Unlike Tsubasa, who is soft-spoken and has a reserved personality, Black Hanekawa possesses a completely different personality. She is playful and talkative, her words often laced with the sounds a cat often makes (particularly "nya"), and is sharp-tongued and blunt when talking to someone. However, she also has a more brutal side which, when combined with her superhuman strength and her distracting choice of clothing, makes her a rather frustrating and difficult opponent to face. She is also known to be a manipulative mind, faking death to attract its next victim. This manipulative character was further strengthened by Tsubasa's knowledge, which she was able to gain access to. Surprisingly, the sawarineko which takes over Tsubasa's body has developed a degree of responsibility over Tsubasa, and has revealed that she "is inclined to help her" after understanding Tsubasa's problems at home. This implies a strong bond between Tsubasa, who was revealed to actually permit the sawarineko possessing her body, and the sawarineko, who has gained a vast amount of knowledge due to taking over Tsubasa's body, something which is completely unheard of when it comes to encounters with a sawarineko, which is known for its ruthlessness to its victims.
Prior to the beginning of Bakemonogatari Hanekawa was possessed by a bakeneko (mischievous spirit of a dead cat) during Golden Week due to stress over her family (see Nekomonogatari: Kuro). The matter was eventually resolved with the help of Shinobu at the cost of some of Hanekawa's memories, but the problem emerged again right before the school festival because of different stress. Araragi was told by Hanekawa's bakeneko form that she has feelings for him.
Hanekawa Tsubasa "Black and White haired"
Black Hanekawa is Hanekawa's physical representation of her dark emotions that's she repressed and bottled up over the years. When she decides to bury the "dead" cat in Neko:kuro it ends up being an abberation that tries to take over her body, but ends up failing. In the end the abberation has to cohabit within Hanekawa's body and feeds on her bottled up emotions to exist. That's why she only comes out at night to take care of her mistress' stress. Black Hanekawa is aware of Hanekawa but (white/pure) Hanekawa doesn't know or realise Black Hanekawa is a thing because she's pretty much all the emotions she's rejected and accumulated throughout the years. So basically, YES they are the same person. Two extremes of one person. The black and white side of the same person. But if you watched the first arc of S2 you know how it ends.
Technically this is explained during the first season during Hanekawa's arcs. Bake : she's introduces as the perfect girl hiding a dark secret. Kizu : you experience her white side and Neko:kuro : you experience her black side. Neko:shiro is the resolution of her story arc.
Koyomi Araragi was voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya. He is a third year high school student that was attacked by a vampire during the spring break and was turned into a vampire. He was able to turn back to being a human; however, he still has some of his abilities from the past. In Nekomonogatari: Kuro he struggles to understand if he loves Tsubasa after she helps him out over the spring break.
Koyomi declined her confession of love. Koyomi would remain by her side, comforting Tsubasa.
SUMMARY
Nekomonogatari Shiro is about Hanekawa Tsubasa and her struggles with the White Tiger, an oddity which starts targeting the places she spends the night in, by setting it on fire. The only main character in this arc, except her, was Senjougahara Hitagi, who gives her a place to spend the night with and also helps her figure out the secret of the oddity who is going on a rampage every night. Araragi appears in the story in the concluding moments.
Nekomonogatari Shiro
Tsubasa Tiger
Chronology – Concurrently, from the beginning of Shinobu time to immediately after Shinobu Mail
Tsubasa talks about herself, how she can't grasp her own identity and how she refuses to acknowledge her surname, since it has constantly had been changed, she begins to tell a story about how she's not the saint Araragi believes she is, but a cat, a tiger and a human.
Tsubasa talks about herself, how she can't grasp her own identity and how she refuses to acknowledge her surname, since it has constantly had been changed, she begins to tell a story about how she's not the saint Araragi believes she is, but a cat, a tiger and a human.
Hanekawa explains that in her house, every member has their own set of utensils, and they all prepare their food individually, she eats her breakfast, changes into her uniform and goes to school, on her way she meets Hachikuji, who gleefully greets her, Hachikuji tells her that she was at Araragi's house looking for her backpack, which she lost after he dragged her to his house, but he wasn't at home, Tsubasa promises to tell Koyomi about her backpack, and Hachikuji leaves confident in the fact that her story with him comes next, Hanekawa stops her from spoiling more of the story.
Further along, she meets a giant white tiger at a crossroad, the tiger mentions "white lies of ignorance" and vanishes.
At the school, Tsubasa tells Hitagi of the tiger oddity, Hitagi confirms that it's not a cat this time, but a tiger, Senjougahara tells her that Araragi is a more appropriate person to deal with oddities, Hanekawa tells her that Araragi is absent, and Senjougahara tells her that she should have called him, since he'll never consider helping her an inconvenience, she tells her that maybe she was expecting him to come for her rescue without asking, as he always does.
At their classroom, they see, through the window that Tsubasa's house burned down, the shocked girl explains that she told her family that she'll sleep at a friend's place, which they agree to without a question, she heads to the abandoned cram school, saying that she has no one to ask for help, she makes plans to live using the school's bathrooms while eating food from a convenience store, she goes to sleep on a makeshift bed made of cardboard, school desks and newspaper, she comments she slept better than at her home.
Sejougahara wakes her up in tears, slapping her for sleeping alone in a place like that, she apologizes and Hitagi tells her that she won't forgive her for making her worry, Hitagi explains that she had been running over the city looking for her, even meeting her parents, she tells Tsubasa that she shouldn't call them her "Father" and "Mother", Tsubasa thanks her for caring for her and Hitagi threatens her into coming to her house.
Hitagi welcomes her into her house, telling her father isn't at home, she apologizes for not having her old mansions's extra rooms, only a rose, refering to the anime Lupin III, she tells that Senjougahara's house feels like home, while wondering if she even has a home now, Hitagi convinces her to skip school and stay at her house due to not sleeping all night, she convinces her after challenging her to a fight, Tsubasa asks Senjougahara to put on clothes but she invites her to take a shower, she protests but Hitagi tries to calm her down, telling her she just wants to see her naked body, after Hitagi resorts to begging, she gives in, reasoning that she shouldn't refuse after she made her worry so much.
They receive telling her Araragi's message, saying he won't be coming home for a while, Hitagi worries, but after he doesn't answer her calls she settles for just teasing him about showering with Hanekawa, and tells Tsubasa that they'll simply have to deal with the tiger that, Hitagi suspects, burned her house.
She removes her clothes, goes to the shower and asks Tsubasa whether she's still in love with Araragi, and she confirms.
Tsubasa continues to tell her story, telling how Araragi was famous in junior-high, constantly absent from class, and making the Fire Sisters's actions pale in comparison, according to her that there was a "mental change" on him during his first year of high school, and that for a long time she's been in love with him.
Back to last night the girls take a shower, Tsubasa comments about how much Senjougahara has changed, she's who's known for isolating herself, but had raced across town looking for her friend and invited her to shower, while she hasn't matured, despite the events of Golden week and Spring Break, after the bath Senjougahara lends her a pair of pajamas and pleads to sleep in the same futon, reasoning that if she sleeps in her father's futon, they wouldn't be able to sleep together.
Back to the afternoon, Hitagi makes them breakfast, she comments on how Koyomi disliked that dish, Hanekawa comments on how people have different tastes, and Senjougahara tells her they have similar tastes in food and men, Hanekawa spits her food in surprise, Tsubasa complains about her frankness, but Hitagi thinks it's a good chance for a conversation, Hanekawa suggests to talk about what they like about Araragi, but Senjougahara prefers not to risk inflating Koyomi's ego, she suggests they should talk about what they hate on him and they agree.
Later they talk about Hanekawa's future, since it'll take a week for the insurance to rebuild her house, Senjougahara decides to let her stay until then.
Black Hanekawa wakes up in the evening, explaining that she came back because of the destruction of her mistress's house, she leaves the house to alleviate stress, butshe decides to go after the tiger, the tiger asks her what is she, she answers that she's a meddlecat, he dismisses her for the meddlecat's weakness, but since "they're the same type of oddity" he asks her what she wants, she doesn't understands what he means, and tells him that while she doesn't care about what he does, but she'll kill him if he harms her mistress, he's not threatened, but takes interest in her siding with a human, he tells her that all that matters is that Hanekawa had seen him and attacks her, Black Hanekawa tries to flee but he follows her telling her it's useless to resist.
She goes back to Hitagi's house and is surprised by her, Hitagi greets her and offers to shake hands, but she warns her of her Energy Drain, Senjougahara insists and shakes her hand.
Hanekawa wakes up and offers to go jogging with her, she declines and makes them breakfast, Senjougahara eats it but complains about the total lack of seasoning, questioning about her preferences she discovers that Hanekawa dislikes any kind of seasoning, since "food is still good, even without flavor", she's the kind of person who just ignores the problems in her life, she tells her that having things she hates is just as important as things she loves, she then question her whether she's really in love with Araragi.
The conversation continues with Senjougahara comparing Hanekawa and Araragi, even though they both sacrifice themselves for others, they're different, Araragi is a fake, while Hanekawa is the real thing, she explains that if they saw a dead cat on the street, Hanekawa would simply bury it, Araragi would do the same, but would complain about it, but most people would simply ignore it, in fear of being seen as a "good person" and being exploited, Araragi knows that pretending to be bad is safer, but Hanekawa ignores the risk, she's not a saint, she simply chooses to ignore the consequences in her life, she's protecting herself in the white lies of her ignorance.
The next day she meets Kanbaru at school, she asks her about the meaning of a message Araragi sent her, it says "Tonight at nine, second floor classroom, come alone, i have something to ask of you", Hanekawa explains that he must mean to meet him at the abandoned cram school, Suruga says she's surprised that Hanekawa isn't saddened by her house's destruction and leaves Hanekawa wondering why did Araragi call Kanbaru.
Tsubasa goes back to Hitagi's house, there she meets Sejougahara's father, she tells Senjougahara about Araragi's message, and they discuss why did he contact Kanbaru and not then, Senjougahara suggest she should go too, since she wants to meet Araragi, but they decide to leave Araragi alone, since he doesn't seen to be hiding something and they'd only get in his way, even though Araragi and Kanbaru aren't the only ones with oddities in their bodies, Hanekawa is confused, but Hitagi doesn't explain herself.
Hitagi answers the door to Araragi's sisters, Hanekawa explains that Senjougahara met Karen and told her about Hanekawa's house fire, Karen pretended to know about the fire, Hitagi provoked her by saying that her justice is empty and that unlike her brother she can't help with anything, since there's no justice in this world, Karen decides to prove her wrong by offering to take Hanekawa home.
At Araragi's house, the Fire Sisters offer her Koyomi's room, Hanekawa asks whether their parents are fine with her staying, but Tsukihi reassures her, saying that they wouldn't turn a person in need away since they're as justice minded as their children, Hanekawa asks about their profession and they answer that their parents are police officers.
Hanekawa feels guilty about abusing Karen and Tsukihi's sense of justice, but she agrees with Senjougahara's comment about her difficulty in asking for help, she takes a bath with the Fire Sisters and they voice their appreciation for her company.
She changes into a pair of pajamas Karen lent her, but gets embarassed when Karen tells her it's Araragi's, she has difficulty falling asleep thinking about how she's wearing Araragi's clothes and using his bed, but later at night Black Hanekawa wakes up, glad she can't show up while Hanekawa's awake, so they "won't supress her with the tiny vampire", the offended Shinobu appears, Black Hanekawa asks her how she left Koyomi's shadow, Shinobu tells her that "there were a few irregularities" and their pairing was severed, she says she was hoping to meet Araragi but was disappointed by her, Black Hanekawa tells her of Araragi's text and Shinobu thanks her, and says she'll refrain from dining on her, Shinobu tells her she's glad a Black Hanekawa's change of heart, since draining her stress was a temporary solution, Black Hanekawa is glad at her freedom, being the other side of Hanekawa's personality.
Shinobu tells her of Napoleon, who was rumoured to sleep 3 hours a day, but took 6 hour baths every day, saying that regardless of anyone's perspective, Hanekawa and her split personality are the same, and that it would be best, both for the humans and for the oddities, when an oddity disappears naturally, Black Hanekawa then asks whether she knows of any tiger oddities, even though Shinobu knows over 50 tiger oddities, she never knew one who spoke, she says it might be one an oddity that only Hanekawa can see, Shinobu tries to go to the school, but Black Hanekawa offers her a ride, she carries her to the cram school, draining Shinobu on the way, but they find a surprise, the cram school is in ashes.
Hanekawa wakes up in the morning confused about the smell of dirt on her clothes, she finds a white hair and concludes that she's turning into a meddlecat again, she's glad that she isn't showing the same symptoms and Black Hanekawa isn't attacking anyone, but gets worried about Black Hanekawa running around.
Tsukihi calls her for breakfast, and she wonders why Araragi finds her a nuisance, before leaving she's interrupted by Araragi's mother, she lectures her about staying at her house, saying that even though she's welcome as a friend they can't become her family, she finishes telling her that she shouldn't avert her eyes from he situation.
She goes to school and meets Episode, he barely remembers her, laughing at when he tried to kill her, she politely greets him and asks him why he's back in Japan, he dismisses her politeness telling her that he's only 6 years old and she shouldn't judge him by his personality, Hanekawa repeats her question, he says that he doesn't know, he was paid up front and he accepted, she asks if he came for the tiger, he gets confused and says he only hunts vampires, and he's disappointed, the dreadful feeling he felt on Hanekawa during Spring Break is gone, the conversation is interrupted by the appearance of his client, Oshino Meme's upperclassman, she greets Tsubasa by name and introduces herself as Gaen Izuko, she calls Episode and says that they should go and that Yotsugi will be joining soon, he complains about how she assumes people know what she's talking about, she smugly dismisses Hanekawa, telling her to take care of the tiger by herself, Hanekawa is surprised by her knowing the tiger, and she answers that "There's nothing i don't know", and that she knows she'll be facing the Kako(苛虎, Hysteria/History Tiger) soon, and there's no one, not even the boy she loves, who can help her.
She continues to tease Hanekawa about her lack of knowledge, saying that it must be difficult living as an idiot, like everyone else, unlike her, "who knows everything", she tells Hanekawa about the school fire and leaves.
On her way from school, Hanekawa goes to the library, but can't find an information about the tiger, she then assumes that the tiger must be a new oddity, like Black Hanekawa, she calls Senjougahara and they discuss the meaning of the tiger's name, and Senjougahara tells that Hanekawa must be connected to the tiger, both her house and the cram school, places where she's slept, have burned down, and if it continues, her own apartment comes next tonight.
Hanekawa returns to the Araragi's residence and Karen drags her to play cards, Karen, Tsukihi and Hanekawa discuss what they think about the word "fire", Karen says that she thinks about the burning justice in her heart that gives the Fire Sisters their name, Tsukihi corrects her, telling Hanekawa that they're simply called that because they both have kanji for fire in their names, and she syas she associates fire with the passion of a heart in love, and that the Fire Sisters aren't just fighters of justice, but they're also love counselors, and Araragi consulted with them, Hanekawa assumes he asked about Senjougahara, but Tsukihi says she doesn't remember, since it's been too long since then, she completes saying that she and Karen agree that fire is related to passionate feelings, they mention their boyfriends, Hanekawa is surprised since Araragi never mentioned them, they say that Araragi chooses to ignore their boyfriends's existence, Hanekawa asks what they're like and the two sisters both answer that they are just like their brother.
They continue saying that they're annoyed that they have met Hitagi, but he never met their boyfriends, which makes Hanekawa realize another word associated with "fire", "envy", and just like Araragi is averting his eyes from his sister's boyfriends she's also avoiding her own envy.
She decides to roll around Araragi's bed to leave her smell there in case they never meet again, she changes into Araragi's clothes and sends him a picture, then she writes a letter to Black Hanekawa, thanking her for carrying her burdens.
She tells Black Hanekawa that the tiger was an oddity created by her, like Black Hanekawa was made from stress, the tiger is made from her envy that she felt for her parents, who live a happy life, despite her situation, she says she's decided to face her problems and accept her problems in order to move on, even though doing so might make her lose Koyomi, who sees her as a saint, and her only chance of telling him how she feels.
Black Hanekawa reads the letter and is disappointed by Hanekawa treating her and the tiger as her familyu, since they're bound to disappear, she feels she shouldn't mess with the tiger but decides to answer Hanekawa's plea as her last act, since she gave her a home, she writes a note on the letter and leaps from the window to face the History Tiger.
The History Tiger presents itself, it was created by his Hanekawa, his "twin sister", out of her negative emotions, as such he has nothing but the evil in her, who stays pure, and as such he must burn away everyone, so that they'll cry like him, he finishes his presentation overlooking Senjougahara's apartment building.
He prepares to burn it down but is interrupted by Black Hanekawa, he orders her to stand aside, but she's determined to face him, to save Hitagi from dying, and Hanekawa from the grief, the Tiger says that it will only create more oddities, while she stays pure, hating no one and loving all.
Tsubasa takes over her body and tells the Tiger that she wants to change, even though she'll end up hating someone, and won't be able to love everyone, she wants to be human, with all of the sadness, anger, and impurity that he's carrying for her, she extends her hand to him but he attacks her, Black Hanekawa returns and jumps away, she grabs his stomach but he sets himself on fire, she withstands the flames, trying to drain him, the Tiger throws the wounded Black Hanekawa away and decides to finish her life, Hanekawa regrets her uselessness and her inability to confess her love to Araragi, before she dies
Kokorowatari pierces the Tiger, Araragi arrives in tattered clothes and says that her efforts weren't useless, she managed to delay the Tiger long enough for help to arrive, he removes the sword from the Tiger and reveals that he read the letter she left in his room, he offers the tiger for her to drain before it dies, she asks if he's fine if she's not herself anymore, but he answers that she'll still be her regardless of what happens.
he'll scold her if she becomes bad, and comfort her if she's sad, he pats her hair, and she confesses her love for him, she asks him if he would like to marry her one day, but he rejects her, saying he loves another girl, she asks if he loves Hitagi more than her and he confirms, she's glad to be rejected and absorbs the Tiger, all signs of the Tiger and Black Hanekawa vanish leaving her with only white streaks in her hair, she begins sobbing, but Araragi comforts her.
Ten days later she moves into a new house, a much smaller one than before, her hair is still streaked with white stripes, which she dyes black to hide, she asks for a room from her parents and they accept it, for the first time she feels like she's at home, she says that ever since she saw Hachikuji that day she felt lost, but she's glad for the experiences she had, as she enters her room she says the words Black Hanekawa had written in her letter: "I'm home".
FAMILY
Placed at the foreground of the arc, but also as the background as it caused most of Hanekawa's problems is the concept of family. Hers is barely worth the title. Her natural parents abandoned her, and her current legal guardians, so far removed from her, utterly fail in their roles. I'm of the opinion that the Hanekawas are some of the worst parents in anime. As opposed to some of the classic contenders to the title, for example Shou Tucker, they aren't truly horrible people, psychopaths that so happen to be parents, they are completely normal people that simply made less than any effort to raise the child they were entrusted with. Hanekawa doesn't exist as far as they are concerned, and the mental problems this caused Hanekawa are obvious. That she isn't worse is a miracle.
It also explores the idea that a family is something you find and choose, friends instead of blood relatives. This arc is all about Hanekawa finding other people to rely on when she was alone before. At the same time it reminds us, through Senjougahara and Mamaragi, that family can be something special, and that you can't just insert yourself into another family.
And the fact that Hanekawa calls her oddities her sisters, as the Araragi family is the best example of a healthy family dynamic she's seen (which is not necessarily a good thing)
EMOTIONS
More so than the external problems Hanekawa is faced with, the real core of this arc is how Hanekawa deals with her internal problems. She has a tendency to push all her emotions aside instead of processing them properly. Both of her oddities are parts of her psyche she cut off instead of facing them. Black Hanekawa comes from her refusing to face everything that causes a problem for her, every source of stress. As Senjougahara says, she accepts everything. Kako, meanwhile, is her envy, the desire to have things other people have. A family, a home, Araragi. In many way, Hanekawa is similar to Senjougahara, as both were disconnected from their feelings and only solved their problems by accepting them back. Hanekawa just took much longer to do so than Senjougahara. Another area were she was much faster.
This theme of recognizing and accepting your own feeling is the most central to the series. It's what every oddity is about, one way or another, and Araragi is not immune to this overarching theme. The resolution of this arc is as much about Hanekawa admitting her feeling as it is about him confirming that he only loves Senjougahara,
LOVE
The fact of the matter is that a relationship between Hanekawa and Araragi never would've worked, as both were never really in love with each other. Hanekawa doesn't really love Araragi, but what he represents. For her, he's a prince, a knight in shining armour that has come to save her. From abuse parents, from monsters, from a vampire hunter that would hurt her. Similarly but also on the complete opposite of the spectrum, Araragi is what she was searching for that night in Kizu, the dark, mysterious stranger that could whisk her away to a more interesting life than the boring one she made for herself, where she perfectly fits the mold (too perfectly, some would say). Meanwhile, Araragi doesn't love her. He lusts for her, as was made clear multiple time. He also idolises her. To him, she is perfect, someone that is placed high on a pedestal and can never be touched. She's not real to him, more of an image, and it could be said that her personality is not real either. Even after the event of Neko Kuro, where he first sees the flaws in her character, he continues to consistently describe her as perfect.
So, the story of Hanekawa and Araragi explored for us the topic of love through rejection, something that looks like a traditional first crush. It's a love not based on much but teenage emotions, that is not made to last and never would've worked. Another rejection theme showed in the series was the love triangle with Senjougahara and Kanbaru. And there is a third rejection type, or rather the absence of one. Nadeko represents the childish crush that is not confessed and thus can't be rejected, not that it would work out anyway.
In contrast, the series shows two true love. Senjougahara is the more traditional love, a solid relationship with respect and understanding on both sides, something that can last. And Shinobu is somewhat more platonic, but possibly even deeper, it's complete opposite in all ways. It's supernatural, it's not sexual (anymore). Senjougahara is still a new relationship, with all that entails, but Shinobu is more akin to an old married couple.
Asking for help - Carrying over from Oshino's discussion with Araragi at the end of Neko Kuro, Hanekawa finally asks for help. This interplays really well with Oshino's axiom that people save themselves. Hanekawa reaching out for help from the part of herself she cut away is genuinely moving and inspired thematic writing. The best girl is finally ready to open herself up to the emotional pain that makes a person human.
Hanekawa and Kako - Fittingly, Kako is all the amalgamation of all the painful emotions and feelings Hanekawa cut away from herself to remain pure and ignorant. I think that's what makes this episode so strong and emotional for me, that she's taking back 18 years of repressed emotion all at once and learning to love herself within that. That's a very personal connection for me, because I spent a long time unable to love the more burning parts of myself. In taking Kako back into her heart, it finally feels like Hanekawa is self-actualizing for the first time in her life, at least enough to...
Confess to Araragi - From the way he shows up, looking like a superhero to her, to the way he reassures her that every part of herself is her, this is just the strongest character scene the two have together. Moreso than family heirloom pantsu, moreso than golden oppai tickets, moreso than Nyan tongue twisters. It's just the most heartbreakingly human moment of the show between two characters I just can't help deeply caring about. I can never watch this scene without bawling.
Other random things - The use of color in this episode (and this arc) is just exquisite. The blue and red palettes contrasting Black Hanekawa with Kako as they confront each other. The shot of the blood-red moon eclipsing the two against mostly black and white on top of the steel beams. Just some fantastic color work and striking shots.
Reason number 42069 why Hanekawa is the GOAT best girl: she's prolific enough to birth a whole army of apparitions from herself. Who else you know that can play that strat?
Hanekawa finally properly faces her 'parents' and asks for her own room. And she gets it! I've never been happier to hear a character say "tadaima" before.
As a deconstruction of the humble, saint-like know-it-all character, Hanekawa faces the glaring issue pertaining to this archetype. If someone were really like this, they must be repressing everything else about them. This personality of hers is in many ways a character she is putting on. With the self-awareness the Monogatari series has, it presents her as being a character inside of a story, putting on an archetype common to these kinds of stories, but this is very much paralleled to reality as real people put on characters every day in order interact with the world around them. We all repress parts of ourselves, and if it gets too severe, it can become destructive. This human layer was always present in the characters and in Hanekawa through the series’ self-awareness. Through being self-aware and hyperbolic, the characters show that they are playing up their archetypal personalities,they show that that is not all there is to them. And now, Hanekawa is forced to confront this. Her repression of certain parts of herself, everything her character appears not to be, has gotten to a destructive point. Her negative emotions have taken on the form of the Tiger aberration, which is acting on her envy for what others have. This repression of herself has been in some ways caused by her environment. Her feelings for Araragi that she is forced to repress due to him being with Senjougahara. Her family situation, where she is left without even a room of her own, forced to sleep on the ground of the hallway. In the final episode of the arc, she is forced to confront herself and these outside influences. Expressed through a breathtaking scene of visual storytelling representing her emotional journey toward self-acceptance, she calls out to Black Hanekawa. She asks Black Hanekawa, who is herself, to save her. In order to save herself, she confronts those negative emotions and accepts them as part of her.She must also take the initiative to confront the outside influences that cause her to repress these negative emotions as well. She confesses to Araragi and is rejected, allowing her to accept her relationship as it is with him who is so important in her life. She also directly asks her current guardians for a room of her own in their new house. This room of her own, as she says, is needed in order to give her “little sisters’, the aberrations of Black Hanekawa and the tiger, the space they need. This self-acceptance and confrontation of the influences in her life are Hanekawa’s conclusion-and her savior of herself.
Overall
Nekomonogatari (White) was a more balanced than average Monogatari installment. There wasn’t a huge amount of action, but the usual lengthy conversations drove the plot more than expected, and I enjoyed the thoughtful examination of the characters and their motivations. The design remained impeccable with some excellent cuts of animation and striking scenery. Even if a particular scene is pedestrian in content, the execution almost never is. Such imaginative presentation succeeds in preventing boredom during those prolonged dialogue scenes. A lesser production studio would likely struggle to make this series even half as watchable as it has been so far. Hanekawa’s arc in Neko Shiro is one of my personal favorites. While somewhat more simple than some others, it is in my mind one of the most effectively executed arcs in the entire series. It is a powerful journey toward self-acceptance with a variety of facets paralleling and reinforcing it. Acceptance is often one of the most critical requirements to be able to take a step forward.
“I don't know everything. I just know what I know.” – Tsubasa Hanekawa.
MONOGATARI SERIES WATCH ORDER
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