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Synopsis:
After surviving a vampire attack, Koyomi Araragi notices that his friend and savior, Tsubasa Hanekawa, has been acting strange. When he happens to cross paths with her on his way to a bookstore and sees she has a bandage on her face, he knows something must definitely be wrong. Araragi wants to help her, but Hanekawa assures him that her wound is just something she received at home and that he should not concern himself with it. But when a white cat with no tail is hit and killed by a car, the pair bury the creature and the real trouble begins.When Araragi later pays a visit to his friend Meme Oshino and recounts the day's events, he is informed what they have buried is actually an apparition, one perfect for Hanekawa in her current state. Tasked with finding his friend to confirm her safety, he discovers that she has attacked her parents, possessed by the "Sawari Neko." Now, it is up to Araragi to help Hanekawa as she once helped him
Information: [4 EPISODES]
AIRED: Dec 31, 2012
GENRE: Comedy, Romance, Supernatural, Ecchi
THE STORY
Nekomongatari Black contains the Tsubasa Family arc from the Monogatari series. This dialogue packed yet short 4 episode season tells the tale of how Tsubasa Hanekawa was possessed by the Meddlecat and delves into Araragi's complicated feelings for Hanekawa. And it does it in excellent fashion, through spectacular visual directing, as is common for the monogatari series.
Nekomonogatari Black gives us a view into the nature of Hanekawa and Araragi's characters, as well as their relationship. It subverts our expectations that had been build up since Bake regarding their situation. The two previous installments in the series, Bake and Nise, had framed Hanekawa and Araragi as a one-sided love relationship. It had also been assumed that Hanekawa was a troubled victim of family problems and stress. But the reality is that their relationship and Hanekawa's character is much more unsettling.
Hanekawa wasn't being possessed, she was her own monster. A self depreciating and emotionless monster with a fake front. She ends this season the same way it started (if not worse because now she will be eternally heartbroken by Araragi's rejection), living an abusive relationship with her "family" and with herself. It leaves us with a hope of growth for such a complex character. However, in the viewers eyes Hanekawa's character has seen changed from what we assumed from the last two seasons of the Monogatari series.
Araragi on the other hand leaves Golden Week a changed man. Hanekawa was someone he used to idolize, so much that he wanted to die for her. But after discovering her nature as a monster (similar to him), and the difference between love and desire, he has to give up on the idea of loving her. Even if he was lying to himself about not living her, he comes to understand what unconditional love means. Leading us into his relationship with Senjougahara. We even see the difference in his relationship with Shinobu during Golden Week and the present.
THE CHARACTERS
best waifu ko sa monogatari series <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."
Her biological mother was 17 years old when she got pregnant, the biological father is unknown because she apparently had many lovers. Before she gave birth to Tsubasa, she married another man who was a "workaholic." Right after giving birth, Tsubasa's biological mother commited suicide. The workaholic stepfather, unable to raise a child, remarried again to a woman who is Tsubasa's current mother. The workaholic father soon died from overwork and the current mother married another man who is now Tsubasa's current father.
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.
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.
Hanekawa Tsubasa and Hanekawa Black <3
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.
SUMMARY
Nekomonogatari. This entry in the series was aimed to provide a little backstory on what happened that fateful Golden Week we’ve heard mentioned countless times. It also had even provided the very nature of Araragi and Hanekawa’s relationship, and how they saw one another as potential love interests. Nekomonogatari was focused on developing the characters of both Araragi and Hanekawa, and further explains how she came to have the nickname “Black Hanekawa”. What seemed at first to be a single family problem for Hanekawa was soon revealed to be a lot more complicated than what was first thought. And the repercussions of it all were far greater than what Araragi or Oshino could’ve anticipated.
Tsubasa Family
Chronology - Golden Week/2 weeks after Kizumonogatari
Koyomi is awoken by Tsukihi attacking him with a crowbar, she justifies it by saying that since her character wasn't set yet she's trying to be yandere, Araragi then asks Tsukihi to tal about love, he says that since she has a boyfriend in middle-school she should be a veteran on love advice, he says that maybe he's interested in a classmate, she's surprised that he, who used to be a cynical loner, would be in love, he retorts that it's just a possibility, and he wants to be certain, he's been having toughts about Ms. H, contanstly looking in her direction and hoping to run into her, and being embarrassed of buying porn magazines, the disgusted Tsukihi tells him it's love, he continues asking her about how she felt about her boyfriend, Araragi says he may have just fallen in love and Tsukihi decides he did, he thanks her for the help.
He continues asking her whether constantly thinking, looking and hoping to meet her are normal, which Tsukihi confirms, he then asks if constantly wanting to grab her breasts is normals, but she says it's wrong, he clarifies that he's what he's constantly thinking about are Ms. H's breasts, she tells him it's normal to want to touch a girl's breasts, even offering her breasts as a joke, she then concludes he's just horny from not buying porn, he proposes that he should grab Karen or Tsukihi's breast whenever he feels like it, but his sister tells him that he should just go out and buy some porn magazines to avoid mistaking lust for love.
On his way out he meets Karen who just came back from running a marathon, he asks her for love advice, but she just says that love is when you feel like wanting to have someone's child, he quickly leaves and meets Hanekawa, she tries to hide her bandaged cheek but he flips her skirt, but she invites him for a walk, she tries to talk to him about his sisters, he replies that he thinks they are a nuisance, but she tells him that it's good that he has a family, in comparison to her who has none, she explains to him that she lives with her stepmother and her husband, she and her family are complete strangers, he asks her about her cheek, she makes him promise to keep a secret and tells him that her father hit her, she tries reasoning it which scares Araragi, she begs him not to tell anyone offering to do anything for him, he spends a long time deciding what to have her do, leaving her confused with his reaction, she tries, to no avail, to remind him of the serious conversation, he decides he wants to lick her wound, he chickens out and just pricks his finger and rubs some of his blood on the wound, he goes home frustrated with Hanekawa's situation.
Koyomi carries a box of donuts to cram school, he greets the lethargic Shinobu, he tries to cheer her while offering his neck, but she ignores him, focusing on the donuts instead, he feeds her the donuts and she quickly eats half of them, he tries to take them away and she obeys his commands like a dog in trade for more donuts, he says he brought the donuts for Oshino, but after feeling pity for her current form, he concedes the box of sweets, she speaks for the first time in joy for the donuts, before quickly going back to silence.
Oshino arrives and explains that oddities are influenced by human's perspective, and that Araragi's perception is influencing her behavior, he then asks if Hanekawa is fine, Koyomi confirms but he asks if he's sure, Oshino interrogates Araragi and he explains what happened, with the exception of her family's situation, from his violent awakening, to meeting Hanekawa, to burying a dead cat with her.
Oshino explains that he's collecting information on the Meddlecat, an oddity that acts like a dead cat and possesses those who feel pity for it, Oshino tells Araragi he'll have to check on Hanekawa while he'll go dig the cat up, Araragi tries to tell him where they buried it but Oshino ignores him.
On his way to her house he sees a cat-eared Hanekawa dragging a person, Hanekawa greets him as the person who helped bury her, the cat throws an unconscious couple at his feet, telling him it's her mistress's parents ordering to dispose of them before leaving, he tries to stop her, but she his left arm off, and stepping on him, he asks her about her mistress, and she says she's setting her mistress free, starting by relieving her stress, he calls an ambulance for her parents, but he's surprised at his blood's slow evaporation.
Back at the cram school, Shinobu watches over him as he sleeps, waiting for his arm to heal, Oshino comes in and explains that he had Shinobu stay near him to improve his recovery since his immortality had been partially drained by the Meddlecat, and that the cat, while it has a weak Energy drain, is still stronger than Araragi, who's barely a vampire, Oshino tells him that he should thank Shinobu for the help, but Araragi thinks she's just trying to survive, to Oshino's dismay, he sends Araragi home, after he received over a hundred calls from his sisters, and tells Araragi that he shouldn't get in the way while the professional deals with the cat, telling him he doesn't have anything he can do for Hanekawa.
At Hanekawa's house Koyomi witnesses the meddlecat jumping from the second floor window, he enters through it and after exploring the house he panics and jumps from the window, he continues to run until he reaches home, where he hugs Tsukihi with a terrified look, he explains that while her house has plenty of vacant rooms, none are hers, she lives in a hallway, and her family situation is even worse, Tsukihi comforts him, she tells him she and Karen were scared that he migh have run into a monster cat, she says there's a rumour of a cat in human form assaulting people in town, she tells him that Karen's out hunting for the monster, he then tells her with a straight face that he's scared and wants to sleep with hs sisters, that they are his only hope for safety, Tsukihi happily goes to call off Karen's hunt, later Araragi stays awake in bed with his sisters, blaming himself for not helping her despite her help during spring break, calling himself foolish for thinking he loved Hanekawa.
For the next two days Hanekawa didn't come to school, while rumours of the cat monster spread, he decide to pay Oshino a visit and finds him heavily wounded, Oshino greets him and explains that, during the last 3 days, he lost 20 battles to the cat, saying that a high schooler in lingerie is too much a distraction for him to fight, he explains that the meddlecat is a low-level oddity, but despite his best efforts he lost, the meddlecat possesses the body of those who take pity and bury it, and later takes over, but even though it's a weak oddity, it's pulling on Hanekawa's knowledge and making itself far stronger by counteracting his techniques and professional knowledge, it's the first oddity he ever saw that uses human tactics and strategies, but the bright side is, that proves Hanekawa is still inside her own body, but not for long, they have to salvage her conscience before she's gone. Araragi then narrates Oshino's story of a man who was afflicted in the same way as Hanekawa, but after calling a shaman to exorcise him they found that he was not haunted by any spirit, Oshino continues to explain that no person is just virtuous and full of kindness, but that everyone has some darkness that accompanies the light, Hanekawa is just using the cat as a mask, she hid her flaws and built up stress, she's fusing with cat.
In the morning Araragi visits Hanekawa's desk at school and is met by the cat, she calls him a pervert for licking her desk, she notices he has no animosity against her, he asnwers that he assumes she won't kill him, she explains that she can't help it, she has little control of her Energy Drain, and while she's weaker than a vampire, thanks to Hanekawa, she's able to face even specialists, but she says she's one to return kindness with evil, nut she's trying to return Hanekawa's favor, Araragi asks her why she's attacking people since, unlike vampires, she has no need for it, she answers that she's amused by it, she's simply relieving stress, she tells Araragi that since he's been in her house, he should know about her life, and since she's taken over Hanekawa's memories she's trying to relieve her stress by attacking random people because it's fun, and that he should tell Oshino to back down, he asks her why she's going out of her way for that, she tells him that she's doing it for Hanekawa's her lack of sympathy, she was just burying the cat out of pure common sense, Araragi tell her that most people wouldn't bother with a dead cat, the cat tells him he's right, but despite all of the times it's been buried, she was the first to do so without pity, so it wants to thank her on a whim, and that she could have killed Oshino if she wanted, she then leaves wishing Araragi a happy life, Araragi tells her that it's impossible to relieve her stress since it's caused by her parents, and it'll all come back soon, so she tells him that she'll simply torture them to the point of no return, he tries to stop her but he's reminded that contact with her will only bring him harm.
The depressed Araragi realizes that he likes her, but his feelings surpass love, he wants to die for her
Araragi spends the following days begging for Shinobu's help, but she stays silent, she kicks him across the room and gives him Kokorowatari, he thanks her, Oshino arrives, surprised at the sword, he tells him that Hanekawa's parents were out of the hospital, and that he heard about her father hitting her, he had slapped her, and in response she smiled and said "he shouldn't slap a girl in the face", Oshino is disgusted, Araragi asks him if he's on their side, but he says he's neutral, and a third party shouldn't take side, and while her parents aren't to be praised, living with the ever virtuous Hanekawa had pushed them to their breaking point, shoving their flaws in their faces, Araragi says he wants to kill them, Oshino questions his sympathy, but he says he just has a crush on an unfortunate girl and "all he feels toward a cat-eared high school girl in lingerie is lust".
He explains that by using the oddity slaying sword he can kill the meddlecat without harming Hanekawa, Oshino gives three pieces of advice, she's waiting for him to go after her, he refuses to tell the second, and asks him how he's planning on finding Hanekawa, Araragi leaves telling him he has his own way of finding her, and Oshino answers that he won't interfere.
Araragi sends a text and after 30 minutes the meddlecat appears bursting through the wall of the school, Hanekawa's voice asks him if he's alright, but the cat's voice returns, realizing that he had tricked her, telling her that Shinobu was attacking him, the cat tells him that he shouldn't lie, but he tells her Hanekawa has forgotten to use the cat's speech patterns, Hanekawa's voice returns and asks him how he figured out, he says that he should have noticed her personality hadn't changed despite acting like the meddle cat, and that he knows that she's relieved with his knowledge, he berates her, telling her that no matter what she does, or how she tries to hide she's going to have to live with her personality, she says she's only human, but Araragi angrlily tells her she's sold herself to an oddity and can't claim to be human, she's angry that he won't pity her, he says that even though her mother has commited suicide, and she has to live in a cold household with her adoptive parents, but he doesn't care, he can't feel her pain, and she'll just go home like nothing has happenned anyway, never reconciling with her problems.
He offers to help her with her stress since he's her friend, she laments he won't become her hero, and asks him if he hates her, he confirms it, and tell him she hates him, she repeatedly tells him to die, and asks to kill him, he says that he wants to be killed by her, she chops him in half, hurting herself on Kokorowatari he had hidden in his body, she writhes in pain, but Araragi tells him it only hurt the cat inside her, she disbelieves him, but he tells him not even Oshino knew of the sword, that's why she fell into his trap, he's glad she doesn't know everything, he resigns himself to dying, asking for Hanekawa to go back to being happy, he laments that he's not solving the problem, that Hanekawa's life won't improve, and that's probably what Oshino meant to tell him, he's just wants to die meaninglessly for her sake.
She begins to grow fur due to the meddlecat attacking her body from within, he begs the cat to stop, Shinobu arrives and berates her servant for his haphazard plan, gougining out her arm and using her blood to heal him, she refuses to let him die without her consent, swallows Kokorowatari and drains Hanekawa before returning to silence and leaving.
Araragi tells her they're stuck with this life, and the exhausted Hanekawa tells him she's fine with it.
The next day Araragi visit's the cat's grave to pray for it before going to the cram school where he finds that Shinobu asked Oshino for a helmet, which he laments for not being able to pat her hair, Oshino tell's Araragi that he called the oddity made from the meddlecat and Hanekawa "Black Hanekawa", since Hanekawa had recovered her conscience after attacking her parents, but she clinged to the cat oddity, but she has no memory of the past week, Araragi worries about Hanekawa's family and Oshino suggest he should marry her, so she'll have a family she always wanted, Araragi asks if he's joking, but he tells him that it would allow him to repay her for spring break, and it would make both happy, since he assumes Araragi loves Hanekawa, Araragi tells him he's not in love with her, but Oshino warns him that regardless, he should think about Hanekawa's feelings, Araragi laments that she didn't asked for help, Oshino tells him that just because she didn't say it, doesn't mean that she didn't want it.
Araragi goes to school thinking that he won't ever say he loves Hanekawa, and that, one day, he'll love someone else, but he's thankful that she taught him to care for someone else, and even though she has forgotten the last 9 days, he'll always remember, and that he lost love, even though it wasn't his love, he climbs the stairs at his school while Senjougahara stands atop of them.
Story and Characters
Nekomonogatari Black gives us a view into the nature of Hanekawa and Araragi's characters, as well as their relationship. It subverts our expectations that had been build up since Bake regarding their situation. The two previous installments in the series, Bake and Nise, had framed Hanekawa and Araragi as a one-sided love relationship. It had also been assumed that Hanekawa was a troubled victim of family problems and stress. But the reality is that their relationship and Hanekawa's character is much more unsettling.Hanekawa wasn't being possessed, she was her own monster. A self depreciating and emotionless monster with a fake front. She ends this season the same way it started (if not worse because now she will be eternally heartbroken by Araragi's rejection), living an abusive relationship with her "family" and with herself. It leaves us with a hope of growth for such a complex character. However, in the viewers eyes Hanekawa's character has seen changed from what we assumed from the last two seasons of the Monogatari series.
Araragi on the other hand leaves Golden Week a changed man. Hanekawa was someone he used to idolize, so much that he wanted to die for her. But after discovering her nature as a monster (similar to him), and the difference between love and desire, he has to give up on the idea of loving her. Even if he was lying to himself about not living her, he comes to understand what unconditional love means. Leading us into his relationship with Senjougahara. We even see the difference in his relationship with Shinobu during Golden Week and the present.
Sound
Enjoyment
Nekomonogatari: Kuro is an anime that while being only 4 episodes long is very interesting. With its balance of comedy scenes, supernatural elements and with a grain of romantic scenes, the show is very thrilling. Its unique art style is a nice thing; it mixes different types of art together making it impressive. While the most of the music isn’t something to write home about, there are some songs like the OP and the ED, which are great to listen to, as they help to understand the show better. The voice actors did a very good job, as they were able to make their characters look alive. The characters themselves are very interesting, as they attract viewer’s attention, making them want to know more about them. The message that Nekomonogatari: Kuro gives is following: people are unable to understand what they can’t see.
Overall
Nekomonogatari: Kuro is a very good start to the Monogatari series, as it introduces some new characters and gives the viewers a quick glance at what the rest of the series will look like. While it is a very short anime, only four episodes long, it does a good job explaining things to the public that is new to the series. So if you are a veteran, or a newcomer, Nekomonogatari: Kuro is a great anime to watch.
Conclusion
Nekomonogatari is my favorite installment in the series so far because of its faster pacing and the presentation of more complex versions of already established characters.
“Know that falling in love with someone is as ordinary as a dog barking, so it's not worth worrying about so much.” -Tsukihi Araragi
BONUS SCENE THAT I LIKE AND MONOGATARI SERIES WATCH ORDER
IF YOU ENJOY THIS, PLEASE LEAVE A LIKE AND COMMENT THANKS. TO SUPPORT ME <3
