"I'm going to be a punching bag and hopefully that will solve your problem." I like this guy. Also loved the spike in animation quality as he was getting torn apart.

Oshino is still the best. The guy, I mean, because apparently the vampire kid is also an Oshino and I don't have enough to go on to make a judgment call.

Senjo is the worst.

This was a fun little mini-arc. Can't help but feel that while the "problem of the week" format works in the show's favor in that it delivers nice little storylines portraying how off-beat the world is, it also tends to work against it. It's like, when an arc comes to a close, it's basically just a bittersweet resolution and everyone is more or less fine, having learned their lessons, which feels kind of oddly saccharine considering everything else that happened before.

Buuut then, taking things is stride seems to be the modus operandi here.

I don't think I commented before about these, but lots of really good stuff here. Reki continues to be good, and the whole sequence inside the wall with Rakka was totally fantastic. I really love the dynamic between the Haibane and the Renmei, and the idea of 'sin' is really suffused into the show in an interesting way.

I'd noticed Rakka's wings were white again as she was walking with the Communicator dude, and it's super cool.

Kuu's voice inside the wall... *ponders this*

Also, noticing how their wings are also covered, I think the Communicators might be sin-bound just like Reki is, and are staying behind to help the others. If Reki is indeed leading up to being a Communicator/bridge, that would be something. It would also explain how they're so knowledgeable about everything.
But on the other hand, they seem to be saying to Reki that the Day of Flight comes even if you're not ready.

Silvy also mentioned that maybe the Toga are Haibane who have already crossed the wall, and that's why they don't speak/to not give away their identity

Alternatively, maybe they're more actually crows in human form, so they can't speak/can only caw???

Lots of things to think about, which I like. Art direction continues to be gorgeous, those painted backgrounds. And the music is so on-point.

The scene with Rakka going down between the wall, and the leaflets there, is suuuper interesting.



Also Reki is literally Homura
dark hair, tragic past, feels like everyone always leaves her alone/will leave her behind, acts protective over the 'Madoka,' has cool tech, smokes from dat Kiritsugu influence
then has a backstory/flashback ep on ep 10 that shows her as a moe, naive, and weak younger girl with braided pigtails who gets sheltered by a senpai, and ends up trying to return the favour to someone who was in a similar situation to how she was at the time

Ofc this came first, but I'm still amused

I think the bittersweet 'return to the status quo' is both a very Japanese thing, but also something that you've accurately identified as a trait of the series

But I think over the longview, it's possible to see how those changes add up and end up contributing to greater shifts later, or revisiting characters/areas and going deeper into things
Bakemono in particular is also introducing the characters on top of the plots, so there isn't always a big shift just yet in the status quo

and yeah, 'taking things in stride' is very much a Meme Advice thing

The animation quality definitely took a jump in that ep. Bakemonogatari was actually made on a shoestring budget (to the point where in the next arc, they actually couldn't afford to animate like, half of it, so they just... didn't. top Shaft trolling, but BDs fix that).
Then in Nisemonogatari they had a normal 'budget,' and after that, they had literally enough money to do anything they wanted


I do like how Araragi "solves" the problems by... not really doing anything, and certainly not by being the super capable badass.

You should definitely watch the next arcs soon though! Only two left =o

You [radio edit]ing take that back, senjougahara is literally the best girl of all time, of ALL TIME.

Though, you may not see it here in this series. Senjou really shines through a bit during Nise and definitely after, imo.

As for the 'back to life' thing, well, I actually think it's a good thing, because for all intents and purposes it mirrors our lives a lot. Things happen, people learn a lesson or two (or don't!), but you still get up in the morning and drive to work, school, etc. Though, Satty is right, you don't really see this in western works unless it's a sitcom. I think I said this earlier, but monogatari is basically a sitcom, or something close to it. The difference is I like it, rather than mostly tolerating it like Sunny in Philly or HIMYM.

Part of that is due to the AMAZING visuals though, like holy shit. And no I'm not talking about the fanservice, I actually think the director knows how to make good cinematography.

I was kind of twinged onto it by the beginning from the "portals always appear near the kids" and Alphamon targeting Meicoomon specifically, but that ending confirmed that Meicoomon = virus/source of the infection

I'd thought she wasn't fighting at Champion level, but damn, just savagely icing Leomon like that
especially in the real world, where if Digimon die, they die forever and don't regenerate
RIP in [radio edit]ing pieces

But yeah, I also noticed that Leomon got hit with the infection every time Meicoomon called his name, which I'm guessing is like the virus identifying the "pathway"/file location of Leomon, but he didn't succumb because he's Vaccine-type

Ichijouji is sooo effective here as Digimon Emperor, huge contrast to S2 of the show. Design is cool, and the complete silence is menacing af
I'm surprised TK and Kari aren't freaking out significantly about this development, but at least they are freaking out. I would be too.


I do wonder if Ken isn't training them somehow, between the mysterious email and so on, to combat some greater threat. He seemed content mostly to force them to go Mega and then calmly peace out

The opening did show Ken and co. getting rekt... by Alphamon, I remember, but I wonder if they weren't already infected at that point
Since Imperialdramon being present (maybe a copy???) means that Veemon is also at work here

anyway, shit is going down and I'm intrigued

now let's go to the Digital world already next ep, c'moooon

Called the Renmei being the sin-bound who didn't pass on, but rip

Midori is tsundere twintail [rin intensifies]
Also Reki is sooo Homura it hurts, but hurts so good

And there's enough differences between the two that they each work without interfering with each other. A cross-reference between the two's handling of Christian themes would be pretty interesting.

Haibane Renmei's town is basically purgatory, and Reki is born Sin-Bound because she committed suicide, and that ties into her general stuff. It was really cool seeing their handling of her 'reliving' that moment and how she'd change it, by Rakka being released and her 'true name' breaking, when she decides to live instead.

Also the Wall responding ala Heaven was a pretty cool moment of sacredness for the characters, and it makes sense that Reki didn't want to see it/feel like she was taunted

But yeah, tl;dr this does Angel Beats and Lost better basically, the former by focusing on a much smaller cast.

I was also wondering who the townspeople would represent, buuuut I was thinking maybe they might be actual angels?? since they exist and are there for the purpose of the Haibane and guiding them, but I'm not sure. Some of them are certainly obnoxious >_>
But....... like they also have kids, so idk what's going on there

oh alternatively

but yeah tl;dr apart from the awkward genre transition in ep 6, great show. I feel like 7-13 went without any serious missteps, and the soundtrack/art direction/symbolism all worked together insanely well
And when the magic realism came up, sooo deserved and earned

Oh, thinking of the hand-gestures tied to the tags being an alphabet, the Qoga are probably the angels, coming from "heaven" and communicating with that language.

Also, I wonder if the crows are either people from Rakka's previous life who also passed on and are coming back as 'guardian angels,' since the crows were a) familiar to her and b) one of them was trying to save her in her dream. I'm guessing Rakka died by falling from a plane or something like that, and the crow tried to save her (given the height she started from, probs)
Rakka's thinking that she wronged that crow/her mother maybe???, I initially thought Rakka killed herself by jumping and hence had that dream, but I think she died with unresolved issues towards her mother (or whoever the important person was), maybe, and her resolving that cleaned her of sin.
Since the crows are basically completely absent from the show once Rakka gets her shit together

but yeah