Because there aren’t yet enough Nisemonogatari 01 posts out there

Low camera angles, white colored silhouettes, delicious, abusive sarcasm, lens flares. What can I say. Okaerinasai.

(Yes, there are already a tonne of voices going nuts about Nise out there, my own incoherent tweet included. Sue me, I’m filing another entry into the chaos. Besides, a little birdy told me to, you know who you are)

Kicking off with the Senjougahara scene and not just a Senjougahara scene but the Senjougahara scene where she stood in nonchalant majesty over an Ararararagi chained fast to a chair in a dark and dilapidated chamber is… just smart. Just the thing we need. Just everything to reestablish the franchise for what it was and what it is and what it will be.

Dance like a butterfly, Sting like a butterfly bee

As much as I found the endless elaborate speech loops (about nothing!) inane at the beginning of the first series, they’ve really grown on me by now. Welcome back, you were missed.

Besides, for all the dancing around it did, when the show stung, it stung, and you never forget it.

Loved the glowing pink drink. Loved the pink flare on the droplet dangling on Hitagi’s finger. Some other folks appeared to have begun following Shaft’s lead into the realm of heavy-makeup surreal art styles (think Silver Link), but seeing the original master working his personal craft is a fine thing indeed.

The hyperbolic color palette usage in this show is quite glorious – while the Doraemon caricatures.. aren’t. Thankfully, episode one featured generous amounts of the former with barely an inkling of the latter. When Bakemonogatari was airing Shaft was in financial difficulty, visible even through the thick artistic makeup they painted over the series. Now they are swimming in money, and it shows in the production of Nise. More luxurious camera panning and fluid motions, less disturbing slapped-together photoshopping.

Oh, and loved that coy, graceful piano solo playing behind all this. I’m starting to think that great and smartly placed music is the most powerful way an anime adaptation can value-add to its source material.

Senjougahara Hitagi, oh my, that smile, that dainty glee. Senjougahara indulging in unrelenting whiplash verbal abuse is Senjougahara at her most girlish. I can see how she may find it difficult to fit in to normal society, but this is why Araragi is perfect for her – he knew just exactly how much fun she was having. My sincere apologies to every other member of Araragi’s distinguished harem (with the possible exception of Meme)

For the folks wondering about why and how did they end up in such a delicious unusual situation, well, obviously we are not meant to know – yet (shuddup source-material readers). Araragi seems to think it has something to do with wanting to protect him, and I’ll concede that Hitagi has been known to leave her verbal-abuse floodgates open even while she is doing something nice. I’ll just leave that at that.

“YOU EVEN POISONED ME!?”

If I were Yukiteru I’d be desperately keeping Yuno from watching Nise right about now. Then again if I were Rarararagi I’d probably be desperately keeping Hitagi from watching Mirai Nikki too. Maybe. Assuming that great assumption that Lalalalagi is not in fact M.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa – is about all that was going on in my brain the whole time watching this OP. A great mix of copious amounts of Hitagi Silhouettes, copious amounts of fluid animating, and just enough Stable Staple for a potent cocktail of stinging nostalgia and anticipation. The OP is called 二言目 – futakotome, which apparently means the constant burden of some people’s talk. The Kanji also suggests “second word”, plus futago means twins and otome means maiden. Bake/Nise is anime’s Chuck Norris of word games.

(Of course, Captain Obvious interjects to note that nisemono means “a fake/a copy” while monogatari means “story”)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa SHE DID A PONYTAIL MID-SONG!!

Yes, this post is about fanboying. I wouldn’t expect to get much more out of it. Nope.

Nice yukata Tsukihi. Do they really sell yukata with mini-skirt lengths below the waist? It does give her image just a mild hint of sophistication though, a hint of course offset by her nonchalance in watching television nearly upside down and leaving them thigh meats in the air.

I’m not worried about you – I don’t trust you

This is why worrying about you isn’t ever worth it

A couple of things her conversation with Araragi betrays – they are not on the best of terms. Much like siblings at that age, they probably have difficulty relating to one another, and difficulty sharing secrets – communication problems.

In their own way,
fights are also a valid form of communication

Also, Tsukihi is pretty shrewd, more so than her brother, at least in this instance. On the one hand she is pretty clear on the situation between Sengoku and her brother (poor Sengoku). On the other, she’s clearly sensing the distance that her brother’s recent avoidance of fights with the twins is creating. dai1313 didn’t think fights could be a “valid form of communication”, but I disagree. Well, I guess it does depend on how rigidly you want to think of the word “valid”. In a relationship like Araragi’s to his sisters, in the presence of barriers naturally erected by age and gender, more direct forms of communications may become difficult, and fighting can become a natural way they interact. Fights – the things they fight about, the way they fight, can define a relationship too. Watch though as Tsukihi throws her tantrum: Araragi just bites back. One combatant is now backing out, and the other has felt the disturbance.

Don’t just grow up and leave us behind.
That’d be boring

Some of the things Tsukihi says are pretty amazing, in stark contrast to her bout of tantrum throwing. Adolescence – a topic I expect would resurface extremely frequently as we move along.

One last thing about that conversation: Araragi is probably neither siscon nor lolicon – or he’d be cringing all over his sister’s apparently lack of maidenly modesty. As it was, the man was stoicly unfazed by all that thigh meat and that one brief moment of head over panty. Yeah, Araragi isn’t a lolicon.

Oops, wrong screenshot.

Or maybe not! Thinking about it, Araragi gleefully feeling Hachikuji up all the time also probably counter-intuitively confirms his un-lolicon-ness. For contrast, look at the way he reacts to Senjougahara and Kanbaru in similar erotic situations. At least Nadeko managed a beetroot reaction from him back during her arc. That’s one thing going in the poor girl’s favor at least.

You could probably count the number of frames in which Nadeko appeared this episode, but damn. Dat blushing Kana Hanazawa voice. Such a sweet girl. Totally the top option if Rararagi were only Do-S instead of M *slaps self*

Anyway Hachikuji!

Hair animashunz ftw. I like how Hachikuji’s all RAWR oh wait it’s Araragi – seku hara is totally okay then! Araragi-kun doing his “oh I don’t even like her but!” man-tsundere routine was also pretty funny. It’s pretty strange how these two get along so well. Watching Araragi’s devilish glee as he glomped her makes you think back on his somewhat cold exchange with Tsukihi and wonder at the contrast.

Emiri Katou mischievous voice ftw. I’ve forgotten how much of an all-star cast this show has. And what’s up with Emiri Katou and Cat’s Eye references anyway? (The last – and only other – Cat’s Eye reference I remember was with Kagamin and her sisters, if anyone still remembers Lucky Star)

Famimamita?

They added a new pun to the old “bit my tongue” joke! Sasuga desu.

(PS. DORAEMON CARICATURE Dx )

Random semi-useless fact that I noticed: the kanji for ‘298’ can be read backwards as “Hachikuji”

I think keeping a secret or two from your family is natural

So Shuraragi not only confides in Hachukuji and keeps secrets from his sisters but confides in Hachikuji about keeping secrets from his sisters. Hmmmmmmmmm. Also, witty word games aside, Araragi having absolutely no reservation about bantering and daring around Hachikuji’s “kiddy panties” speaks to the comfortable intimacy of their relationship.

Well, I guess Hachikuji offers pretty good council for being the witty little brat that she is.

If your family should ever find themselves unfortunately backstage, you can guide them out.
But until then, the answer is to do nothing

Liked the stage analogy. It is perhaps a questionable decision to keep his sisters in the dark until it becomes necessary to tell them, but this conclusion does set the stage nicely, excuse the pun, for future dynamics, which would undoubtedly involve the fire sisters straying “backstage”. When they do, their relationship with their brother will likely change – likely improve, assuming of course, that onii-chan doesn’t stay locked up Yukiteru style forever, with Senjougahara changing his diapers.

Man, I have a feeling some of the words and sentences I used in this post is gonna get me a few visits from google via creepy keywords.

COURAGE TO POST THIS RIDICULOUSLY PROCRASTINATED AND OVERDUE POST EVEN THOUGH EPISODE 2 IS PROBABLY GETTING RELEASED ANY MOMENT NOW!!

*clicks Publish*