In this episode we get much closer to the main story, “Karen Bee”, but surprisingly there isn’t much to talk about since the story pretty much explains itself. So forgive me if I end up talking about not completely related to the story. Now there are only a few things that caught my attention in this episode. One being quite obvious, Karen fan service! Another is Kaiki as a character and the concept of strength equals justice.
We begin the episode with Araragi in a towel. It was quite obvious as to what was gonna happen. It was bound to happen, an event is like a must have in these sort of themed series. But that aside we got to know more about Kaiki and the kind of person he is. I found it nice to know that he didn’t have any big ideals and reasons for hurting others. The character he has of simply doing things for money kind of fitted into the theme of the whole series where ambitions weren’t big and the series didn’t show itself to go far and become a large story but keep it simple and well-polished, which it definitely is. Besides the whole Monogatari series is a compilation of stories or arcs.
I didn’t find the Karen fan service as entertaining as the other girls. And that’s not because she was a sister, I think it’s more of her character. Her character type is the sporty, loud, outgoing type and that to me doesn’t really equal to a good fan service, don’t know why it, just is to me. But that’s just my preference; you will have a different opinion or not. None the less they did quite a good job of providing an excellent fan service to keep us entertained. The service boils down to the ending of the episode which is quite unexpected. Now I don’t really care if he does end up kissing her or not. But typically, the anime trope depicts that he won’t due to whatever reason and someone barging in and disturbing them being the cliché solution. And when I think about it, they haven’t even shown Araragi and Senjougahara kissing yet, and that is something I want to see.
Ever since episode 4, Araragi introduced the concept of ‘strength equals justice’. This phrase says that one must have strength in order to carry out their justice. But is that really true? Must one really have power in order to simply say that the other is wrong? In the infinite words of Lelouch vi Britannia “If having power is justice, then is it evil to be powerless?”. Yes, one must have some sort of strength in order to enforce upon others the justice they believe in but just because you don’t have strength it does not mean your beliefs are unjust. Just because the strong can shout and force their will it does not mean they are just. Really the concept of ‘strength equals justice’ is just a way force ones will on others, a sort of hierarchy saying “I’m stronger so you follow me”. In a way the saying ties in with another saying “history is written by the victors” where it is the strong, the winners, the higher dog that commands all.
Then again, it is because one believes in their justice that they gain the strength in order to spread their influence. But now, what is justice? Is it just ones belief? Because if it is then I can easily say that a murderer is just in the killing of his wife since she cheated on him. No right? That man is not just; he is simply a murderer unable to control his hatred. Ones needs strength to carry out justice, but the kind of justice one believes in may not even be real justice. Justice in itself is not what one believes but is moral rightness and the act of being fair. Now the reason I’ve gone ahead and wrote this is because, it simply caught my attention. In anime, I usually see two friends or two sides fight each other to carry out their own justice saying they are right (i.e. Lelouch vs. Suzaku or Britannia vs. The Dark Knights). But really they are just fighting for what they believe in. What one believes in is what one believes in and is not necessarily justice.
That took some time to write. Now if you’ve got an argument to make please make it with me, I would love to elaborate my knowledge on this as I feel there are still holes in what I’ve said. Thanks…
Back to Nisemonogatari!! Wow, I’ve strayed quite far eh? Sorry, if the post didn’t come out as you’d expect it to be but I really didn’t have much to talk about in this episode. And any that I did have is something I’m saving for a better time. That does not mean this episode was boring, it was still enjoyable and entertaining but perhaps it just was not as entertaining as the last episodes.
OkamiSan~
