who-wants-some-steak

[who-wants-some-steak]

The remainder of Araragi’s establishing description of Senjougahara really drives home how... insignificant she is. She makes no lasting impression on anybody, seemingly by her own design. We’re also introduced to two almost contradictory images relating to Senjougahara’s isolation: one of “walls” that she builds around herself, and one of her being so transient that she’s basically not present at all.

Maybe I’m thinking too much into it, but I’m interested in the disconnect between this repeated “walls” metaphor which is a really “sturdy” sort of concept, and the much-repeated idea of “light-ness” associated with Senjougahara all the time already, both metaphorically and literally.

For Senjougahara, the thing called body weight... to an extent where you could attach the word “whatsoever” on the end, did not exist.

As all of us weebs probably know already, the main pun in this chapter is on “omoi” both emotions and physical weight being stolen from Senjougahara and making her the queen of all kuuderes, BUT... there is also a clever wordplay going on already with the word “karui” talking about how totally crazy “light” she is, because the word also refers to, you guessed it, insignificance. This is particularly driven home by the dramatic repetition of “as if she wasn’t even there” from before, but recontextualized to be literal instead of metaphorical.

#steak reads bkmn #bakemonogatari #hitagi crab

[who-wants-some-steak]

Liveblog #1: Bakemonogatari

(the light novel)

This isn’t really going to be “blind” at all because I’ve seen the anime of this. Though to be honest I was mostly paying attention to the insane visuals there and barely remember the details of the story at all. And from what I’ve heard the story has a lot of depth, so I’m curious how it’ll be to just dive into the original work and see what’s so great about this series that it’s now by far Nisio’s longest running... err actually im not sure if the entire Zaregoto universe of novels adds up to more... well, regardless.

According to the table of contents, this half of the... let’s call it a “season”... covers three stories: Hitagi Crab, Mayoi Snail (actually written as Mayoi Maimai, which I never knew), and Suruga Monkey. I’m pretty familiar with these stories from the anime, which is good, because it’ll allow me to focus on deeper stuff than just trying to follow the plot.

By the way, I’m reading this in Japanese which is not my native language, so my interpretation may not be perfect.

First of all, can we talk about the name? If Nisio was trying to evoke equal parts spooky and hokey as fuck, then he hit the nail on the head. “Monogatari” is definitely a fancy word, but the pun is just... so inelegant that it clashes hard. Plus, on a surface level the meaning is so absurdly generic that it hardly describes anything at all, besides that it has to do with monsters or ghosts probably. I still can’t decide if I hate the name, or if it’s a genius calculated 4D chess move from the god-author Nisio Isin who can do no wrong....

On to Hitagi Crab, because I’ve already read the first page.

So, I knew going into this that anime tropes and archetypes were things that Nisio plays with, or at least explores, in the monogatari series as a whole. And yappari indeed the very first lines of the novel are already navigating that sort of space. (That’s right, it doesn't open with a random Hanekawa panty shot for no reason).

The first sentence establishes Senjougahara in broad strokes as the “sick girl” archetype, and the rest of the paragraph explains the basis for that (she often sits out of gym class/other mandated outdoor activities, never moves energetically, frequently seen in the nurse’s office or not at all).

The second paragraph clarifies though, and basically paints over the first layer with a similar color: she may be a sick girl, but she’s also a graceful, delicate princess type girl.

It’s fun how Nisio immediately cuts to the chase with his agenda here, which is to throw a ton of goddamn archetypes into the story. Because already Senjougahara is the embodiment of two archetypes which, interestingly, now that Nisio has made me think about it, act basically the same as each other. Like the lore doesn’t really matter in the end, her behavior as a character will be the same whether she’s a dainty princess or literally coughing up blood about to die at any moment.

(Note: “Boku” aka the first-person narrator is established here too, but I already know it’s Araragi.)

But wait, Nisio’s not done yet because not only is Senjougahara always at the nurse or away in the hospital, she’s also an inscrutable loner smart girl reading books in the corner of the classroom all day and topping the grade rankings. But also quirky because sometimes she reads shit-looking books too.

What I’ve come to realize from this first page is, Senjougahara is the most powerful kuudere in existence. She embodies literally all the tropes associated with kuuderes even when they don’t exactly make sense together, because she’s just that much of a kuudere. Find me a kuudere who Senjougahara doesn’t eat for breakfast. I’ll wait.

(Okay technically there’s no “dere” yet, but shush)

#bakemonogatari #steak reads bkmn #hitagi crab