Bakemonogatari 07
Summary:
Seeing the train track wreck that Koyomi is and hearing his My Name Is Luca cover story, Hitagi foregoes giving him a piece of her mind in favour of some special pantsu service. The next day Koyomi visits Suruga and she reveals her monkey's paw to him; what shocks him though is that she's a lesbian and in love with Hitagi.
Her arm only goes bad at night so they venture off to see Meme. Along the way, they verbally spar over whether Suruga should be thought of a sporty girl or an exhibitionist since she, apparently, goes commando under her spats. She also offers herself, as a replacement for Hitagi, to Koyomi if he's just lusting after her admired senpai's hot bod. Passing a sulking Shinobu, who floats Suruga's loli-yuri boat, they are horrified by Meme's diagnosis that Suruga's arm is not Jacob's monkey paw (which I would never had read if not for xxxHOLiC) but a Rainy Devil that will grant three wishes but consume Suruga's soul in exchange.
Reaction:
Not much Hitagi this episode to feed my fascination but the opening scene as well as yuri basketball tomboy makes up for it somewhat. I thought Koyomi should have reacted with 'Way cool!' at the thought of Hitagi x Suruga yuri in the past but it's hard to blame him when it seems they haven't even gotten past first base yet. Suruga was also a bundle of laughs when she proudly revealed that she was the one who came up with the Valhalla combo nick, described her raging jealousy at Koyomi x Hitagi conversation, selling her figure like she's her own pimp, her desire to hug, no, be hugged by Shinobu (she'll probably a Shin-like reaction to Mayoi if they ever meet) and how to write her name in kanji.
The dramatic closure left a palpable air of tension; now we know *what* her left arm really is, finding out how it got attached to her will probably be key to how to exorcise it. And the level of difficulty will probably also depend on how many wishes it's already granted. It will be ideal if Hitagi ends up helping out and the two of them reconcile or, at least, have Suruga feel that Hitagi treats her kindly once again.
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August 25th, 2009 - 02:09
Fact: all conversations in this series are awesome.
And Koyomi’s existence has merit already by the virtue of those faces he makes when flabbergasted.
August 25th, 2009 - 14:47
As well as how he literally (reverse) face faults. So old school!
August 25th, 2009 - 13:21
Suruga was everything I’d hoped for when I picked up this series and MORE. She even came up with her own pun-tastic nickname!!! The devil-arm is a bit of a downer, but that should get fixed pretty soon I imagine. Sadly, not really very much basketball thus far.
August 25th, 2009 - 13:59
I’m surprised you weren’t familiar with the monkey’s paw tale; I had thought that was so ubiquitous as to practically be required reading in school for most people.
@ Kabitzin
You’re still hoping for basketball action even now?
August 25th, 2009 - 14:51
There wasn’t any horror in my literature syllabus; the only things I remember we had to read were To Kill A Mockingbird and Sing To The Dawn.
I am looking forward to some basketball action too because it will mean having to show Suruga’s requisite screaming yuri fangrrls too. Mwahaha.
August 25th, 2009 - 19:28
Wouldn’t hold my breath on that last though, as this series seems to be quite obsessively minimalist when it comes even to people on screen – nevermind now speaking parts. The record thus far, IIRC, is about four or five in a single ep…
Random note: I for one was somewhat surprised to learn Suruga’s a major ojou-sama.
August 27th, 2009 - 21:05
Did I spy ‘yuri’ word in there?
Should I watch this?
August 28th, 2009 - 09:05
It’s not terribly yurilific but the Suruga arc is well worth it for her jealousy outrage disappointment diatribe and her Shinobu loli-yuri-con outburst.
I’m just having a blast with this series as a whole because of the characters and their dialogue.