Nisemonogatari 6, Lagrange 5-6
So, as usual, in Nisemonogatari 6 little is done onscreen but they talk a lot. To be honest it’s getting a little annoying.
Araragi’s kiss-cure of Karen didn’t take completely. Of course, we don’t see this; it’s narrated to us in the opening bit, and then Araragi’s off to Senjougahara’s, but first, there’s a conversation to be had with the endlessly wandering Hachikuji, maybe because she hasn’t abused Araragi for an episode or two. After she does, chastizing him for not sexually harassing her, they talk about his sisters and the nature of being adult, especially the problem of being in the right without the ability to change it. Obviously she means Karen, but you begin to wonder if Araragi or Senjougahara fit this definition, too, especially after the next conversation, the centerpiece of the episode.
Senjougahara poses in the pencil rain.
All the characters in this franchise can talk up a storm and batter Araragi with insults and odd logic, but Senjougahara is the undisputed queen, and just a few lines in she shows us why. She has the nimble mind, of course, but she’s also headstrong and seems only seconds away from actual violence even on people she loves. Naturally this makes her few dere moments all the more effective. Now she’s sharpening pencils(!) to use on Kaiki and explaining why she’s going to get him. It brings up an interesting question. Her parents would certainly have divorced anyway, but since Kaiki was the one who actually did the deed, shouldn’t she seek revenge on him anway? I don’t think there’s an answer to that, unless it’s because it’s a way to avoid your own share of the blame, which she is not doing. More important than why she is doing it is should she be doing it on her own? Now we go back to Karen’s mistake.
Always be careful what you say when Senjougahara has a sharp object.
Araragi insists on accompanying her. Not unexpectedly she nearly stabs his eye with one of the many sharpened bright-red pencils flying around the place (forming little sculptures, falling into perfect forms, etc). It takes some of Araragi’s own best weapon, sincerity, to win her over (and topple the impossibly high pencil tower). Both sides have suggested that the other one, alone, is no match for Kaiki. Meanwhile I check the time and realize that whatever they decide, we’re not going to see the event this episode, if we do at all. But it doesn’t matter. It’s another great conversation, filled with insults, messed-up metaphors, and dips in logic surrounding the actual topic while Senjougahara sharpens pencils and Araragi dodges them. If you want action you’ll have to wait for Araragi to go home: Karen has disappeared. This leads to conversation three (Araragi/Shinobou), relatively brief and mostly designed for Shinobou to save face for being nice. And all we have to look forward to next time is finding Karen (who we learn isn’t far, but we don’t see her), and maybe they’ll get around to an epic confrontation with Kaiki, unless they decide to skip that, too. I’ll watch it anyway.
A hell of a lot happens in Rinne no Lagrange. It’s never going to be on the level of Nisemonogatari, but it has good moments and, at least here, some interesting surprises.
With episode 5 I could not get Muginami’s attitude toward life and war out of my head, which is just as well, since the flashback we start with has a very young Lan chatting with a kind Lord Villagiulio about how war sucks. Villaguilio is now a villain, sort of an outlaw, and our official bad guy. So not only did Lan used to hang out with him, but it turns out Muginami is close to him, too, and that’s why she took a “memorial” for herself and can command a vox. That’s the oddest thing. Muginami is a spy who stole an enemy craft, but she admits it while living with these enemy and having fun with them because, after all, the war hasn’t started yet. I don’t know whether to applaud this attitude or strangle her. And at first her boss and would-be lover Villaguilo seems like too much of a slacker to be a serious threat. The way he treats Muginami, well, I wanted to strangle HIM, too.
Every series with lots of chairs gets depressing sooner or later.
The revenge, such as it is, comes in episode 6, and by now you have to assume that Muginami has gone insane. First she goes off in her vox to help Madoka and Lan fight off a space invaders style attack from Villa ,,, Villaulr … Villy’s side, complete with the line “It just doesn’t stop.” Then Mugi goes straight up to where B+Villy is in order to kill him, or say goodbye, as she says, probably dying with him. After Madoka thwarts Villy’s attempt to out-and-out kill Muginami, the girl turns on Madoka and they have a big shoving match there in the air. I almost laughed out loud, but Muginami does get in a verbal zinger about people making decisions to fight for her, in spite of her wishes. What happens next is too weird to explain, except that all three girls plunge into the ocean, amid a shower of flower petals Moid is laughing about the Rin-ne blossoming, while some of the coolest space-age music I’ve heard in a while plays in the background. It’s almost worth watching just for that.
