Monogatari Episode 13 Reaction
Added 2025-06-16 19:42:15 +0000 UTCThat "conclusion" to the arc, was just crazy. Can't wait for the full out brawl in half a year.
Comments
This is one of my personal favorite arcs, I just cannot get over the insanity that is telling a story, and at the very end saying "Yeah, I just lied to you the whole way through." Like, Monogatari has had a fair bit of unreliable narration in the past, but this just takes it to a whole new level. In fact, its name "Otorimonogatari," means something along the lines of "Decoy Story." The whole thing was a decoy hiding Nadeko's true intentions and desires. On the topic of Nadeko, I believe she's probably the most polarizing character in the series, at least at this point. A lot of people really hate her and a lot of people really love her. I'm personally on the really loving her side, even back when I'd just finished watching this arc. The fact that NisioisiN brought back the least interesting character from Bake, and turned her into such a complex and perplexing character, an actual villain; and made her into probably the most interesting of the main Bake girls (only behind Hanekawa imo) just utterly amazed me and left a very positive impression of her character on me. As some people have already said here, I believe Nadeko's ascension to Godhood can be read largely as an allegory for suicide. An abandonment of the mortal plane and going into something "beyond" humanity. Very similar in nature to Koyomi's vampire transformation back in Kizu, which had similar undertones. I won't go too deep into it, but rewatching with this reading in mind REALLY makes some scenes hit a lot harder, especially her talk with the serpent after her outburst in episode 3. Finally, some fun stuff from the opening. Something interesting about the title, is that the "otori" (decoy) in Otorimonogatari (囮物語), is 囮 in kanji, meanwhile, the "bake" (from bakemono, meaning monster) in Bakemonogatari (化物語) is 化, you might see the similarity. "Decoy" is literally written as a "monster" trapped within a box. And there's a scene in the opening that has Nadeko literally taking the place of the 化 kanji while she sleeps in her desk, she is literally shown to be the monster within the deception that is this entire story arc, right there in the opening. A monster caged behind a facade. Amazing stuff honestly
ATableWithPants
2025-06-18 05:20:45 +0000 UTCI absolutely love that Nadeko's graduation day 'trailer' is set to a version of her OP that sounds like it was performed by a high school band. I hadn't noticed that until this watch.
SleepDeficitHawk
2025-06-17 15:48:36 +0000 UTCKanbaru is definitely Koyomisexual
My abba taught me a few things too, like how to rip the skin off by using my own mouth
2025-06-17 14:15:39 +0000 UTCI just can't not love nadeko. It's like chillih said, she's a complicated character with the most fun character arcs to watch. There's so much of her character that could be AND was explored by the author that it still baffles me to this day that she existed. I never thought one could dissect a dandere character this deeply and turn her into the final boss of the series. But I also lowkey agree with what nesa said. Like if you were to make a tier list of characters I want to watch do a podcast with araragi, I'd def put nadeko last. Their back and forth is def the weakest one amongst the other girls All in all, I am looking forward to what you think of her once her whole arc is finished.
Oisif
2025-06-17 13:48:03 +0000 UTCthis arc is amazing on rewatch, there are so many hints that Sengoku is fabricating things and not giving us the full picture. My favourite is when the snake tells her 'You're the only one who can hear me' and the text that flashes on screen says 'I'm well aware.' In any case, this is all Sengoku. You can see Kuchinawa in the same way you see Black Hanekawa, I see him as Sengoku's 'Aggressor' side. She refuses to see herself as anything other than a victim, so every time she does something that would be suspicious or incriminate her, she tells us it's Kuchinawa's doing. Remember when she makes the sand castles in the park after "looking for Kuchinawa's body", she's really just waiting in a relatively obvious place so Araragi can find her quickly and bring her to his, so she can then take the spare key. This is especially clear because Ougi had already told her where the talisman was located, so her excuse of 'looking for the body' is a complete lie.
Bowsber
2025-06-17 13:36:05 +0000 UTCThat's a great pov, I never got that suicidal vibe, but now that you mention it, that scene is starting to look like one. The crunchie hiding her wrist and araragi acting like he's trying to deescalate someone about to jump off the bridge sold me on your point
Oisif
2025-06-17 13:20:49 +0000 UTCWhy go to therapy when you can become a god? :p
Russell Gambardella
2025-06-17 11:10:01 +0000 UTCKanbaru has never indicated , from what we have seen, that she likes Araragi any more than a friend, as all her interactions have been playful teasing. She said she is a lesbian and there has been no reason to doubt her words, although there is an interesting bit of cut dialogue, cut from the anime adaptation from a later arc that could have some indication of her overall feelings, but I’ll mention it when you get to that point.
Potter889
2025-06-17 00:14:16 +0000 UTC"Am I getting the Orochimaru/Sasuke situation" Actually yes, Naruto is a reimagined version of the Japanese folktale "Jiraya Goketsu Monogatari" that was first written around the early 1800s and borrowed a lot from ancient Japanese mythology. It's a fairly prominent piece of Japanese literature that has inspired lots of other media (kinda like an eastern version of Shakespeare and how often the story devices from his works are reused and remixed.) There is a TON of Japanese wordplay that is fun to learn about. You should be fine looking up the meaning of the names and words you find interesting since it would be fairly obvious to the Japanese audience anyways, but be careful about searching up character names by themselves.
Jaron Clark
2025-06-16 22:47:32 +0000 UTCYeah, after Off & Monster season she became one of my favourites in the series
Ougi
2025-06-16 22:21:13 +0000 UTCNahh don't research any further about the characters, you might spoil yourself. You'll get your answers soon! Also I don't agree that Kanbaru is into Araragi, their relationship is platonic and friendly. She doesn't act in a romantic manner towards him at all.
Re Obuxiar
2025-06-16 22:21:12 +0000 UTCAt first, I didn't really like Nadeko that much, but each of her arcs kept making me like her more and more, and now she’s become my all time favorite character.
Noppol Chommanee
2025-06-16 21:47:32 +0000 UTCI wouldn't recommend you too look too much into the characters names yet since you can easily spoil yourself, especially on Google results. Also Kaiki is best girl simply because he is best girl.
Exter
2025-06-16 21:39:17 +0000 UTCKaiki is simply called a best girl just for the memes, and because he's a favourite of many people. I also love him as a character, I think he's one of my favourite ones in Monogatari, probably top5. (and I do like him more than Araragi). At the start I kinda felt whatever about Sengoku, but each arc makes her more and more interesting. In later seasons, she definetly jumps a spot and solidifies herself as a S tier character to me.
BlekDimon
2025-06-16 21:27:33 +0000 UTCWell correct me if I’m wrong but the whole snake incident or just nadeko herself maybe, is supposed to have suicidal and depression undertones right? In bake, I believe kanbaru points out that her killing the snakes was almost like “she hurt herself with her own hands” in the context that her stress was making the situation worse. In this episode, the whole confrontation between Araragi, Shinobu, and Nadeko almost felt like a “IM GONNA DO IT, STAY AWAY” type of thing where Shinobu and Araragi are trying to calm her down, Shinobu frustrated at her knowing that she needs to keep living to atone and she eats the talisman kinda like she gave up the humanity. She has the scrunchie on her hand as if it were wrist slits and also why Araragi was so worried about nadeko when she leaves in the middle of the night (obviously orchestrated by herself). She tends to give up on things really easily with little resistance towards it like. She grabs Araragi attention by playing with suicide as a means to get she wants I think.
Lark
2025-06-16 20:56:08 +0000 UTCKanbaru is a full on Lesbian. She's not *into* Araragi romantically or sexually, she's just a girl who really enjoys teasing him since he gives such funny reactions and can banter with her. So, while Kanbaru is a lesbian, she *is* a Fujoshi which means she really likes reading Boy on Boy action, yaoi in other words. Sengoku Nadeko is a *very* interesting character, and it's in this arc you've just finished that I really found great interest and respect for her. One concept I'd like to introduce you both to, Nesa & Chilih, is that both sentiments *can* be true at the same time without invalidating either one. What that means is, she can be *both* the Victim AND the Aggressor. She is a victim in the sense that other people have had their way with her since we've known her, from the boy she rejected that almost killed her to Ougi's machinations and manipulation here as Shinobu remarked, but that she is ALSO the Aggressor. What happens is that, as Chillih smartly pointed out, Sengoku Nadeko doesn't *want* to be the victim anymore, but by that point she'd already been entirely engulfed into the Supernatural world. A world where she can't talk to anybody about, a world that was choking the literal life out of her just months previous. This isn't normal. Not at all. So, is it any wonder why, realizing that Gods exist and that one such God almost killed her, that she would turn to this higher power to help her get her wish? As insane as it is here, but again, remember that she's in an entirely insane situation already, or rather, she was subjected to insanity. That said, take into account her age. Sengoku Nadeko, at the very immature, inexperienced, and highly hormonal age of 14, was subjected to the insanity that is the Supernatural. *That* is insane. It's brutal. It is, by all accounts, unfair. Yet, rather than letting herself be insulted time and time again by being forcefully subjected to this and that, by other people constantly pushing their responsibilities onto her, she decides to change. She doesn't *want* to be the victim anymore. She wants some agency in her life, she *wants* to be able to tell people to fuck off, she *wants* to be able to be selfish, to no longer live her life in fear and anxiety. Thankfully, she already researched Oddities and Gods a bit earlier, but it wasn't enough. That's when Ougi Oshino, the Niece-Wannabe, showed up, and 'helped' her with a load of information. Really, if Sengoku Nadeko wasn't given such ominous information, nothing would have happened. She would have continued living her life in pathetic mediocrity, praying to a non-existent God to help her, a God she *knew* existed. This is all to say that Sengoku Nadeko, at the very hormonal and immature age of 14, who was subjected to all sorts of insane life changing and life threatening events, was finally able to grasp control over her own life, at the cost of her sanity. Having no one to turn to, she reached into the abyss, and the abyss reached back.
Skeletan
2025-06-16 20:50:04 +0000 UTCNadeko is extremely hard to characterize because most of her experiences in this arc were lies she told herself and the audience to cope with reality. The snake was never real; her conversations with it are her inner monologue. It is easy to gloss over because she is still "alive" at the end but the arc can be seen as a suicide plot. The language used during her initial confrontation with Araragi in his room where he is asking her to put the talisman down and she asks why he couldn't save her point to this. Coming off the previous arc, thematically Nadeko is dead. That arc introduced the idea of being dead but having continued experience. Hachikuji died but lives on as a ghost, Araragi died when he became a vampire but was able to regain most of his humanity, and Ononoki died and was revived as a shikigami. Nadeko has committed suicide to escape from her human life by ascending to godhood. So while it may seem like she has gone insane in torturing and nearly murdering Araragi and Shinobu, her lack of remorse stems from having lost her humanity.
Alex
2025-06-16 20:48:04 +0000 UTCThe Kaiki comments are simply because people like his character and they find it amusing calling a gloomy middle aged man best girl. There's a little more to it but I suggest you just leave it at that for now.
SRG
2025-06-16 20:31:49 +0000 UTC
