Monogatari Series: Kaiki Deishu, with brevity

By now, whether from my other posts or the anime itself, you are at least partially familiar with the three depicted above.  Top to bottom, that would be Meme Oshino, Yodzuru Kagenui and Kaiki Deishu.  All students of Izuko Gaen, they are all considered to be specialists in dealing with apparitions to some degree, although in different ways and with different philosophical and moral thought processes to support their endeavors.  Oshino favors balance and has a semi-passive approach to dealing with apparitions, usually serving as more of a mediator, while Kagenui favors violence over all else and believes in absolutes, right wrong, real and fake.  Kaiki, however, is the most morally nebulous of the three; he does most of what he does for money, although observing his actions reveals subtle undertones of compassion and concern for certain select others that isn't readily evident should you know or ask him.  He believes the fake to be more valuable than the real thing, as a concept, as in the pursuit of being real the fake overtakes the real in it's authenticity and intensity, and better emulates the essence of being real in all aspects rather than simply being real by nature and getting by in that manner.  This post will focus on a semi-brief synopsis of Kaiki, and how he's one of the personifications of symbolism in Monogatari Series.  Spoilers ahead.

Kaiki Deishu.  Ominous, foreboding, and an imposing figure to behold, he walks with a certain gloomy intent that permeates from his very being, as Koyomi observed when he first encountered him outside of Kanbaru's house.  Kaiki is incredibly amorphous in his potential for being both "good" and "bad"; he, for the most part, will do whatever nets him the most profit.  Money is what makes the world go round, and money is what makes his endeavors worth it; he's logical and economical about it.  As is more or less evident from the anime/previous posts, he is responsible for a lot of the headaches that plague Koyomi and Senjougahara; he duped Hitagi, he scammed children and made Karen sick, and he actually told Kagenui about Tsukihi, all for monetary gain, with little to no regard to the consequences; he claims to be a specialist only to carry out his work.  He does not, however, believe a thing about the apparitions he works with.  He proclaims himself to be a proud fake; he uses this status to manipulate others, to subject them to his own subtle machinations and machine outcomes that favor him and whatever else he might be after in a slippery and respectably complex manner.  It is for this reason that he's not truly a bad person, nor is he even particularly an enemy.  He does come around later on to assist the other main characters for his own motivations, which are increasingly developed into being complex and non-greed based.

One example would be his encounter with Kanbaru near the beginning of Hanamonogatari; like in other episodes he is actually responsible for much of what is happening but he offers some of his wisdom to Suruga.

Wisdom about life and...meat.

In any case, another egregious example of Kaiki at his best that occurs before Hanamonogatari is most definitely in Monogatari Series Second Season, particularly the final arc, Hitagi End; due to events from previous arcs within the same season, Nadeko, having become a god, is a threat to Hitagi and Koyomi's lives.  So Hitagi reaches out to Kaiki to help.  To deceive Nadeko and save them.

The decision to do so was not made easily.

  

But boy, when he gets to work he does incredible work.  After spending time befriending and studying Nadeko, he confronts her with a secret that only she and he know, thanks to his snooping, athletic competence and ability to pick locks with yen.

And from that we get a good idea of the kind of person Kaiki is, the kind of character he is; a complex one, that eerily and incredibly emulates the complexity of people in general concentrated into an individual.  We can all relate to him; our desire to fulfill our needs and benefit ourselves, our inexplicable bouts of altruism, whether truly altruistic or egotistical, and the things about ourselves that we don't quite understand, the things we do for others that simply refines and defines what we are at the core of our being despite the state of befuddlement such things leaves us in.  We as people are in a constant state of confusion, internally, trying to realize ourselves, and this is manipulable, testable, encouragable; but it can also be a blessing, a way to better realizations of ourselves and a way to improve how effectively we can grow as humans and interface with others.  Kaiki is incredibly complex and, though the examples given above are undoubtedly integral to the plot, all of the other little things Kaiki does simply add to his complexity as a character and reflect the complexity of characters and people in general as we struggle with our niche in society, our standing with others and our perception of the world and ourselves.

Monogatari Series: Nisemonogatari and the Fire Sisters, Real vs. Fake II

The concept of real vs. fake is propagated in the next arc, focusing on Koyomi's other sibling, Tsukihi Araragi.  Being the other Fire Sister, she is also a proponent of justice, but not necessarily to the degree that Karen is, and she almost seems to feel obligated to being a Fire Sister as opposed to truly finding herself and her sense of purpose in the overzealous intervention of other people's issues.  AGAIN, Spoilers ahead.

At first glance, she certainly is tamer than her sister, and seems to be more generally soft-spoken.  That is a facade.  Do not believe that; when unsettled she is far more threatening to behold than Karen.

Since Tsukihi is the focus of this arc, she is also the focus of the real/fake conundrum; however, unlike the last arc, it's more of a literal case due to the nature of who and what Tsukihi is rather than an issue of morals or internal struggle; however, this induces an internal struggle in Koyomi that puts him at odds with one of Gaen senpai's students (to put this into context, two of the three have been at least referred to already in previous posts, those being Meme Oshino and Kaiki Deishu.), Kagenui, and her shikigami Ononoki, who by nature has rather strange abilities.  Unfortunately, Araragi doesn't know until they show up at his house and one of the worst possible things that could happen to Tsukihi, does.

So at this point, Koyomi is in an unbridled fit of rage that only ceases when he realizes that Tsukihi isn't quite dead.  Kagenui explains how she's a phoenix and is more or less immortal; a bird apparition that shoves itself into a pregnant woman's womb, who gives birth to her as her own child, but is actually immortal; at the end of it's life the phoenix dies, but reincarnates itself, renewing the process.

Kagenui hunts immortal apparitions.  She hunts them because they disgust her; she views them to be in violation of reality's rules and holds a firm, black and white view of everything.  Good is good, evil is evil; what is wrong must be righted and brought to justice.  In a manner of speaking she is like a specialist version of the Fire Sisters.  This is basically her reasoning behind trying to kill Tsukihi.  She's a blight, an issue; she's a fake.  A fake that infiltrated Koyomi's family and masqueraded as a human, an unmistakable threat to humanity.  This revelation and Kagenui's motivation are what fuels Koyomi's confusion; he is once again greeted with the real vs. fake conundrum but in a different way.  His sister that he's grown up with and protected and adored all his life isn't human, but a supernatural apparition.  Does this change what she means to him, who she is?  Koyomi considers the ramifications and ultimately comes to a realization: what she is doesn't change who she is.  She's still her sister, with the same mannerisms, attitudes and personality.  She'll still scare the crap out of him when she's angry; even if she's not truly physically human, inside herself, all her life, she has treated herself and emulated humanity, and what makes people human is present within her as much as within anybody else; she doesn't know she's immortal and Koyomi plans to keep it that way.

So he confronts Kagenui

After the initial battle, he reconfronts her in another manner.

And so, Koyomi manages to convince Kagenui to leave them alone, succeeding in his endeavor while simultaneously realizing his own perception of the fake vs. real conundrum as it applies to her sister, in addition to how it applied to Karen, and the lessons he learned guide his decisions in the future as he makes his way through life.

This arc concludes Nisemonogatari, and with it the story about the Fire Sisters, who will later show up and continue to be awesome.

Monogatari Series: Nisemonogatari and the Fire Sisters, Real vs. Fake

Nisemonogatari is the sequel series to Bakemonogatari (and then, for those who would like to know, it goes Nekomonogatari, then Monogatari Series Second Season, then Hanamonogatari, then Tsukimonogatari.)  and focuses on Araragi's younger siblings, colloquially referred to as The Fire Sisters.  Nisemonogatari translates to "fake story", and his siblings have an important role to play between their two arcs in the theme behind the season.  This post will focus on Karen Araragil; this post and the next may or may not contain spoilers, so if you wish to avoid them avert thine eyes. 

Karen loves justice, and her family.  She is, as a matter of fact, a self-proclaimed champion of justice and loves to do what's right, what's just, etc.  It's the core idea behind the Fire Sisters; doing good things for other people just because it's good.  And good always wins, right?  What could possibly go wrong?

Afterall, Karen is well versed in Karate and is incredibly athletic, has a fairly strong moral compass, and conviction.  If something bothers her or otherwise rubs her the wrong way, she'll say so, and it's quite possible somebody will get hit in the process.  Unfortunately, this also tends to get her in trouble, especially since Kaiki is involved (who will be addressed in a later post). The video also goes over a later confrontation with Kaiki between him and Koyomi and Senjougahara, which occurs after Karen's issues are resolved.

So that's an issue.  Her moral philosophy has clashed with an individual who seems to lack one entirely, and it infuriates her and there's essentially nothing she can do about it.  Her brother call her out on this, calls her out on her purpose like he always does, wondering what exactly it is that she thinks she's doing; does being right make right?  Are you the real thing?  How can you do something for somebody else and not yourself?  Where does your strength come from?  This boils down to a confrontation that, while mostly an exchange in words, the intensity and importance of the philosophical discourse is illustrated in a fight between the siblings.

(This IS subbed, thank goodness.)

And out of this the discussion inside my little head would start.  What does it mean to be real, and what does it mean to be fake?  How does this reflect on people, and on the individual's sense of self?  Does it even matter whether your real?  Doesn't being fake make you closer to the real thing if that's what you aspire to?  That's how I see things, after seeing this, and I can't stop thinking about it.  It's something to think about whenever you do anything or doubt yourself; is it something you'd really do or believe in?  And if so, doesn't that make being true to yourself more important than being true to what human nature would be or what society deems to be the idealization of a concept?  Food for thought, indeed.

Monogatari Series: Bakemonogatari? What exactly does that mean?

Monogatari Series is hands down one of my favorite anime.  The animation is splendid, the characters are excellently developed, the story is gripping, and I just love everything about it.  One thing in particular that makes the anime so special for me though is it's ability to permeate every facet of my life.  It's crammed full of symbolism and thoughtful writing that constantly comes up in my mind when I read, view or play other things; the themes and ideas played with in Monogatari have firmly rooted themselves within myself and I consider them often whenever reflecting upon myself or on something else, and I often am reminded of it when I see other things.

Bakemonogatari more or less translates to "monster story".  To be succinct, it's about Koyomi Araragi, a student at Naoetsu High School who finds his life is dramatically altered over spring break when he happens to be turned into a vampire.  With the assistance of Meme Oshino, he cures his problem, but unbeknownst to him it was only the beginning.  The different arcs in Bakemonogatari introduce a good majority of the main characters of the series as he encounters them and endeavors to solve the supernatural ailments plaguing them, issues that seem to have manifested for the same reasons that he had become a vampire...

Shinobu.  Otherwise known as Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, King of the Apparitions, was incredibly powerful when she came to Araragi's town, and only because of him is she still alive.  Her arrival stimulates the events that would befall the other characters.  Such as...

The crab god that Hitagi Senjougahara encounters 

The snail and Mayoi Hachikuji,

 Suruga Kanbaru and the demonic apparition, of a monkey, 

Sengoku Nadeko and the snake, 

and Hanekawa Tsubasa and the cat 

...All apparitions anthropomorphically personified as different animals, all operating in different ways that reflect upon the nature of people and, in particular, the afflicted in question.  Senjougahara''s desires to purge her mind of the troubles in her household has her weight stolen; both literally and metaphorically.  Hachikuji is lost, and couldn't find her way home, no matter how hard she tried.  Kanbaru made a wish, but deep down the apparition read into another inclination of hers.  Nadeko, apparently the victim, is plagued by a snake-like apparition threatening her life, and Hanekawa's stress culminates into a reflection of her other self, a Black Hanekawa, with the physical appearance of a kemonomimi.  Araragi's endeavors to help them don't just involve purging evil spirits or putting the dead to rest; more often than not he has to help those who are in trouble learn and grow as people regarding themselves, face their secrets and regret in some way, to face the problem they have and ultimately overcome it.  The apparitions need to be believed in to have power, and this power often comes from the fear and misgivings of people cornered by themselves.  The monsters can only be defeated once they face the monsters inside themselves.

As Meme Oshino said: "People have to save themselves.  One person saving another is impossible."

Valkyria Chronicles: See for yourself how Welkin perceives everything through the power of nature

So here I'll show off the various ways in which Welkin specifically has utilized Nature for some reason or another, be it for fun or as part of who he is, to gaining a tactical advantage, to delivering a gem of reason to his squad mates to bolster morale.

As you may already know, Welkin loves nature.

Alot.

Sometimes it's incredibly distracting for him.

They also help him out when he's at a loss for words.  The unfortunate side effect of that is people not understanding what he's trying to say...

Yeah.

On the more serious side of things, though, his drive to understand nature is almost synonymous with his drives to understand and help people, and his sense of purpose in studying nature is so that he can apply the wisdom inherent to the wild to society and make the world a better place.

'

Sometimes, it even helps him directly in tactical scenarios.

Welkin uses nature as an analogue for what he feels he has to do for himself; he turns inward and outward, to nature and to what he believes in, to give himself and those around him strength, even in times of hardship.

Because truly, humans are nature as well.

Even when others are claimed as casualties...

But sometimes, when you lose, you gain; another aspect of Nature Welkin has accepted and applied to other things.  Not everything is bad.

And in this we can take comfort, and enjoy nature together; nature in the wild and human nature, living life to our full potential.