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.