MONOGATARI Series: OFF & MONSTER Season

Episode 14

This is a fantastic episode, one that ties together the entire back half of the season and expands on the ideas first brought up in Kizumonogatari. But before we get to all that, let's take a moment to talk about the one weak point of the episode: the meaningless twist.

In this episode, Araragi figures out that it's not Souwa Kiseki who is the perpetrator but Kie Harimaze (who put all of her stuff on Kiseki's mummy to make it seem like she was the victim instead). While this is a clever way of Harimaze hiding from the authorities, it's a needless complication at this point in the mystery. Not because her vampirization already obscured her appearance by turning her into a blond with red eye shadow. Be it Kiseki or Harimaze, the identity is the same—the girl we see in the opening scene of the arc meeting with Suicide Master. The revelation of her true name changes nothing about how we view the case or Harimaze as a character. Now that that's out of the way, let's move on to the good stuff.

The conversation between Suicide-Master and Harimaze reveals what this story arc truly is: a direct response to the events of both Kizumonogatari and Wazamonogatari. On the most basic level, all three tales are about people who choose to feed themselves to vampires. Why they do so and what they do/hope to do after.

In Wazamonogatari, Acerola fed herself to a vampire, trading one curse for another in the hopes of finding even one person she could truly help. Then, in Kizumonogatari, Araragi, an isolated kid with a strong sense of justice and responsibility that didn't quite mesh with the norm, gives up his life to save a dying vampire—only to become a vampire himself and begin the quest to become human once more. And now in Shinobumonogatari, we have Harimaze, who fed herself to a vampire to escape the soul-crushing life that is being a high school girl in Japan. Yet, as opposed to Acerola and Araragi who had a clear greater goal to strive for, Harimaze just went out and got (unsatisfying) revenge.

Of course, revenge is probably the wrong word to use here. As has been established over the course of this arc, the girl's basketball team wasn't bullying each other as much as bullying themselves. In her own twisted way, Harimaze was helping the girls she fed upon by putting them out of their misery, ending their suffering like she wished someone had been there to do for her.

Like Acerola and Araragi before her, Harimaze was socially isolated and suffering. However, unlike the other two, she lacked a mentor to guide and help her focus on what she truly wanted. Thus, she wants to become a true monster—to continue to do horrible things for no reason other than to feel free and in control.

Luckily, for her (and everyone else), Kagenui is able to pacify her, force her to go back to being human, and fix the mummified girls. While Harimaze may have thought herself strong after taking out her former teammates, attacking Araragi would have likely ended with her dead: either at the hands of Shinobu and the kokorowari or the literal god that values him as a dear friend, both of whom were joining the fight as Kagenui arrived.

In the end, the status quo is preserved and Suicide-Master departs Japan, ever closer to her final death by starvation. But while Araragi is sure Shinobu and Suicide-Master will cross paths once again, it's clear that Shinobu (and Senjougahara) have more than a little doubt.

Once upon a time, Araragi realized that vampires see humans only as food. A revelation that made him fight Shinobu and end with them in their odd relationship. After so many adventures, he wanted to see if her feelings had changed and so asked the question: “What are humans to you?” Her answer is telling and shows how their time together—the experiences they have had and oddities they have vanquished—have shaped her: “Monsters, right?”

To us, the supernatural are the monsters. The unknown things that lurk in the dark. To the supernatural, we are the true monsters—beings with a constantly changing nature who shape the world in strange new ways. In a world where humans reign supreme, even immortals can be killed. Reunions are unexpected joys and happy endings something that is all but impossible. While Shinobu has found hers at last, Suicide-Master is unlikely to find her own.

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MONOGATARI Series: OFF & MONSTER Season is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.