Nisemonogatari - Episode 6

Koyomi may have found a rather... "awkward"... way of transferring at least some of the curse afflicting her to himself, but this still isn't enough to cure her completely, meaning that there's no other for him other than to confront Kaiki in an attempt to resolve the issue.

After a brief distraction courtesy of Hachikuji as she notes her friend's unusually serious demeanour and the pair chat about the definition of adulthood, it's on to visit Senjougarahara, who unsurprisingly is already sharpening the knives for Kaiki.  Although when I say knives, I actually mean pencils.  More specifically, Hitagi is still determined to meet Kaiki alone to wreak her revenge against him - not just for conning her while she was looking to resolve her crab problem, but it seems that she also holds him responsible (albeit indirectly perhaps) for causing her parent's divorce.

After learning all this, Araragi eventually persuades his girlfriend not to go along and to bring him along with her, if only so that he can do whatever is required to help Karen, and even if means making some unknown promise to Senjougahara in return.  With arrangements made to meet later that day (and Hitagi would never lie to her boyfriend, right?), Koyomi heads back home to rest up until evening.... at least that's the plan, until he returns to find Tsukihi distraught and Karen missing.  But where to find her?  It's times like this that it proves to be more than a little handy having a vampire hanging around in your shadow.

Given its pedigree, I make no apologies for expecting more from Nisemonogatari prior to this point, but this week's episode finally feels like a decent attempt at moving the series in the right direction - sure, it got side-tracked from time to time but never in a bad way, and its over-the-top visuals tip-toe the line between engaging and distracting, but there was something that just felt "right" in this episode and its delivery.  As per earlier in the series, Hitagi Senjougahara's appearance doubtless had something to do with it, but as a whole the episode's banter and discourse worked well without any major fan service-esque distractions, which is just what the doctor ordered if you ask me.  With the current situation coming to a head too, interest is definitely ramping up in terms of where this story arc is headed.