Monogatari Second Season - Episode 3

Does Hanakawa really love Araragi?  Just who is Hanekawa deep down anyhow?  Tune in for this and more in this week's Monogatari Second Season!

Having dropped that bombshell last week, Senjougahara continues to wax lyrical about her take on her friend's personality, suggesting that she's too "white" and too pure in her dealings with those around her, always assuming the best even when she really shouldn't, unlike Araragi who has a darker, gritter side within that helpful exterior.  It's a possibility that Hanekawa finds herself pondering, interrupted only by a meeting with Kanbaru, now sporting twin-tails and excitable on account of a message she's received from Araragi asking to meet her.

It's a message which sparks a little jealousy and a need to resist the temptation to interfere from both Hanekawa and Senjougahara, who instead choose to leave Araragi and Kanbaru to their own devices.  This instead allows them to ponder another problem, that being where Tsubasa should stay now that Hitagi's father is back from work and there's no room for her.  Thankfully, Senjougahara has the answer to this, having skipped school to find a temporary home for Hanekawa - that home is none other than the residence of the errant Araragi and his sisters, who allow her to stay in their brother's room given that it's currently unoccupied.  Once night falls and Hanekawa sleeps, it's time for "Black Hanekawa" to raise her head once again, and it appears she isn't the only oddity in the room as Shinobu also puts in an appearance.  This, however, isn't the real shock which comes from this episode...

It probably says something about this franchise and its characters that whenever one of the regulars appears for the first time I feel the need to clap or cheer, such is the enjoyment that comes simply from seeing that pop up like a cameo from a star on a sitcom.  Beyond this however, Monogatari continues to offer up engaging animation to fill those long, long scenes of dialogue, even though all that dialogue doesn't really need covering up when it's filled with amusing references and smartly placed chit-chat that you can't really find pulled off quite this well anywhere else.  With a big reveal at the end of this episode to boot, the Monogatari juggernaut shows no sign of halting.