Monogatari Second Season - Episode 14

After a good night's sleep in Koyomi's bed, Nadeko finds herself awakening next to the unexpected presence of Araragi...

...Tsukihi Araragi, that is.  Although it seems a little too early in the morning to be concerned with such things, Tsukihi is keen to know why Nadeko is there, and this only escalates when she reacts negatively to the suggestion that she might be cute on account of Shinobu's words from the previous night still playing on her mind.  This sends Tsukihi into full-on psychoanalysis mode, as the question of whether or not her friend is cute soon devolves into a discussion of Nadeko's love for her brother, it's origins and perhaps most importantly why it exists at all - could it be that Nadeko is in love with Koyomi simply because it's easy for her; a path of least resistance borne from loving someone who is unattainable?

With Tsukihi's growing irritation at Nadeko ultimately manifesting itself in an impromptu hair cut for her friend, Nadeko now can't even hide behind her fringe - a fact that proves to be surprisingly potent when she's confronted by her class teacher to see if she's made any progress in resolving the issues surrounding her entire class.  In short, Nadeko loses her temper big-style like the mouse that roared, giving her teacher an earful before marching off to her gathered classmates to give them what for as she tells them to sort themselves out in no uncertain terms.  With that out of the way, and amplified somewhat by Kuchinawa's presence, it's time to start hunting for what the latter has lost once again - oddly, it seems as if this missing item currently resides in Koyomi's possession.

In keeping with last week's episode, this felt like another example of Monogatari doing what it does best - getting under the skin of its characters to see what makes them tick, but while still proving that these characters can surprise you on occasion rather than simply falling neatly into the pigeon holes into which they would normally be easily pushed.  Whether it's Tsukihi's passive-aggressive stance towards her friend or Nadeko losing her rag, there was no shortage of entertainment value to be found from these characters and their interactions, and as I alluded to last week this is exactly the kind of fare that I look for from this series.