I must say, all was forgiven between Hyouma and Kadomori-san pretty damn quickly. They do have some common goals as a result of their circumstances, true. But considering everything Kadomori did to him in the last episode Hyouma doesn’t seem to be carrying any sort of a grudge – perhaps surprising for someone as much of a hothead as he is. Tsubaki is another matter – so far we have no evidence of where her true loyalties lie, but she hasn’t tried to pull anything on Hyouma at least.
The circumstance that throws Hyouma and Kadomori together is an attack by the Sougenbi, who sounds basically like a tsukumogami terrorist organization. Kadomori’s agents are the target, and he requests aid from the Nagatsuki faction to finish the job his group started a few years earlier – wiping the Sougenbi out. It seems that they were left to function at a fraction of their former strength, a tactic to draw potential threats where the Kadomori could easily keep tabs on them. But the uneasy balance of power has been upset by Hyouma’s presence at the Nagatsuki villa, and it’s back to being all-out war.
In fact this is kind of an all hands on deck situation, with even Aogi participating (his intent is not to actually fight, though Tsubaki puts an end to that). Only Hyouma and Yuu (who’s still seething over Botan’s attempts to get Hyouma on a first-name basis) end up going, and they’re assigned to fight with Tsubaki. For her part she gives every appearance of seeing Hyouma as a potential partner, though as strong a troll vibe as she gives off that may be nothing more than her enjoying the chaos it causes.
Yuu and Hyouma’s miscommunication in the battle is rather amusing, but for the most part all this is pretty straightforward stuff. I don’t think it would be inaccurate to call Mononogatari a slow build sort of show – certainly for one which is apparently going to be only one cour. Both the characters and the premise are moderately interesting in their own right, but I’m still not really invested in either. Maybe that will change in the next three weeks, but that would be pretty frustrating even if it happened, for obvious reasons.
Nicc
March 8, 2023 at 2:30 pmIt does seem like Hyouma has mellowed out quite a bit since the start of the series. I am a bit surprised that we get to see the Kadamoris’ this quickly again. Hyouma, Yuu and Tsubaki handle some difficult foes this week, which were based on instruments of torture. Aogi and Uchiki (It looks like all of those layers add bulk) get “volunteered” to join the fight too.
It is difficult to get a read on Tsubaki and what are her intentions with Hyouma. Apparently, she also knows about the umbrella tsukumogami that Hyouma has been trying to hunt down. Whether she has her own history against it or has other plans, it looks she wants Hyouma to join in.
Hyouma and Yuu still need to work on their communication skills, but it all works out in the end. Botan is going to be a bit upset that he comes back home with more cuts and bruises again, though. It’s a good question where the rest of the show is headed with just a few episodes left. If it’s just one-cour, pretty much everything will be left unresolved. It could end in, “Go read the manga!” and as it were, the first volume of the official English localization has been out since January.