This is probably the longest I’ve ever waited to “officially” pick up a show (tagging it).  But who am I kidding?  It’s not like I’m dropping a series 80% of the way through, and anyway Mononogatari is probably better now than it has been at any point during its run.  I am sort of glad it took spring off, because that season was so packed it might have been a struggle to stay with it.  But in a much more undistinguished season like this one, Mononogatari actually ranks pretty high up the charts.

One of the joys of this arc is seeing characters like Taiju finally step into their own.  The battle rages on three fronts here, with the big boss of the Saenome taking on Tsuzumi, his sons doing battle with Fumie (and his puppets), and of course the main event.  That would be Hyouma trying to protect Botan while facing down Tsumabiki (who one presumes is the strongest of the Bureau trio) and the female paper umbrella.  That would be enough on its own, but those wild cards I mentioned last week (and one I didn’t) are still out there to be played.

Taiju is a badass, though that’s hardly a surprise given his position (and he admits here that he took it from his predecessor by force).  Taiju declares himself here both in terms of strength and ideals (or at least priorities).  The “100-dan Talisman User” has a pretty clear upper hand against Tsuzumi all through this battle, but especially when he calls on Okuu – apparently the tsukumogami of an entire building (perhaps this one) to help him.  His boys are having considerable trouble with Fumie’s puppet army, but they get an unexpected assist – the “Special Exemption” tsukumogami enter the fray on their behalf.

Hyouma would have a tough time facing this double-team even without Botan to protect, but he rises to the occasion, even using his special seanome duds to keep him close to him.  Even so the tide of things is clear here, with Hyouma taking a couple of wounds (one quite serious) in defending Botan.  Tsumabiki admits flat-out to the karakasa that she’s holding back because she likes Hyouma, and I don’t doubt her.  But I also don’t doubt she’d end him if given no choice.  My favorite moment of the episode came when Tsumabiki tried to entice Botan to surrender in order to save Hyouma.  This played out in exactly the right way.  She refuses, and for precisely the correct reason – doing so would be a betrayal of his efforts to protect her, and a refutation of his promise to protect her (and to not die).

This is where one of those big wild cards comes into play, and that’s Tsubaki.  She’s been busy – releasing the seal on Okku, trying to roust the other wild card Kushige from his slumber.  Mostly though Tsubaki is clearly just itching for a fight.  Tsumabiki muses that “she’s an unknown, even to me”.  She’s rumored to be as strong as her father, and there are other “disturbing” rumors too.  One could hazard a guess that those rumors concern her being kind of a nut job – certainly someone addicted to the adrenaline of battle.  Hyouma doesn’t exactly like what he sees, but he’s in no position to refuse the help.

Clearly, there are still a few ebs and flows to go in this battle.  This conspiracy has had a lot of planning put into it, and there are likely to be wild cards on the other side still to be played as well.  As long as the Bridal Trousseau is out of the picture the odds still look pretty tough for the good guys – but ironically, the one member of the Trousseau who isn’t a prisoner of the paper umbrella (seemingly the head honcho) is Kushige, and that’s because he was sidelined as part of their plan.  That might just come back to bite them in the ass.