Neomo’s Otaku Theater: Owarimonogatari Episode 11

• I have to admit that The First One is actually kind of cute…

• Everyone should thank Yotsugi for thinking ahead and marking her territory in Episode 8; without that loli footprint of hers on Koyomi’s face (a talisman of sorts), The First One would’ve been able to take him down in a heartbeat. He chose not to reveal his birth name (in all essence it’s kind of irrelevant now as he is dead and no longer human), so he’s labelled himself as The First One. The First Apparition Killer. Koyomi’s senior. And Shinobu/Kiss-shot’s ex…well he certainly enjoyed painting himself as the bitter and jealous ex-boyfriend who got annoyed when Shinobu left him to die.

• As for his new appearance, well I wasn’t sure what to think. Compare the foreboding energy-draining samurai creature and the half-crab/half-Rainy Devil of past episodes with him now…we’d all pick this cute boy now, so if we were presented him right from the beginning of the arc, would our opinion of him change? Yes and no. Yes, in that we would most likely feel much more for him; we would identify him as a wounded character who had 400 years to regenerate to meet Shinobu again, like some forlorn love-sick puppy. And no because we identify with him as the antagonist of the arc right from the get-go, and no matter what face he puts on, he is unwilling to let go of what he sees is right, regardless of what Shinobu really wants in her heart.

• What Shinobu wants for the rest of her immortal life became central to this episode, in what I can only describe as one of the best non-action face-offs I’ve seen as a sad anime fan:

• It was actually rather coincidental that I was writing this as Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was on the radio, as I think the song lyrics tie in with The First One’s history with Shinobu/Kiss-shot, as well as her possible future with Koyomi. I thought of this for a few reasons:

1. The First One was, of course, human at one point. Kiss-shot approached him as an astonishingly-beautiful vampire, drained him of his blood and let him be a part of her life, as a minion. But ultimately when he failed, she let him die as any powerful vampire would discard any turned minion. So in The First One’s eyes, all that time he spent with Kiss-shot, nothing really mattered.
2. The First One cared deeply for Kiss-shot, hence the reasons why he is so eager to reunite with her (aside from the sword he wants back). He was so captivated with her beauty that he threw away his mortal life for her. However despite this, he could well have known that he could not be with her forever, so if he did mess up, or if Kiss-shot didn’t want him anymore, he can be okay with her just carrying on…because she would have been his first priority; he was willing to kill and die for her.
3. Suruga preached to her that she can tell the Apparition Killer she is with that she was happy to die with them. This would mean that she said it to both The First One and Koyomi. So what’s stopping her from saying it to the third one? Or the fourth one? Or however many Apparition Killers she becomes entangled with in her long life? Bringing back to point 1; Shinobu left The First One to die, so what’s stopping her from doing the same to Koyomi and moving on to another one? He was, after all, plucked from his very boring human life with his hyperactive sisters and a huge crush on his class president Tsubasa. Now thanks to Shinobu, he is capable of defeating all these anomalies. Shinobu can easily kill him whenever she wants and move onto a third one.

• Suruga, on the other hand, believes that Shinobu has a better connection with Koyomi, so she believes she should face The First One and tell him to give up, stay with The Second One/Koyomi, and stop living a never-ending cycle of discarding minions and plucking out new ones. Shinobu should be the one to tell him, and not leave it to any specialists, or Koyomi. We can see both Shinobu’s anger, fear and emotions run high as she listens to her and knows that this never-ending cycle is something she seems to be destined to go down, and if she really cared for Koyomi the way Suruga says she does, she should stop. Shinobu is never one to reveal her weaknesses, but we can clearly see she is that close to breaking down to tears; she knows it’s true, only she won’t accept it. So Shinobu later pouting and sulking in the run-down shrine alone (when the sun comes out proper) proves one thing:

There is nothing women hate more than being wrong.

• At least this week didn’t get uber-serious…

• …and it was kind of cool to see my favorite vampire-hunter once again. He only shows up once in a blue moon, so why suddenly now, of all times, does he choose to arrive? Why else for the reasons that he is after The First One too, possibly? And Izuko just shows up too because she can, and just loves to show off her ego. So aside from poking fun at Koyomi for buying a girl model magazine and BL light novels for Suruga, they did precious little this week. I actually want the guy to be back for the show finale next week; sure he can be a little arrogant and has a massive ego not unlike his highly-talkative companion Izuko, but after too long it’d be good to see different faces. Plus I know for a fact that he’ll be in the movies…and the reasons why is something I won’t say because it’ll be a massive spoil.

• This week has been an excellent ‘prologue’ to the show finale. We know Koyomi will be facing off with The First One, we know he’ll likely need Heartspan/Kokoro Watari to fight him, but what will Shinobu do? Well we already know she will stick with Koyomi; I’m just very very eager on the hows and the whys. Suruga seems to have convinced her that she should do the right thing and see The First One again, so Suruga is no longer relevant to this arc now. The end of next week’s battle will mean Koyomi running off to save Tsubasa in the Tsubasa Tiger arc previously shown, so I already know everyone will live happily ever after…well almost everyone…

Time to choose, Shinobu.