- The ‘anomaly’ in Sodachi Lost has been finally revealed, and it’s not her. Instead it’s something driven deep inside of her that, of course Koyomi the white knight can fix. In time.
- This week has turned much more serious, leaving the comedy firmly at the back. We discover who Sodachi really is, who she really was, why she hates Koyomi so much, why she lives in this tiny apartment of hers alone, and also…why she doesn’t seem to welcome any help. Last week saw Ougi fighting for Koyomi, only for the promise of a glance of Tsubasa’s bosom to immediately influence him. Well this week we are presented with a rather chilling but very Monogatari-esque tale of why Sodachi is how she is. And we discover that Koyomi is not directly in the wrong, but instead it is her parents. It’s a chilling story because it’s more natural and more ‘human’ than other tales that have been on this series. We’ve had stories of monkey paws bringing about sadistic demons, we’ve had cat spirits inhabiting model students, we’ve had an immortal creature inside frail little girls, and Koyomi’s clingy loli vampire girl is only another one to add to the list. So when we get a more ‘understandable’ story of domestic violence, we’re left a little uneasy, as we’ve too used to the supernatural appearing in this show. But Nisio Isin/SHAFT have only made Sodachi’s tale more surreal when she gets to the divorce. And where the long road of people abandoning her like garbage begins.
- Marina Inoue has really pulled out the stops on voicing Sodachi; an unwanted girl, a girl who found solace in Koyomi’s home only to disappear, a girl who discovered her mother disappear without a trace…all of which has turned her into someone who can no longer trust anyone and anything around her, and chooses to point the finger at the one person who not only did not see her suffering as a child, but also had the happy family life she didn’t have. So envy is Sodachi’s sin, but it’s a justified sin, as her own parents made it clear that she was an unwanted child and once Koyomi’s parents brought her into their house to care, how could she not envy their family lifestyle? The two hard-working parents, the three happy kids, the clean and pristine house…she had never ever seen a family like this before.
- Saying that though, there could have been an ulterior motive for Tsubasa to come. She may have figured out Sodachi’s poor family lifestyle, compared it to her own parents (who seem too busy to even acknowledge her), and use her talents as a peacemaker/go-between as she can be someone who can emphasize with Sodachi. Who can only wonder what would have happened if Koyomi chose Ougi instead? Firstly, Sodachi would have no idea who she is. Secondly, she would see even less of a reason why Koyomi should be there. Thirdly, there would likely be no way that Ougi would want to comfort Sodachi in any way. And finally, it would only make sense for Ougi to get Koyomi to sink even further down the hole and drive him even further away from everyone else he knows.
- So thanks to Tsubasa’s intervention last week, a bridge (kind of) has been made, and Koyomi has chosen to be a ‘shrink’ for Sodachi; one of those shrinks that you hate, but you know you need because deep down you know you want to be better but can’t stand the actual process itself. This episode made me think of an episode from Nisemonogatari, where having to confront demon-hunters, Koyomi uses his good will to get them to leave his little sister alone – he would be the one to get their grief and not the little sister.
[I’m allowed to say that because technically it’s not a spoiler for what happened to Tsukihi]
- Domestic violence is a tricky subject to handle in shows, and I praise them for doing it so well in this episode. We still have next week (Sodachi Lost isn’t quite finished yet) to see if she’ll accept to hate Koyomi in order to love herself more and move forward in life, instead of wallowing in her tiny apartment and let her hatred build up more and more until she takes that step forward which she can’t step back from. I actually want that to happen too, because as much as Sodachi had gotten on my nerves, this week has let me understand her more. Before she was this total mystery girl that Koyomi had no real solid recollection of (despite her living in his house for a period of time, and doing cram sessions with her); now she is just someone that Koyomi can easily save. In this circumstance, though, this wouldn’t be a task he could do alone though; only genius girl Tsubasa can act as a go-between and referee.
- Ougi didn’t get her way, but she’ll get her sweet revenge soon enough. And the funny thing is, we’re all waiting for it too…okay not so much the revenge part, but Ougi has already become such a popular girl in this show, that we welcome any screen-time she gets. She has another arc, but it won’t feature in Owarimonogatari unfortunately; it’ll likely appear in a separate ‘2-hour’ show of its own, or along with the other arcs in the Owarimonogatari light novel, which also features Hitagi, Suruga, Suruga’s aunt Izuko and Mayoi. All I know about Ougi Dark is that Koyomi finally discovers who Ougi really is. It would be cool if all those arcs appeared here, but it would just take too long, and as SHAFT already made that mistake by cramming 5 long arcs into one cour, they certainly won’t be doing that again.
