Hey, everyone. Sadly, I broke my streak of posting something every day after day 76. I fell behind for a few days, but now I’m here to get caught up and provide some interesting episode reviews! We’ll start with Mononogatari season 2.

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Episode 4: Draconic

While Fukie guards the unconscious human girls, Hyoma faces off with the paper umbrella spirit. The barrier goes down. When the umbrella spirit mentions his siblings by name, Hyoma becomes infuriated. He creates two new weapons out of talismans and the round metal pieces he got from his siblings. Then he starts attacking. Hyoma is so angry that his senses are dulled and it takes him a minute to realize that the umbrella spirit is going after Botan instead of him.

Botan might have been seriously hurt if the Nagatsuki family of Tsukumogami hadn’t arrived (all of them except Kushige). Tsumabiki and Tsuzumi of the musical spirits are also there to back up Fukie. Haori protects Botan while the rest of the group fights the paper umbrella. With their powerful abilities and teamwork, it doesn’t take too long to defeat the enemy. They seal her away and she is trapped inside the paper umbrella.

Suddenly, Botan starts fainting. The marebito inside her is close to awakening. The Nagatsuki take Botan and quickly run back to their mansion. However, once there, they see their home destroyed. Even worse, Kushige has been defeated and sealed away. The box that houses his spirit has also been damaged. Normally, Kushige protects Botan by maintaining a spiritual barrier over her mind and body. With Kushige defeated, however, Botan is essentially naked. The monster inside her could wake up at any time.

With nowhere else to go, Hyoma and the Nagatsuki ask for help from the Kadomori family. Tsubaki and her grandfather agree and give Botan and company a place to stay. However, the grandfather warns everyone that he is in charge now, and Botan’s situation is about to go through some big changes. That’s where the episode ends.

I had a pretty good time watching this episode, as it was entertaining and had a lot of action. Though I felt surprised by how quickly the paper umbrella was defeated, I also thought it made sense when it was revealed she has allies. Those allies were the ones who defeated Kushige and destroyed the mansion. Speaking of Kushige, the Kadmori clan thinks they can repair his vessel and bring him back. But it might take a while.

Anyway, the coolest thing about this episode – and this season so far – is the music. I loved the instrumental pieces all throughout this episode. Additionally, the opening song is awesome. Despite not looking great in terms of art and animation, Mononogatari at least has nice music, songs, and voice-acting. I’m also continunig to enjoy some of the mythology and the characters. I hope Botan will be alright, as she is one of my favorites.

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Episode 5: Moonset

The Nagatsuki and Hyoma are staying at the Kadomori mansion. When Botan wakes up, the Nagatsuki rush to her side and shower her with love. They also give her the unfortunate news about Kushige. Tsubaki catches Hyoma and asks him on a date. After Hyoma refuses, Tsubaki calls her two older brothers, who lecture Hyoma for five straight hours. When Hyoma is finally free, he finds Botan, who thanks him for protecting her.

That night, Hyoma’s grandfather tells him he needs to start using his true power. Hyoma has apparently been using the door-pulls that belonged to his brother and sister. He has his own golden ones stored away in a box. If Hyoma can master the use of his golden door-pulls, he will unlock a whole new level of power. However, it’s going to be difficult. The door-pulls have spirits, and they are not happy that Hyoma neglected them. Although Hyoma does open the box to start practicing, it’s obvious he’s going to need a lot of time to improve.

Old man Kadomori calls Haori, Hyoma, and Botan together to tell what he’s decided to do. Hyoma is allowed to stay there and help out the Kadomori with sealing dangerous spirits. Since it’s dangerous with Kushige gone, Botan must take leave from university and stay put on the Kadomori property until further notice. As for Haori and the other Nagatsuki, they have been summoned by the Yachimata family to decide if they are fit to continue guarding Botan.

The Yachimata are one of the three great families of Saenome (exorcists). The others are Kunato (Hyoma’s family) and Tsuji. Since the Yachimata are so important, Haori and the others can’t refuse the summons. But they are worried about leaving Botan behind. Just then, Tsumabiki and her two companions of the musical trio make an appearance. They say they will fill in for the Nagatsuki and do everything in their power to protect Botan. Haori agrees, and the episode ends there.

This episode was slightly boring compared to the last one, but it also included some fairly interesting world lore. Apparently, there is a god or being called the Saenokami that first inspired the Saenome and gave them their powers. It’s also bits of Saenokami spirit that lingers in exorcism tools like Hyoma’s door-pulls. Learning about the three families seemed pretty important, too. We have actually already met Tsukumogami from each of the three houses. Kai and his servant girl are part of Tsuji, the musical trio is part of Yachimata, and the Nagatsuki family is under the supervision of the Kunato.

As for my other thoughts, I was glad to see Tsumabiki again since she’s awesome. I also felt bad for Botan being confined to a stranger’s house away from her friends. I hope she can keep it together. Maybe she’ll be able to have some fun with Tsubaki. That’s all for today.

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Episode 6: Vow

Botan worries that she is the one responsible for the deaths of Hyoma’s family members. Even if she wasn’t the cause, there is a marebito inside her with frightening powers. It could potentially take over her mind at any time. It helps Botan to remember Hyoma’s vow to protect her, which he has so far honored. Speaking of Hyoma, he engages in a mock battle with Nagi using his golden door-pulls. At the end of the fight, Hyoma makes a promise with Nagi to always protect Botan.

The next day, all six of the Bridal Tsukumogami head out to meet with the leader of the Yachimata clan. While they are out driving to the right region, Botan decides to make herself useful. She helps out as much as possible around the property – at the dining hall, at the office, and and at the dojo. Old man Kadomori reluctantly allows Botan to do all this.

The Musical Tsukumogami trio is helping guard Botan and the Kadomori properties while the Nagatsuki’s are away. They check in with Botan and tell her she has a very “rock” atttiude. Then the three of them head out to fight some enemy Tsukumogami on the borders. At the end of the episode, the scene cuts to the Nagatsuki’s, traveling in two different cars. Suddenly, Haori’s car is attacked by a mysterious figure with a paper umbrella.

I have just a couple of thoughts to add beyond the basic recap. First of all, I’m not very masculine, so I always have a bit of trouble understanding those bro-moments where the two guys are bonding over the fact that they are men. Seems like a strange thing to get excited over, but to each their own. What I’m referring to is the scene where Hyoma and Nagi make their promise after an intense fight. I’m not saying there is anything wrong about it – I just have trouble relating. No biggie.

As usual, the trio of musical spirits were enjoyable, and the old lady was really cool. Speaking of enjoyable elements, I continue to appreciate Botan as a character. She’s handling things very well and I’m proud of her for keeping herself occupied with others instead of withdrawing into her shell. Old Man Kadomori was not exactly “enjoyable,” but I do think he is a more interesting character than I previously believed. He is very cunning and not really trustworthy, but he’s also not malicious, and his intelligence is impressive.

I do have a few other thoughts – mostly related to the character development being a little weak so far – but I don’t have the patience to write them all out in a clear way right now. The very last thing to add is that the music in this episode – and this season as a whole – has been amazing. I don’t remember it being so epic in the first season.

Thanks for reading~

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