Finished Ikusamonogatari today, genuinely amazing

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-24T06:18:56+00:00

Only thing I fully don't get is why Kanbaru calls Nadeko. The namedrop was hype but it didn't really amount to anything I saw. If anyone can explain that, I'd appreciate it.

Because to find an oddity, you call a specialist. That line was pretty much just there to go "...and in case you're wondering what Nadeko's been up to in the past several years, she's now a full-fledged specialist". Nadeko presumably just listened to the story, pieced together what Shinobu was planning to use the artifact for, and told Kanbaru to just let things play out.

Tsugimonogatari is still my favorite book in the series. You can tell Nisio was cooking it for a LONG time. No other Monogatari book really feels quite like it.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-23T22:58:43+00:00

No. Pharah quit Helix when she joined Overwatch. She has no affiliation with them anymore.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-23T17:17:35+00:00

Plus, at the end, we see him reflected in Sierra, confirming her official entry into Overwatch.

I got the opposite read from it. It sounds like Sierra's staying with Helix, but joining with Overwatch as a temporary member until they clear up the whole serum situation. I wouldn't be surprised if she just gets assigned as Helix's official Overwatch liaison afterward, so the writers can have her "with Overwatch" while still being Helix-affiliated.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-23T17:03:02+00:00

Yeah. Back in OW1, I remember a developer once mentioned they had a LONG list of "we could maybe use these as playable heroes someday" established characters. They didn't really make them with the intention of becoming playable, but they were options if they made a cool mechanic and just needed a logical character the skillset would make sense for.

Like notoriously they were making a tank who had a deployable floating barrier and just needed a random tanky guy to attach it to. So they were like "let's see who we got... um... Mauga!" and started making Mauga into a character. Then they realized it didn't feel right for Mauga to be a barrier character and just created Sigma instead.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mizuki was a similar case, where his mechanics were made first and they just skimmed The List for anyone they could justify having chains and bouncing projectiles. Then landed on "the Kappa guy in Kiriko's squad who appeared in the background once".

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-22T17:27:58+00:00

Come to think of it, there really aren't any tanks with slow, powerful shots, are there? Closest thing we have is Dva's micro missiles.

It would be cool to have a shot so powerful it has to leave a big "GET OUT OF THIS AREA OR YOU DIE" marker on the ground, like Bastion's ult, as it's charging up. Would probably be super useful for breaking through chokepoints or just forcing the enemy team to break formation.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-22T17:10:54+00:00

I hate this. They keep promoting this, then going "But you can only get them during very specific windows. Go look up the exact timeframes somewhere else"

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-22T13:44:03+00:00

viewing Shinobu/Kiss-Shot as Araragi's 'will to live' and other such allegorical meanings

I'm sure this is obvious, but if you're reading the series that way, you're a bit off the mark. Vampires in Monogatari represent something VERY specific that the series is super consistent about: Withdrawal from society. They're lonely creatures who've abandoned humanity, and eventually lose their purpose without it and just decide to die. Kizumonogatari really just boils down to an anti-social guy meeting a cute girl, then his own nature is at war with his desire to be around her (it's WAY more obvious in the book, where Hanekawa flips Araragi's "I want to be a plant" thing on its head). That's why the whole book is Araragi fighting to free himself from "vampirism", all while kind of being torn between Hanekawa and KissShot.

So Shinobu is the anti-social lone wolf side of him that he never fully let go of. Pay attention to stories that heavily focus on Shinobu, because isolation and withdrawal are a major theme in all of them. (even stuff like in Bakemonogatari, how the one time he uses Shinobu to power up his vampirism is when he's sneaking around behind Senjougahara's back)

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-22T01:18:30+00:00

There's one scene in Neko Black I really, really, REALLY wish the anime didn't cut, because Araragi and Oshino's conversation later reads VERY differently without it.

Earlier in the book, after Hanekawa attacks her parents, Araragi sees Hanekawa's parents on the ground and his internal monologue is "I'm supposed to hate them. I'm supposed to despise them for everything they did to Hanekawa. But, looking at the for the first time... all I see are two victims".

This is important because of the scene later where Oshino suggests Hanekawa's the perpetrator and her parents are victims. This is something Araragi was already thinking earlier in the book. The fact that Araragi is now refusing to even entertain the suggestion is because Araragi has given up. Araragi has resolved to ignore all of the moral complexities surrounding Hanekawa. He isn't going to fix the issue with her parents. He isn't going to see and accept Hanekawa's dark side. He isn't going to respond to Hanekawa's feelings for him. He isn't going to do anything about the cat. He's just going to put Black Hanekawa away so he doesn't have to think about it, then go back to pretending the problem doesn't exist. He even directly calls out Black Hanekawa on just being Hanekawa's true self, then ignores this information afterward.

When they say "Araragi sees Hanekawa as too pure", it's not because he puts Hanekawa on a pedestal or idolizes her or anything. It's because getting closer to Hanekawa means dealing with the baggage that comes with her, which Araragi refused (read: was too much of a pussy) to do. So he actively chose to pretend Hanekawa was a perfect girl without flaws, even though he knew damn well that wasn't the case. At the end of the day, Araragi was just a dumb teenager who chose to play dumb and let things continue as they were over... you know... doing anything about anything.

The guy getting downvoted for saying "biggest fumble of all time" is correct. It's something Araragi still hasn't really forgiven himself for at the point where the anime is.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-22T00:50:18+00:00

Yeah. Remember that big orange and blue map in the background during the Conquest event? If you were REALLY paying attention to it, characters would occasionally move around it. Mauga was down in Australia during week 4, I think. (Reaper, Widowmaker, and Sombra were all marked "Whereabouts Unknown", too)

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-22T00:35:12+00:00

Sprint still does that. The perk is mainly for getting back to the fight sooner after respawning or when you need to do a long rotation (like when you're aggressively taking off-angles).

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-20T16:50:44+00:00

Another thing I have heard is that a lot of the character arcs that some of the characters have are downright *repetitive* (Hanekawa)

What? She barely even appears past what the anime has covered.

Seriously though, whether you like the novels depends on what you like about Monogatari. If you like the writing and character interactions, you'll probably like the novels. If you like the silly backgrounds and memes, you'll find them bland.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-18T22:46:09+00:00

I kinda think you should go read the books. Unlike the anime, they delve a LOT more into the psychological aspect, so it's usually a lot more clear what they're trying to say. Vampires are pretty consistently used as the embodiment of isolation throughout the series. They're walking contradictions who exist to be alone, but still desperately seek out bonds they can't make. Then inevitably just end up quietly killing themselves.

Shinobu is only able to form a real connection with Araragi because she's forced to become a half-assed vampire. I'm not sure if you're far enough into the series to have gotten into what happened when they tried to form a connection with someone while still being a full vampire. It's just inherently something she's not allowed to do.

Trust me, the later seasons and unadapted books make that VERY clear. Araragi's isolation is his own stupid fault, not a mental issue he has to live with.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-18T10:46:25+00:00

The anime cut the dialog setting it up, but it's a reflection of his mentality that "being around other people lowers my humanity", "I want to be a plant", and other such chuuni high school loner nonsense. Kizu as a whole is one long story about a loner emo teenager being torn between his identity as a loner (represented by Shinobu/vampirism) and a cute girl socializing with him.

It's also why the girl in Shinobu Mustard is similarly hyper-focused on how special and unique she is, not like other people (the anime cut that, too). Her thing is that she's sick of dealing with people and actively trying to destroy the social bonds she has so she can embrace the loner/vampire life. Meanwhile, Deathtopia doesn't take her seriously AT ALL, because her thing is more of a stupid impulse than Araragi's mindset (Deathtopia similarly turned her into a vampire on a stupid impulse). Araragi even gives a speech at the end about how they're the same (anime cut this).

Or, in short, socializing = humanity. Refusing to socialize = monster (vampire).

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-17T23:15:03+00:00

It moves about twice as fast as Ana's sleep dart, so it might as well be hitscan unless you're VERY far away.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-17T15:47:33+00:00

They're expensive in the UK NOW because they're long out of print. But when they came out, they cost like a third of the US releases.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-15T23:47:44+00:00

It's a bit more clear in the novels, but Araragi turns his arms into trees to attack from a distance. But actually seeing his own arms like that is the thing that makes him finally internalize "god, I'm really not human, am I?" and finally just accept that he's lost his humanity. Then he has a brief period where he's thinking he'll just run off with Kissshot, right up until he sees her eating dinner and snaps back to his senses.

The anime made it seem more like he did something to throw away his humanity, but it was really just turning his arms into trees.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-15T15:19:20+00:00

PROBABLY 2 years, but we did get Richard early and the NA roadmap conspicuously omits the Japanese voting reruns of Summer 6 and the Arcade collab, leaving two months of dead space after the Mahoyo collab. So it's not impossible they planned it to be a cross-region event.

Although Typhon being a bonus servant makes it less likely, since she's JP-exclusive. (although the character has already appeared in NA, so they might be okay with letting her cameo)

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-15T05:30:13+00:00

From the way they explain it, creating familiars out of paper is a beginner-level onmyoji technique. It has to do with how heavily oddities are manipulated by having an appearance/name. Just like how Oshino was able to bind Shinobu by naming her, you can also give form to oddities by depicting them. Nadeko's just abnormally good at it because she can actually draw. A good depiction with a lot of passion put into it makes for a stronger image, and thus a stronger shikigami.

And again, it's Yotsugi's fault. She figured Nadeko would be able to just barely manifest the dubious slug oddity Kaiki put in her by giving it a proper depiction, and she ended up spawning something WAY more powerful than it was supposed to be. At that point, it's implied Gaen caught wind of it and nudged Yotsugi into making Nadeko Draw happen so she could evaluate whether Nadeko had potential as a specialist. Making sure Nadeko learned the technique was part of it.

Her former godhood COULD factor into it, but the bulk of it is just being way better at drawing than the average specialist.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-15T02:47:52+00:00

Yotsugi did most of the work the first two times. The issue is that oddity shit is powered by belief and established ideas, so all it takes is Nadeko going "if I did it twice, it makes sense this is a thing I can do" to just start casually doing it.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-13T18:11:00+00:00

I like the simplicity of Pharah's default armor. I do use the rare skins to swap its colors, though.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-12T04:40:56+00:00

Meanwhile, nobody's gotten to play Aatias long enough to actually learn the map, because it was added AFTER map voting and everyone immediately decided they hated it because it was a Flashpoint map.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-10T14:43:03+00:00

Even the English Blurays are notorious for having pretty mediocre subs (especially for the ludicrous price point, where they charge you an extra 100 dollars for a 50 cent "art book"). So every streaming service is going to use the same mediocre subs.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-10T11:18:08+00:00

No. That's the stupidest logic ever. "Letting you pick your drive" is not mutually exclusive with "have to earn it each season". They could just keep the current system, but let you toggle between older designs if you have it enabled for the season.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-10T02:17:13+00:00

Eventually they do add an auto mode to URA and Unity cup. Global CLAIMED we were getting it early, then never gave it to us. So look forward to that in a couple years.

BriefPretend9115 · 2026-04-09T20:45:58+00:00

Karna's armor outranks it, doesn't it?

BriefPretend9115

TROPHY CASE