“…We found out that the world had been destroyed.”
Impression
Let’s first take a moment to appreciate the gifts we were given today – shota Araragi, loli Hanekawa and loli Hachikuji. Well, Hachikuji pretty much looked the same, but she did get a fun OP this week. I actually enjoyed it more than Hanekawa’s one. As much as Shinobu might have wanted to, it’s probably for the best that they left shota Araragi alone – strange things happen when you meet yourself, after all. At least it confirmed he didn’t replace his existing self within this time period. Loli Hanekawa was great though 😀 I must admit, I’d react the same way if some random strange pervert came up to me (on all fours) shouting my name. Isn’t he sort of…destroying the future already by manhandling this loli, pettanko Hanekawa? Araragi even gives off the air of a lolicon, telling the lady at the police station he was a “friend of Mayoi”. Yeah, I’m sure a pedobear high school boy can be great…friends with a little girl. Very shady.
But you know what? Shinobu best girl. None of the lolis can beat schoolgirl Shinobu. God, I almost died seeing that disguise without any warning. My Shinobu can’t be this cute!
Anyway, Araragi’s come up with this smart idea to save Hachikuji’s life, having arrived in a time and place specifically before the date of her traffic accident. As Hachikuji’s existence as an oddity wasn’t due to a long-term factor, but instead a single accident, Araragi thinks that it’s possible to save her and bring her to her mother’s house, so she never becomes the lost ghost she does in the original timeline. To be honest, that entire set up is just a massive disaster waiting to happen. One of the basic unspoken rules in any time travel-related plot is that you don’t mess around with set events. Assaulting a loli Hanekawa is one thing, but saving the life of Hachikuji, who’s supposed to be dead in the future, just opens up a whole new can of worms. If Hachikuji never becomes an oddity, then presumably Araragi never meets her. Even if Mayoi Snail isn’t as connected to the overall plot as much as some other arcs are, I’m pretty sure Hachikuji is a cornerstone in one of those arcs. A cornerstone that’s now missing.
It was pretty ominous right from the time they arrived at the shrine. As weird as the abundant spiritual energy is, I doubt that’s the least of their problems. The world’s apparently destroyed after all 😀 “Jiangshi” loosely translates to a zombie vampire in English, though in this context its connection to vampires is more interesting, given that our two protagonists both have vampire blood. Notably, there were lots of zombies around in a brief scene flash last episode, too o.O Something happens to either Araragi or Shinobu (or both) that led to all these undead creatures running around. I don’t know what it is, but it can’t be good.
