What is the most beautiful equation in human history?
Impression
As soon as I heard that young Araragi was bad at maths, I could see where this was going – How Much-chan would teach him over summer in that ruined house, and he would forget all about her for some reason or another. I do think it was strange that Araragi didn’t recognize her face when they met once more, because it’s not like she went through a major image change or anything. She was so sweet when she was younger though, how on earth did she become this angry, sad person?
I could almost swear that she liked Araragi at this point – and as Ougi hinted, the fairy of mathematics (ha ha, you is funny, Ougi!) knew a lot more about Araragi than she should have, much like Ougi herself. What this probably means is that Oikura has met Araragi even before this, when they were even younger – which means that Araragi has been forgetting her multiple times now (and I found it really interesting that they hardly showed her face for the flashback segments, even though it was clear as day it was How Much-chan). Not that Oikura has been doing much to help jog his memory, given that he doesn’t have a name, or any info about her other than the fact that she taught him maths. As for her eventually despising him, I can sympathize but not really empathize. I guess she intended the sessions as a silent plea to bring the domestic violence to his parents’ attention, but I don’t think she did enough to really be able to justify hating him for all this time. She wanted him to reveal it – and yet she didn’t. She told him not to say anything – and so he didn’t! The house was very messy, but I don’t think there were enough signs – it was a bit of a stretch, I think, for Ougi to link a very messy house with an ominous feeling to domestic violence, especially when Oikura herself never implicitly indicated anything like that as far as I could tell. I was reminded of Hanekawa and Gaen’s trademark lines when Ougi went, “I don’t know anything. It’s what you know, Araragi-senpai” when clearly she knows a great deal about things she shouldn’t know about.
I can understand being angry with him because he forgot her, though. If not for maths, he might not have gotten in to his school (I think it’s hard to get into or something) and he’s managed to get his student life back on track after steadily improving at what was once his worst subject. So it’s avoided him a lot of hardship, and whilst it might not completely be the ‘reason for his happiness’, it has made him happier, and Oikura does deserve more than a cold shoulder from Araragi. It feels like Sodachi Riddle has ended with many unanswered questions, and thus it’s very easy to understand why it’s followed up by Sodachi Lost – the two seem to go hand-in-hand. What will Araragi discover next? And, how much will he remember?
(I’m still not tired of that joke)