Recap: Kanbaru receives a deceptively simple text message from the missing Araragi. Senjougahara finds another solution for Hanekawa’s housing problem. Black Hanekawa embraces her role in Terminator 2.

Jel’s Thoughts: I’m starting to wonder if Monogatari even needs Araragi to come back at this point. The girls seem to be handling things just fine on their own, and it’s been interesting to see some previously unseen interactions between them. I particularly enjoyed Senjougahara playfully manipulating the simple minded Karen to get them to take care of Hanekawa. Seeing Kanbaru and Shinobu make a cameo was cool as well, and I probably found Shinobu’s totally random walking on the ceiling way more amusing than I should have.

I did have an issue with the amount of uninterrupted talking this episode, something the series has a habit of doing from time to time. The first two episodes managed to push the limit of patience to the very last second before moving to the next scene or grabbing your attention with a short burst of action. Not so this week. In particular Shinobu’s conversation with Black Hanekawa seemed to go on and on as the two underwent their negotiation for information, but between the Napoleon analogy and the Terminator joke I am OK with the net results.

What I am most excited for is seeing how the new threads that Kanbaru and Shinobu have introduced will weave in with later arcs. Monogatari is not known for really having an overarching plot line, so it will be cool to see how things come together once we figure out what Araragi has been up to this whole time. Just why is he currently disconnected from Shinobu? What happened at his theoretical meeting with Kanbaru at the abandoned school? Maybe having him back won’t be so bad after all.

Lifesong’s Thoughts: That bathroom. Out of all the things I could talk about that scene in the bathroom is the one that left the biggest impression on me. More accurately, the bathroom itself and not the scene with 3 women in one small bathtub, though that was memorable in its own right. I wonder if Shinbo is making some kind of statement with that bathroom. It’s part cathedral, part studio with one small bathtub in the center. It’s gives off a vibe that is both voyeuristic and holy all at the same time. Maybe Shinbo just put random things together because they look cool, or maybe he is making a statement about how the bath is the most holy part of a household. Then you have the studio lights and the obvious perv factor with all the skin we get to see as an audience while watching this holy bathing ritual. Maybe I am just crazy, but I’ve thinking these thing since I first saw that bathroom. Some words for thought.