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Finished the Sodachi trilogy ig you could call it. A very interesting start to Owari and definitely one of the darker Mono arcs. The core of the arc being Sodachi, a girl Araragi failed to save rather than one he& #39;s trying to save spinning a nice twist on the usual Mono formula.
Since the arc mainly focuses on Araragi& #39;s complicated history with Sodachi its an arc with lots of retrospective scenes. Highlighting just how Sodachi grew to despise Araragi as she does in the present and how Araragi repeatedly turned a blind eye to her problems
For the first time we& #39;re really exposed to how much of an unreliable narrator he can be. The arc does begin to go deep into some of the flaws that have plagued him since the beginning and how he did play a part in Sodachi& #39;s misery, tho he is def not the one to blame it all on.
Exploring more into what was briefly touched upon in Nadeko& #39;s arc. Sodachi does have a full blown victim complex which she& #39;s even aware of herself. She needs to shift all the blame and hatred she feels towards what& #39;s happened to herself onto others otherwise she& #39;ll collapse.
She blames it all on Araragi for not picking up on the signs. For her being voted as the culprit in the classroom even tho he was seemingly gonna be framed for it. For showing her what a regular household was like. He& #39;s essentially an easy target for all her rage since he was-
-present during all the key events as her life spiralled out of control. So ofc its easy to make him into her villain. (Kinda like Kaiki used to be Hitagis). Especially since Araragi isnt completely exempt from blame and the only other people she can direct it on are her parents
A lot of the arc in the end comes down to the question (or lesson?) On how to be happy. Which there isn& #39;t any real clear answer for but we see multiple characters in the series struggle to achieve with all the bad and unhappy stuff that happens in their lives.
Sodachi being the most extreme case so far. Since she& #39;s become so used melancholy and unhappiness that its easier and more comfortable to just live like that rather than trying to strive for happiness and end up just hurting herself even more. But Araragi puts it best
Even Sodachi is capable of becoming happy. It really comes down to the same ideas you see very often about loving yourself and how connections with others is what defines you. Edgy Kizu Araragi learned this from Hanekawa do its cool that they were both here for Sodachi.
Really loved the conclusion to the arc with Hitagis texts and Sodachi actually leaving a letter this time being the best possible way of highlighting her growth. I expected it to be left up to interpretation? Which it was? But I& #39;ve just been told there is a way of interpreting it
Adding onto this I really enjoyed Ougi& #39;s presence in these arcs. Love the way she purposefully guided Araragi everytime he started reflecting on the past and pointed him in the right directions. I already have a strong idea as to who she is but I& #39;ll wait and see.
I also love the conflict she added with Hanekawa. Their almost rivalry was really entertaining to watch with their back and forths both trying to win Araragi onto their side. I really loved Hanekawa this arc being very assertive and directly opposing Ougi. She& #39;s amazing!
One thing I NEED to talk about is how much I love the whole scene in Sodachi& #39;s apartment. Besides the great dialogue I loved the gradual lighting change as the scene went on and most of all the absolutely incredible voice acting by Sodachi& #39;s va who I discovered is Marina Inoue.
I don& #39;t have any clips but her voice acting in this scene is some of the best I& #39;ve seen from recent anime I& #39;ve watched. The innocent cutesy voice she puts on at times in this scene was so infuriating to me but I mean that in the best way possible!
If I have one minor critique of the arc off the top of my head it& #39;s that the build up to what happened to Sodachi& #39;s mother with Hanekawa and Ougi making Araragi do the deductions didn& #39;t really hit me that hard. The conclusion just didn& #39;t feel as crazy as it was built up to be.
Anyways solid arc. Feeling like a 9/10 for me now. I& #39;m gonna reflect on it more over the next few days. Sodachi, as Ougi said was a perfect addition to the cast and was a rly interesting opposing force of sorts that Araragi needed to face. Looking forward to the rest of Owari!
