Did you notice when the last time Suruga had a major role prior to this arc was? The arc she was introduced in, Suruga Monkey. Meaning that in between, we’ve had 46 episodes almost entirely devoid of her, only making occasional minor appearances.
I missed her greatly is what I’m trying to say.
Now she is finally back to the spotlight in Hanamonogatari, also known as the Suruga Devil arc. The second stand-alone arc of the series following Nekomonogatari: Kuro.
As a big fan of the character, this season lived up to my expectations wonderfully. I would say that it even surpassed them, managing to deliver a heartfelt, touching story of two individuals caught up in their own fears.
Hanamonogatari very gracefully unravels the insecurities of its lead, Suruga Kanbaru, in a slow methodical manner. I’ve heard some call it boring, but I found it really engaging. It is one that lets the viewer really sink into it. A quieter arc than most of Monogatari’s. Even the dialogue, so notoriously quirky and bizarre, is significantly more subdued here. Don’t get me wrong, it still carries plenty of that trademark Monogatari quirkiness. It’s just not nearly as overflowing with it as most of the other instalments, and I’d say it works very well for what it is trying to accomplish. A slightly ethereal, lonely atmosphere, which I find irresistible.
Nowhere does this shine more than in a certain scene towards the arc’s third act where, after certain shocking and very upsetting things are revealed to her, Suruga decides to go for a run in the middle of the night, which leads to one of my favourite moments in the entire series. Suruga runs, as she is unsure if what else to do. Runs through the empty town after dark, then by the sea, eventually leaving the town completely behind and entering the vast countryside, with none but her around, like she is the only person left in the whole world. It’s an incredible sequence, in which the cinematography, the music, the backgrounds all come together in a stunning way to highlight the main character’s feelings of uncertainty and loneliness, in a perfect encapsulation of the entire arc and its themes.
This hypnotic pace and atmosphere in addition to some well-done twists, a clever climax, and a very interesting resolution, all work together to make Hanamonogatari a masterpiece of storytelling and tone.
Characterisation-wise, this arc is just as good. Here we see a side of Suruga that we have only seen a little of prior. This is probably the most serious and contemplative she gets for the whole series, as her insecurities slowly begin to overwhelm her. She fears what the future might bring, grappling with the anxiety of making the wrong choice, sending her down a wrong path in life, and now these fears are bringing her to stagnation. They are only made worse by the fact that she does already have a history of making awful decisions, disastrous in consequences for both her, and people around her. It feels like an unexpected, yet still very natural progression for her character from the point that we left off with her in Bake and Hana does an excellent job fleshing her out further.
Suruga’s foil in this arc is Rouka Numachi, her childhood basketball rival, back in her life, as she now operates under the alias of “Lord Devil”, hearing out and solving the problems of her customers for initially unknown reasons. Rouka is a highly intriguing character in her own right. She has a fairly enjoyable personality, with her seemingly laid-back attitude and teasing nature, but this is Monogatari, so of course, there is a darkness lurking beneath this surface. Her dynamic with Suruga is fascinating due to the parallels between them, and how, despite being seemingly very different, in just how many ways their ways of thinking, and emotions overlap. Without spoiling anything, the way Rouka currently thinks and views herself and those around her can essentially be seen as something of a cautionary tale for Suruga. A deeply sad picture of what can become of a person when they are consumed by regret of the past, and fear of the future. For those reasons, and one more which I will not reveal here, Rouka ends up being one of Monogatari's most tragic characters, and a very impactful, memorable presence throughout the arc.
The other characters appearing throughout all have fairly minor roles, but they all perform well in these roles. Like some of the familiar faces from the other Monogatari instalments, as well as a new character, Seiu Higasa, Suruga’s friend from the basketball team. I quite liked her in her few minutes of screentime, her personality being this mix of cheerful and peppy, while also being a bit sassy, as she is shown to playfully insult Suruga to her face, without even the slightest change to her happy-go-lucky demeanour or way of speaking. It’s nice that they gave even such a minor character a little bit of a memorable personality.
The visuals are, as is part of the course for Monogatari, excellently done. As implied earlier, they do reel it in a bit for this arc when compared to the rest of the series in terms of the sheer visual insanity, but once again, it works incredibly well, as the visuals on display are still very creative and appealing to look at. Not to mention, accompanied by some of that trademark lively, smooth Monogatari animation, when it is needed. I will also mention that this one has some of my favourite backgrounds in the series, especially during the scenes taking place during night-time (like the previously mentioned night-run sequence).
The music is also very good, nicely complimenting the arc’s slower, more subdued tone, and the opening theme, The Last Day of My Adolescence is easily among my personal favourites. It’s a great song, which manages to sound both exciting and fun, as well as melancholic and nostalgic, invoking a strange bittersweet feeling that is hard to really describe.
The voice acting is as great as ever, with Miyuki Sawashiro's performance as Suruga easily living up to the standard set by the other voice actors in Second Season, and absolutely nailing the new aspects of her character that Hanamonogatari goes into, and Kana Asumi does an excellent job as Rouka, perfectly portraying the the character's playfulness, while also giving her this tired quality to her voice. She gets across the sadness underneath Rouka's confident smirk very skilfully. The supporting cast all do very well too in the smaller roles that they have here.
Overall, Hanamonogatari stands strong as, in my mind, one of Monogatari’s absolute best. It is a touching, clever character study, encompassing all of the wider series’ strengths, while also being quite different from all the other entries in the best way. An underrated unique little gem, which ended Monogatari’s stellar Second Season on an incredible high note.