Orokamonogatari is a wild introductory start for Off Season. Although those of us who read the short stories have already been exposed to a Sodachi POV with the one attached to Zoku Owaimonogatari: Sodachi Mirror (even Ononoki makes her meta remark that her little observation tale at the end was supposed to just be a short story). But even that doesn’t prepare you at all for Sodachi Fiasco. It is depressingly overwhelming at first so much so that after reading a few chapters, it would literally put me in a weird mood for the rest of the day.

Self-deprecating

Self-destructive

Self-harming

Self-indulgent

Self-ish

Sodachi, Kanbaru, and Tsukihi can be described as such.
What an interesting start. These arcs felt really similar to what we have gotten from previous seasons of Monogatari but so far no Araragi which is both a blessing and a curse. It reminds me of the Second Season times of interesting POVs while with Off Season, we get so many nods to Araragi in varying degrees that I longed for compared to the joy I felt when Araragi wasn’t present in Second Season. Here, his absence is missed both by me and the characters involved themselves. Sodachi loves to hate him but Araragi is her defying way of life and we see it go to incredible strides. Kanbaru fears to lose him to adulthood as she takes on the senior role with a "problematic" junior who is just Araragi. Ononoki steals the show and ice cream just to realize how much of a delicate balance Araragi maintains for the sake of his sisters.

Sodachi Fiasco parallels incredibly well with Ougi Formula. At first I thought it was like a Rouka situation where the chick was a ghost. But I should've known from Sodachi's moments in Owarimonogatari that her tale, while a fool, is simply human without any aberrations involved. I should've known that while Araragi's challenge was facing his past, Sodachi's is facing her present. No matter how much she hates him, she uses him for better or for worse to make the world around her a hell for herself. For her sake. For her sanity. Maybe a lack of it as well...

Suruga Board obviously parallels or moreso extends Suruga Devil. My initial Rouka situation from Fiasco was thrown literally in my face here which honestly was funny as Gaen pulled up. I will admit that this arc I was the most detached from the entire Monogatari series so far because of the heavy reliance on wordplay way more so than I remember. I just let that shit go one ear and out the other and screamed "Ougi Kanbaru dynamics are too good" and moved on with my life.

Tsukihi Undo parallels with nothing tbh but instead pulls from everything and everywhere as Ononoki struggles to keep it together. With a little taste for Ononoki in Yotsugi Stress or even the emotional faced Ononoki in Zoku Owarimonogatari, but to really see how expressive, vindictive, and just funny Ononoki's inner monologue goes when picturing that unmoving face is such as amazing dichotomy. With guest appearances of a god, a manga artist, and so many more, this final stretch of Orokamonogatari flooded the saltiness of these tales with even more fools than expected. I am super excited for the rest of Off Season.

For those that saw my review of Zoku before it got taken down, you are the real ones (did this review have enough padding when my experience about the entry itself should be valid Anilist-san?). I'll see you in Wazamonogatari.