So I totally got behind on this. Real life is a bitch. Seems that, just as I (and you, for that matter) have to deal with the cruel bitch mother that is real life, so does Araragi. Well, if you count curses and cute girls as real life. The aforementioned (very ‘afore’ because I’m so behind, sorry!) snake-staker (tm, for my new deathmetal band) turns out to be Araragi’s little sister’s old friend, Sengoku. Add another to the pedo-fodder list. At least this one’s in middle school.

Anywho, it seems Sengoku has a lot of things that are constricting her, including a giant, invisible (to most) snake. The snake is constricting her body, leaving scaly prints on her skin. Which she shows to Araragi and Lesbo while half naked. So what does Araragi do? No, he doesn’t beat her up, and no he doesn’t jump her bones. He takes her to Oshino. Because he’s a tool. Oshino explains the circumstances of the curse, how it’s gotten worse because Sengoku did a botched up job trying to break it, and how that’s amplified because she tried to break it at a shrine, etc. Sengoku explains the curse was put on her by a guy she rejected, and Araragi and Lesbo now set out to break the curse on Sengoku without setting it back on the person who casted it. Nice of them.

To bad it doesn’t work. After a fight with a giant snake he can’t see, Araragi, witht he help of Lesbo (I love that she’s stuck around, I find her refreshing) they chase off the snakes (turns out there were TWO cursing the girl), but don’t manage to destroy them. Which means some poor dude somewhere is pining and raging about being rejected by his crush, and then hit with the curse he tried to lay on her. While this is sort of brushed off, I’m wondering if it’ll come up in a later episode.

Cut to episode 11: Araragi spends the majority of the episode talking to various girls again. We learn Class Pres (Hanekawa) is living with parents who…aren’t her parents, and her “dad” has hit her at least once. Then we run into Snake Staker again, out to thank Araragi and Lesbo for helping her out. We also find out that Araragi has yet another amazing ability, one possibly even more astounding than his regenerative capabilities- the ability to get old-school anime references from obscure episodes. While I’m not sure if this is something to be proud of or not (God, I hope so), I do appreciate the sporadic moments of animation style change, when they switch into “Doraemon Mode”.

So Araragi runs into Class Pres again, who seems to be a bit bent out of shape at the mention of Hot Dish (Senjougahara, yeah, she still exists) yet again. She tells Araragi that there’s a rumor going ’round that Senjougahara has changed since she’s “hooked up” with Araragi. Even though she defends Hot Dish, I can’t help but sense the tinge of jealousy. Which spawns this question:

How do anime men make every woman want them (even lesbians!)? At least this show is more subtle about it, but still! That trope is played out here extremely well without seeming too “dating game”. I’m just waiting for the “even the men want him” trope. Mmm.

Anyways, Araragi and Hanekawa are chattin’ it up when Hanekawa buckles down from a sudden headache, and we’re given a glimpse at what had happened to her before when Araragi took her to Oshino for help. Her hair turns white and she sprouts ears, charmed by a “meddlesome cat”, or better known as a multiple personality, which is given a form as result of some major stress. As “Black Hanekawa” she attacks people and drains their energy to release her stress. The first two people she drained? Her parents. When Araragi set out to find the Black Hanekawa, she prepared to attack him, only to be attacked by Shinobu (the little vampire girl) who, like the meddlesome cat, has the ability to drain energy. And that seemed to end everything. Until now. But the headaches Clas Pres is experiencing are different this time….

The two episodes, while not really as dark as the first few, are trying to build up some of the recurring characters a bit, I feel, but only partially managing to do so. I honestly feel no real attachment to any of them other than Araragi, and I mostly like him because he’s just a big loser. However, we’ll see what happens. At least the “Insert adjective then animal” problems are still fairly creative.

Next post will cover 12 and 13.