Following on with the Monogatari series, Otorimonogatari revolves around Nadeko, a shy girl that with friends with Koyomi Araragi’s younger sisters. She first appeared in the first season (Bakemonogatari) with the snake spirit taking over her body and close to death at one point.
In Otorimonogatari the snake theme returns where a snake god (Kuchinawa) inhabits Nadeko to pay for her sins when she killed the snakes to remove the snake curse previously in Bakemonogatari. The series revolved in Nadeko in a mission to find Kuchinawa’s dead body. Strangely though the first 5 minutes is based on the ending of the series then rewinds all the way to the start which is unusual for the series however I guess some movies have that in it too. This can spoil the whole arc straight away for people as well as they know what it will lead up to.
It is interesting to see how they developed the character for Nadeko in this series especially how she deals with people and for secret love for Araragi. She is seen in the show to hide her face under her bangs (hair) when she doesn’t want to interact with someone which makes her look timid or shy. At one point Tsukihi cuts off Nadeko’s bang to prove how cute she is but ends up badly.
Some people may find this arc quite awkward to watch as it involves one girl and excludes most of the other characters in the series. However if you’re a fan of Nadeko then it will be worth watching. The ending also is unclear and can make people wonder what happened at the end however I’m sure things will clear up as a Monogatari series is still on going.
As tradition, the Monogatari series doesn’t come with english dub but the brilliant voice acting from Kana Hanazawa makes it up. I personally prefer Japanese dub however people who don’t will be disappointed I guess. In addition, the visual animation looks brilliant and follows the tradition of the Monogatari series. The sound isn’t as catchy as the other shows including the opening/ending songs however it shouldn’t really be a put off.