10 Second Anime - Owarimonogatari S2 - Episode 2

Araragi meets Teori the Puppeteer in Hell and learns they were both part of someone else's plot to protect the aberrations in Araragi's town.

Episode 2 - "Mayoi Hell - Part 2"

Hmm.

The best part of this episode, besides the bonus resurrection of our lost little ghost Mayoi, was the mention of Meme Oshino being directly involved with Teori's role in transferring Yotsugi to Araragi's protection from the Nameless Darkness in the Tsukimonogatari specials. I can only hope that's a hint that he'll play a larger role in the final confrontation with Ougi.

The other thing that this episode made clear was how the theme of Balance Opposed to Correcting Mistakes that was touched on during Mayoi's guided tour of Hell is what the whole point of Owarimonogatari is about. Gaen's "Network" of aberration hunters, specialists, and aberrations is Team Balance. Ougi and the mysterious Nameless Darkness is on Team Correcting Mistakes. The first half of this story shows Ougi making a lot of winning moves, with the first casualty being Mayoi herself.

Araragi coming back from Hell is Gaen's first successful counterattack. Ougi had sought to remove Araragi from the board, because his mere presence made correcting the mistaken aberrations very difficult. That was Teori's bit of clear evidence, which had always been hinted at, that Ougi was not there to be Araragi's friend. He was contracted to kill Araragi, and had chosen a way to do it so that he would tip over into being a vampire again, which would justify his contract work. Meme's visit to Teori quashed all that and it was also a threat that because he knew that Teori was an undead aberration himself, he could turn Ougi's network against him.

Gaen knew, because she knows everything, that they had to keep Araragi alive at all costs because of his relationship with Shinobu. That was the point of his and Shinobu's trip to a parallel present, with a grown-up alive Mayoi, to show what the world would look like without Araragi to pat Kiss-Shot's head - a world full of mindless zombie vampires. Remember to always pat a loli's head; you just may save the world!

All the pieces that have been laid out in the past stories, the two swords that can erase aberrations and raise them back to life, the lost ghost that leads people to where they need to go, and a perfectly normal human who is the love interest for every monster in town, are on the board ready to change the direction of the game.

Heh.

So, there's Teori again. He's not glowing blue this time.

The point of Araragi going to Hell was to subtract his vampire nature. That's a key bit of info for when he gets resurrected.

Teori himself is an undead aberration through a puppet making accident. His soul is in Hell, but he controls puppets in the material world. Good thing those puppets can make other puppets. That explains that weird blue glow he had during the showdown with Yotsugi and Araragi. I thought it was just some kind of a spell to keep himself warm in the snow.

Kagenui didn't know Teori was dead. Only Meme and Gaen knew. No word on Kaiki.

Ah. If Mayoi's not involved in the conversation, she goes back to collecting stones like she's supposed to be doing.

Ha! Mayoi is only supposed to be a cameo. It says so right in the credits! There's no way Araragi will let his leading lady (for the moment) have an uncredited role!

So, if Araragi is really dead and is no longer a vampire, what happens to Shinobu in the real world?

Not much of a trial for Araragi's soul. Teori had already agreed to do it because of Meme's threat. Of course, Gaen knew that, but Araragi still needed to be in the right place in Hell to atone for his sins (being a vampire and saving a vampire), so he could be resurrected as a full human.

That white thread looks like a white snake's tail. Ah. They're at the White Snake Shrine, so that makes sense.

This sounds like a bit of trivia, but you know this is going to be important. The reason the White Snake Shrine was called (Northern) was because it was a shrine that was relocated from a (Southern) spot. That (Southern) spot was the park where Araragi has met with all of his monster girlfriends. It also used to be under a lake, which is important if you remember Kiss-Shot playing a Lake God to the local Japanese. Everything is coming together at the end.

Oh, come on, Araragi-kun. You are so worthy to be resurrected. And you are not taking Mayoi's place in line to be reincarnated either. Not that you'll listen...

I guess Mayoi only does the biting thing if other lolis are around?

Mayoi knows Araragi loves everything about young girls. She only looks like a young girl. She is a decades old ghost, after all.

Araragi's plot armor hinges on this one thing: "If I'm not alive, I can't cherish girls at all." All these girls who can kill and maim and destroy the world need to be loved. By Araragi. Plot armor.

Aw. This is getting sad now. Mayoi hopes to be reincarnated as Araragi's and Senjougahara's first born. I'm not ready to say goodbye to Mayoi again! She's accepted her fate, though. No crying at all like last time. She's a soul in the afterlife, where she's supposed to be.

Ha! And Ha ha! Like I said, there was no way Araragi was going to let her be a cameo. She's coming back with him to the real world!

Gaen knew that Araragi would probably bring Mayoi back, but to see it actually makes her happy. It's like taking one of her pawns back from Ougi and making it a promoted queen.

Wow. Shinobu is back to full-on bouncy adult Kiss-Shot. She needs headpats STAT!

I love how her introduction makes it look like she's walking the red carpet and getting tons of paparazzi camera flashes. As it should be. She's a movie star now, don't you know.

Nice. This rainbow sky looks just like the same dawn sky as when Mayoi passed on.

Gaen is armed with a demon killing sword, a demon raising sword, a clamshell cell phone, a full powered Kiss-Shot Acerola Orion Blade-under-Heart, a resurrected ghost, a perfectly normal perverted teenage boy, and a smile. She's ready for her counterattack!