10 Second Anime - Owarimonogatari S2 - Episode 5

Araragi hears from Gaen how she plans to restore balance to his town and protect his friends.

Episode 5 - "Ougi Dark - Part 1"

Hmm.

Sometimes you need an info dump episode just so you know what is going on in a story with lots of moving parts. This is your info dump! The three last aberrations that have not found any sort of "balance" through Araragi's actions sit around a park with Gaen to figure out what to do against their two main threats.

Yes. Two threats! The Nameless Darkness and Ougi Oshino.

Yotsugi wonders why you're so surprised when she dropped so many foreshadowing hints...

Before we get to Ougi, Gaen had to explain to Araragi how she shifted her plans for balance to incorporate saving Mayoi from the Nameless Darkness. Originally, the plan was to install Kiss-shot at the relocated shrine, but Mayoi works out better as an upgrade. Or more like a successor.

Both of these aberrations satisfied the condition of being a "better" god than the original water snake and its pale replace mountain snake. Kiss-shot landing, literally, in Japan obliterated the water snake's lake shrine. She's obviously stronger than that poor god. But Gaen decided on installing Mayoi instead, since she came back from Hell.

Not only has she performed a "miracle," but her nature as a snail aberration "beats" a snake god. This has to do with the Japanese folk story of the three-way deadlock between a frog, a snake, and a slug. Kind of like rock, paper, scissors. A snake wants to eat the frog, the frog wants to eat the slug, but the slug can kill the snake with its mucous. This concept was used in Naruto for the Legendary Three Ninjas and their huge Summoned Animals of Jiraiya's toad, Orochimaru's snake, and Tsunade's slug.

This is also how Kaiki Deshu defeated Nadeko, by feeding her the fake curse "slug tofu." Mayoi is a snail, but that's close enough to a slug for mythical creatures. Instead of Mayoi Hachikuji, she will be Mayoi Namekuji!

Being designated a god also satisfies the rules for having a lost ghost in the material world. She gains residency! The Nameless Darkness will see her work permit and leave her alone! As long as Kiss-Shot keeps acting like a vampire instead of a mountain god, the Nameless Darkness won't go after her like it did 400 years ago. Everything seems to be solve. Except.

Except Ougi isn't the Nameless Darkness. She's just a regular aberration who took on the role of the Nameless Darkness. To keep the peace, Gaen's group has to eliminate her too. I suppose the rest of her story will be about who she is, how she became an aberration, and how she'll eventually just join Araragi's side harem like all the other girls.

Heh.

Araragi's opening soliloquy says he knew what Ougi was from the beginning and it's hilarious. I'll be looking for how all the clues get put together during these next three episodes, but the key is her catchphrase, "I don't know anything; it's what you know, Araragi-senpai."

The new opening sequence has Ougi interacting with a dark shadow of herself. But I don't see them fighting...

Before we get to the serious stuff, Shinobu needs payback. First on Araragi and then on Yotsugi. Mayoi needs to catch up on all her puns with flubbing pronunciations.

Nice Dragon Ball reference there, Araragi.

Mayoi feels left out in this war council. She's not being cuddled or cuddling anybody.

I explained most of the backstory between the two shrine locations, but the key bit to remember on why things got out of whack in the town was the return of Kiss-shot's minion 15 years ago when he ate everything at the Air Spot, including the White Snake God. Shinobu eating his remains made her the successor to the shrine because she ate the snake too, in a way.

Araragi creates miracles, or disasters, depending on your perspective, with these aberrations he meets.

Kiss-shot would rather return to her Shinobu form than be a Vampire Goddess. She wants more headpats!

Mayoi doesn't understand all the shrine god stuff, but she knows it means staying in town to play with Araragi.

Ha! Gaen already knew Ougi wasn't the Nameless Darkness. Seems like everyone else knew too.

Way to rub it in, Yotsugi. What a troublesome character...

Gaen asked an important question - when did Araragi start to think Ougi was also the Darkness? From the beginning, maybe? She always had that air of a "shadow that appreciates the rules."

So, she's not the Nameless Darkness, but does the same things. Lots of that kind of dichotomy going around in this Aberration Story...

Gaen thinks that Mayoi will be attacked by Ougi as soon as she receives goddess status.

Ougi is just another ordinary aberration, according to Gaen. Araragi has lots of experience with those!