Incestuous Toothbrushing – Nisemonogatari Episode 8 Review

Before I talk about the episode, I have to apologize for not doing the episodic last week because I was feeling lazy, which forced Sleepyslacker to cover up for me. So from now on I’m going to do it every week.

More than the start of Tsukihi’s arc, this episode feels more like the epilogue to Karen Bee. It shows how the relationship between Karen and Araragi is no longer hostile and instead is so close that its almost incentral. In fact Tsuhiki is only featured for something like 2 minutes even though this is supposedly her arc. My guess is that her reaction to this incest will be in the next episode and will get the ball rolling for the arc.

Nothing intelligent to say here

Seeing how suggestively Karen behaved, I thought that she would react in jealousy when Araragi mentioned Kanbaru. When she said that she looks up to Kanbaru, my faith in the show’s normality was restored. Then it was shattered again starting with this:

I'm not Cyborg or Sleepy, so no sexual joke here

Then things started to get really weird. I would’ve thought the only person to be pleasured sexually by getting their teeth brushed by another person would be Kanbaru. Maybe Karen and Kanbaru would get along really well seeing as they’re both so… Sensitive for the lack of better word. I actually liked Karen, but now I’m not too sure. Hopefully her character has no more overlaps with anybody else.

You Don't Say?

I hope Nisem isn’t shown on family channels during the day because the sounds alone would be enough to get it censored in most countries. To make it worse, Araragi, the shining knight of morality, starts to get excited and almost gropes Karen. If not for Tsukihi, this episode would just be 20 minutes of siscon fanservice. Instead its only 18 minutes of siscon. I don’t usually post suggestive images, but when I do, its because of the episode.

*victory theme music playing*

When Cyborg argued with me that Nisemonogatari has a huge amount of fanservice, I used to be able to counter argue. Now, with this episode I don’t think that I can anymore.

Misleadingly innocent look

Even after Tsukihi caught them and went to buy an awl (pointed stick for poking leather) to use to punish them, Karen still wanted to continue with the challenge, kinda cute but also very wrong. The episode end with a simple conclusion that Araragi is closer to Karen now.

Overall I thought this episode was kinda pointless and shallow, the most it can do is set the stage for the next episode. But being pointless doesn’t mean that it wasn’t entertaining. That said, I hope there are no more shallow episodes for this season because there are only 4 episodes left and also because I will think of this episode whenever I brush my teeth.

Thus far, the season feels way too slow paced. Unless they really add on the depth in the last few episodes, there’s a big chance that this season will be a bit of a let down in the aspect of plot and pace.

I felt that Karen’s arc was too long when compared to Bakemonogatari’s arcs. I get that they want to showcase all the old characters and its hard to do that when the arc isn’t about them but still, 7 episodes out of 12 is pretty long. I’m interested to see how Tsukihi is immortal or rather how Araragi found out about it.

Thanks for reading to the end! If you thought what I said made sense, or you’d like to shout at me, leave a comment below.