“The fake is of far greater value. In its deliberate attempt to be real, it's more real than the real thing.” – Kaiki Deshu.

short thread on Nisemonogatari and its theme of "fake vs real". hope u enjoy it.

First off, fun fact if u didnt know. monogatari essentially means "story" and every mono part has a different prefix that signifies the main theme. Nise means "fake".

My personal favorite example of this theme is Kaiki's introduction. Everything is from araragi's pov. he is the narrator, and we meet Kaiki under such dark/mysterious scenery that just screams "evil". but later we find out it's just araragi's "fake" interpretation.

For Tsukihi, she is symbolized as a phoenix but also as a cuckoo. A bird that lays their eggs in others' nests and has their child pretend to be that of another. she is an oddity that was "layed" in the her mothers stomach and then birthed. she isnt a real daughter. she is a fake

But so what? she's a fake but so what? her existence was real, her love for her family and their love for her was real, her accomplishments were real, her personality was real. all that just to be real even tho she is fake. Read kaiki's quote again and understand what im saying.

in the end, u can come to ur own conlusion. thats the purpose of themes in a story. but i think its wrong to disregard the value of the fake, even tho its replicating everything a real can do, just because it isnt real. and faking a truth to protect a real truth is no different.

end lol