A thread on Koyomi Reverse, my favourite story arc in fiction:

First off, the premise.

Far from being unique to Monogatari, the mirror world premise is one that's been done to death and beyond the grave. However, it is how NisiOisiN utilisis this premise and weaves it into his thematic storytelling that makes this arc a stroke of genius

Expanding on this, though at first seeming like it, the premise isn't as simple as a reverse world, as nothing in Monogatari is. The reverse aspects of this world reflect the innermost conflicts amd complexes the characters have about themselves, this sets the premise apart

From any other story which makes use of this premise, it's no longer a simple reverse world, it's one that explores the relationships Araragi forged with the people he encountered and his regrets surrounding them. This is achieved through Sodachi's explanation of how mirrors work

That dialogue is pivotal to the arc. We, along with Araragi start piecing together the mystery of the arc, by knowing this, we know that the difference in behaviour and attitudes of the characters aren't simply their personas reversed and solves little "inconsistencies"

And now we get onto the hidden 20% that this reversed world exposes, we start with Tsukihi.

Tsukihi is an open book, she has nothing to hide, she wears her heart on the sleave and thus we learn her only insecurity is her forgetting the side she's supposed to use her yukata

Hanekawa is also a simple one to understand, her hidden side which she used to suppress was Black Hanekawa, the manifestation of her negative feelings which she had confronted and accepted during the events of Tsubasa Tiger

Karen's insecurity is much more complex and hidden in the series, she has a complex that that stems from how her physical development is much more ahead from her psychological development. Because of this, she hides her femininity, hides her desire to be a normal girl

Karen reverse is therefore her hidden desire to match how she looks to how she feels, she can finally show her girlish feminity

As we know, Yotsugi is a doll, a reanimated corpse, unable to express emotions, not for the lack of emotion, invertly she said multiple times she has a lot to express, but for a genuine inability to show them. Her 20% is an energetic and emotional girl full of of expression

Mayoi's nature as a wondering Ghost oddity creates a paradox where in spite of how much time goes by, she is unable to age, though she never seems particularly bothered by this throughout, it's made apparent that deep down she yearns to become the adult she never will be

Kanbaru Suruga is an interesting character, we all know that her comolex will always come back to the monkey paw, which in turn stems from her wish to help Hitagi amd culminates into her jealousy of Araragi for doing it in her stead, though suppressed it's revealed that she never

Let go of her feelings for Hitagi and her jealousy of Araragi, her hidden 20% takes the shape of the Rainy Devil, her alter ego and personification of her hatred towards Araragi for stealing Hitahi from her through the monkey paw

Sodachi is a character that is a lpt more than what she appears to be. She hates Araragi for his inability to save her from her past, she despises him for glossing over her family situation and she loathes him for forgetting about her, however she is frustrated at herself

Frustrated at her inability to overcome her hatred for him, this is expressed through her own hidden 20%, a happy/energetic/caring Sodachi, one that's been saved by Araragi and become like family to him. It's a refreshing look on her ideal of what could've been but never will

Nadeko's 20% goes without saying, it's the realisation of the Snake, another oddity that stemmed from her negative feelings, her insecurities regarding her own life and her jealousy of Araragi which she allowed Kaiki to dupe her into "overcoming" during the events of Hitahi End

Apart from being absolutely masterful foreshadowing to events explored during Off Season Monogatari, we learn that though a proud vampire, Shinobu still somewhat yearns for the time when she was still a human, I'll keep this one short as to not spoil Wazamonogatari

WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF AWOOOOOO GRRRRRRRRRE BARK BARK BARK GRRRRRRRR

Anyways, from this we move on to Araragi's encounter with Ougi.

Ougi confronts Araragi, allowing him to realise as to what this reverse world is and how he can escape it. Maybe his "reality" was the dream and the reverse world, the original and Araragi's response was incredible

When we wake up we know that what we had experienced during our sleep up to that point was a dream, we may look at it negatively, or we may think of it as a nice dream, in the end we brush it off as a fleeting moment. Araragi, however, knows what he's been through is real

He holds this to heart and through this realisation, also comes the acceptance that what he has been experiencing in the reverse world was also not a dream, it helps him face his own regrets with regards to the people he encountered

He realises it's impossible for anyone to move forward to a new chapter in their lives with mo regrets, no lingering feelings and now unfinished business, something that all of us need to understand, some to greater or lower degrees but something we all need to learn nonetheless

However there is one person who we never get to see in the Reverse world, one person who Araragi has no regrets towards, the only person Araragi ever considers without a "what if" in mind, Hitagi Senjougahara, easily the most beautiful moment between the two in the anime

Araragi, reflecting on his regrets, is unsure as to how to move forward in his life, using the metaphor of the pedestrian lights, is symbolic of the lesson he learned that no matter how he moves forward, he will always regret at least one thing as he leaves the past behind

And with Hitagi, he learns a new lesson, that even though there will always be regrets, that if you're unsure of how to move forward, uae neither your right or left foot, leap forward

Anyways, thanks to anyone who decided to read this long thread of my personal ramblings on why I love Koyomi Reverse so much