Hanekawa Tsubasa and Araragi Koyomi have a very interesting and unique journey and growth throughout monogatari. Their character at times parallel each other and other times contrast each other in very nuanced and interesting manners. (Spoilers for all of mono)

The impression both each other have for each other is one that of blind respect, admiration and love. Illustrated perfectly when araragi arrives to save help hanekawa in fighting the tiger apparition. The tsubasa tiger arc is told through hanekawa's perspective and this point...

..makes much more sense when you take that into consideration. Araragi, too, considers hanekawa his saviour and elevates her to a status of a goddess (he ain't wrong tho). Both hold each other in a very high regard because they were there for each other before anyone else was.

They risked their lives for each other and it was even obvious that they had feelings for each other. Because they finally had someone that would risk it all for them. In kizumonogatari, hanekawa almost died for him eventhough araragi tried to cut her off.

They both have an instinctive and impulsive need to help others, Hanekawa does it as an attempt to maintain her image, Araragi does it to protect his sense of justice. But it's clear they have an irrational need to help others without caring about themselves.

They both, however, have parts of them they supress inside of them, so as to maintain the side of them that's presentable to everyone, a side of themselves they despise and side of themselves that despises the other side back exemplified perfectly in the form of Ougi in....

..araragi's case and in hanekawa's case it was the tiger that embodies her negative emotions and hated hanekawa for constantly ignoring it. The conclusions to these arcs was similar too, they both had to accept and acknowledge these parts of each other to complete themselves.

These two characters have exteme layers to them individually, but these parallels and dynamics elevate both of them to some of my favourite characters of all time.
Hanekawa and Araragi both have very different upbringings, and these have affected their psyche extensively

Araragi's upbringing culminated into a person who cares little about himself as a result of his parents being police officers and maybe possible he picked a fearless attitude and little regard for personal safety from them given their line of work and also gave...

..him a strong sense of justice for which he'd do everything to protect and a rigid and firm conviction which is also displayed in his sisters. While hanekawa having no proper family and going around in different households led her to having an identity crisis.

The more I think about these characters the more I learn about them and the more I appreciate them. Hanekawa and Araragi fall into very stereotypical archetypes but the way Nisio Isin handles them is nothing short of master class. A small example being Hanekawa and Araragi....

..hate themselves but each admire the other despite having similar qualities. They both develop into such resonant and powerful characters that one can't help but feel a connection to them. Their journey embodies the theme of "helping yourself" perfectly.

By the end of the series, they don't have a fake infatuation with each other but have developed an unbreakable bond of friendship, gratitude and respect. Hanekawa does everything in her power to find Oshino Meme, while also fulfilling her own dream of travelling the world.....

Hanekawa Tsubasa is no longer the almost programmed creature that only helped people because it was the only thing she knew, there is no value in that. Instead she took time out of her schedule, and was trying to find oshino along her travels, this minor distinction...

..is what depicts the change perfectly. Araragi grows to value happiness and saves ougi with a minor distinction, like in hanekawa's, case being present here too. Araragi does not see Ougi as someone else or another person he must help, but this time he saves and accepts himself.

Both of these characters grow but at a mere glance or two one might not see a change at all, unlike hitagi's case where she opens up or kiss shot's case where she starts to care for araragi, these two, more or less, stay the same with just slight alterations in the reasons they..

Hanekawa's development is displayed even further when she describes her interactions with nadeko to kaiki. It shows she now knows the difference between a real personality and a facade. Afterall, who else would know about a facade better than her?

Their dynamic is filled to the brim with parallels, contrasts, thematic importance and makes monogatari the absolute masterpiece that it is. It's a much less talked about dynamic and is mostly overshadowed by the araragi-kiss shot or araragi and hitagi dynamic.

Both of these characters learning to love themselves through and with each other is so heartwarming, because at the end of the day it's just two people that were there for each other and there's nothing more beautiful than that. All this humanises these characters in a

...magnificent manner which cements monogatari as one of my favourite works of fiction ever, it's with these characters is Nisio Isin displays his prodigious skill in creating such a grand work. Hanekawa and Araragi are both such beautiful characters that I can't help but love.