#Bakemonogatari
#BlazeRW

Finished Rewatching Hitagi Crab Arc
Rating : 9/10

One of the best arcs i have seen literally, metamorphically, symbolically and visually. Not to mention it is beautifully layered and there's no single action in this arc which we can say was unnecessary.

Hitagi Senjougahara is emotionally downtrodden of her own volition. Due to an attempted rape by a member of her mother’s cult she became possessed by a "Heavy Stone Crab" a god that steals its victim’s weight. Amazing metaphor here:

Her weight equates to her emotional burden. By not confronting it she’s able to feign contentedness but it’ll always hang over her, it’ll always be present. Apart from that if we remember Hanekawa's statement-

About how Hitagi is much more attractive now than she was in middle school. The real meaning behind Hanekawa’s comment can be taken as the society derives beauty in people we can admire from a distance without the baggage that comes along with emotional involvement.

Hitagi's Oddity being a also hold symbolism of its own.
Hitagi’s birthday is on July 7th, making her sign Cancer which is basically a Crab. The traits of Cancer:
Moodiness, insecurity, suspicion, Loyalty and emotionality.

These are basically the traits of a TSUNDERE which Hitagi called herself. Now later when she crushed the Crab god by her foot, it also signified of this is that the crab is the physical embodiment of a tsundere with its hard shell and soft inside.

FANSERVICE: The fanservice in this arc is not just your usual lousy fanservice for the only purpose of arousal but it holds meaning behind it. Tho, it can also work only for arousal if you are only interested in it.

Hitagi's bath Scene: It’s worth noting that the water droplets reflect her upside-down as if she’s sinking…by her own weight of emotional burden which i think is a beautiful representation of metaphor.

Cloth Changing Scene: It was already mentioned and shown that due to her weight being only 5Kg it's difficult to wear clothes which is again a realistic and sensible approach.

Hitagi's Staple: The title of the Song itself holds a lot of significance in that Hitagi has stapled herself together like patchwork in order to maintain stability, Plus, i love how both Araragi's and Hitagi's relationship started with Hitagi stapling his mouth-

which holds great symbolism on its own.

Religious Symbolism: Hitagi’s mother in the flashback can do nothing but pray as she watches her daughter nearly get raped. This is why praying to the crab god as Meme suggests fails-

The series posits that prayer only serves as another method of rejecting one’s burden and that you instead need to face them head-on.

Visuals: One of the most visually impressing arcs i have ever seen. The usage of shadowing, shading, emptiness of background characters, Switching of angles, wider aspect ratios and black screening all just defines creativeness and looks beautiful, aesthetic and symbolic.

All in All one of the best rewatch experience i have ever had and my love for this series has further increased.