Miscellaneous Monogatari Short Stories

This is a compilation of various short stories published in the official anime guidebooks.

Hitagi Throwing

In 7th grade (first year middle school), Kanbaru Suruga meets Senjougahara Hitagi for the first time. While Kanbaru is practicing with her basket ball team, Senjougahara appears with a group of friends. Senjougahara tries to recruit her to join the track and field team, but Suruga rudely refuses. Senjougahara's friends, (more like fans and followers), are infuriated by Kanbaru's attitude and lack of respect. Senjougahara calms them down, and tells Kanbaru that she will be back later. (Senjougahara in middle school had a very lady-like way of speaking, which is completely different from the way she speaks in high school with Araragi and the others).

The next day, Senjougahara comes to Kanbaru's pratice again, alone this time. Still intent on having Kanbaru in her team, Senjougahara challenges Kanbaru to a 100-meter dash. If she wins, then Kanbaru must quit the backetball team and join the track and field team. Kanbaru refuses the challenge, thinking that Senjougahara will have the upper hand.

Senjougahara returns again the next day. This time, she is wearing the basketball uniform she borrowed from Kanbaru's team captain. She then challenges Kanbaru to a basketball competition. Instead of playing an actual game of basketball, she wants to do a free throw game where the first person to score 10 points wins. Kanbaru finally agrees. Senjougahara wins the game, and Kanbaru is devastated. She doesn't want to join any kind of running competition because she's worried that her Monkey's Paw will activate. However, Senjougahara tells her she's more suited to playing basketball, and leaves.

At that moment Kanbaru realizes that Senjougahara wasn't doing all this to recruit her to track and field. When Kanbaru refused Senjougahara the first time with a disrespectful attitude, all of Senjougahara's friends were furious. At that rate, Kanbaru would have become a victim of bullying and harassment from Senjougahara's fans for the rest of her middle school days. In order to prevent this, Senjougahara tried to settle the score herself by challenging Kanbaru to a competition. If Senjougahara can beat Kanbaru in a competition, the matter will be settled, and her fans won't have any reasons to plot revenge against Kanbaru. Realizing this, Kanbaru runs after Senjougahara, and asks her if that was her purpose. Senjougahara replies in a tone that is similar to how she speaks in high school, (no longer lady-like), that even if that was her true intention, Kanbaru shouldn't say anything about it. Otherwise everything Senjougahara did will come to waste. Very grateful for what Senjougahara did for her, Kanbaru kisses Senjougahara's hand, pledging her loyalty.

Shinobu House

Araragi goes into his room after a meeting between his sisters and Senjougahara (this meeting is later called "Gahara Summit". Shinobu comes out of his shadow, seemingly upset. She is jealous that Araragi is getting along so well with his sisters and girlfriend. Araragi used to say that if Shinobu dies, then he is willing to die with her. Shinobu doesn't believe that he can keep his words now. She asks him if who he would save if Shinobu, Senjougahara, Karen, and Tsukihi were about to fall off a cliff. She wants to know to whom he would reach for. Knowing that simply answering "Shinobu" is not going to make her feel better, Araragi answers "Hanekawa". He would reach for Hanekawa, and ask for her help. Shinobu laughs at his answer, and says that Hanekawa is a convenient name to use. She finds the answer acceptable, and lets Araragi off the hook.

Hitagi Neck

Araragi and Senjougahara are walking to Araragi's house. Araragi is going to introduce Senjougahara to his two sisters for the first time. Senjougahara is excited partially because she has been a fan of the "Fire Sisters". Araragi admits that his sisters demanded to meet with Senjougahara. He warns that his sisters are rather hostile towards Senjougahara at the moment. Senjougahara says the main reason why she's excited about meeting them is that she always wanted to have a younger sister. She wonders that maybe her parents wouldn't have divorced if she had a sister. Araragi realizes that Senjougahara has always wanted a normal life for herself. They arrive at Araragi's house.

Tsuhiki Eternal

After coming back from his fight with Kagenui (Tsukihi Phoenix), he goes back home. He mentions to Tsukihi in passing that he will introduce his girlfriend Senjougahara to her at the end of summer. Tsukihi makes Araragi sit down, and asks him how long he was planning on keeping the girlfriend thing a secret. She is furious that Araragi didn't tell her right away, and demands that he explains himself. Tsukihi is holding an ice pick, which makes her look more intimidating than usual. Araragi tells her that Senjougahara became his girlfriend on Mother's Day. After hearing this, Tsukihi becomes even more angry, (on Mother's Day during the events of Mayoi Maimai, Araragi had a fight with his sisters). Tsukihi believes that Araragi abandoned his family that day in order to flirt with another girl. Araragi tries to calm her down , but is unsuccessful. Tsukihi continues to yell at him through the entire night, until next morning. It seemed like an eternity for Araragi.

Karen Arm Leg

Karen is throwing a huge tantrum in the living room. She is lying on the floor and swinging her arms and legs violently. Because she has long arms and legs, she is destroying everything in the living room. Ararargi has just told her that he has a girlfriend, and Karen refuses to believe this fact. She claims that Araragi is hers alone and demands him to break up with Senjougahara immediately. She even offers to have sex with him if that's what he wants. Araragi is horrified at her completely unexpected reaction. Karen is also furious that when Araragi brushed her teeth, he already had a girlfriend. Finally, she demands to meet Senjougahara, and she claims she will brush Senjougahara's teeth in order to prove that Araragi is hers alone.

Tsubasa Board

In the novel 3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, an intellectual is defined as "someone who has been educated beyond his/her intelligence". It seems as if this quote is speaking of Hanekawa. Senjougahara points out that knowing too much may be worse than not knowing at all. She says that there is too much information and knowledge in the world, and a person wanting to know one thing will inadvertently learn 10 more things, whether or not the person desires them. Senjougahara claims that therefore the knowledge will keep building up, and the person will eventually drown from his own knowledge. Hanekawa suggests that while that may be true, it is not possible to refuse to learn anything. That would be like having a kickboard in the mind. Senjougahara says the the main problem is that once a person learns a knowledge, it is not possible to unlearn it, so knowledge will keep building up. Hanekawa replies that even though it may be convenient to freely erase things from one's own memory, it would be more like degradation and deterioration, rather than reversal. Senjougahara says Hanekawa may have too much knowledge in her head, but Hanekawa doesn't seem to mind the abundance of knowledge. Senjougahara says that most people don't even know 2001: A Space Odyssey has three sequels. She says that Hanekawa knows everything. Hanekawa replies with her catchphrase.

Mayoi Castle

Hachikuji asks Araragi if he has read The Blue Castle, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, (also the author of Anne of Green Gables). Araragi admits that he has only read Anne of Green Gables. Hachikuji explains that the main character, Valancy Stirling, finds out from the doctor that she only has a year to live. She then asks what Araragi would do if he only has a year to live. Araragi answers that he probably would do nothing. Hachikuji asks if that’s because he would lose hope, and anything he does would be meaningless if he knows his life is almost over. Araragi says that’s not the case. He claims that everyone needs to be actively doing something in order to live, whether that something is working, playing, or resting. If he were to know that he would die in a year, he feels that he would be released from those “responsibilities”. Normally people might try to do something big like travel the world, satisfy one’s dreams if they knew they only have a year to live. However, Araragi thinks that those are things that people would do anyways if they keep on living, so if he knows his life is almost over, he doesn’t want to have the burden of having to do things he desires. He thinks that always doing something he likes in life can get tiring. Therefore he would choose to do nothing instead. Hachikuji is somewhat impressed by this answer. Thinking back to Araragi’s various near-death experiences in the past, Hachikuji realizes this kind of answer isn’t surprising for Araragi.

Shinobu Science

Shinobu talks about the book I,Robot by Isaac Asimov, and the Three Laws of Robotics. Among the short stories in the book, Shinobu was most moved by Little Lost Robot, where the stronger robot must obey a weaker being (human). Ononoki claims she doesn't read science fiction, much less the book that Shinobu is talking about. However Ononoki is interested in the theme of humanity's inability to fully control developing technology. She wonders why humans can never have full mastery of their own creations, those creations can lead to humanity's demise. She even draws parallels with the relationship between Araragi and Shinobu. Frustrated, Shinobu argues that the relationship between Ononoki and Kagenui isn't much different. Shinobu then wonders what would happen if those tools invented by humanity had free will. Will those tools desire to be used by humans? Will they want to be used by someone who has full mastery of those tools? Ononoki refutes that such a question is meaningless, since a creation that has free will is a fantasy, which is no longer science fiction. She states that in fact, someone who has full mastery of any tool, a dominator, is also a fantasy. Ononoki suggests that the tool can have more superior ability than its user/master. Shinobu remembers that robots are opressed by humans in I, Robot, because of the fear of rebellion by the robots. She wonders Ononoki has consciousness, and whether Ononoki desires to be used by Kagenui. Ononoki thinks that being a master must be hard work since he is responsible for controlling something that is stronger than he is, and he might eventually get tired of this burden. This leads Ononoki to conclude that perhaps not having perfect mastery of one's own creation is inevitable. This may lead to humanity's own extinction, and only humanity's inventions will survive in the end. Shinobu tries to imagine a post-apocalyptic world where only splattered inventions and tools of civilization remain. She slightly shudders at this kind of scene.

Suruga Palace

Kanbaru has read The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne. Milne is most famous for writing Winnie-the-Pooh, The Red House Mystery is his only mystery novel. Senjougahara asks Kanbaru which work Milne wrote first, and Kanbaru says he wrote the mystery novel before Pooh. Kanbaru says Milne often tended to work against people's expectations. When people were expecting him to write comedy, Milne wrote The Red House Mystery, a murder mystery. When that became popular, he started writing Winnie-the-Pooh. Senjougahara suggests that it may be human nature to lose motivation after being told what to do. Though at the same time, she thinks that authors being told they can make whatever they want is just as vexing with complete lack of direction. She concludes that the best situation may be for the author to write whatever the author wants and the reader to read it however the reader wants. Senjougahara realizes that this may be the way Kanbaru reads books in general. This reminds Senjougahara that Araragi once said, in this day and age, the fact that Kanbaru likes to read books at all is impressive. Kanbaru becomes happy knowing that Araragi actually complimented her for once.

Nadeko Mirror

Sengoku has just read the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide by Robert Louis Stevenson. Proud of having read a well-known foreign novel, she calls Tsukihi in order to show off. To Sengoku's disappointment, Tsukihi has already read the book back in elementary school. Sengoku asks her what she thought about the relationship between Jekyll and Hide. Sengoku thinks that even though the two characters are polar opposites of each other, they are also dependent on each other. Just because two people have completely different personalities doesn't mean they can't get along. Tsukihi agrees, but she also thinks they will never be happy together. Each will lead to the other's unhappiness. She then asks Sengoku would want to meet a person who is the polar opposite of Sengoku. Sengoku thinks that person would be cheerful, active, social, loves to read books, and can look at people straight in the face. Sengoku says she would want to meet that person, even though she thinks that person would most likely hate someone like her. Meeting that person would be like seeing a "New Sengoku" that she has always wanted to become, like staring at a mirror. Even if that person dislikes her and yells at her, she wouldn't mind.

Hitagi Salamander

Kaiki reads Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It is set in a world where books are outlawed and any books that are found are burned. He thoroughly enjoyed the book and its characters, and thinks that the premise of Guy Montag meeting Clarisse is a classic boy-meets-girl scenario. Senjougahara has read the book four times: once in early grade school, once in late grade school, once in middle school, and once in high school. Every time she read the book her opinion of the book was different, but none of them matched Kaiki's opinion of the book. She also points out that in this day and age where most books can be read electronically, outlawing books and burning them would be much more difficult. Kaiki finds it ironic that two of the greatest inventions of mankind, and fire and paper, are starting to become out of fashion. Senjougahara then asks what he thought about the fact that the character Montag was changed by Clarisse. Kaiki found it very moving, and he saw himself in Montag. Senjougahara realizes that she unconsciously thought Kaiki might change his ways just like Montag did, but then she found that was a foolish expectation. Kaiki tells her that on the other hand, she has succeeded in a change of heart, to which Senjougahara agrees, with a smile.

Yotsugi Future

Ononoki is about to talk about Momo by Michael Ende. Araragi interrupts her, saying he doesn't believe she can analyze such a complex novel. Momo is supposed to be a children's book, but Araragi was not able to understand it as a child, and he doubts he can understand it even at his current age. Ononoki claims Kagenui has read it to her. Araragi remembers that the book's theme is time. To Ononoki who is technically a corpse, the concept of time does not hold much meaning. She thinks that living is no different than slowly dying. Since she has already died, she finds it foolish that people treat time as something valuable. Ononoki feels like the book is writing to adults who had wasted their time. She also thinks that reading a book in general may be a waste of time, since the reader is never going to actually experience the story written in the book. Araragi yells at Ononoki for coming to such a pessimistic conclusion after reading Momo.

Ougi Travel

Ougi asks Hanekawa if she has read Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. Hanekawa, while being very cautious towards Ougi, says she read it in second grade. Ougi asks her what she thought about the book. Hanekawa says she was pleasantly surprised that Japan was mentioned in the book. When Japan was mentioned, Hanekawa thought for a moment that she was reading a non-fiction instead of fiction, since it was familiar to her. Ougi admits that since Hanekawa is planning to travel the world, the premise in the novel may not be completely fiction for Hanekawa. She then mentions that it’s like the saying, “throw away your books and see the world”. Hanekawa doesn’t agree with this statement, and says that she will still bring her books to her travel. Ougi considers this statement foolish, and claims that this is what she dislikes about Hanekawa. Hanekawa is still completely distrustful of Ougi. Ougi can’t wait for Hanekawa to start the travel since she considers Hanekawa a hindrance.