Bakemonogatari 14 - Tsubasa Cat Part 4

Well, thanks to the great Korean subber CORAN , I had the pleasure of watching the 14th episode of Bakemonogatari, titled Tsubasa Cat Part 4, last night. Of course, this is just the 3rd episode in the Tsubasa Cat arc, as Tsubasa Cat Part 2 was dedicated to the relationship between Koyomi and Hitagi (an excellent episode, if you'll recall). This episode felt very much like an in-between episode, like Tsubasa Cat Part 3, with not a whole lot happening plot-wise, but the conversations, as usual, made it an entertaining one anyway.
It's been a while since the last episode, but in the show, it has only been minutes since the cat demon revealed herself to Koyomi and Oshino. Long story short, Koyomi believes that Shinobu can get rid of the demon like last time, but she is gone, on a journey to discover herself. The first half of the episode has Koyomi searching for Shinobu by bike, as well as calling each of the previous heroines for help. The second half has Koyomi collaborating with the cat demon herself, who appears to have no ill will towards him.

As usual, Bakemonogatari shows itself to be a talking anime, not a motion one. I found it entertaining to hear each of the heroines again, and seeing how they conversed with Koyomi. Nadeko was adorable, while Hitagi displayed her usual cool self, ending the conversation with a very self aware joke about tsunderes. And Suruga's unending exuberance with Miyuki Sawashiro's voice is always great to listen to.

Then there was the true heroine, Tsubasa cat. Her appearance was rather unexpected, and her lack of malice was as well. Much of her shots were fanservice, which is just fine with me. She and Koyomi conversed about demons and humans in general, about Shinobu in particular, and ended off with the rather predictable reveal about what's causing stress in Tsubasa. I found most interesting just how much Koyomi cares about Shinobu. Unfortunately, since Koyomi Vamp is not one of the animated stories, I'm not clear on what she had done for him that makes him respect and grateful for her to such an extent.

And Tsubasa Cat was a joy to watch. Her cat-like behavior was appropriately sexy and cute, and I enjoyed it as much as Koyomi did. Again, she didn't seem particularly villainous, but, after all, we want to have the real Tsubasa back. And, of course, in Bakemonogatari, people are very cynical and less wholesome than they might appear to be at first.

The art was pretty standard fare for Bakemonogatari. Simple, blocky backdrops with a surprising amount of detail, lots of cuts to closeups during conversations, and some Looney Toons style SD mixed in. Of note was the OP, which was mostly live action photos of a model cosplaying as Tsubasa. It was... OK. The some, Sugar Sweet Nightmare, is my least favorite of all the OPs, which doesn't help. And while I did appreciate the cat-ear imagery being created with the simplices, the whole thing being in black and white just made it hard to get excited about. Lyrics were nice and somewhat dark, though.

Hopefully the second OP is more enjoyable. I do like the song for the most part, and I could see it being used for a good OP sequence.

Anyway, it's time to play the waiting game once again. I hope more of the events of last Golden Week is revealed, and that Tsubasa gets some closure in the source of her stress. And I hope we have to wait less for part 5 compared to the time between parts 3 and 4 (113 days).