Deep In-Character: Tsubasa Hanekawa [MonoGatari Franchise]

One of the most appealing character to watch on screen is that of ‘Genki Girl’. Basically, cute and innocent girls who can do no wrong. There are many characters who walk a fine line between being genki and being mentally challenged. Characters like Nadeshiko from Yuru Camp, Nagisa from Clannad and Revy from Black Lagoon are prime examples of Genki Girls, whereas any other personality could be put in a bracket of stereotypes. I know it makes my argument in favor of genki girls go redundant, but I’d prefer to be ignorant rather than being wrong.

Now, looking at a snowflake melting in front f your screen is definitely cute or moe or whatever, but there has to be some frill in the personality. If every sweet thing was labelled as sweets, sugar would trump your favorite flavor of ice cream. Thus, enters Tsubasa Hanekawa: one of my waifus, who never fails to warm my heart whenever I am in the vicinity of her 2D presence.

That rose-colored skin always made my heartrate go from Kotomi Ichinose to Yuno gasai real quick {actually scratch that, Even Guillotine Cutter had pink skin in Kizumonogatari *NIGHTMARES*}. If I had to put her in a box, it’d be a big cake for my birthday. But really, she is a mix of a little tsun, a lot of compassion, and is 22% Gandhi. She could be a Kuudere one second, and full luscious cat lady murderer in Victoria’s secret’s laced lingerie.

When I first started watching the Monogatari franchise, I was fully introduced to her in Arc V: Tsubasa Cat. Possibly one of the best introductory sets of episodes which only worked because she was peppered in the previous episodes. That brought a nice closure on her arc, a satisfying ending to the season to say the least. From there we go to Nisemonogatari Nekomonogatari (Black) to expand on her character even more and bring a full stop on her development in Nekomonogatari (White).
And that is where the problem lies.

Lets look at the positives first:

SHE DESERVES ALL OF YOUR LOVE

 She is a very nice girl (Possibly a waifu to somebody). Her character is endearing. She is not a stuck up character by any means, which makes Araragi a very easy surrogate for the audience. We’ll appreciate hanging around with a jiggly girl wearing round glasses and trying to help us out too. She makes for a perfect secondary character. And that is where her strength lies.

TWO, her personality is believable. Actual life Tsunderes also go by the name ‘Bitch’, but somebody so self-sacrificing is totally believable. Hell, most mothers are self-sacrificing beings. That is why we love our moms. If nothing else, she is a total ‘Mom Goals.’

Her personal struggles are believable, to an extent at least. And her lust for friendship and being weak is also understandable. To whoever says chivalry is dead, if you saw a lone girl, would you not help her out? That is one of the many aspects that makes a boy a Gentleman. And it also makes a human being sympathetic towards ones of our kind.

So, Tsubasa exists as a reflection of the weak. A lot of people around you are going through worse shit than you. Sharing your pain may help you out. And they’ll help you in return, making both of your lives better. Araragi helps Tsubasa, and Tsubasa helps him through all of KoyomiMonogatari, NiseMonogatari, OwariMonogatari 2 & Senjogahara protects her from her self-ignorance in NekoMono Black, whereas Hanekawa repays her by fighting her inner demons {LITERALLY!}.

*purrr*

THE BADS:

There is actually only one problem with her character, and that’s a major one: she is a developed character.

No really, that’s the only thing I have against her.

Listen to me, developing a character is actually a good thing. Some shows can fail miserably at this, but SHAFT & Shinbo execute is perfectly. Which also meant her pot of quirks was full by the time KabukiMonogatari came around.

She was known as the damsel in distress, but not really. She went through hell with her personal life, survived, and now lives as a nomad, going from country to country, spending her Step-Step-Step father’s money like he deals drugs or something. I mean, a highschool senior, who couldn’t be more than 16 years old, travelled the world to find my husbando, Oshino Meme [How can you hate this guy, He has MEME in his NAME!!!]. that just has no touch with my boring and broke reality whatsoever.

I‘M SORRY I MISSED MY CHANCE TO GO TO ANTARCTICA WHILE I WAS A NINTH GRADER!

Actually, lets go back to NekoMono White. Her fight with the tiger is over, she has confessed to Araragi and has been cucked hard, and cries like a little kitten. She then changes her personality and becomes a better human being. But that hampers the opportunity to add more qualities in her whatsoever. She has always been a helping individual, but with problems. Now she is just one helping individual who got side stepped by Araragi for much hotter and better character, Hitagi.

Having three arcs as her the focus, as well as being one of the seven focal characters in Kizumonogatari movies [Yes, only 7 character are there across 3 movies. There is a reason NisioIsiN is a genius], just put too much strain on her. that resulted in her being a ripe character too soon. I mean, after NekoMono White, there are 9 more arc nothing to do with her. hopefully we see something more in the upcoming ZokuOwariMonogatari, but I only have those expectations because they’d be flipping the characters and their personalities around.

Which arises the question: Does the Monogatari’s Monster Season and Off Season Novels make up for this backstab NisioIsiN impaled us with? As I said, she is a perfectly capable and likeable character, but in supporting roles. As long as the final story continues, we don’t need another arc focusing on Tsubasa Hanekawa.

I Love you, But from Afar…

BUT I’D TOTALLY WATCH HER DOCUMENTARY ‘HOW TO GET AWAY WITH CUCK’

CHARACTER APPEAL: 10/10

IMMERSION: 8/10

FUTURE: UNDETERMINED.

RESULT: HIT IT, THEN QUIT IT.