Tweekums
This series sees the return of Koyomi Araragi and contains two stories; the first is the seven-part 'Karen Bee' and the second the four-part 'Tsukihi Phoenix'.'Karen Bee' opens with Koyomi waking up in an unknown location where he is held in chains by Hitagi, apparently to protect him. In the story that follows it emerges that Kaiki Deishu is back in town causing trouble; Koyomi's sister Karen confronts him for selling fake charms to young children and gets stung by a strange bee that causes her to get a high fever. Koyomi, as a part vampire, manages to take half of the poison.In 'Tsukihi Phoenix' Koyomi's other sister, Tsukihi takes centre stage. Two strange girls turn up claiming that she is actually a fake; are they telling the truth and if so how will Koyomi react?I actually enjoyed this series a more than 'Bakemonogatari', perhaps because this time I was prepared for a very stylish, conversation heavy series where the interaction between the characters is more important than the story. This does mean one has to concentrate more than when watching most series; if one does one is rewarded with interesting, well developed characters. I particularly enjoyed the second story as I was intrigued by what Tsukihi's true nature would turn out to be; this is resolved in a good way that I hadn't suspected. It also features an erotically charged scene of tooth-brushing that is close to incestuous! As one would expect the visuals are stunning and the animation impressive. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody who enjoyed 'Bakemonogatari'; I'd certainly advise watching that series first or this might me a little confusing as no time is wasted introducing established characters.
