What am I doing here. Ive become a pawn a marionette that lives for the whims of its master. Indeed its not Koyomi Araragi who has control of this Tale this Possession Tale this Tale of the Possessed this Possession Tale that doesnt allow for anyone not to be possessed. Not Ononoko not Kagenui not Shinobu nor anyone else theyre no longer the protagonists of their own story. At least so it seems. After all what other explanation could there be behind this farce of a tale? Where nothing is as it seems and yet everything is exactly as youd expect. Where they conclusion is all so obvious but our oblivious narrator fails to grasp what he should have realized ten books ago. The candle isnt at its last straws its already burnt out this story has already come crashing down and the fire of the longgone candle has catched on the house burning it all down. Its all falling apart. The narrative itself mocks our protagonist. What are you even DOING the Monster Tale is nothing more than an Ordinary Tale now its all come clear by now so why just why why why why are you still refusing to accept it? Just why? Just why are you so fucked in the head? Koyomi Araragi is the one who hates himself. He who sacrifices himself for others. He the total hypocrite who started this Monster Tale by choosing to end his life for the sake of some vampire in modern Japan of all places just how ridiculous is that? Its as if we...as if us humans havent grown past stage yet. And yet. No matter how ordinary all these monsters whether vampire ghost crab snail monkey doll you name it no matter how ordinary it has all become we are still at the starting point. Even though it should have been solved centuries and centuries ago even though Araragi should have know for ages and ages that he should cherish himself that he should live for himself not others he cant help it. He cant help getting caught up and wasting away in his trauma. No matter what no matter how much hes learned no matter how much society has supposedly grown past Monster Tales no matter how ridiculous an encounter with a Vampire may seem he just CANT learn. Cant move on. Possession Tale has a dominant theme which Koyomi verbalizes only once in a seemingly random oneoff note almost like a footnote like a random quip that has nothing to do with the story at hand. And yet it is paramount to understanding the full picture: The dichotomy of knowing that you dont know something or not knowing that you dont even know something. Not knowing that you dont know something I mean thats completely fine. In fact it is the entire origin of humanitys strive for knowledge: They know that they dont know about something and so they search the universe for an answer. They strive. They arent perfect but they nevertheless fight to become better and thats exactly what makes humans so beautiful. They are Fake. Nisemonogatari. Thats the entire point of Nisemonogatari. However this Possession Tale is a tale of the latter: Those who dont know that they dont know. Even though they should. Those whove grown stale never chasing for the answer for something remaining oblivious of their own obliviousness. Those who refuse to change. Exactly the kind that Araragi Koyomi is. Even though he should know for a long time now that the one thing still to clean up that what these Monster Tales have been preaching from the very first Tale the very first pages is to get rid of his selfhatred. His selfsacrificing altruistic nature. However he refuses to acknowledge it like the fool that he is. Hed rather bumble around aimlessly not knowing whats even going on Oh hey Ogi oh man what a quirky underclassman dont you stay up too late you hear me? than change this simple yet fundamental flaw of his character. And so we arrive at this Possession Tale. Where everything is seemingly possessed already orchestrated fully before it could even begin. Because really theres not another outcome to this Tale. What else could there be to talk about after all Koyomi has talked about Monsters for so long theyve become the Ordinary even though they never should have become ordinary in the first place. Trapping himself in this maze of monsters he stopped recognizing just how monstrous just how inhuman just how No Longer Human he has become. And that the solution was right in front of his eyes the entire time a a forest hiding in all the trees. Because the solution is not to give up on Monsters nor is it to become one. The solution is neither to be perfect and therefore inhuman nor is it to become a monster and therefore inhuman the solution is to mediate between the two sides of the same coin and therefore FIGHT. Fight to be a human. Fight his flaws even if he may never be perfect. To be fake instead of being either of the real deals. To realize his flaws instead of pretenting they arent there instead of ignoring them in favour of yet another foolish selfserving tale of selfsacrifice. So that the possessed may cease and open the room for the next Tale one thats neither possessed by monsters nor by perfect things but one about finally finding true happiness. After all Koyomi you silly little thing. Dont forget To cherish yourself above all else.