I'm rewatching the first season of Bakemonogatari and it still confuses me how Hanekawa (in episode 10) was already known to be possessed by Black Hanekawa. I'm not sure about the timeline of this either, because burial of a roadkill white cat happens during the first season's episode and it doesn't look like it was a flashback moment. It also looks like in that same episode (1 year after the flashback?), the possession symptoms reappear in form of headaches, so I'm confused about when this all happens.

Black Hanekawa says in a flashback "If this stress is not dealt with within a year..." and then she gets suppressed by Shinobu. Does that mean a year has passed?

When does the possession begin and when does that flashback scene happen?

How many repeated possession occurrences are in the anime now?

  • 2
    Have you watched Nekomonogatari (Black)? If not, do so. Parts of the Tsubasa Cat arc in Bakemonogatari are flashbacks, and parts aren't, and it isn't really made clear which are which in Bakemonogatari, but many of the scenes are shown again in Neko (Black), which makes it more clear how this all plays out chronologically. (Note that you should watch Nisemonogatari before Nekomonogatari (Black).) – senshin Mar 2 '14 at 6:01
  • I've watched it all and re-watching everything again, but the timeline doesn't seem to clear up very well for me :\ – Hakase Mar 2 '14 at 12:58
  • If I recall correctly, I considered the scene you talk about indeed a flashback. Would that solve it? – mafu Mar 2 '14 at 18:46

There were 3 cases when Hanekawa was possessed.

1. During Golden week after the events of Kizumonogatari but before the events of the first season. The events are animated in Nekomonogatari (Black) / Tsubasa Family and there is a flashback to this in first season, i.e. Tsubasa Cat arc (although slightly different, because Nekomonogatari wasn't written yet). The cause was Hanekawa's stress from her family life. It is also during this time the cat is buried. This is resolved by Shinobu draining her energy.

2. After the events of Nadeko Snake, Black Hanekawa appears again as part of the Tsubasa Cat arc in the first season. This time the stress is caused by Hanekawa's unrequited love for Araragi. No cat burial happens. Again, this is solved by having Shinobu drain her energy.

3. During Nekomonogatari (White) / Tsubasa Tiger, Black Hanekawa appears for the last time, but this time not caused by stress but as an oddity created as an ally for Hanekawa. This is after Tsukihi Phoenix and before Mayoi Jiangshi. After those events, Black Hanekawa disappears by being absorbed into Hanekawa.

The timeline is pretty clear, but I think the first season might be slightly confusing, because there is flashback to the events of Golden Week, but those are slightly different because those events weren't fully written yet.

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