Which is more Tsukihi :3

I gotta say, this episode was pretty awesome. Starting with Shinobu craving for some 100 yen donuts. I actually thought she was going to say something about the “phoenix”

Tsukihi gets strip-searched by Koyomi (in comedic fashion of course) when he realizes that the “scar” on her chest vanished. From what I see, Tsukihi may have gone through some intense life-or-death heart surgery, which led to her acquiring the “phoenix”. Of course, what Koyomi sees is his naked sister that he can freely touch because, and I quote “little sisters are required to have a physical relationship with their brother” I feel sad for their boyfriends. And damn, they have boyfriends.

Upon arriving at Mister Donuts, Shinobu is overwhelmed by the glory that is donuts that was in front of her. After some haggling and an intense stare down between the two, Koyomi buys five for both of ’em. Koyomi takes the opportunity to ask about Yodzuru and Yotsugi. Shinobu says something settling about Yodzuru, saying she’s a “respectable person” and decides not to divulge any information about her.

She does however talk about Yotsugi. Apparently, she’s Yodzuru’s familiar, or shikigami. The name Yotsugi was meant to be similar to Yodzuru to recognize that fact, kinda like how Oshino gave his surname to the former Kiss-shot. In other words, she’s not human.

Shinobu continues by saying that if Koyomi wants to know more about Yodzuru, he should ask the man behind him. At first I was expecting Oshino, but that would’ve been too convenient. Instead I got a pleasant surprise from the return of our infamous con-man.

I didn’t expect Kaiki to be a donuts man, but that aside, he agrees to share what he knows about the two women in exchange for, you guessed it, cash. Taking the entirety of Koyomi’s wallet, he shares to us that Yodzuru was a specialist in oddities (he uses the term onmyouji, which are like exorcists) The duo however, specialize in immortal oddities.

Taking that into account, Koyomi thinks that Shinobu and himself were the targets of the duo, since they’re still immortal, in a sense. Shinobu corrects him though, saying that that wasn’t the case when it comes to both of them. Immortality isn’t really exclusive to vampires. Oddities themselves are immortal, since they don’t have “life” to begin with. Shinobu thought it odd then, that the duo would be hunting something immortal, but could also be inside a human, which of course has life.

They get their answer as they arrive home. With Misaka Imouto Yotsugi pressing the doorbell to the Araragi household and Yodzuru perched like a bird of prey at their gate.

They also help clear the understanding by saying that they have no intention of dealing with the legendary Kiss-shot, since she’s already de-fanged, in a sense, and is marked as harmless (I take it it was Oshino who did this) Koyomi was also of no concern since he’s still just a human with some lingering side effects. Yodzuru also seems to be acquainted with Oshino on a personal level, calling him “Oshino-kun”. She’s old I guess.

Tsukihi gets pissed and opens the front door, exclaiming that she was just pretending to not be there but their persistence was too much. Without a moment’s notice, Shining Finger Yotsugi blasts away through the gate, and THROUGH TSUKIHI, completely obliterating the upper half of her body. Of course, Koyomi goes into blind-rage mode, but is quickly diffused by Yodzuru. According to Yotsugi, a phoenix oddity had possessed Koyomi’s sister. The Tsukihi we know and love, is not the real Tsukihi. She’s a “fake”.

Having seen enough, Shinobu stands against the two, bluffing a threat about using her energy drain on Yotsugi. The duo complies for now, but they are certain to come back again.

This episode was so intense, I almost didn’t notice that this was the penultimate. How things would turn out is beyond me, but if Tsukihi is aware of her immortality, then she has some explaining to do. We now know though, that her being “fake” is completely different as to how Karen was a fake. Hats off to Nisio Isin I guess.