What do the black and red scenes mean?


In Bakemonogatari, it often happens that suddenly, a red screen with "Red
Scene (Aka)" or a black screen with "Black Scene (Kuro)" appears for a short
time. (At least these are written in my sub.)

What do they mean? Is there any difference between "Red Scene" and "Black
Scene" and why are they used?




# Overview

Ah, the Monogatari **[color] Scenes**. Before we talk about what they mean,
let's look at some of them.

First, you've got the two classics: **Red Scene**... ![Nisemonogatari TV ep01
12:55](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nolrKl.jpg)

...and **Black Scene**. ![Second Season TV ep09 \(Kabuki ep03\)
03:16](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y1gKml.jpg)

But wait, there's more! You've got various kinds of **White Scene**...
![Nisemonogatari TV ep03 22:37](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9SKUtm.png)
![Nisemonogatari TV ep11 06:00](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VS4O3m.png)

...different kinds of **Yellow Scene** (the second of which is kind of
abnormal, with vertical text and a non-[color] background)...

![Nisemonogatari TV ep11 12:05](https://i.stack.imgur.com/gXFnLm.png)
![Bakemonogatari TV ep09 01:44](https://i.stack.imgur.com/gSgxxm.png)

... **Lilac Scene**... ![Second Season TV ep12 \(Otori ep01\)
11:03](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nXyxGl.jpg)

... **Blue Scene**... ![Second Season TV ep12 \(Otori ep01\)
17:00](https://i.stack.imgur.com/GjOeul.png)

... **Peach Scene**... ![Second Season TV ep12 \(Otori ep01\)
21:52](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tXpo7l.jpg)

... **Light Green Scene**... ![Second Season TV ep17 \(Oni ep01\)
03:15](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ngUzZ.jpg)

...and even **Purple Scene**. ![Second Season TV ep19 \(Oni ep03\)
02:03](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QWF14.png)

Note: this collection is not exhaustive - I haven't gotten around to taking
screencaps for most of Bake, or for any of Neko Black or Neko White.

* * *

So, what do they mean? They aren't present in the light novel series (which
isn't surprising - this wouldn't really make sense in running text), so we
can't turn to that for information. And unlike all of the text-heavy 2~3-frame
screens that Monogatari is so fond of (cf.
[1](https://i.stack.imgur.com/yZyPO.jpg "Bakemonogatari BD ep01 00:17"),
[2](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MkBHn.jpg "Bakemonogatari BD ep01 01:06"),
[3](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5T8XW.png "Nisemonogatari TV ep08 02:25")),
these screens aren't really being used to compress a lot of information into a
small amount of time, either.

Instead, I think it behooves us to examine what is going through Araragi's
head (at least for arcs in which he is the narrator) to understand why these
scenes appear.

* * *

# Red and Black Scenes

Let's look at **Red Scenes** first. The first one is at Bakemonogatari ep01 at
01:49, when Araragi, late for school, is rushing up that huge spiral
staircase, right as he first glimpses Senjougahara falling. That's the only
one in this episode.

We find a lot more in Nisemonogatari ep11 - when Araragi talks about how he'd
die over and over for his sisters; when he first tries to attack Kagenui
(while yelling about how having an non-blood-related sister is super-moe); an
four times when Kagenui hits him.

In Second Season ep09 (Kabuki ep03), we get another **Red Scene** when Araragi
yells at Oshino (not present) for having given jiangshi-timeline him a
different talisman. There's also one when Araragi realizes he must have been
killed by Black Hanekawa in that timeline. At the end of the episode, when the
realize they're surrounded by jiangshi, there's one more **Red Scene**. In
Second Season ep10 (Kabuki ep03), there's a **Red Scene** when jiangshi-
timeline Kiss-shot appears, and one shortly after that when Araragi is
terrified by the way Kiss-shot laughs.

* * *

Now, let's look at **Black Scenes**.

The first appearance of **Black Scene** occurs at 02:02 of Bakemonogatari
ep01, when Araragi notices Senjougahara falling, stops in his tracks, and
_blinks_. We see another **Black Scene** at 02:05, and again at 02:06 (this
time accompanied by that "shutter" sound). After that, we don't see too many
**Black Scenes** in that episode - one when Senjougahara staples him, one a
bit after he tells Senjougahara to give him her stationery, and one right
after they walk into the ruined cram school.

In general, you see **Black Scenes** fairly often, typically accompanied by a
change in "gaze" \- that is, Araragi's focus shifts to a different part of a
given scene. It is worth noting that (to the best of my recollection), **Black
Scenes** never separate different scenes.

* * *

Based on this evidence, a common inference is that **Red** or **Black Scenes**
correspond to Araragi blinking. Since the Monogatari series is largely told in
the first person (albeit that person is not always Araragi), the idea is that
we see what he sees - when he blinks, we see nothing but darkness, since _he_
sees nothing but darkness. This isn't strictly the case (because, of course,
Araragi's eyes aren't _always_ the camera), but it generally seems like a good
perspective to adopt.

In this framework, then, **Black Scenes** are just what happens when Araragi
blinks (sometimes). What about the **Red Scenes** , then? Well, pay attention
to the fact that they seem to appear when Araragi is excited or under stress
or in danger or angry, or whatnot. In other words, we see **Red Scene** when
Araragi blinks while he is under the influence of some strong emotion. So, in
that sense, **Red Scene** is just a particular type of **Black Scene**.

* * *

**Red** and **Black Scenes** seem to serve the same purpose even in parts not
narrated by Araragi. In Second Season ep12 (Otori ep01), narrated by Nadeko,
we see **Black Scenes** in the first five minutes mostly corresponding to
Araragi blinking (with an especially nice one at 04:29). Once we move back to
the "present" from the initial flash-forward, we get a number of **Black
Scenes** corresponding to Nadeko blinking.

We also get a **Red Scene** at 12:04 when she first sees the medusa, startling
her, and again at 19:35 when the medusa presents her with an exaggerated
version of the horrific things she did to the snakes at the shrine. There
doesn't seem to be much of a difference between **Red Scenes** for Nadeko vs.
for Araragi.

* * *

# Other [color] Scenes

What about the other **[color] Scenes**? It's difficult to generalize about
these since they're so rare. Let me just identify a few examples (from Nise
and Kabuki, since those are the only parts I have a full screencap collection
of) and put up a few hypotheses.

There are two **Yellow Scenes** in Nisemonogatari - one in ep10 at 17:32, when
Shinobu says something, and one in ep11 at 12:05 while Kagenui is talking (at
the beginning of her fight with Araragi). There's also one in Second Season
ep08 (Kabuki ep02) during a narration about Hachikuji by Araragi. I'm not
seeing any common features here.

There are three **White Scenes** in Nisemonogatari - one in ep03 at 22:37,
when Senjougahara says that Hanekawa called her (this one has cat ears in it);
one in ep09 at 22:37 during some throwaway line to Hachikuji; and one in ep11
at 06:00 during a conversation between Koyomi and Tsukihi (right before she
says "platinum mad"). In Second Season ep08 (Kabuki ep02), there's one at
16:20, right when Araragi is molesting still-alive Hachikuji in the past.
There's also a **White Scene** in Second Season ep12 (Otori ep01) right after
a shot of the medusa.

Here, we do have Hanekawa being "white" (as we learn much about in Neko
White), "platinum" being generally "white", and the medusa is "white", too, I
guess. I'm not sure how the Hachikuji ones fits in, though.

  * There are **Peach Scenes** at 01:53 in Second Season ep08 (Kabuki ep02), when Shinobu is excited to see mini-Araragi; and another one at 21:52 in Second Season ep12 (Otori ep01), when Nadeko agrees to do the medusa a favor.
  * There are **Lilac Scenes** at 12:41 in Second Season ep08 (Kabuki ep02), when Araragi responds to Shinobu's question about whether or not he understands what saving Hachikuji means for her; and at 11:05 in Second Season ep12 (Otori ep01), during Nadeko's conversation with Ougi. No idea what the deal is with these two.
  * We get a **Light Green Scene** ( _moegi_ 1 \- it's a sort of yellowish-green, sort of like some kinds of freshly-sprouted plants, apparently) at 03:15 in Second Season ep17 (Oni ep01), during a conversation between Hachikuji and Araragi, when Araragi points out that Hachikuji stands out less without her backpack. There's another one at 06:44 in Second Season ep19 (Oni ep03), while Hachikuji is telling Araragi how she was surprised that Araragi didn't abandon her when the darkness came upon them the first time. This might be because the color _moegi_ is associated with youthfulness (mostly of plants, albeit), and Hachikuji is the youngest character in the cast (past-Hanekawa/etc. notwithstanding)
  * There's a **Purple Scene** at 02:03 in Second Season ep19 (Oni ep03) shortly after Ononoki walks in on Araragi and Shinobu's conversation. There's another one (accompanied by a "popping" sound) at 11:40 in Second Season ep19 (Oni ep03) just before Araragi starts feeling Hachikuji up while she's asleep. Why are they there? Beats me.

Summary: aside from **Red** and **Black** , the other **[color] Scenes** don't
really seem to have much in the way of consistency. They see very little use,
especially in Bakemonogatari.

* * *

# Notes

1 The _moe_ in _moegi_ is the same word as the _moe_ that serves as the origin
of [the otaku-jargon word "moe" meaning
cute/etc](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/894/what-does-moe-mean).




# Overview

Ah, the Monogatari **[color] Scenes**. Before we talk about what they mean,
let's look at some of them.

First, you've got the two classics: **Red Scene**... ![Nisemonogatari TV ep01
12:55](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nolrKl.jpg)

...and **Black Scene**. ![Second Season TV ep09 \(Kabuki ep03\)
03:16](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y1gKml.jpg)

But wait, there's more! You've got various kinds of **White Scene**...
![Nisemonogatari TV ep03 22:37](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9SKUtm.png)
![Nisemonogatari TV ep11 06:00](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VS4O3m.png)

...different kinds of **Yellow Scene** (the second of which is kind of
abnormal, with vertical text and a non-[color] background)...

![Nisemonogatari TV ep11 12:05](https://i.stack.imgur.com/gXFnLm.png)
![Bakemonogatari TV ep09 01:44](https://i.stack.imgur.com/gSgxxm.png)

... **Lilac Scene**... ![Second Season TV ep12 \(Otori ep01\)
11:03](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nXyxGl.jpg)

... **Blue Scene**... ![Second Season TV ep12 \(Otori ep01\)
17:00](https://i.stack.imgur.com/GjOeul.png)

... **Peach Scene**... ![Second Season TV ep12 \(Otori ep01\)
21:52](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tXpo7l.jpg)

... **Light Green Scene**... ![Second Season TV ep17 \(Oni ep01\)
03:15](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ngUzZ.jpg)

...and even **Purple Scene**. ![Second Season TV ep19 \(Oni ep03\)
02:03](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QWF14.png)

Note: this collection is not exhaustive - I haven't gotten around to taking
screencaps for most of Bake, or for any of Neko Black or Neko White.

* * *

So, what do they mean? They aren't present in the light novel series (which
isn't surprising - this wouldn't really make sense in running text), so we
can't turn to that for information. And unlike all of the text-heavy 2~3-frame
screens that Monogatari is so fond of (cf.
[1](https://i.stack.imgur.com/yZyPO.jpg "Bakemonogatari BD ep01 00:17"),
[2](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MkBHn.jpg "Bakemonogatari BD ep01 01:06"),
[3](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5T8XW.png "Nisemonogatari TV ep08 02:25")),
these screens aren't really being used to compress a lot of information into a
small amount of time, either.

Instead, I think it behooves us to examine what is going through Araragi's
head (at least for arcs in which he is the narrator) to understand why these
scenes appear.

* * *

# Red and Black Scenes

Let's look at **Red Scenes** first. The first one is at Bakemonogatari ep01 at
01:49, when Araragi, late for school, is rushing up that huge spiral
staircase, right as he first glimpses Senjougahara falling. That's the only
one in this episode.

We find a lot more in Nisemonogatari ep11 - when Araragi talks about how he'd
die over and over for his sisters; when he first tries to attack Kagenui
(while yelling about how having an non-blood-related sister is super-moe); an
four times when Kagenui hits him.

In Second Season ep09 (Kabuki ep03), we get another **Red Scene** when Araragi
yells at Oshino (not present) for having given jiangshi-timeline him a
different talisman. There's also one when Araragi realizes he must have been
killed by Black Hanekawa in that timeline. At the end of the episode, when the
realize they're surrounded by jiangshi, there's one more **Red Scene**. In
Second Season ep10 (Kabuki ep03), there's a **Red Scene** when jiangshi-
timeline Kiss-shot appears, and one shortly after that when Araragi is
terrified by the way Kiss-shot laughs.

* * *

Now, let's look at **Black Scenes**.

The first appearance of **Black Scene** occurs at 02:02 of Bakemonogatari
ep01, when Araragi notices Senjougahara falling, stops in his tracks, and
_blinks_. We see another **Black Scene** at 02:05, and again at 02:06 (this
time accompanied by that "shutter" sound). After that, we don't see too many
**Black Scenes** in that episode - one when Senjougahara staples him, one a
bit after he tells Senjougahara to give him her stationery, and one right
after they walk into the ruined cram school.

In general, you see **Black Scenes** fairly often, typically accompanied by a
change in "gaze" \- that is, Araragi's focus shifts to a different part of a
given scene. It is worth noting that (to the best of my recollection), **Black
Scenes** never separate different scenes.

* * *

Based on this evidence, a common inference is that **Red** or **Black Scenes**
correspond to Araragi blinking. Since the Monogatari series is largely told in
the first person (albeit that person is not always Araragi), the idea is that
we see what he sees - when he blinks, we see nothing but darkness, since _he_
sees nothing but darkness. This isn't strictly the case (because, of course,
Araragi's eyes aren't _always_ the camera), but it generally seems like a good
perspective to adopt.

In this framework, then, **Black Scenes** are just what happens when Araragi
blinks (sometimes). What about the **Red Scenes** , then? Well, pay attention
to the fact that they seem to appear when Araragi is excited or under stress
or in danger or angry, or whatnot. In other words, we see **Red Scene** when
Araragi blinks while he is under the influence of some strong emotion. So, in
that sense, **Red Scene** is just a particular type of **Black Scene**.

* * *

**Red** and **Black Scenes** seem to serve the same purpose even in parts not
narrated by Araragi. In Second Season ep12 (Otori ep01), narrated by Nadeko,
we see **Black Scenes** in the first five minutes mostly corresponding to
Araragi blinking (with an especially nice one at 04:29). Once we move back to
the "present" from the initial flash-forward, we get a number of **Black
Scenes** corresponding to Nadeko blinking.

We also get a **Red Scene** at 12:04 when she first sees the medusa, startling
her, and again at 19:35 when the medusa presents her with an exaggerated
version of the horrific things she did to the snakes at the shrine. There
doesn't seem to be much of a difference between **Red Scenes** for Nadeko vs.
for Araragi.

* * *

# Other [color] Scenes

What about the other **[color] Scenes**? It's difficult to generalize about
these since they're so rare. Let me just identify a few examples (from Nise
and Kabuki, since those are the only parts I have a full screencap collection
of) and put up a few hypotheses.

There are two **Yellow Scenes** in Nisemonogatari - one in ep10 at 17:32, when
Shinobu says something, and one in ep11 at 12:05 while Kagenui is talking (at
the beginning of her fight with Araragi). There's also one in Second Season
ep08 (Kabuki ep02) during a narration about Hachikuji by Araragi. I'm not
seeing any common features here.

There are three **White Scenes** in Nisemonogatari - one in ep03 at 22:37,
when Senjougahara says that Hanekawa called her (this one has cat ears in it);
one in ep09 at 22:37 during some throwaway line to Hachikuji; and one in ep11
at 06:00 during a conversation between Koyomi and Tsukihi (right before she
says "platinum mad"). In Second Season ep08 (Kabuki ep02), there's one at
16:20, right when Araragi is molesting still-alive Hachikuji in the past.
There's also a **White Scene** in Second Season ep12 (Otori ep01) right after
a shot of the medusa.

Here, we do have Hanekawa being "white" (as we learn much about in Neko
White), "platinum" being generally "white", and the medusa is "white", too, I
guess. I'm not sure how the Hachikuji ones fits in, though.

  * There are **Peach Scenes** at 01:53 in Second Season ep08 (Kabuki ep02), when Shinobu is excited to see mini-Araragi; and another one at 21:52 in Second Season ep12 (Otori ep01), when Nadeko agrees to do the medusa a favor.
  * There are **Lilac Scenes** at 12:41 in Second Season ep08 (Kabuki ep02), when Araragi responds to Shinobu's question about whether or not he understands what saving Hachikuji means for her; and at 11:05 in Second Season ep12 (Otori ep01), during Nadeko's conversation with Ougi. No idea what the deal is with these two.
  * We get a **Light Green Scene** ( _moegi_ 1 \- it's a sort of yellowish-green, sort of like some kinds of freshly-sprouted plants, apparently) at 03:15 in Second Season ep17 (Oni ep01), during a conversation between Hachikuji and Araragi, when Araragi points out that Hachikuji stands out less without her backpack. There's another one at 06:44 in Second Season ep19 (Oni ep03), while Hachikuji is telling Araragi how she was surprised that Araragi didn't abandon her when the darkness came upon them the first time. This might be because the color _moegi_ is associated with youthfulness (mostly of plants, albeit), and Hachikuji is the youngest character in the cast (past-Hanekawa/etc. notwithstanding)
  * There's a **Purple Scene** at 02:03 in Second Season ep19 (Oni ep03) shortly after Ononoki walks in on Araragi and Shinobu's conversation. There's another one (accompanied by a "popping" sound) at 11:40 in Second Season ep19 (Oni ep03) just before Araragi starts feeling Hachikuji up while she's asleep. Why are they there? Beats me.

Summary: aside from **Red** and **Black** , the other **[color] Scenes** don't
really seem to have much in the way of consistency. They see very little use,
especially in Bakemonogatari.

* * *

# Notes

1 The _moe_ in _moegi_ is the same word as the _moe_ that serves as the origin
of [the otaku-jargon word "moe" meaning
cute/etc](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/894/what-does-moe-mean).

