

I didn't understand what the reveal of Ougi's true nature meant. There were
many words, but I only got the sense that she's a (apparition) manifestation
of some part of Araragi which he rejected sometime early in the series. I
understood that at the end Meme decided to "officially recognize" her
existence, but that's not important here.

What exactly does Ougi represent?


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monogatari-series
What did Oshino Ougi signify?


Ougi is actually manifestation Araragi's self-doubt. She, or he, is one part
of Araragi where she always tries to reveal hidden/missing parts of Araragi's
history. In one episode she claims to punishing liars which is essentially
Araragi.

Another proof I can gave is her own catchphrase which I love. "I don't know
anything, Araragi-senpai. It's you who knows."


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Ougi is Araragi's youthful foolishness manifested as persistent self-doubt and
lack of love for himself.

This idea is transient throughout the occurrences of Ougi. She initially
spawned after the events of Shinobu Time. That's when Araragi registers the
idea that he could criticise himself just like how the Darkness criticises the
world as the "principles of the universe". After her creation, Ougi spars with
Araragi, nudging out fears and doubts he has had about his decisions and
actions. He wants to make himself feel guilty for the events of the series
because he chose to save Kiss-shot, Senjou, etc. This was the main theme for
the Sodachi arc, in which Ougi was actually right, that he knew the reason for
Sodachi's suffering all along but hadn't acted. Of course, this isn't always
the case. Why was this important in the entire series? Because Ougi had the
ability to undo what she thought were the mistakes that Araragi had made, even
when the mistakes were natural to make; Gaen's gang knew this. There are some
plotholes though, but those will be up to your interpretation of the story.

Secondly, Ougi being his lack of love for himself an important developmental
point in Owarimonogatari 2. In Bakemonogatari, his lack of love for himself
allowed him to be so selfless in saving the 5 girls that it caught even Meme
off-guard, which is a reason why Meme left, sensing that an abberation like
Ougi might appear. Throught the series, Araragi gets beaten and cut up in many
ways to save others. In Owari 2, Araragi also foreshadows his inability to
love himself in Hitagi Rendezvous even when he was able to love Senjou.

His development was in the subsequent arc where he saved Ougi from the
darkness. Choosing to sever his arm to save Ougi was the ultimate act of
loving himself, to finally hurt for no one but himself. This was when Meme
finally comes back, to signify that this huge Arc that started with Bakemono
has come to an end.

Ougi also tries to sabotage the relationships between Araragi and the girls.
I'm not sure whether this has been explained so I will only speculate that I
feel this is because Ougi reflects Araragi's childish mantra that "friends
decrease my power as a human". Another hint that Ougi is Araragi's childish
foolishness.

Ougi Dark is really similar to Suruga Devil and Tsubasa Tiger. They are
stories about growing up by recognizing a part of themselves. Araragi
recognises that he is someone who can criticise himself and hate himself,
Kanbaru sees the fears she has harboured reflected within Numachi and Hanekawa
embraces her imperfections (jealousy in this arc). Accepting this as a natural
part of growing up brought the stories to their conclusions.


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