Do mechs and tomatoes count as gimmicks ?*
Nisemonogatari 06
Nise, at least so far, is also a bit better than I remember it being. It plummets down whenever the Fire Sisters are on screen but has enough of fun moments with other characters; Kaiki (his scene with Karen is a great introduction), Senjougahara, Hanekawa to not be a complete waste of time. The crawl your eyes out moment with Shinobu from ep 04 is a pretty pivotal scene that in the absence of Kizu, probably sheds the most light on the whole Arararagi&Shinobu relationship.
It came as a bit of surprise that this part heavily foreshadowed the Shinobu Time and even Ougi's Formula arcs. I also must have pretty much ejected out of my memory the part where Hachikuji almost flat out says she likes being sexually harassed.