Oh man. I could wait, but then again Full Metal Panic and Gundam Unicorn in the same game.
So far I dunno where I am in it. I've been largely ambivalent toward Nadeko (she is undoubtedly the worst of the girls in Araragi's actual harem) so it is nice to see her get some character development. Unlike with Hanekawa and the simultaneous tearing down of the perfect girl image that Araragi had built around her and the building her up from the subhuman depths which her so-called parents had thrust her into, it's sort of hard for me to tell where this arc is taking Nadeko. My guess is the message thus far is about how Nadeko is not a victim, or rather she is the one who chooses to do nothing after being victimized because it is easier that way (which is a much better version of Kawamori's "Because it's easier" episode. Especially since the author, for all his fetishes, is dedicated to the fact that not all endings are completely happy and that his cast does have to earn the happiness they get.).
So far though, Snake seems somewhere between an abusive boyfriend and a school bully, and I'm wondering if he doesn't embody the subconscious desire of Nadeko to be the oppressor instead of the oppressed.
It works, though, because context still gives it a negative connotation. Well, a negative positive one. In English it comes across as Shinobu giving a scathing review of the way some Japanese men are way too into submissive girls. The part about using her charms to manipulate men is still in place, at least to me, given that the word is Enchanting, and Enchantresses ruin lives in fairy tales all the time. Bewitching would've had the same effect as Enchanting to me. As far as I could tell it was supposed to be a compliment that was meant to be an insult. Shinobu tells her she's enchanting, which is messed up not only because it keeps the theme of people treating Nadeko like she's special because she's quiet, but also because it tells Nadeko that that's what she is to them: something magical, when all she wants is to be normal.
While I think that Oshino is a very level-headed guy, I don't think he was written to be perfect, especially since there is an entire arc dedicated to not being perfect. You could say that Hanekawa's personality aggravated her "parents" and call him right in that sense, but the implication that a little girl was responsible for her parental guardians abuse is where Oshino's wrong. Wrong to the point that I'm left to assume I misunderstood, or that he said what he did with the intent to influence Araragi to do something else, or to send an alternative message with those words. Oshino doesn't strike me as the kind of guy whose every word must be correct, but as the kind who is not above lying or misleading Araragi with his words if it leads Araragi or the audience to his intended line of thought or action.
