[Shikijin]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Bigger arcs are fine, so long as they actually use the time effectively. What I am saying is that this arc did not use its time effectively, which makes me think that a longer arc was in the end unnecessary.

I have read all the novels, and I can say that in all the series there are indeed parts that drag here and there, but Karen Bee is very solid and creative.

I have to state this clearly, if not for you for other people. The parts with Sengoku and Kanbaru were necessary. The series attempt at striking everyone's fancy. It can't abandon characters without reason.

As it is, in the first half of Karen Bee in the plot Araragi has a parallel route to Karen, where he meets other characters while Karen has her adventure, and meanwhile Araragi get hints at what Karen is doing. That part was ingenious.

Also, in doing so the characters got developed. Kanbaru in Nadeko Snake was joking about stripping, and in Nise she actually did it. Sengoku raised her bangs, which was an important detail in the novel, and she also showed a new side of herself. With Hachikuji it was raised the plot point of how long can Hachikuji stay there. These are not co-protagonists, so their importance in the plot of Karen Bee is obviously limited, but they contribute in creating an image of the world of the series as alive and thriving.

From my point of view Bake was much more succinct, and to the point, which could only benefit this kind of series. If they kept that in tact switching over to longer arcs I wouldn't mind.

"They" who? Nisio writes each story as a book and Shaft performs a faithful adaptation. There is not much leeway for change.

Whether they were or not doesn't matter. It's not like a series is forced to give every single person who appears on screen lots of character development. The thing is unlike previous stories in Monogatari, Nise really is juggling so many characters that it's a struggle for each one to earn any screen time of significance.

Not all characters are important in a story. Some can remain in the background just to show the world is going on, which is what happened here. And in itself is fine. Well, in the anime parts like Nadeko and the fight with Karen got shafted because Shaft could cut less from the second half of the episode. That is a problem of adaptation, but it can only be solved by making episodes longer, not shorter.

I personally found Karen's development in Nise poor considering she hardly got much time on screen, and it was spread thin over 7 episodes compared to the much more neatly packed development of Bake.

Letting aside that the fact the story is called Karen Bee doesn't imply anything about the screentime of Karen... Karen did receive chara development. She started from "nii-chan doesn't understand anything, I'll go beat up Kaiki" and she ended with "I'll leave things to you. I love you nii-chan". This is enough chara development, especially considering the main character is not her but Araragi, and that her story is nothing but a backdrop to showcase the confrontation between Araragi, Senjougahara and Kaiki.

There's also the idea that all good things must come to an end. Forever extending a franchise with countless introductions of characters, leaving behind the old cast to rot and decay, is bad storytelling. I don't think Monogatari is at this point btw, just a general statement.

The old cast would have rotten if it didn't get to have at least some cameos. This especially considering the author was pondering about ending the series at that point.