×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
EP. REVIEW: Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2




Note: this is the discussion thread for this article
Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
ab2143



Joined: 09 Jan 2021
Posts: 770
PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 9:56 am Reply with quote
Yeah, after episode 2’s big reveal, I’m starting to miss the silly After-school Hanako-kun spin-off Crying or Very sad
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24468
PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 10:05 am Reply with quote
Yes, that reveal chilled my soul, too. I can only hope that fate is avoided and in a way that doesn't put Nene through the wringer.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
MagicPolly



Joined: 26 Nov 2020
Posts: 1644
PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 11:51 am Reply with quote
As a manga reader I remember being confused why they skipped this arc in season 1 but honestly it was probably for the better in the end, it works just as well here and would have made s1 more cluttered. And with how much they rushed in season 1 it probably would have been messed up (still not forgiving what they did to the 4 pm bookstacks arc)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
FishLion



Joined: 24 Jan 2024
Posts: 317
PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 1:11 pm Reply with quote
MagicPolly wrote:
As a manga reader I remember being confused why they skipped this arc in season 1 but honestly it was probably for the better in the end, it works just as well here and would have made s1 more cluttered. And with how much they rushed in season 1 it probably would have been messed up (still not forgiving what they did to the 4 pm bookstacks arc)


Agreed, I think it was a better opener here to establish the stakes rather dropping a bomb like that and disappearing until the next season. It was definitely confusing when I read it in order for the first time though
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 14654
PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 11:34 pm Reply with quote
It's nice to have Hanako-kun back in full, complete with fun and quirky characters, cute humor, and of course supernatural and existential horror. Poor Nene..

Oh yeah, I forgot how hard Akane is on Hanako. Honestly, considering what Apparations have done to him up to this point, I kind of don't blame him even if he's also talking from the POV of not really knowing anything about Hanako.

They can't do Nene like this! Save her, Kou!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2736
PostPosted: Sun Jan 26, 2025 8:21 pm Reply with quote
ab2143 wrote:
Yeah, after episode 2’s big reveal, I’m starting to miss the silly After-school Hanako-kun spin-off Crying or Very sad
Actually, I have the inverse feeling. I loved S1 and didn't understand why I couldn't get into the After-School shorts until the reveal, where I realize it was the juxtaposition of the cute, heartwarming comedy and macabre drama that drew me. Relieved to find that I somehow hadn't soured on this excellent show and on-board for S2 wherever it leads...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 14654
PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 11:41 pm Reply with quote
Pretty solid breather episode after the dramatic reveal of the last episode...though characters are still reeling from it in their own way, even while Nene is oblivious.

Yakou! I missed her (and Yukana)! And Tsuchigomori!

Nene can't die! Her cheerful, lovesick, and optimistic attitude is a national treasure! Just listen to her silly romance songs!

It's great how to see how far Kou is willing to go for Nene, but more and more it becomes clear that, even as Nene is desperate for a boyfriend and still crushing hard on his brother, her heart lies with Hanako. And judging by the way Hanako reacted, the feeling is probably mutual. But I hope Kou can still save her.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2736
PostPosted: Sun Feb 02, 2025 10:54 pm Reply with quote
MFrontier wrote:
...It's great how to see how far Kou is willing to go for Nene, but more and more it becomes clear that, even as Nene is desperate for a boyfriend and still crushing hard on his brother, her heart lies with Hanako. And judging by the way Hanako reacted, the feeling is probably mutual...
Ep4 gives us the answer and it almost made me cry because we see why Hanako was distancing himself. Her fate was altered at the festival and he altered his fate by wishing to spoiler[meet Nene again] and it might be that the only resolution is that she joins him spoiler[in death in the spirit realm forever]...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
blahmoomoo
Subscriber



Joined: 27 Jan 2020
Posts: 519
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2025 1:04 pm Reply with quote
The plot feels a bit unhurried right now because The Hell of Mirrors would have taken place right now if the anime didn't choose to shift The Three Clock Keepers ahead to season two (which was the right choice, in my opinion; that would have been the worst cliffhanger). So, we're going through two cooldown arcs in a row (the ones before and after The Hell of Mirrors) to resume the chronological order of things.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 14654
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2025 2:46 pm Reply with quote
Nene was absolutely breathtaking in that yukata.

Our "Heroine" may be a hot mess who can't go a single episode without getting her daikon radish legs commented on, but she's so charming that even Amane fell for her before he was even Hanako. And with the perfect set up for a tragic romance with his wish, knowing how they would be reunited...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
FishLion



Joined: 24 Jan 2024
Posts: 317
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2025 4:14 pm Reply with quote
Agreed on Nene, they do such a good job with the character designs and outfits in this series!

I can see why we might wonder if the spoiler[the wish doomed them both, but that isn't my impression. My impression is that they were separately doomed for reasons beyond their control and that they are so drawn to and tied to each other because they are both doomed.

Especially when you get into time loop nonsense like this. 'Cause if Nene never met Hanako, that would mean she never went back into time to give him the tags which would mean that there would never be a wish to make them meet. I know you can't think too hard about time travel in fiction because it rarely has a logical conclusion, but that is why it makes the most sense to me to assume they already had parallel destinies that the events of the story tie together, although they previously didn't connect, and not that Hanako's wish as a child doomed her.]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group