Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2

Episode 7

Is it ethical to murder a dead person? I didn't think Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun could make me care about the impending deaths of fake people in a fake world, but I was wrong. After dropping Nene's impending doom on us and then doing a whole lot of nothing with the revelation, it's no longer about Nene getting killed; now she's being asked to kill somebody else. What manga fans call the “Picture Perfect” arc has been tonal shifts wrapped in one bulky trench coat: I never know whether it will drop a harmless joke or the most devastating thing I've ever heard. “Make Sense” seems to be the precarious second episode in a three-episode arc and it's bound to be the most challenging one to review, like rating my enjoyment of a trip in the middle of the journey. But this narrative's careful balance between humor and pathos made me want to stick around for the end of the ride.

Before “Make Sense” got dark, I had to admit that it had great comedic timing. By the beginning of the episode, Nene and Kou have admitted to themselves that they can't stay in this fake world forever. No matter how improved some things may seem, it just feels off. Off as in, the Mokke are living as school pets in a rabbit hutch. Off as in, Yako and Tsuchigomori are leading normal lives, and Yako is even married to Mizuki of the namesake stairs. Off as in—and this is crucial—Kou's big brother Teru knows how to bake now! Hilariously, this is the last straw for Kou. It's so opposed to his standard concept of reality that he can't handle it anymore. I wondered what would have happened if Nene tried one of Teru's scones. Does this false world fall under underworld rules, where if you eat the food of the land of the dead you're stuck there? Either way, there's just one thing for it: to make the journey up that castlepunk tower structure and confront the architect of this world, Shijima herself.

Did Shijima, the Fourth School Wonder, sound familiar to you? She's voiced by Kana Hanazawa, an actress with a track record for voicing mischievous cuties like Monogatari's Nadeko and Oreimo's Kuroneko. It's an A-plus casting choice for a complicated character, one who seems to waver from quietly frightened to innocently sweet to gleefully cruel. In “Make Believe,” we saw Shijima only from afar, her own worst critic as she slashed her artwork (indifferent to the fact that it left Akane and Aoi as a shattered mess). When Nene finally meets her this week, Shijima is almost bubbly as she examines Nene's daikon legs (our girl can't get a break! And for the record, her legs are adorable). But when Nene asks for advice about leaving Shijima's drawing and returning to her real life, Shijima is positively thrilled to tell her that all Nene needs to do is murder her pals Amane and Mitsuba—here, she'll even hand her some weapons to do it! Kou recognizes Shijima's lighthearted tone as the abuse that it actually is, but then Shijima plays dumb. For somebody who slices her own art so often, she seems to be trying to prove a point that her art is rather convincing. If this world's fake, shouldn't killing your fake friends be easy? Guess these drawings aren't such cheap copies, huh, Nene? It's a convincing argument even to the viewer because this fantasy story feels just as real as it did before.

Shijima's helpful murder suggestion is one thing. But it's Tsukasa who makes the other shoe drop. There was simply no way we could have a cute brotherly reunion in fantasyland, not when these twins share a gruesome history. As the boys prepare for what I'm guessing will be a plot-critical meteor shower, Tsukasa cheekily whispers in Nene's ear that he hopes she kills Amane for good. I recalled episode five with Tsukasa revealing Shijima under a table in the broadcasting room, presenting her to Sakura, Natsuhiko, and Mitsuba like the cat who caught the canary. And sure enough, the next scene proves that the Broadcasting Club knows exactly what's going on, despite being part of Shijima's painting along with Nene and Kou. In my opinion, there's no way Nene will be able to kill Hanako and Mitsuba, even if they're not real. There's no way Tsukasa's trap will work. But I'm reserving my true judgment on this episode until I find out how she resolves this arc instead.

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Lauren writes about model kits at Gunpla 101. She spends her days teaching her two small Newtypes to bring peace to the space colonies.