Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2

Episode 8

What does it say about Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun that each of my attempts to predict where it is going is swiftly and systematically proven wrong? To me, it's another way this show defies expectations and any attempts to categorize. With its bespoke mix of humor, horror, romance, and supernatural fantasy, it has multiple genre archetypes to pull from, and perhaps that's why I can't put it in a neat little box. More than that, there's a long game at play here. I thought that Nene's fate in flux would be the conflict of the season; now it's episode 8 and we are in the third episode entirely encapsulated in a made-up world. I still have no idea how Nene and Kou will break free from this “picture-perfect” painting, though I guessed last week that this episode would be its final act. Instead, in “Make It Sound Nice,” the meteor shower served as a stunning backdrop to emotional encounters for both of the show's main couples.

Shijima's world inside the painting is so beautiful and complete that it includes the stars. It goes without saying that in the sanitized niceness of this fake world, it's a perfect night for stargazing—as I'm sure it always is. Nothing here is real, but the painting's too-perfect backdrop makes every effort to tempt our protagonists. While Kou chases Mitsuba, Nene corners Hanako (well, Amane) on the roof. It's a bittersweet scene when Amane adjusts everyone's telescope perfectly, showing us who this space-loving boy could have become if he'd been allowed to live. But when he and Nene are gazing at Scorpio and its red giant center that shines brightly with a light from 600 years ago that may have ceased to exist in the present, which Amane compares to a “ghost,” he finally lets the mask slip. Hanako has put on a good show, but it's safe to say that he realizes he's living in a dream. This adds a significant layer to Nene's indirect confession; they both realize that when she says she likes Hanako, she means the boy right next to her, his hand under hers. Set against the visual feast of the meteor shower and a swell of the soundtrack, it ties with their sunset kiss in episode 3 as one of this couple's most gorgeous moments.

As Couple A relishes the fluff, Couple B is taking on more than their fair share of the angst. Kou's argument with Mitsuba turns physical as the latter assumes his School Wonder form (and the repeating pattern in his hair gives me serious trypophobia). Blood, then tears are spilled against the rubble as Kou and Mitsuba sort through their feelings far more violently than Hanako and Nene. I don't think I need to dance around the obvious romantic framing; from the moment Kou says he has business with Mitsuba, Mitsuba assumes Kou is asking him out. There's more conflict here than in Nene and Hanako's scene because Kou quickly discerns that Mitsuba is the not-so-crafty mastermind behind their situation. Tsukasa may have offered, and Shijima may have used her powers, but it was Mitsuba who made this world with his wish. It infuriates Kou for many reasons, not least of which is that it proves Mitsuba doesn't trust Kou to make Mitsuba's wish come true for real. Even in season one, Kou has been wracking his brains for ways to save Mitsuba; even when Kou found out about Nene, his motivation simply split into his desire to save the lives of two people now. Mitsuba is powerful, even in this fake world, so Kou takes drastic measures and literally jumps out of the window, confident that even an angry Mitsuba will save him. Sometimes violence is the only language his ghost boyfriend can understand.

Though they get there in very different ways, both couples eventually reach the same conclusion: a united commitment to getting out of there. With my track record, I'm not even going to guess how that's going to happen, short of Shijima's helpful advice to kill their favorite people. Since even Nene came to the same conclusion that I did—what if this is Tsukasa's plan to kill Hanako the way Hanako killed him?—I have to scratch that one out as too obvious. Whatever happens, this heartstring-tugging episode has drawn Nene and Hanako; Kou and Mitsuba, closer to one another than ever before. The world may be fake, but its emotional payoff was very real. I'm not sure where this is going, and I never expected this arc to continue for so long, but the characters' deepened bonds have made it all worth it.

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Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu on Sundays.

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