Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2

Episode 18

“Ms. Nene… I don't feel so good.” Even though this portion of the Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun manga came out before Avengers: Infinity War, there was only one scene I could think of while Nene watched Hanako-kun disappear into dust. “Severance” was an episode named after its most critical moment—when the apparitions of Nene's world all abruptly blip out of her life. Even this development is beautifully executed: I would love to see cosplay of the partially-gone apparitions, who have gorgeous purple crystal formations in the spaces where they cease to exist. With half the cast effectively gone, where's the show to go from here? I was a fan of its decision not to rush right to the inevitable rescue, but to take it slow and explore new dynamics among its remaining characters first.

Pack it in everybody—Hanako-kun made Nene's wish come true. This is our happy ending, right? Definitely not for Nene, who is staring down the worst summer vacation ever after saying goodbye to her crush and her best friend. Not for Akane, who has visible dark circles under his eyes. And not for Kou either, as he pines while gazing at a photograph Mitsuba took. But for Teru? With the number of apparitions in need of exorcisms down to zip, Teru is having the best day off of all time! He pops by Nene's in a hoodie patterned with loud pineapples and the color scheme for the scenes that ensue is even more off the wall than usual—vivid blood orange and almost-neon turquoise blue saturate Teru's inaugural visit to the game center and karaoke. This riot of color only emphasizes Nene and Akane's miserable expressions throughout.

But Nene and Akane have always had one thing in common, and thanks to Nene's quick hands when Hanako was trying to erase her memory, that hasn't changed. Teru is barely in the bathroom for 30 seconds before Akane and Nene are working out the terms of their alliance. They clean up an earlier misunderstanding when Nene mentioned their friend's disappearance and Akane said airily, “I hear you'll live longer now.” Nene has always worn her heart on her sleeve and there's not much she needs to do to convince Akane she's not happy with how things turned out, what with the tears brimming from her eyes in the incongruously cheerful karaoke room. But Akane does seem to have a condition: he wants Nene to stop being so lenient with Hanako-kun. When Akane confidentially proclaims that he and Nene have the same two goals—to rescue Aoi and punch Number Seven's face in—I was a tad skeptical that the second part is really a shared goal. What is going to happen when Nene sees Hanako again… and how will Akane react?

While I'm thinking about the future, what does Kou want to talk to Nene about? The whole time Akane and Nene were petitioning Teru for help I was thinking… What about Kou? He's not quite as strong but he's too important to be relegated to simply washing dishes. Forget Teru's plan, no matter how reasonable it sounds. Whatever Kou and Nene talk about in the next episode is going to end up being the plan that actually works. Especially since there's a clear conflict of interest when it comes to Nene and Akane and Teru—the boys only ever talk about rescuing Aoi, and there's no love lost between them and Number Seven. But Kou is one third of the main trio; he cares about Hanako as much as Nene does. He's the real right person for this job.

Overall, this was a bridging episode. It gave us space to process life without apparitions (which can be as small and evocative as Nene leaving out candy for the Mokke, who never pick it up). Then, it gave the human characters time to express and process their contrasting feelings about this major change. It's the way Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun provides generous gaps between the action that allows it space for comedy. (When Teru proclaimed his alleged crush on Aoi, Nene and Akane's differing reactions were a sight to behold!) But even though I'm not a manga reader, I can tell it won't be long before the character in the title comes back.

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Lauren is a freelance journalist with a focus on anime fandom. Both of her kids are named after Gundam characters.