In almost no sense is the Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun experience a mixed bag for me. I love this series in manga form, and I love what Lerche and director Andou Masaomi’s team are doing with it. But there is a measure of frustration in seeing some of the viewer reactions to the series. I’m used to shows I love not being popular – that’s almost a given at this point. But some of the complaints just make me want to pull my hair out – stuff like “There’s not enough animation!” or “Hanako is creepy!”. There are real head-desk moments for me, but while I sometimes find myself taking up the latter role, I try to be a critic rather than an evangelist.
With that said, I do have to note that as far as the animation style and Hanako, I think that’s rather the point. Maybe people are just so used to anime striving for the safe middle ground, both in terms of visual style and voice acting, that anything which intentionally flouts it is met with suspicion. I think all one has to do is read a few chapters of Aida Iro’s manga to understand why Andou is going this route. Her look is unique – a gothic storybook style which never remotely strives towards realism, but a sort of hybrid between reality and dreams. The series is animated the way it is by choice, because it’s the best way to convey the same vibe as Aida’s drawings.
As for Hanako, this is simply who he is. The first episode is very much a soft entry into Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun, and while the real story begins to unspool this week it’s still a series which is very deliberate in revealing its many layers. The appeal of Hanako-kun, for me, is that he retains a recognizable and sympathetic twinge of humanity but is clearly in no way, shape or form human. He’s alien – a creature of mystery and legend, and he doesn’t play by the same rules humans do. The fact that he’s able to foster relationships with humans like Nene (and not only her) is one of the most interesting elements of his character.
As to Nene, fostering relationships of a certain kind is something she’s obsessed with – but not especially good at. Her latest crush, Fuji-kun, is merely using her to get out of after-school chores. Hanako-kun is bemused – he’s keeping Nene very busy himself (if you lived in a bathroom, I imagine you’d be obsessive about keeping it clean too). But fate intervenes and gives Nene a more interesting assignment. The school is abuzz about a spirit called Yousei-san, known for stealing items and hiding them. And, the story goes, if you see it, your life will be forfeit.
And so for the first time we learn one of the major ground rules of Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun – youkai take on whatever form the rumors about them describe. For Yousei-san than means it’s taking on the frightening form being discussed in the halls – but in fact, it’s actually a group of small youkai called mokke who’ve been living harmlessly alongside humans for centuries. Hanako seems to take his responsibility as first among the the Seven School Mysteries seriously, which means he can’t ignore threatening youkai terrorizing his school. But he’s also compassionate towards the mokke, who of course he’s unable to assist himself.
Hanako-kun may not be human now but he was once, and just how much of that he retains in his essential nature is impossible to say. As to what sort of human he was, we get our first glimpse of that thanks to Minamoto Kou (Shouya Chiba). He’s a third-year in the middle school division, and it was his older brother Teru who me met last week through Nene’s wish. In Hanako-kun mythology the Minamoto Clan are powerful exorcists, and young Kou declares that he’s the scion ready to bear that mantle, starting with Hanako. It doesn’t work out that way, but Hanako does find the encounter rather invigorating in more ways than one.
Hanako very frankly admits, in earshot of Nene, that he killed someone in life – and that his current “job” is the penance he must observe before God forgives his transgressions. As to Kou Hanako is wryly tolerant, even encouraging in a way – to a point. But the key moment here is Nene’s response to what she’s learned about him. That is, seeming indifference. “You’ll even make friends with murderers”, Hanako muses, and while he’s seemingly light-hearted about the matter it’s hard not to wonder if he was genuinely worried he’d lose both his janitor and the person who actually called him a friend.
If I may slide into evangelist role briefly, I’ll reiterate here what I said last week – Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun is not a series whose finished product you can predict after a few episodes. Everything was definitely dialed up from the premiere this week in totally successful fashion, but we’ve barely scratched the uppermost extremity of the surface – this series is layers upon layers upon layers. We’ll never get to all of them if the series ends up only running for 12 episodes, but that’s enough to paint a much clearer picture than the few brush strokes already applied. It’s a great show already in my opinion, but it’s genuinely just getting started.
Derrick
January 17, 2020 at 10:11 pmit’s a rarity to see a confident story telling, so I will enjoy this one
Dop
January 17, 2020 at 10:20 pmI’m really enjoying the style of this show even before I started getting into the storyline. It’s got a real aesthetic going all its own, and it’d be a pretty poor world if all anime was cut from the same pattern.
I came into this with no previous knowledge but it’s become one of my favourites for the season.
Guardian Enzo
January 17, 2020 at 10:32 pmThat encapsulates my feelings more or less exactly. It has a distinct aesthetic. If all anime were the same, how boring would that be? Actually, we seem to be on the road to testing that…
sweejen
January 17, 2020 at 10:37 pmThe intricacy of what’s on screen reminds me of watching Mononoke for the first time. Every element feels deliberate, and I think adding animation just for the sake of movement would be a distraction. I am wowed by how substantial this world feels (I love Nene’s sturdy little legs!). I’m totally signed on!
Guardian Enzo
January 17, 2020 at 10:41 pmI love my remote little corner of the internet at times like this, seriously…
Toni
January 17, 2020 at 10:42 pmI’m loving the art and the fact that there’s more to the story than what I feared was going to be just yokai of the week. It’d be my favourite if it wasn’t for Eizouken.
Do you know the meaning of the character on Hanako’s face?
Guardian Enzo
January 17, 2020 at 11:02 pmIt’s literally a seal with the Kanji “封 (seal)”.
More, I cannot say…
leongsh
January 17, 2020 at 11:29 pmI like the aesthetic of the show. Based on the content shown so far, I find that it fits it very well.
Hanako is showing up to be an fascinating character. It seems like he wants to live the teenage life that was probably denied to him due to his deeds. The redemption opportunity for him seems to make him be on his best behaviour but there’s something deeper that he is repressing. Can’t wait to see what is really underneath the facade he puts up.
Not a follower of the manga and keen to see where the anime goes.
Snowball
January 18, 2020 at 12:58 amLoving the anime so far. Both episodes were great, but this one was even more superb. Hanako-Kun and Minamoto are both intriguing characters. I love the unique style that you don’t see very often in anime these days and not many can make effective use of still images.
Onix Franceschini
January 18, 2020 at 1:18 amYeah, this is a great show… Reminds me of when HXH started up in 2011 and the first few episodes showed a typical shonen which a lot of people pushed aside due to that fact… I can’t wait to see more.
Guardian Enzo
January 18, 2020 at 9:12 amMay this one run 1/3 as long.
Kim
January 18, 2020 at 2:47 amI love the series too. I love the mixture of cute and dark the series has going for it.
I am not sure what people mean by Hanako-Kun as being creepy. I assume he is supposed to be. Like obviously he has a darker side to him. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about Nene but he is still not human and I think it’s important to realize that while he may have genuine feelings for Nene he also would think differently from a human and thus be more dangerous. I think the exorcist probably wasn’t wrong about Hanako. At least that is what I am getting.
I think the problem is modern audiences seem to want everything spelled out to them at once. They don’t want to think or let the story unfold slowly.
Guardian Enzo
January 18, 2020 at 9:13 amCertainly a phenomenon I’ve noted before. “Light Novel Syndrome” – and it’s definitely had an affect on the anime audience.
animealex
January 18, 2020 at 2:55 amOkay, after watching this episode, I got the feeling that all three main characters have some things in common: They are all cute, creepy and a bit (?) crazy. Nene fantasizing about a knight in shining armor who saves her from her “evil” ghost? check. The rather clumsy knight in shining armor making threads to thin air while in the front of the whole school? check. Hanako-kun revealing that indeed he killed someone and is now on a mission from god to atone for his sin? check.
For the moment this series and “pet” are fighting for my top spot this season.
Kim
January 18, 2020 at 8:37 amAlso looks there are other people that get it. It’s all in the where you look 🙂
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/toilet-bound-hanako-kun/episode-1-2/.155481
Guardian Enzo
January 18, 2020 at 9:15 amHeh, Lauren is one of the good ones. She gets it.
Darrel
January 19, 2020 at 12:45 pmAs one having read the manga, I think the next episode is the one where it gets really good. A pity 1 cour probably won’t be enough to get to some of the best material.
sonicsenryaku
January 19, 2020 at 4:52 pmWait….so what complaints people are making about this show’s visuals exactly?
Guardian Enzo
January 19, 2020 at 5:35 pmIt’s all stills! There’s no animation, no movement!
sonicsenryaku
January 20, 2020 at 6:23 amAaaahhh, I see. Well to be fair, it’s not like that criticism is completely invalid. Now hear me out; if your gripe with the comments towards Hanako-kun’s visuals is that people are failing to appreciate the creative choices being made, I think that’s justified. I personally find opinions from people who dislike or complain about things without exercising critical thought not worth taking seriously. For some, that kind of ignorant criticism is triggering, so I get it; as patient as I can be most of the time, criticism like that can even start to annoy me. Now I’m not saying opinions like those don’t deserve to be responded to with civility (Some find that highly debatable, I know), but more so that they just aren’t worth taking seriously. Granted, if you say that out loud to someone, an ego or two might get bruised; but hey, sometimes the truth hurts. Anywho, criticism is most valuable when the pros and cons of whatever is being evaluated is properly scrutinized before qualifying the quality of the subject matter within the binaries of success or a failure.
Tangent aside, in regards to Hanako’s anime adaptation, I can confidently imagine the kind of headspace the director and animation team were probably in when they received the task to adapt this source material. They probably looked at the gorgeous, gothic, detailed artwork and were like:
“Damn, this would be pretty hard to animate fluidly on a consistent basis while trying to stay true to the visual identity of the series. Looking at our production schedule, how many episodes were commission by the production committee, and the manpower we have on deck, I don’t think it’s practical to try to animate this kind of art with such technical fidelity on an episode to episode basis; it’s just not feasible given our situation. Hmmm, well I guess it could be possible to better animate this show if we simplified the art by a significant degree……ugghh, but that would be removing a huge part of this work’s identity, I mean LOOK AT THIS ARTWORK!!!! Again, considering our staff, I’m not sure if we could 1. Consistently animate this show fluidly and 2. Whether our attempts to at more frames of animation would be impressive enough to make up for reducing the artwork’s impact with designs that would undeniably be pale imitations of the source. HMMMMMMMM….okay, okay; the artwork of this series is a unique aspect of its charm; WE CANNOT SACRIFICE THAT!!! We must do everything we can to accurately translate the source material into a tv adaptation. If we can’t freely animate the intricate visuals of the source material comfortably, then we’ll stylize the shit out of the art direction and amplify everything that’s visually arresting about the source’s drawings. Sure this will mean that the overall product will have few frames of animation per episode, but we’ll make up for that with impressive art design, digital composition, and a brilliant use of color theory (especially the competent use of reds and greens that illuminate the backgrounds in this ethereal-looking twilight; most anime fail to balance the use of these colors aptly).
To clarify and expand on a previous statement of yours: it wasn’t a choice to limit the animation; it was a choice to compromise with limiting the animation if it meant being able to fully capture the gothic aesthetic of this series. I’m pretty sure the production team would have loved to have more frames of animation in each episode. I mean, there’s nothing that says that this art direction could not have been achieved while also having the characters and scenes animate a bit more. However, more than likely, a choice was made to focus more on getting the art direction right. This is creativity born from limitation, which is poetic because anime as medium exists as it does today by that same virtue. Masaomi Ando has always been the kind of director with a fascination of using manga-styled paneling and powerpoint presentation edits as a way of personalizing his visuals. A series such as Hanako-kun with its style of storytelling and the overall manga-styled artwork works well with this kind of direction. That being said, I do think the adaptation could’ve benefit from a bit more animation. It’s not a dealbreaker mind you (remember my whole pros and cons spiel), but there’s no reason why the anime couldn’t have made itself standout with this art direction while simultaneously injecting it with decent animation fluidity. The only logical reasoning for this is simply that it was impractical on a tv schedule (and with the production team at hand) to do so with how much time it takes to even to produce the artwork of this show on the quality it is (doing those variable line-widths on character outlines in an art in and of itself). This kind of dilemma reminds me of the problem the anime, “Just Because” ran into: a production aiming to be ambitious with its character animation on such a tight ass production schedule that ended up visually collapsing in on itself before long, leaving the animation crew pretty pissed off with the director for wanting to achieve something that wasn’t feasible given the circumstances. Ando and his production team most likely know better than to try that shit, and so going the direction they did is a choice they fell very comfortably in.
Most people watching this series tend to agree that it looks awesome so I think it’s safe to say its audience can appreciate and value the unique template the series has. The only is that there are quite a bit of people being vocal about their disappointed in how limited the animation feels, which is understandable as that’s true. But I guess you’d prefer if people would wholeheartedly appreciate the look of the series despite that negative, which I think a good amount do. Anime fans just like to bitch about everything; it’s in our nature
sonicsenryaku
January 20, 2020 at 7:12 am*is an artform in and of itself*
VigilanteXII
January 22, 2020 at 11:17 pmTheir choice of animation style does make sense; the manga is simply beautiful, and a lot of that beauty would certainly have been lost otherwise. Its close cousin Kuroshitsuji is probably a good example of that.
I think one downside to this though, especially after having recently just read the manga, is that the anime at times can almost feel a bit too derivative, to the point that it feels more like a conversion than an adaption, without really bringing something new to the table.
Though that’s obviously only going to be an issue if you read the manga before, and I guess even than just seeing the artwork in full color with some great voice work on top would be nice in and of itself, even if there was no animation at all.
sonicsenryaku
January 23, 2020 at 4:21 pm“I think one downside to this though, especially after having recently just read the manga, is that the anime at times can almost feel a bit too derivative, to the point that it feels more like a conversion than an adaption, without really bringing something new to the table.”
Yeah, I kinda agree with this sentiment; this is how I feel about BnHA sometimes (except for the parts were animators like Yutaka Nakamura come along and are like: “fuck how the manga did it, check this cool shit out.”). Hopefully Hanako-kun will flex some creative freedom in its translation of the source and distinguish itself as an anime adaptation. Other than that, I think the show’s got some charm