OP: “L’oN” by Masayoshi Oishi (オーイシマサヨシ)

In accordance with my usual imperative never to bury the lede (incidentally, there’s a fascinating ongoing debate over whether that should be “lede” or lead”)… This episode was great. Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun is back and while it’s been almost five years (for the anime), it’s as if it never left. Not that there should have been reason to think otherwise, but we do have a new director (Fukui Youhei) on board this time. And the old one was Andou Masahiro, who’s absolutely one of the best in the business. I can’t say I was extremely worried, but there was just that little niggle of a doubt.

No longer. Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun is a massive hit in manga form – as big as its stable-mate Kuroshitsuji if not even bigger. As such it took way too long for this second season to happen, even if we did get an OVA and an adaptation of the omake spinoff. If there’s any upside to that, it’s that once more the series returns when it’s most desperately needed. The first season aired in the midst of a horrid run for anime, and stood out as the best show of Spring 2020 by a comically huge margin. 2025 and this winter season look very iffy too, so once more Hanako-kun debuts as the presumptive standout of the season. And based on this premiere there’s absolutely no reason to doubt that outcome.

It can’t be said about many series, but this one has a truly unique aesthetic. The manga is a master class in the interplay of light and dark, both visually and narratively. The anime can’t reproduce that in the same way – that it’s color (and motion) opens some doors and closes others. What Lerche and the creative team (mostly carried over from S1 to S2) have done manages to keep the same mood and tone while tweaking things for a different medium. If anything I find the anime a but more surreal, sometimes to the point of psychedelia. But the overall vibe is very close, which is itself a credit to the adaptation and those behind it.

Almost half a decade having passed, non-manga readers will surely have gaps in their memories. We do get a small recap from Nene here (via puppetry, ROFL). But not much – mostly, we dive right back in. That word is not chosen coincidentally, because this series is a very immersive experience. In the spotlight here are Nene’s two bookend-named classmates – it-girl Akane Aoi and the boy who loves her from afar, Aoi Akane. Aoi (the girl) tells Nene of a school legend she hasn’t heard, the “Three O’clock Keepers“. They’re said to control a mysterious clock with the power to manipulate time. But if you use it without their permission, the Keepers steal your own time away.

This becomes  less abstract when one of the classrooms seems to undergo an accelerated time event. The power trio of  Hanako-kun, Nene, and Kou (he quietly the heart and soul of the series in many ways) are quickly reunited to investigate. Kou reports on a similarly strange event from the junior high division – two of his classmates have become 14 year-old ojisans. This story is not news to Hanako – he’s well familiar with the Keepers, but hasn’t interacted with them since he told one of them he’d love to use their powers in the service of ero (a reminder that he’s preserved in the state of a 14 year-old boy himself).

There’s loads of great stuff here as these three launch their search for the Keeper Hanako says is disguised as a student. He suspects Aoi, and possesses Nene in service of the interrogation, This sets off Akane though to be fair, it doesn’t take much to set off Akane. Eventually they agree to join forces to try and get to the bottom of things, though from Akane’s perspective that mostly means launching the dudes who constantly ask Aoi out. She doesn’t reveal anything, to the point where it begins to look as if she’s not the student they’re looking for. But Hanako uses her to ID the culprit anyway, in ruthless fashion (which is not remotely atypical for him).

It’s as rare as the aesthetic singularity I referred to earlier, but I truly can’t imagine any other actor as Hanako-kun. Ogata Megumi’s performance here is something very special – GFantasy adaptations have a great track record in casting their star boy. But it’s part of a larger accomplishment for this adaptation. Few series are as dependent on tone and vibe as Jibaku Shounen Hanao-kun – it’s truly transportive both in manga and anime form, and everyone in the cast and staff are a part of that. We end with the reveal that it’s not Akane Aoi but Aoi Akane that’s the Keeper, and the second season kicks into high gear without having skipped a beat (even if it did take much too long to do so).

ED: “With a Wish” by Akari Kitou (鬼頭明里)