Boy, we’ve been down this road before. It’s funny that Jibaku Shounen-Hanako kun has had the main stage all to itself both seasons, despite their being almost five years between them. I remember this feeling of being parched in a desert of mediocrity, waiting for this show to come along like an oasis. There’s other good stuff out there – Kusuriya is Kusuriya, I really like the workplace romance series, and Aquarion has been a real pleasant surprise. But nothing else from Winter is playing on this level. The landscape isn’t quite as barren as it was when the first season aired, but it’s not far off.

One thing about the otherwise excellent first season is that it skipped an awful lot of material. For reasons, by the way, I still can’t figure out. In any event this “Three O’clock Keepers” story is one of those missing arcs (there are others). And quite an important one for reasons that become clear by the end of this episode. It either had to be introduced sooner or later or parts of it included in another arc (which would have been even more awkward, I think). My suspicion is that the anime didn’t want to introduce the big reveal here at the end of the first season, but it would have made a heck of a cliffhanger.

Akane is indeed the clock keeper – one of them, anyway. His tense is present – he can stop time, but only for five minutes at a time a few minutes per day. Caught in the act of saving Aoi’s life (though Hanako insists he would have made sure it was saved either way)  he can’t deny the truth. His explanation is that he was tricked into it with a staged attempt on Aoi’s life (which is ironic), and is now a sort of dogsbody for the other clock keepers until he graduates. He also has a deep-seated loathing of apparitions (which suggests a deeper reason). He’s still willing to work with Team Hanako because they do share the same goal (fixing this time mess) but not before verbally ripping him a new one.

The problem here is the future keeper, Mirai (Kugimiya Rie). That’s the name Akane has given her, though she apparently has no formal one. Mirai can accelerate time for (almost) everything she touches. And since that creates obvious potential problems, Akane has been keeping her confined. Had been, anyway – she’s escaped and gone on a (time) bender. Hanako tells Kou-kun in no uncertain terms that he’s not to let Mirai touch Nene, though he’s very evasive about the reason why that’s such a priority.

In fact it’s Nene who comes up with the plan to catch Mirai – based on her experiences with her hamster Black Canyon. Inspired of course, by Akane’s description of Mirai being fond of sweets and so dumb he had to mention it three times. And catch her they do, with the help of a confinement circle from Kou – who’s fallen under Mirai’s touch and been turned into an even bigger ikemen than his brother.  But Mirai tries to get one last fling in before she’s done, moving Nene’s time forward – only to find she can’t.

It’s the keeper of the past, Kako (Ohtsuka Houchuu), who Akane says is the de facto leader of the trio, who shows up to set things right. But the headline here is Nene being immune to Mirai’s influence. Hanako comes clean with Kou – it’s because she doesn’t have enough lifespan left to manipulate. It’s nothing to do with he or their contract, he says, but it is the reason why she could summon him despite having no particular spiritual power. Kako sets about rewinding time to before Mirai messed everything up, and Kou realizes that his memory of what happened will be wiped when that happens. He rebels, and a sympathetic Akane lends him his own power to protect Kou from Kako’s spell.

One of my favorite things about Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun is the stark contrast between the default comic tone and the reality being portrayed. Hanako-kun is a fundamentally tragic figure, and events like this remind us that despite his appearance and usual demeanor, he’s not human. And a being who’s carrying a tremendous Karmic weight. He comes off as cold to Kou, but the fact is that he tried to carry this truth himself and not burden Kou – and certainly Nene – with it. Secretly, I think Hanako is glad that Kou is determined to play the fool and try to change Nene’s fate even when Hanako believes that’s impossible. That sort of hope is not an indulgence he allows himself, for reasons that are fascinating to consider.