This is my first post-move post (that’s why it’s a day late, yesterday was the move). Rather than being short of time – though I still have a shitload of things to get done – exhaustion is the issue now. Damn, moving is an ordeal. As we continue with the “Picture Perfect” arc (which I guess will take up the rest of the season), I again wonder why it is that Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun draws absolutely no comments. Sometimes the reasons for that seem clear to me, but not so much in this case. The posts get views, the series is highly-rated, but no discussion. It’s an odd one.
Things take an interesting turn here courtesy of Nene-chan. She’s often a bit of a passenger car being pulled along by more powerful forces, but she exerts some control of the narrative here. She’s only pretending to be asleep (eventually). And thus, she hears everything Hanako-kun tells Kou about her fate. And given that this comes as a complete surprise to her Nene does a remarkable job of keeping up the ruse as she considers what she’s heard. And things get even more surprising as Hanako promptly locks her in a cell until this world is “complete”.
One can’t really fault Hanako’s motives here I suppose, or doubt his affection for Nene. That tender kiss he planted on her forehead spoke volumes to be sure, and he’s not doing this for his own benefit – he plans to return to the “real” world” once Number Four has completed this one. Still, Nene is right to be irritated at having this decision made for her. She abandons the ruse and confronts Hanako about what happened, but not until she’s locked in the cell. And he doesn’t seem inclined to consider changing his mind.
Nene continues in full assertive mode when Shijima-san comes to visit. She’s the one who spills the beans about Hanako’s plans to return home, and she tries to convince Nene that being nearly dead isn’t all that bad, really. After all she got to have all sorts of fun interactions with apparitions (like herself). And in this world she can live on, something Shijima – once dead – can never have again. Nene is unconvinced, but Tsukasa’s arrival is the wild card that shakes up the hand. Tsukasa is always a random element, pure chaos – we knew he was involved here but not strictly how (and we still don’t). He sends Shijima off through a rift in reality, going on about granting her wish – and the whirlwind pulls Nene in as well.
The big reveal here is that Shijima didn’t kill herself after all. She died of illness, and the rest of it is just rumors. But as we know in this mythology, rumors drive reality. No one seems more surprised that Shijima to see her living self in a hospital bed, and she promptly tries to kill “Mei”. But for an invalid Mei is pretty spry, and whisks Nene away for some quality girl time and pancakes (which are always quality time). In the final analysis this whole arc seems to be a journey through Shijima’s subconscious – but in fact a lot of Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun follows that very pattern.
sweejen
March 18, 2025 at 11:08 pmI, for one, don’t comment because every episode is so complex, visually and thematically. It’s an immersive experience that leaves me breathless and wordless and defies analysis because it feels so complete. Every week my comment would look something like “WTF, that was amazing AGAIN.”
Guardian Enzo
March 19, 2025 at 8:59 amMaybe that’s it? Seems like there are a few shows like that I’ve covered but I remember them generating the above sort of comment at least LOL.
catterbu
March 19, 2025 at 2:20 amSorry you are so exhausted, but happy the move is done. I am roughly in alignment with sweejen in that I watch each episode and think “I cannot wait for Enzo to point out everything I missed.” On a related note, I know you have solicited ideas for other possibilities to entice people to become patrons. Something I see others do is create a patron-only Discord channel. Not sure what the feasibility is on your side, but I think what you do sets up pretty well for that. There could be a channel for general manga, general anime, one for each anime you are covering in a season, and maybe a channel for My Taste is Better Than Yours. Regardless thanks for the work!
Guardian Enzo
March 19, 2025 at 9:00 amOK see, that’s a good practical suggestion. What sort of content would be like specifically to see on there that’s different from here?
catterbu
March 20, 2025 at 12:54 amAs far as content, I do not know that Discord requires all that much. The lift on your end would be more about setting up and running the above-mentioned channels. Then maybe starting and participating in conversations. I suppose that if there are thoughts you have on shows that you are not covering, or thoughts on shows you are covering, but do not really fit into the review, it could be fun to get those in the Discord, especially since it is a much more casual in atmosphere. Also, you could have special announcements just for people on Discord. The big draw to Discord is the it is geared around facilitating conversation and supports things like links, screenshots, etc. For instance, with Hanako-kun, if we had just one channel, then the discussion of the entire season could occur in one place and you could post a link to the new review each week (and maybe add a few additional comments not appearing in the review to start the conversation).
Others may have ideas on how to leverage it too, but those were my thoughts.
catterbu
March 20, 2025 at 1:08 amIt could also be a place to discuss manga you/we are reading. Really, I think it would be a place where we could discuss things that do not nicely fit into an article (e.g. I have been curious about what were/are the most helpful resources for you in learning Japanese as I hit my 6 month anniversary of doing so, but that is not really an article).