Review of Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2
I thought I liked Hanako-kun coming into this season, but this totally blew me away. Distance makes the heart grow fonder as they say and 5 years between instalments of this series made me appreciate it even. Combine that with what’s clearly the two best arcs in the franchise thus far and it’s no surprise why Hanako-Kun season 2 gets such a high rating from me. The characters, the unique art style, the mysteries, twists and ships.. there’s just nothing else like this show and I’m so glad they came back with this banger. Season 2 picked up right where season 1 left off which atfirst I thought was sort of detrimental as it has been a long time since this show aired, but after an episode or two I was right back into it. The mysteries at school this time around were so good, the author really knows how to play with your expectations and even if things happen how you thought they would, there’s always some sort of misdirect or just something keeping you on your toes. I really enjoy the unpredictability of the story.
The first 8 episodes are great, but the final arc of this cour is easily the best story we’ve had in this show yet. It feels like everything is starting to heat up and we’re getting heavier stakes because of Nene’s race against time situation. Hanako’s villain arc was very fun and we’re getting deeper into the mystical aspects of the franchise. I cannot wait to see what lies ahead.
If you go online, most of the dialogue you’ll see from the fandom is about shipping and to be honest, that’s a big part of why I like Hanako-kun too. We do have a lot of cute ships in this series and in this season it feels like everything got turned up to 100. There were so many cute moments with Hanako and Nene, Kou and Mitsuba, etc., the main ships are all really taking shape and I loved all the development they got in this season!
Hanako-Kun has a very unique charm thanks to the art style, animation and character interactions and this season is just as good as the first in that department. There’s not a ton of fights, but when they come, they always look so good. The direction in the last 4-5 episodes with the Shijima arc is the best the show’s looked in my opinion. It’s such an aesthetically pleasing series
It’s really a shame the hype for this series died out because of the time between seasons, but this was great and it’s only projected to get better from here. If you like supernatural mystery series, this is a no brainer. TBHK is one of the best around!
Hanako-Kun season 2 part 1 gets 9 out of 10.