2020 was an interesting year for anime, which saw the adaptations of several manga; adaptations which went on to be quite notable (or notorious) for their visual style and animation. Given the various things that happened that year, for some reason or another, an anime that was possibly 2020’s most visually stimulating went on to have an average reception, despite it being such a great show.
What is surprising isn’t the sheer underrated potential ofToilet-Bound Hanako-kun, andits gorgeous visuals, but rather, the fact that this show was brilliant and yet it is being started over instead of continued. In late 2022, a brand-newToilet-Bound Hanako-kunadaptation was announced for 2023 – less than three years after its first adaptation. So, why exactly did a show likeToilet-Bound Hanako-kunneed a second anime adaptation in less than three years?
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Plot and Background
Based on Iro Aida’s manga by the same name,Toilet-Bound Hanako-kunfollows the story of the 7 supernatural mysteries of Misaki High, of which the seventh, an apparition called Hanako is the most well-known. Known to hang around the girls’ bathrooms, Hanako is an apparition known to grant wishes. Nene Yashiro is a high school first-year who hears about the Hanako rumours and tries to summon him in the bathroom after school. When he appears, she asks for his help in winning the heart of an older student; however, it backfires and Nene gains the unfortunate condition of turning into a fish whenever she is exposed to water. Desperate to keep this secret, Nene is forced to do Hanako’s bidding in exchange for his word that they will find a way to turn her back to normal for good.
TheToilet-Bound Hanako-kunmanga is published in Square Enix’s GFantasy magazine and has been running since June 2014, amassing 18 volumes. As of August 2022,Toilet-Bound Hanako-kunhad over 8 million copies in circulation, putting it not very far behind titles likeThe Irregular At Magic High Schoolwhen it comes to manga sales. The anime was produced by Studio Lerche (Classroom of the Elite), with direction from Masaomi Andō, scripts by Yasuhiro Nakanishi and character designs by Mayuka Itou. While review aggregator scores can be quite dubious and are by no means a true indicator of a show’s inherent quality,Toilet-Bound Hanako-kunhad far more positives than it did negatives. With an IMDB score of 7.6/10 and 7.85/10 on MyAnimeList, it is evident that the series did strike a chord with some fans, especially those who are into romance and the supernatural. The series also boasts particularly interesting lore and characters with all kinds of unique designs.
Visuals
Probably the best-looking show of 2020,Toilet-Bound Hanako-kuncombines a motion-manga feel with extremely lucid, dynamic motion in its animations when it comes to serious moments like fight scenes (yes, fight scenes). With a dazzling range of colours, backgrounds that are reminiscent of comics but yet given a kind of vibrance that very few shows can boast, not to mention character designs that aren’t necessarily outlandish, but unique enough toleave a lasting impressioneach time a character is introduced. The series’ varied line weight when it comes to the characters' outlines adds another layer of dynamism and also helps the eye retain focus on the important aspects in the frame despite the large amount of visual information the series presents in each frame. This also gives it an even more enhanced “comic” effect that really helps the series maintain its own atmosphere without breaking the spell it puts the viewer under with its interesting lore and stunning aesthetic elements.
“Restart”
Halfway through December 2022, the official website for theToilet-Bound Hanako-kunanime released a mysterious week-long countdown to December 22. It was revealed to be the countdown to the official announcement that theToilet-Bound Hanako-kunanime project would be “restarted”. Such phrasing makes it sound like a new anime project is in the works, rather than the continuation of the series released in 2020. There is definitely enough source material for a decent continuation of the 2020’s anime project; however, since the revelation of the upcomingToilet-Bound Hanako-kun"restart", there hasn’t been much news on the matter.
Prior to the announcement, fans of the series speculated that the countdown would be regarding some kind of news about the anime, which was half-right, and supported by the fact that the first season ofToilet-Bound Hanako-kunwas re-airing on TBS, with the 12th and final rerun airing on December 23, a day after the announcement of the new anime project. The curveball is the strange decision to restart the series. Is it perhaps just a matter of semantics and the “restart” is just a different way to introduce the returning title? Maybe thinking about this is futile, but it is very unusual for a title that did as well asToilet-Bound Hanako-kunto be gettingthe aptly-named “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood treatment”.
Dextera, Sinistra
There’s absolutely no information to go by except what we’re given, so it isn’t totally out of pocket to still try to come up with some possible reason why a show this good needs to be rebooted so soon. Unless this “restart” is part of the narrative… there would need to be some kind of link or reason why this kind of approach to exploring this narrative.Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, at least judging from the events of season 1, is an anime about deep trauma, abuse and self-sacrifice, but one thing that’s unexpected about it is that it becomes an infernal narrative, much likethe currently-airingTRIGUN STAMPEDE. Hanako is a spirit that was once human and alive, and this human’s name was Amane Yugi. Yashiro sees Hanako’s past through the resolution of one of Misaki’s Mysteries, and it is revealed that he would often come to school injured, beaten and bruised. He also had a brother named Tsukasa, and as the anime develops, it is revealed that Hanako’s central guilt involves the murder of someone he once held close.
As mentioned before, Tsukasa is Hanako’s twin, and they are alike in various ways; however, there is a palpable level of darkness in Tsukasa that makes him utterly terrifying compared to the abrasive but ultimately playful nature of Hanako. It is implied that Tsukasa was inflicting grevious harm upon Hanako when they were alive, and Tsukasa’s sadistic, twisted nature is shown several times throughout the series after his ominous introduction. Hanako explains that as an apparition, Tsukasa is his polar opposite. Hanako is an entity that grants the wishes of the living for payment, on the other hand, Tsukasa grants the wishes of the dead. His aims are mysterious, but it is clear that he will destroy, kill or trample anything, sometimes even for the fun of it. This long-winded foray into Hanako’s past is to introduce the crazy idea that the upcomingToilet-Bound Hanako-kunis an exploration of the series, from the other direction. If Amane is the light, then perhaps the restart will beToilet-Bound Hanako-kunfromthe perspective of the shadows. Who knows?
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