I think this is the closest I'll ever get to watching something relatively recent. I might start the reboot of Fruits Basket so we'll see, but for now this is a true statement. Honestly the reason I started this was because I was scrolling through the IG Discover page and saw a set of screenshots from the anime. They looked really interesting so I thought I'd give it a go. And it was a roller coaster honestly. Also a good reminder of how good anime with a plot is. The mystery kept me going and really I watched all of it in three days, which is pretty good considering all the work I had for the week teehee~ Maybe I should recommend my little sister to watch this one. She's gotten pretty interested in anime as of late; during her spring break she binged watched a whole like like Kaichou wa Maid sama, Haikyuu (S1 and S2), Promised Neverland, and she's watching Anohana right now. Although she keeps telling me Anohana isn't interesting smh.
{Spoilers because there's a plot}
So, for those of you who don't know, Toilet-bound Hanako-kun is a supernatural story that takes place in a school that's both a junior high and high school I guess. There's rumors about the Seven (Apparition) Wonders of the school floating around. Our main heroine Yashiro Nene seeks out the seventh wonder Hanako to ask for her wish to be granted. However, Hanako refuses to grant her wish in the quick-magic sense so she takes drastic measures which in the end have her end up as Hanako's assistant. From there she's enlisted to clean the bathroom Hanako inhabits and help him spread rumors to keep the other wonders alive. All of the wonders seem pretty scary, but most of them are nice or at least the story is written in such a way that even if they're temporarily scary, there's still a little bit of comedy thrown in there to make it less scary. A favorite on-going joke is Nene's legs which apparently resemble daikon or the fact that she's not popular with boys. It's an endearing narrative overall that switches between a comedy and mystery all under the umbrella of the overarching supernatural yokai theme that goes on. There's lots of likable characters that they meet along the way like Tsuchigomori and Yako (aka kitsune udon lol).
The third MC is also endearing in his own way: Minamoto Kou. He's the second son of a long line of exorcists, but he's still learning his way and lives in the shadow of his older brother Teru. But he's a really pure and nice kid who's trying his best to figure out if exorcising spirits is the right thing to do in every situation. You could go as far as to say it's a bit like an allegory for the US prison system. Perhaps we shouldn't just throw everyone in jail for any crime and instead have a reformative system rather than a punitive one. Or perhaps I'm just reading too much into this after watching the new Maleficent movie and trying to analyze why they thought it was a good idea to make this second one. Who knows?
There's also this underlying mystery of Hanako that's explored throughout the story. But we never find out the whole truth which is both disappointing, but also appropriate for the pacing of the story I feel. If we were to find out in these brief 12 episodes, it'd feel a little bit like cheating. I hope that this series becomes really popular and we can get another season. I really enjoyed the gothic lolita vibes that the show gave off. It was a great balance and juxtaposition of a spooky supernatural but also a cuteness to it that made it easy and enjoyable for a scaredy cat like me to watch.
Overall, it was an excellent watch. It was comical, engaging, entertaining, and mysterious all packaged into one that kept me watching and wondering. I hope that more people could watch this and enjoy such beautiful art. I mean even just looking at Nene and how cute she is, she almost gives the show a shoujo vibe. But most definitely if you like yokai shows, I think you would really enjoy this one and its format which is reminiscent of other shows I've watched similar to this in the "problem--->solution" in each episode with overarching mysteries spread throughout to give a variation in pace. It was so jam-packed actually that at some points I wanted a filler arc of just our three MCs having fun at a school festival or something like that. I didn't get that, but I really craved it. I guess it's my slice of life side coming out. Watch for some good mystery and strange humor :')
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