Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Well guys I’m feeling extra spooky today. Aniween is a few months away but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy some spooky anime. Every school has its own scary mystery. A story they use to scare students and have some fun. In Japan, one of the oldest school mysteries is the ghost haunting the bathroom. Sounds like a good idea to center your manga around, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun. Also known as Jibaku Shōnen Hanako-kun in Japan, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun began life as a manga written by Aidarlo in 2014 for Monthly GFantasy. A magazine known for its supernatural themes and stories such as Black Butler and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni as well as a few Fire Emblem and Legend of Zelda adaptations. The series gained a following and in 2020 the studio Lerche (Assassination Classroom) turned the series into an anime making it one of the first major hits that year. With news of a second season supposedly in production, I figured why not take a look at this series and enjoy it. Be sure to follow the bathroom code and wash your hands. This is Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun.
Opening and Ending Theme
Our opening is “No.7” by the Jibaku Shounen Band which is a combination of Youji Ikuta from PENGUIN RESEARCH, Masayoshi Ooishi (one half of OxT), and ZiNG. Easily one of my favorite openings from 2020. The whole song just feels like a rollercoaster. Wild, exciting, and there’s an air of spookiness to it that you can’t help but enjoy. The song is a rush and once you get done hearing it you want to listen to it again because of how much you enjoyed it.
For the ending we have “Tiny Light” by Akari Kitou. One of my favorite endings from 2020. We’re talking top 3 here. I enjoyed it that much. Akari’s voice sounds beautiful here and it was an ending I always stuck around to listen to whenever an episode ended.
Episodes 1-4
The anime opens with a bunch of girls talking about the 7 Wonders of their school. One of those wonders is Hanako a ghost who lives in a toilet stall and anyone who summons her will be granted a wish, but at a price. We see one girl named Yashiro voiced by Akari Kitō (Suzune from Classroom of the Elite) summon Hanako where we see Hanako is a boy (gasp) voiced by the legendary VA Megumi Ogata (Shinji from Evangelion). Yashiro wants Hanako’s help in earning the affections of her senpai Teru a guy she knows nothing about, hasn’t spoken to him at all, and only fell in love with him because he picked up her pencil case that she dropped (well this girl is so shallow that even a rain puddle has more depth than her). Hanako helps her out by letting her show off her skills to him such as cooking him a meal and leaving vegetables on his school desk (what the hell is that all about? These are gifts that a fox gives you after you help them. *Yume walks in and places a tomato on Nitsuj’s desk* Uh, Yume what is this for? (Yume): It’s my way of thanking you for brushing my tail yesterday. Enjoy! *Yume walks out of the room* (Nitsuj): I’m sure this’ll come in handy later). Fed up with failure, Yashiro steals one of Hanako’s spirit items, mermaid scales which will make the object of your affection fall for you, however, there’s a curse. Ignoring Hanako’s warning, Yashiro eats the mermaid scale and goes to confess to Teru where another girl is confessing to him only to get rejected as Teru already has someone he likes. This makes Yashiro realize how shallow she’s been and how Hanako was right about her. She doesn’t really love him, she just wanted a boyfriend and anyone would do. Just then, the mermaid scales curse sets in and turns Yashiro into a fish where a mermaid will come and force her into servitude. The mermaid arrives (looks nothing like the legends or movies I’ve watched) where Hanako battles her and forces her to retreat, but she’ll be back for Yashiro (scene here: https://youtu.be/5_vLr_c2Ieo?si=LKVCVa-U52tlvX65). Yashiro makes a wish to be human again where Hanako answers her wish by sharing the mermaid scales curse with her. Yashiro returns to being a human and her price is being Hanako’s assistant (scene here: https://youtu.be/JnYpC7gMw50?si=CEemw_u3zvPqgcYF. Also, scales).
In the first half of episode 2 a week has gone by since Yashiro became Hanako’s assistant and all he has her do is clean toilets (man, even for me that’s cruel). Throughout the school we see a number of students report missing items that just mysteriously vanished. The students believe this is the work of the spirit known as Yousei a spirit that steals random items from others and is said that if you make eye contact with him, he’ll steal your soul (the ultimate kleptomaniac appears). Yashiro comes across the stolen items in the old school building and comes face to face with Yousei only to get saved by Hanako where we find out that Yousei isn’t what he seems. It turns out Yousei is just a bunch of Mokke who transformed themselves in order to save themselves. For spirits, rumors about them become their identity and if their real identity doesn’t match up to the rumors about them they’ll stop existing. This is why Hanako wanted Yashiro to be his assistant to help spread rumors that better match up with the spirits while he in turn stops spirits from causing trouble. Yashiro agrees to help and thanks to her the story of Yousei changes for the better. In the second half of the episode, we meet a new character named Kou voiced by Shōya Chiba (Kiyotaka from Classroom of the Elite. Well at least we know what the VAs did in-between seasons) an exorcist from the Minamoto family (man this series really loves the name Minamoto doesn’t it?). He’s come to exorcise Hanako as apparently he actually killed someone when he was alive (given his personality and character it would not surprise me). The two fight where Hanako is able to beat Kou as he hasn’t fully mastered his skills as an exorcist yet (scene here: https://youtu.be/JFIktRYDrpA?si=Zg_cl4D5UkpOmB1J) and Hanako even seals away Kou’s lightning staff for good measure. Hanako knocks Kou out and goes on his merry way knowing that Kou will return to fight him and he welcomes it (it reminds him of the hunt).
In episode 3 Yashiro’s good friend Aoi has gone missing. In fact, her very existence has been erased and only Yashiro remembers her. Some classmates of Kou have also mysteriously vanished and he accuses Hanako of taking them (what? Did he flush them down the toilet?). Hanako says this is the work of Misaki the second wonder of the school that lives in the staircase of the school. Hanako explains that each wonder has a boundary that serves as a gate to the spirit world and those who step on the boundary enter the spirit world of that particular wonder. In order to save Aoi and the other students, Hanako and the others enter Misaki’s boundary and get transported to her spirit world (scene here: https://youtu.be/VaV58_HFTXU?si=4v_SLkFHpkWThU5y) where they get tasked with finding her parts. In the past Misaki was a school teacher at the school who lovingly cared for all the students, until one day she was murdered on the very stairs that led to her classroom (why do I get the feeling it was a fat student who killed her?). They fast forward through the search of the body parts (although we do get one good laugh involving Yashiro wearing a padded bra) and it seems like Misaki and Hanako have some history with each other.
Episode 4 gives us the battle against Misaki. After finally reaching the top we see that Misaki already has a body and just wanted to use the body Hanako and the others made to bring someone back to life (it does not work. Especially when their creation is an abomination). Once Misaki deems the body a failure she attacks the group and tries to turn them into dolls with her giant pair of scissors (I don’t think that’s how scissors work). Hanako and Kou can barely keep with her and Hanako can’t go all out because he’s in Misaki’s world and unless her Yorishiro (her power source) is destroyed, Hanako can’t go all out. Yashiro gets tasked with finding the Yorishiro and gets pushed off a waterfall by Hanako (she’ll be fine, she’s a mermaid). Yashiro wakes up at a shrine and stairs where we discover the truth about Misaki. It turns out the woman they’re fighting isn’t Misaki, but instead Yako a kitsune who used to scare kids at the local shrine. Misaki was instead a man and a teacher who befriended Yako and would often come by to tutor her (and for some reason didn’t report the kitsune to scientists). It didn’t take long for Yako to develop feelings for him, but tragedy would strike. Rather than Misaki getting killed by a student, he instead fell off the stairs to his death. Since then, Yako has become obsessed trying to bring him back by creating him a body to house his spirit (well using random stuff isn’t going to help. Just find a handsome guy, knock him out, steal his soul, and then put Misaki’s soul into his body. Put on some Freek’N You and have some fun). Yako shows up trying to turn Yashiro into a doll, but Hanako shows up with Kou completely transformed into a doll (only $5.99, get them while supplies last). Yashiro manages to find Yako’s Yorishiro, a pair of scissors that Misaki used to use to cut Yako’s hair. After Yashiro removes the seal off the scissors, Hanako unleashes his true power and takes away Yako’s number reducing her to her original form (scene here: https://youtu.be/8BsfGd9Z2OI?si=mHqnJ6UMZoMQG1mv). They return to reality where everyone who was spirited away will return by morning and we get ready for the next story involving two new characters who are students at the school. Also, Hanako kisses Yashiro on the cheek (scene here: https://youtu.be/iAApxVs-eoc?si=Ip1hsripadI08r2_).
Episodes 5-8
In the first half of episode 5 people are catching the love bug and falling in love (and it’s not even Valentine’s Day yet). This love infestation is the result of the confession tree where it’s said that anyone who confesses to the person they love under the tree will become a couple (Corbin: If only that were true. (Nitsuj): Corbin, if something like this did exist you would have been divorced so many times. (Corbin): I have a lot of love in my tummy that needs to be shared with the world. I swear your world would be so much better if you took a page from Utah and legalized polygamy). This catches the attention of Hanako who confesses to Yashiro under the tree only he doesn’t really love her and tells her to reject him. Once Yashiro rejects him, the kodama (tree spirit) awakens to attack her where thanks to Hanako’s kiss from last episode she’s safe as he left a charm on her cheek to protect her. Hanako easily defeats the Kodama (scene here: https://youtu.be/6gREbvR7Wr8?si=H6SxfQeuTsZFPBWj), but Yashiro is upset by Hanako’s actions. Even though Hanako isn’t her type (it’s because he’s dead isn’t it?), this was still Yashiro’s first confession and to have her feelings played with like that was very cruel. Hanako apologizes to her in what has to be the sincerest we’ve seen him up until this point (his hat is off, he’s slightly blushing, and even hugs her. It’s a new side to him and one that adds a new layer to his character. While we don’t know that much about him, it’s clear that being a ghost hasn’t stopped him from knowing emotions and how much he really values Yashiro. Scene here: https://youtu.be/lcE-jkJNH_c?si=wbWvVY_hVejFgK5H). In the second half of the episode, Yashiro tries to learn more about Hanako but he’s being uncooperative (as always). While in the library hoping to find information about Hanako, a strange girl walks up to Yashiro telling her to look for the 5th wonder of the school to find what she’s looking for. The 5th wonder of the school is a mysterious library that only appears around 4pm and contains books that tell you the past, present, and future of a person whether they be alive or dead. Anyone is free to open a book except for the red books as opening them will kill you (reference books, got it). We end the episode on an interesting cliffhanger with another ghost who looks like Hanako. Also, Kou is the little brother of Teru.
In episode 6 Yashiro goes to the 4pm library with Kou where Yashiro finds her book and tries to see her future (where she apparently gets dumped because of her fat legs. I guess the guy likes his girls top heavy). As she tries to see her future the pages begin to bleed (must be that time of the month) and all of a sudden an apparition attacks her. She gets saved by Hanako and we meet the 5th wonder Tsuchigomori a teacher at the school who is an arachnid (geez, between this and the owl from Avatar, I don’t know which librarian is scarier). Yako also shows up where Hanako says a human has partnered up with another apparition and is causing mayhem in the school. Hanako believes that one of the 7 wonders has betrayed them so his plan is to take the Yorishiro of each wonder to find the traitor and then redistribute them once everything has been settled. Tsuchigomori says he’ll only give his Yorishiro if they reveal an embarrassing secret about themselves. Yashiro and Kou each reveal an embarrassing secret about themselves (well embarrassing to them, to everyone else it’s just silly) but Tsuchigomori isn’t impressed. It’s only until he sees Hanako interact with them does he agree to hand over his Yorishiro, but only Yashiro may see it. Tsuchigomori shows Yashiro his Yorishiro which is a moon rock. After removing the seal, we get a glimpse into the past and see that Tsuchigomori used to be the teacher of everyone’s favorite apparition, Hanako. When Hanako was human he went by Yugi Amane a kid with no friends as well as bruises and cuts all over his body. According to Tsuchigomori, Hanako’s future was to be a scientist and then become a teacher at the school, but Hanako changed that future and instead became an apparition becoming the first person Tscuchigomori ever saw change their future. Yashiro wakes up in the infirmary where she embraces Hanako with tears in her eyes not sure what face to make for him.
In the first half of episode 7 not much really happens. Things between Yashiro and Hanako are awkward as she still isn’t sure how to approach him. Sensing this, Kou steps in and tricks Yashiro into making donuts with him in the home ec room (who knew Kou was a smooth talker) where he too shares his worries with Yashiro about Hanako. Kou was originally sent to exorcise Hanako but after spending time with the guy, he can’t sense anything evil which totally goes against everything he was taught (all he can do is just play it by sight). While he doesn’t give Yashiro an answer on what to do, he does manage to make her feel better (and for that, I give you a C). After finishing the donuts, Kou gives Yashiro extra to give to Hanako where she talks to him on the roof of the school and admits that she thinks he’s a pain (pretty sure he feels the same about you Ms. Shallow mermaid. Admit it, you forgot that was still a thing). However, she still wants to be friends with him and can’t bring herself to leave him alone. As the two are sharing a tender moment, a black origami crane comes out. Hanako destroys the crane and a black smoke begins to appear where we meet Tsukasa the younger twin brother of Hanako and the person he killed in the past (the more I learn about Hanako the more interesting and scarier he becomes). For the first time ever, we see Hanako scared to his core and unsure of what to do. Yashiro comes to his rescue by splashing Tsukasa with tea and this melts him (dahh~ I’m melting! What a world! What a world) but he says he’ll return. Despite Tsukasa gone, Hanako is still shaken and in a trance where he forces himself on Yashiro but returns to reality when he sees the fear in her eyes. He apologizes and takes his leave. As this is all happening, we see that Tsukasa is working with a few other students named Sakura and Natsuhiko who are members of the broadcasting club and help Tsukasa alter the rumors of the apparitions at the school for his amusement. Near the end of the episode, they alter the rumor about an apparition that appears at shoe lockers (careful, he’ll put tacks in your shoes). Kou captures the apparition but doesn’t want to forcefully exorcise him so Hanako suggests he just fulfill his regret to help him move on. We do end the episode on a laugh with the spirit despite looking like a weak and innocent boy actually has quite the mouth on him and calls Kou a pervert and rapist (scene here: https://youtu.be/ReWbWhPiZuA?si=iqir8QH7xKKzTrAv).
Episode 8 is a rather sad episode. We find out that the apparition is Mitsuba who died in a car accident and was actually a classmate of Kou when he was alive (he sat right in front of Kou. How do you forget your own desk neighbor?). Back in elementary, Mitsuba was always picked on because of his looks and cocky attitude, so when he entered middle school he decided to change up his personality. He managed to become friendly with everyone (as well as develop a passion for photography) but at the same time became invisible to them as he never stood out. As the episode goes on Kou and Mitsuba do start to form a friendship with each other and just when it seems like this story will have a happy ending, Tsukasa appears to wreck shit. We find out that unlike Hanako who grants wishes to people who are alive, Tsukasa does the opposite. He grants wishes to people who are dead and takes something they value in return. The main difference is, is that Hanako knows there’s a system in place that governs the world and works within that system to maintain a balance between the living and dead. Tsukasa doesn’t believe in that system and doesn’t care if the balance gets disrupted, it just means it was pointless to begin with (you know that one line from Alfred in the Dark Knight when he said some men just want to watch the world burn? Well that line describes Tsukasa perfectly. He’s not out for world domination or vengeance, he just wants to watch the world burn). Anyway, Tsukasa jabs Mitsuba through the chest and then creates a new rumor for Mitsuba which involves him having a broken neck and breaking the necks of people who don’t know his name when he asks them (that is downright awful). This causes Mitsuba body’s to change dramatically into that of a monster and then Tsukasa takes his reasoning away so now Mitsuba is just a mindless apparition who’s a slave to his rumor. Kou tries desperately to reach Mistuba only to fail and get saved by Hanako who puts Mitsuba to rest. We once again see that sense of fear and dread in Hanako’s face when he sees Tsukasa which allows him to escape (scene here: https://youtu.be/xTdxoQEIi_g?si=133LYD1kl1NuZKGE). Later on, as Kou goes through the pictures in Mitsuba’s camera, he sees a picture of himself and can no longer hold back his tears.
Episodes 9-12
Nothing much to say about episode 9. Yashiro gets tricked into tea with Tsukasa’s group where she and Natsuhiko get sent to nowhere, a world outside the living and dead as well as boundaries (so, Kansas). In this world Yashiro can see the past and possible future, but trying to escape it is a real hassle according to Hanako. The only way for Yashiro and Natsuhiko to return to their world is to find the door that leads to their world so Natsuhiko begins opening up random doors that lead to different worlds (some dangerous and some are just straight up parodies). Yashiro loses Natsuhiko (don’t worry, he’ll be fine. (Mira): How do you know? (Nitsuj): Because idiots don’t die easily. (Seras): Amen), but manages to find a door that leads to the old school building. Yashiro opens the door only to see that the door led to the past where she meets Hanako when he was still alive. Yashiro sees him crying and goes to him, but he runs away dropping a key. Yashiro tries to return it, but the ghost Hanako finds her and pulls her back to her world where he welcomes her back with a hug and apologizes for ruining her donuts last episode.
In episode 10 Yashiro is being stalked by these mysterious hands. They really don’t do much, they just follow her around and photo bomb her garden club photos (weird much?). Hanako figures that in order to get rid of them they have to play with them, so they play with all the hands (it’s not as dirty as it sounds) until only one is left. The hands pull Yashiro into a mirror where she meets Mitsuba (hey! You’re alive! I mean dead. I mean. . .you know what I mean). Mitsuba explains that he has no idea how he got here and just asked the hands to send someone who could help and he got Yashiro (who is a package deal with a powerful ghost and exorcist). Yashiro explains that they’re in a boundary which belongs to the third wonder of the school and is called the Hell of Mirrors, a mysterious world on the other side of the mirror that reflects the heart of anyone who enters the mirror. If you’re good and brave you’ll be fine and return to the real world (and just think of this whole experience as an acid trip), but if you’re bad or scared the mirror will reflect them in its world and have you face them. Yashiro faces her fear of being known as the daikon girl (I never noticed it before but she does resemble a daikon) and she along with Mitsuba gets attacked by the third wonder. They do get saved however by Tsukasa who just comes in and straight-up murders the third wonder (Jesus Christ, man).
The Hell of Mirrors story continues in episode 11 where we start with Tsukasa ripping out the heart of the third wonder (again, Jesus Christ, man) using it to transform Mitsuba into the new third wonder. With the help of Yako, Hanako and Kou enter the boundary of the third and see Mitsuba. Tsukasa explains that the Mitsuba they see now isn’t the same Mitsuba they know (really? He’s still girly-looking and a smartass). This Mitsuba is an article ghost that Tsukasa created from Mitsuba’s reasoning he stole in episode 9. So while he’s technically Mitsuba he doesn’t have any of his memories. Hanako tries to fight him, but Mitsuba doesn’t want to fight as he’s scared of Hanako’s knife (it’s honestly one of the strangest fights I’ve ever seen). Since this boundary is now under Mitsuba’s control (all your castles belong to me), he uses his power to send Hanako and the others back to their world to end the episode.
In the final episode, 3 days have gone by since the events of episode 11. Kou keeps to himself trying to sort things all in his mind and Yashiro receives a visit from some fish spirits who want her to be their new princess since she swallowed the mermaid scale (oh yeah, I forgot about that plot element. I do hope her school doesn’t have swim class). Yashiro actually does consider it as she believes the only way she’ll get close to Hanako is by becoming an apparition herself, but at the same time is hesitant to do so. She goes to the other wonders hoping they’ll talk her out of it, but they instead encourage her to do it. When the next day comes Yashiro sees that the fish are only interested in her fish form, not her human form (well duh, you’re an angel fish. That’s like the most beautiful fish in the world. Why would a bunch of fish be interested in the body of a human girl?). Hanako comes in to save her and scare the fish away where he makes a promise to one day tell her about his past, how he died and killed his brother (bastard had it coming). Speaking of Tsukasa, we see him making plans for his next move and Mitsuba is there with him and his crew. Kou also gets over his sadness and vows to get stronger so he can save Mitsuba.
Final Thoughts
This anime was good. When I first heard about this anime I didn’t know what to expect or think about it. I wasn’t really sure what they could do with a concept like this, but they managed to do some really cool things with this concept. The idea of school mysteries and how rumors about them affect what they really are was cool and a unique concept. I liked all the various apparitions we got to see as well as the characters. Hanako is a classic prankster character you just find adorable. He has a cheery personality that loves to have fun, is confident in his abilities, and isn’t afraid to let everyone know that he can back up his talk. However, at the same time he also has his skeletons he keeps hidden in the closet. There’s a great air of mystery around him. Like the fear that shows on his face whenever he faces Tsukasa and the sadness he shows whenever he feels like he’s about to lose Yashiro. He’s a deep character with many layers to him. Yashiro is the comic relief in this anime. She’s your basic girl who just wants to have a boyfriend but can never find Mr. Right and has the worst luck. You feel bad but laugh at how she always get picked on by Hanako and the other apparitions. She’s a sweet girl who really does care for Hanako as well as others. The story of Kou and Mitsuba was quite heartbreaking. To see two good friends forget one another only to remember and then lose each other was quite sad and really did help Kou’s character grow from being the third wheel of the team and give him his own goal to move forward with. Tsukasa is a pretty intimidating villain. He’s not big, strong, or scary looking, he’s just a child who’s clearly a sociopath. While we don’t know his past with Hanako, the fact that Hanako just turns so pale whenever he faces him makes you know that whatever Tsukasa did to him was bad and something a normal human should never do.
I actually did like the animation of this anime. It’s the same animation style they used in Assassination Classroom and Danganronpa except it flows a lot better here. The animation matches up nicely with the dark setting of this anime and the color palettes they use really brings this world to life and gives it that spooky atmosphere or it can be bright and colorful to give way for comedic moments. Each character has their own unique look and design that separates them from each other. Surprisingly, there are a lot of scenes in the anime that don’t have music in the background. At first I was shocked by this, but then I realized that it allowed me to focus on the dialogue more, what the characters were saying, how they were saying it, and their facial expressions as they said it. It made me care about what these characters were going through and what they were saying. That being said, when there is music put into the scenes it fits rather nicely and ranges from spooky and atmospheric to comedic and cheerful. The one major fault of this anime is that it did skip over a few arcs and even shows the arcs in mixed order. This makes reading the manga quite difficult. In fact, I actually had to start reading the manga from the very beginning so I wouldn’t feel lost. While I didn’t mind this I feel like the anime should have given you a good starting point to start reading the manga. Another issue I have is how they pretty much drop Yashiro’s mermaid storyline. It really doesn’t play that big a factor throughout the story and almost seems pointless.
Final Score
The final score for this anime is a 7/10. It’s an enjoyable anime and I look forward to seeing the second season when it comes out. If you enjoyed this definitely check out the manga. Just be warned it does start to get quite dark as the series progresses. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.