OP: “Kagome Kagome (かごめかごめ)” by Masayoshi Oishi (オーイシマサヨシ)
Hanako-kun accepts the baton back from Ciel, a tag-team I can definitely get used to. GFantasy is once again repped on the schedule with a standout adaptation that’s a hallmark of consistency, a franchise much deserving of its great commercial success. Kuroshitsuji is the elder statesman of the stable, Tokyo Aliens the young upstart (an anime adaptation has been leaked). But it’s Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun that moves the most manga and, I would argue, achieves the highest quality standard. On any given day it and Black Butler are liable to be great, but I think this series edges it for getting there the most often.
Naming conventions can be an annoyance with all the split cours these days. I generally reset to “01” when a new season begins but as the official name here seems to be “Season 2 Part 2” (although some places are calling it “Hanako-kun 3”) I think continuing sequentially makes the most sense. And indeed, narratively speaking the transition is pretty seamless. “Picture Perfect” – the longest anime arc so far – is in the rearview, but its aftershocks are being felt. Namely, Nene now knows what the future holds for her – and that she doesn’t have much of one. As we pick things back up she’s very much in avoidance mode, though Kou and Hanako are more visibly concerned.
Things start off in low-key mode, as the school is just about to go into finals week. This gives Nene a built-in distraction, and given that her having to take make-up classes would deprive Hanako-kun of her company, he relents and goes into support mode. Meanwhile Teru – whose incessant abuse of Akane-kun strays into the excessive at times in my view – challenges his kouhai to a wager. 5 core subjects, higher total score wins, ties go to Akane. And he makes sure the reluctant Akane has no choice but to accept by holding out the prospect of acting Aoi on a date. The loser has to do a favor for the winner – an ominous prospect if ever there was one.
As it turns out, that favor is rather benign on the face of it – uncharacteristically so (there was never any question of Akane actually winning). Teru asks Akane to look out for and protect Kou-kun when the latter comes to him for help. This seems to imply Teru knows about Nene’s situation, as that’s almost certainly what Kou would be asking for Aoi’s help with. As for the dimmer twins, both Nene and Kou manage to survive all their exams – though it’s a safe bet neither will be threats in the class rankings.
After that attention turns to the school sleepover, an event for the first-year high school students. It actually sounds like a cool idea, and one of the grandmas assigned to teach traditional crafts notes that it’s based on the ancient custom of Tsukimachi, “Waiting For the Moon” (an actual Shinto ritual). But things get dark very quickly, and not the sun going down. Hanako-kun has one of the widest tonal ranges in anime, and it can turn on a dime. Nene hears a strange flute no one else can hear. And Aoi-chan notes that one of the elements of Tsukimachi was to stay awake and protect sleeping souls from being lured away by a Shinigami, who uses his flute to ensnare them and take them to the Underworld.
Nene thinks back on the words of Shijima of the Art Room, and knows she should talk to Wonder #1 Akane about her situation. But he’s busy and she can never seem to find the right moment, and when she does they’re interrupted by a strange creature rising through the floor. Then the flute sounds again, and School Wonder #6 makes his first appearance – Shinigami-sama (Fukuyama Jun, who recorded the bus announcements in the city where I work, as it’s his hometown). Then Aoi shows up, Shinigami makes a move on her, Akane get pissed, and things get seriously huggermugger.
Just what Shinigami wants with Aoi is unclear – he says only that the school has gotten “out of whack” and he needs her to fix it. Of Hanako-kun there’s no sign in the B-part, and that’s a feature of this series – he can disappear for long stretches as other figures take center stage in the narrative. But the wheel of plot always turns back to him eventually. And with Nene’s current situation being what it is, it’s not hard to see how Shinigami-sama will be directly connected to her fate.
ED: “mo∞ent” by Akari Kitou (鬼頭明里)
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