English Dub Review: Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun “The Three Clock Keepers”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Hanako, Nene, and Kou face all three of the Clock Keepers, including Akane, who is revealed to be the Present one.

OUR TAKE

We conclude the first arc of the season by finally introducing all three of the Clock Keepers along with the big reveal last time that included Akane. Apparently he first got this job when his crush Aoi, Nene’s friend, was in danger and ended up in a Faustian bargain to become the Present keeper who can stop time at will. Not sure how ethical that sort of deal is when he’s a regular high schooler or who may have been in that role prior to him and what happened to him but…it’s as good an explanation as we’re probably going to get, I fear. Besides him, we have Mirai, the name Akane gave to the little girl who is the Future keeper with the ability to push people forward physically in their own timeline, and does so to Kou to give us a glimpse at what he’ll look like in a few years. And then there’s the Past keeper with no clear name who can turn back time and is an old man, so basically the most typical “Father Time” looking motherfucker while Mirai is kinda sorta Baby New Year? Seems neither of them or Akane are especially malicious in their usage of their abilities, though Mirai is definitely being irresponsible with hers.

But the big takeaway from all of this, which will likely be a major focus of the rest of the season, is when Mirai touches Nene to speed up her timeline…only for Nene to drop dead soon after. Seems that she doesn’t have much time left herself, which is apparently why she could communicate with Hanako at all in the first place, compared to people like Kou and his brother who were raised in a spiritual background. AND it turns out that Hanako has been aware of this for some time, if not from the beginning, and does not wish to tell her about it despite Kou’s protests. Akane allows him to keep his memories when time is reset, meaning technically these past two episodes didn’t actually happen, but now we have a big Sword of Damocles type problem hanging over the rest of the show and especially Nene. I suppose we will just have to wait until the end of the season to see if this is something that can, or should, be taken care of. Heck, maybe this is setting her up to take over for Hanako by the end! Keep reading these reviews to find out!