OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)Nene and Kou wake up in a very different world where Hanako and Mitsuba are humans again, and everyone else acts like they always have been.OUR TAKEWe’re onto our next arc of the season and it seems what we’ve hit is more of the “Alternate Universe” kind of story, specifically of a world where Hanako and MItsuba were allowed to become humans again. This is where the episode begins, with Nene first thinking that Hanako is playing some sort of massive prank on her, which is not an unfounded instinct to have considering who Hanako is on a regular basis. However…the world shown here is a one made up of fake people, mostly dummies whom are killed and brought back at the whims of the Fourth Wonder, Shijima of the Art Room. We first met Shijima late last episode when Tsukasa brought her to Sakura and Natsuhiko for some nefarious purpose, and I guess we know what the heck that purpose was now! Although what is also interesting is that while the Hanako of this world is a fake, the Mitsuba…is just Mitsuba, who really seems to want this kind of world where he is still a living human to exist, even if he knows it’s fake. That’s a pretty messed up view of things and I’m guessing we’ll be finding out his reasons for that in the next episode.Anyway, these kinds of episodes can often be a pretty interesting playing ground for character development. Unlike in shows like Marvel’s What If, where everyone is typically from the alternate universe being shown and thus doesn’t see anything as strange or wrong, having a character thrown into an alternate timeline (or even what SEEMS like an alternate timeline as seen here) is an opportunity to see more of where their priorities lie, such as seeing something changed that they may have secretly wanted but never realized. We’ve seen over the course of the series how Nene is slowly building feelings for Hanako, but has kept those at bay because he is a ghost, so any serious consideration of him as a romantic partner would have been impractical and impossible. But if he were a human, even one where everyone seems to be totally fine with him…who knows? Also, before we go, a couple asides. Now that we know about the Fourth Wonder, that only leaves the Sixth unrevealed, and we’re only halfway through the season, meaning there’s a big enough chance we might see them, so that’s neat. And also, the thing with Nene’s curse of turning into a fish if she gets wet…I think we should probably just undo that by now, especially since it’s become so inconsequential that they need to remind us of it. Anyway, onto the next part and maybe last part of the arc!