English Dub Review: Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun “The Near Shore and the Far Shore”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The Wonders make preparations for Urabon, when the line between the living and the dead is thinnest. Akane ropes Nene and Hanako into getting Aoi back from Number 6.

OUR TAKE

Oh hey look, we have YET ANOTHER glitch by Crunchyroll as the episode description for this has been mistakenly replaced by the description for something from Witch Watch. And the only way I know that is because I’m also covering that show, otherwise I’d have no goddamn idea what it was referring to! Thanks guys, you’re doing great at not giving a shit about how your app works! Ugh, anyway, we continue this new arc with Akane and Nene going after Aoi, but we also get a look at what the other Wonders are doing at the moment. It would make sense that they’d all gather together from time to time, but it seems that a major event for them is coming up: Urabon, or by its modern name Obon, which is an actual festival that respects long dead ancestors, kinda like Dia de los Muertos. That would be all well and good, but the border between the living and the dead, referred to as “The Near Shore and Far Shore”, has been pretty blurry for awhile now, so there’s a chance things could get chaotic. Or at least that’s what Wonder Number 1 worries may happen if not every Wonder is in accordance with their jobs.

As it turns out, this is also connected to Number 6’s concerns and why he took Aoi. As the Grim Reaper himself, someone whose task is pretty much focused on moving someone who was once living to the land of the dead, you can see how there being some mix up in who can go over which line and how often would be a bit of a pet peeve for him. So, it seems his capture of Aoi is due to her being in the bloodline of an Oracle who may be able to help strengthen this border. Not that THAT’S going to stop Akane, but Nene following him naturally leads to Hanako getting involved, and as it’s revealed here that Hanako is the leader of the Wonders, maybe he’ll be able to talk Number 6 down from this weird thing he’s doing. Though it looks like things are going to get a little more weird, as he has an assistant who looks just like Aoi! Or maybe is Aoi but possessed or hypnotized or something…either way, she’s going to try and cut them off at the pass next episode, so we’ll see how all of that plays out then.