English Dub Review: Toilet-bound Hanako-Kun “The Little Mermaid”


Overview (Spoilers Below)

Three days after the mirror Incident, Nene is approached by a colony of talking fish, requesting that she ingest the lifeblood of their mistress the mermaid to rewrite her contract with Hanako, becoming a princess. Although she initially refuses, she is struck by the reminder that she knows almost nothing about Hanako, and that he may only just be using her, coupled with the fact that she can make some of her weird desires a reality which leaves Nene with skepticism about whether or not she should consider their deal…


Our Take

I think it’s appropriate that the final episode of the season was less about action or adventure and more about developing the relationships between the characters, makes it more interesting to speculate about the show going forward. Teru for one seems to be warming up to the path that Kou has chosen, that’s a huge change from the previous episodes when he was adamantly opposed to interacting with apparitions on a friendly level. This show has gradually gone from this really cutesy paranormal investigation show to something with genuine stakes and sometimes urgency.

Of course with every good thing about the show, there’s always the desire to see it improved in some way, and here one of the things that really irked me would have to be the constant gags about nene’s legs. We’re in the 2020s now, who the fuck even pays attention to legs on a woman? She deserves so much better than that. Also, the real struggle for this show would often alternate between its own episodic formula with the seven wonders and subplots involving Mitsuba, Tsukasa and the relationship between Yashiro and Hanako-Kun in general.

Finally, I’m also left with more questions than answers after watching the final episode. I’d have hoped they’d be answered, but what the anime really needed were more episodes of progression and less filler. It felt too quick-paced at times and spent a little too much time on the apparitions without really giving them much substance. Despite the manga still ongoing at the time of this review meaning the manga needs more chapters for the anime to adapt, I thought this was a great end to the season in such a way that it sets up potential future storylines, character development and somehow still balances itself with while funny and heartwarming moments.

While not perfect, I do hope a season 2 does happen in the future.