English Dub Review: Toilet-bound Hanako-Kun “Tea Party”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Due to a comedic mishap involving splashed water, Nene is kidnapped to have tea with Sakura, and the two end up grouching about their own contracts they have made. However, this is all just a ruse to have her let down her guard, and Nene ends up being chained to a chair and drowned into a place of nowhere — a place that is neither a Boundary nor a part of the Far or Near Shore. Because it is nowhere, it is also a place that can lead to anywhere, with numerous doors leading to different destinations all over different worlds and across time.

Together with Natsuhiko, who was also dragged in, they experiment with different doors that are familiar per Hanako’s orders, who has managed to contact them via radio. Natsuhiko quickly winds up being dragged into a random door carelessly, and Nene manages to locate a door resembling that of the school’s homeroom. and has an unexpected encounter with someone from another time period. As this surprising individual leaves quickly, he drops a key with a rocket keychain on it that she picks up, just as Hanako locates her. Returning to the girls’ bathroom, Hanako apologizes for ruining the donuts and welcomes her home, with Nene choosing to keep a particular secret to herself. In a post-credits scene, Tsukasa speaks to a mysterious individual.

Our Take

Tsukasa’s trio really seems like the evil counterpart to Hanako’s Trio but with fancier headquarters and even a tea party? Damn! Hanako only got a bathroom with a door dimension which somehow comes across as weirder yet more interesting. So far in terms of pacing and storytelling, we’ve started switching away from the fun hearted slice of life episodic nature of the first few episodes and we’re now transitioning to some really well-written and compelling storylines.

While I’m also glad the show is sort-of back to some capacity after the long break, I’m more interested in learning more about Sakura as a character. What caused her to be so indebted to the twin, why is she going along with his bullshit, etc. Oh and that Terminator reference gave me a good chuckle. With 3 episodes left, I’m curious what this will all culminate towards and if we’ll get another season since the Manga is still ongoing at the time of this review.