REVIEW: ‘After-School Hanako-kun’ Part 2 Episode 1 — “Nightmares/At the Convenience Store”

Everyone’s favorite supernatural/occult anime is back! No, it’s not Jujutsu Kaisen. It is crazy to think that After-School Hanako-kun’s second part came out before the main series, Toilet Bound Hanako-kun, got its second season release. Regardless, fans are not complaining. After-School Hanako-kun Part 2 Episode 1, “Nightmares/At the Convenience Store,” provides another couple of fun short stories that fit between the moments of the main series.

Studio Lerche continues to animate this spin-off and the main series, including other big series like Classroom of the Elite and Danganronpa. After-School Hanako-kun Part 2 has Masaki Kitamura directing again, with Kazuma Nagatomo adapting the stories to the anime series. While these are different staff members from the main series, the stories always feel like they fit into the world of Toilet Bound Hanako-kun.

The first story in After-School Hanako-kun Part 2 Episode 1, “Nightmares,” kicks off with a bizarre examination on why people have nightmares, at least according to Hanako (Megumi Ogata). The content is even more fan service-y for the Hanako and Nene Yashiro (Akari Kito) shippers and the Nene and Teru Minamoto (Yuma Uchida) shippers. Since this short looks at nightmares and dreams, audiences can take pleasure in where some of the characters’ imaginations run wild when telling their nightmare stories.

The second story in After-School Hanako-kun Part 2 Episode 1, “At the Convenience Store,” pairs an unlikely duo from the main series: Teru and Aoi Akane (Minako Sato). She is Nene’s best friend and is considered the prettiest and most popular girl in school. They have a pretty wholesome experience at a convenience store without giving much away. For the Tiara Minamoto fans, she even briefly appears in this episode. This encounter is a great example of how chance run-ins with people at school or work in a public space can be good in the right moments.

The art style is just as good as the first part and the main series. While this is a smaller and tighter format for the series, it still contains the art style of the original illustrator, Aida. It continues to use dark, thick, and thin lines around characters and certain environments to emphasize the occult vibes of the show. But it also uses enough vibrant colors to contrast the darkness. This is seen specifically in At the Convenience Store, where it is nighttime, and the moment gets a little ominous, but the store products have colors that pop from the background.

The camera choices in this story are also interesting. It blocks you from seeing the convenience store clerk. Whether this was a stylistic choice or a move to save budget, it works. This is clearly some one-off character that was put in to add some tension, but it works that the camera never shows their face to create suspense.

Neither part of After-School Hanako-kun Part 2 Episode 1 has enough of the adorable pink Mokke content. As a refresher, the Mokke debuted in Toilet Bound Hanako-kun as these cute supernatural spirits that roam around throughout the show. These pink, fluffy, tiny bunny-like characters are always great comic relief and will do anything to eat more candy. While Part 1 had so much Mokke, this part has started off with less of them. They have been like the mascots of both series, and it is sad not to see the little troublemakers mucking around trying to kill everyone.

Aside from the lack of Mokke, these two stories were good enough for a 10-minute episode. “Nightmares” is definitely the more fun one. The artists must have had fun animating some of the creative moments the various characters dream of. “Convenience Store” felt like it could’ve been a nice moment in the main series rather than this short snippet. It also could have propelled a fresh duo to focus on aside from the Hanako and Nene for most of the episodes in the main series.

The ending theme is the same as Part 1 with Mai Kanazawa’s song “Koi! Koi Koi.” Each episode also has a post-credit fan art illustration, which is typically related to the episode. It’s a cool thing to stick around for. It’s also a part of the main series, so it’s awesome that they kept it in this 10-minute episodic format.

After-School Hanako-kun Part 2 Episode 1 begins with two fun, interesting tales tackling the concept of nightmares and exploring chance encounters with the unlikely people.

After-School Hanako-kun Part 2 Episode 1 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.