REVIEW: ‘Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun’ Season 2 Episode 4 — “Summer Lights”

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2 Episode 4, “Summer Lights,” adds some touching character development for Nene Yashiro (Akari Kitō). Kou Minamoto (Shōya Chiba), Hanako (Megumi Ogata) and Yako (Yukana), the Second Wonder of The Misaki Stairs, join Nene at the Tanabata Star Festival. Hanako suggests going to a festival in the Boundaries of the apparition worlds versus letting Nene and Kou go to the Summer Festival in the real world, off school grounds.

It clearly shows that Hanako is jealous of leaving Nene with Kou. The jealousy starts when Nene pities Kou for appearing very absentminded and down in the dumps recently. Kou’s feelings make sense because he wants to save Mitsuba from being the new Third Wonder and fix Nene’s death day coming up soon.

There’s a cute introduction to Nene inviting Kou to the Summer Festival when the Mokke, the pink rabbit-like apparitions, walk into the room with Kou and Hanako. The Mokke are dressed like delivery drivers, delivering the invite for Kou. This is where Hanako is shown to be jealous of Kou because Hanako knows he can’t go. But it also makes him think outside of the box, where Nene can also be happy. It’s unclear if he compromised going to a festival in the Boundaries for Kou’s sake, too.

The coolest part about Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2 Episode 4 is learning that the spirit world has its own way of celebrating at festivals like humans as well. Hanako takes the three of them through the Misaki Stairs portal to the Tanabata Star Festival. Much like traditional Japanese night festivals in the summer, the lights and vendors fill the streets. The only thing different was that there were only apparitions there instead of humans.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2 Episode 4 expands on the lore of the universe.

Since Kou and Hanako entered first, the reveal of Nene wearing her yukata creates a heartwarming instance like something out of a rom-com. Nene mentions that she has to change into her yukata before going through the portal, so she does that with Yako. But when she walks in, the boys are left speechless and turn a blush red. It’s telling of both guys here because Kou offers kind words while Hanako jokingly insults Nene’s look. This shows how the two love interests handle their feelings of attraction towards Nene by how they react after being left stunned by how good she looks.

Again, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2 Episode 4 presents another apparition world lore moment when Nene learns that “mortal currency” doesn’t work at the Tanabata Star Festival. Rather, Nene’s mermaid scales are worth plenty. As a reminder, Nene is technically a half-mermaid after being cursed when she and Hanako first met. Nene’s always quickly learning the rules, which could mean she’ll quickly deduce why Kou is really sad.

The third and most important concept the group learns about festivals, both human and spirit world festivals, is about tanzaku cards. Hanako explains that vendors give them colored cards after each purchase. The cards come in green, red, yellow, white and black. The rumor is that you collect one of each color, write your wish on all of the cards, hang them on the big bamboo, and whatever you wish for is said to come true.

Obviously, Kou realizes he could save Mitsuba and Nene so he knows what his wish will be. Then, there’s Nene, who wishes to have slimmer legs, showing they both have very different priorities. This is significant for seeing and hearing Kou think about saving Nene because he’s clearly fixated on helping his friends at any cost.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2 Episode 4 shifts direction but adds some thoughtful character development for Nene. Even though Kou and Nene were missing a card each, they still decided to write their wishes on the four cards and hang them on the big bamboo. On the way to the big bamboo area, Nene gets knocked down by a cow spirit, which knocks her into the past to the Star Festival of 1964.

This is where things take a strange turn for Nene as she enters into a past timeline. More specifically, Hanako’s human timeline when he was alive. She meets the young and alive Hanako, whose name Nene already knows is Yugi Amane. She doesn’t realize it’s a young Hanako until he mentions his name when she asks. This shows that Nene is cunning at times but can miss some of the clues in front of her. She can see the hidden feelings of others empathetically but doesn’t recognize the truth behind those feelings—like why Kou is really disheartened.

Immediately, Nene sees that Yugi has a red tanzaku card, which is the color she is missing and can use that missing card to wish her back to the present. Her attempts to get Yugi’s card are sad, with Nene going as far as telling Yugi, “I need it, or I won’t have a boyfriend.”

The animation of her embarrassment after saying this is quite artistic. Anime has rare moments where characters fade into dust, as cool as the way this one is. The animators could’ve just shown her feeling dizzy or disheartened with the teardrop on her head, indicating tiredness. But the animation shows Nene turning into sandy dust in a way a JPEG image can load at a few pixels per second. It is also cool to see Nene’s whole body colored a pale white because she is embarrassed. Big kudos to Studio Lerche for the animation choices in this episode.

Filler episodes serve a purpose, and this one helps expand the romantic relationships developing.

The biggest interaction for Nene is when she learns that Yugi’s wish with the tanzaku cards is that he wants to grow up to become an astronaut. Nene’s eyes water and shows her true colors that she puts others’ needs above her own when it matters, and she gives up taking his cards. But this leads to another intelligent moment where Nene spots a parader dressed like a cow, similar to the one that bumped her and ends up getting knocked again to return home. In the end, Nene successfully returns home but thinks it’s a dream because the others found her unconsciousness.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2 Episode 4 is filled with some great animation and endearing character moments for the core four protagonists and adds some more spirit lore to the overarching world. What feels like a filler-esque episode actually turned out to add substance by delving into character moments of the characters’ deeper emotions. Mainly because this is an episode of levity after Kou is feeling down, and Hanako shows more of his true feelings towards Nene.

Despite Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2 Episode 4 not having any action or riveting truths uncovered, it still demonstrated a purpose to build out its romantic relationships among Nene, Kou and Hanako. It provides a breath of fresh air after the heavy reveal that Nene is going to die soon, too. There weren’t many faults to particularly point out since the explanations of the lore of festivals made sense, and it was heartfelt to see that a young Hanako treats Nene about the same as his current self—showing that he hasn’t changed much.

Ultimately, these developments at the Tanabata Star Festival felt like a way for the characters to blow off some steam but somehow became a proponent for Nene appreciating Hanako more. Even though she thinks it was a dream, it’s possible she believes there’s some truth to her dream, as she looks up to the stars wondering.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2 Episode 4 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.