English Dub Review: Toilet-bound Hanako-Kun “The 4 O’clock Library”

(Possible Spoilers Below)

Accompanied by Kou, Nene seeks out the titular “4 O’ Clock Library” which is said to document everyone’s history, especially those who are dead and even the predetermined fates of the Living. However, Instead of finding Hanako’s book, Nene glances at her own and in the “Future” section, sees herself finding out Hanako’s real identity In possibly one of the most shocking and heartbreaking series of flashbacks in an episode like this… The Imagery is random and colorful but gets the point across of its otherworldly nature.

While a good portion of the episode is spent on us further getting to know Hanako and who he was before he became the ghost we know now, Both Nene & Kou later encounter “No.5” of the “Seven Wonders” which is the curator of the library: a spider-like ghost creature named “Tsuchigomori” who displays an outward persona as a teacher in school. As the leader of the Seven Mysteries in charge of maintaining a balance between the Near and Far Shore, Hanako deduces the existence of a traitorous ghost within the wonders changing the school’s rumors, proposing to destroy every “Yorishiro” (A random object that certain ghosts are bound to) temporarily as a safety measure.

After a brief skirmish and a mildly-comedic scene where Tsuchigomori forces Kou and Nene to blurt out their most embarrassing secrets, he lets only Nene follow him to the deepest part of the Boundary, where she destroys his Yorishiro in a scene much similar to the Misaki Stairs incident. It’s also here where Nene views the memories within it and sees Tsuchigomori’s history with Hanako as a teacher tending to the wounds of an alive Hanako, while it’s not yet explained where his injuries came from within this flashback, We do learn that he had a great passion for astrology, although he vows to give up his future instead, gifting Tsuchigomori with a sentimental and personal object that would eventually become his Yorishiro. Waking up in the infirmary, The episode ends on a bittersweet note when Tsuchigomori reveals another tidbit of information about Hanako to Nene and explains the positive impact Hanako made in his life even after Hanako died as he still honor’s his promise today by staying within the school as one of the mythical “Seven Wonders”.

Our Take

In terms of presentation, this episode manages to somehow balance silliness and sadness, on the thinnest edge imaginable, and the ending along with its music was effective on an emotional level and helped in tandem with the colorful art style. I should also point out that it also managed to make Kou an equally compelling character as He went with Nene not only to protect her in case something happened but also because he wanted to know more about Hanako-Kun himself.

Consistently from the previous episode, Kou isn’t simply going to go blindly against Hanako again even after his brother urged him to, and I think that it proves contrary to his brother’s claims that Ghosts and normal living people can co-exist. In a weird way, Kou, just like Nene, is already an important friend to him

Overall, this was a very emotional episode yet part of me feels like nothing big actually happened as only information we got was Hanako’s real name, and how he changed his future, But unless it’s better fleshed out in later episodes, the bruises and marks on his body and how he got them still remain a mystery.