After diving into a post-war Japan or heroic adventures, we are now transported into Japanese folklore. Discover Toilet-bound Hanako-kun.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun T01
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun is a 15-volume shonen by Aida Iro currently being published in Japan. In France, three volumes are currently available from Pika Edition.
"There is a rumor about the existence of seven mysteries haunting the walls of the Kamome school. Among these unexplained facts, it is said that a spirit named Hanako would be on the third floor of the oldest building and that he would grant the wish of anyone who came to find him. In the second class of this school, Nene Yashiro has a crush on a boy. Yet, despite his best efforts, this love remains one-sided. The girl sees only one solution: to rely on the legend of Hanako, without suspecting that access to happiness always requires a quid pro quo… "
Discovering urban legends
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun takes us to a Japanese high school that is said to house seven mysteries. In this first volume, we discover some of them with great pleasure. In addition, rest assured, this series is not a horror or horror series, Aida Iro approaches Japanese folklore with a lot of humor. Japan has a huge number of urban legends, each as intriguing as the next. Our journey begins with the most famous of these among young Japanese, the legend of Hanako-san. Legend has it that the spirit of a young girl haunted school toilets. In particular, it would haunt the 3rd cabin of the girls' toilet and would appear when one says three times its name. However, in this first volume, Hanako is none other than a boy! Néné, the main character, wants to call on him to fulfill one of his wishes. However, not everything goes exactly as planned. Following her vows, Nene becomes a mermaid. But, do not imagine our beautiful Ariel, princess of the oceans, but rather the sirens of Japanese tales, malicious beings. So here we go on an adventure with Hanako, a spirit that seems to us, in this volume one in any case, benevolent, but somewhat prankster; Néné, a high school student under the orders of a spirit and Minamoto, the descendant of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, a famous Japanese exorcist.
A playful adaptation!
This first volume was very pleasant to discover. Indeed, as mentioned above, the mangaka approaches Japanese folklore with humor, which gives a scenario mixing mystery, action and comedy. Everything is very well dosed, which makes the discovery very pleasant. In addition, the graphics are beautiful and plunge us into a sometimes dark atmosphere, then, a few boxes later, in an atmosphere full of malice and joy. The pencil stroke makes this first volume very pleasant to discover. It allows you to dive with even more enthusiasm into an already very attractive scenario. On the side of the characters, the trio is very appreciable. Indeed, everyone has a personality of their own and fits well with the rest of the group. We must also admit that Hanako's spirit is endearing, although it probably has surprises in store for us. Other characters full of surprises should also appear in the next volumes. The series has more than ten volumes, we wonder about the future of our trio and the adventures it will have to go through. Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun is therefore a very nice discovery that will delight all fans of Japanese folklore. Mixing an intriguing story, quality graphics and endearing characters, we can only advise you to discover this first volume as soon as possible.
