Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Volume Two continues the adventures of Hanako-kun, Yashiro Nene, and Kou Minamoto.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Volume Two
Written by: AidaIro
Publisher: Square Enix Co., Ltd.
English Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: March 24, 2020

Volume Two begins by continuing the storyline that ended the first volume. Students at Kamome Academy have been disappearing, and the disappearances are connected to the school mystery that’s associated to a particular staircase. It takes the first two chapters of this volume to conclude this storyline, and during these chapters, we learn a little more about Hanako-kun and the limits he has when confronting a school mystery with a higher number.

In the end, it’s Yashiro who finds the clues they need to learn more about this school mystery and what needs to be done in order to defeat it… and it’s Yashiro who takes the needed action. While Hanako-kun gave Yashiro the basic information she needed in order to accomplish these things, it was ultimately Yashiro herself that saved the day. It was refreshing to see that Yashiro wasn’t simply being used to get the story to the point where Hanako-kun would sweep in and save the day. And when it comes the mystery’s motivations for its actions, it was a motivation I would have expected, and one that is used quite regularly in this type of a story. But considering the ages of the characters and the fact that the series is set in a school, the motivations make a lot of sense.

This is followed by a one chapter story about “The Confession Tree.” Recently, more couples have been forming at school, and it’s being noticed that these couples form after a confession made by a particular tree on campus. Yashiro has been picking up on vibes that Hanako-kun might have a crush on her and is concerned when he asks her to meet by The Confession Tree. When they meet at the tree, it turns out that Hanako-kun has a different motive… to take on a supernatural in the tree that is meddling with the students’ love lives. Even though the confession Hanako-kun makes here is fake, I think I’m sensing that perhaps Hanako-kun might actually like Yashiro but doesn’t want to admit it. But even if he does, it seems like Yashiro doesn’t seem him as being her type, even if he wasn’t a ghost. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time that the reader might pick up on hints of a romantic interest.

The final two chapters introduce Kou’s older brother, Teru. He’s also a student at Kamome Academy and serves as the student council president. He’s an exorcist, and Kou has looked up to him for years. We see Teru have a conversation with Kou and scolding his younger brother for not exorcising Hanako-kun. Kou no longer sees Hanako-kun as a bad supernatural, but Teru believes there’s no such thing as a good supernatural. The volume reaches its climax when Teru takes on Hanako-kun, and what Kou does to try to help Hanako-kun.

After I finished Volume One, I knew the storyline with the staircase would have to continue in this one. However, I didn’t know how much longer it was going to go. I think having this storyline run for four chapters between the two volumes was the right length. It didn’t feel stretched out, and it didn’t feel like any part of the storyline was rushed to get to the ending of it.

“The Confession Tree” story was perfect for one chapter. If it had tried to go any longer than that, it would have weakened the story. I appreciated how this story introduced the idea of Hanako-kun potentially developing feelings for Yashiro, and her reactions to that potential. I have a feeling that this isn’t something that’s going to vanish after this volume, and that it’s something that could continue running for a while in the series.

Introducing Kou’s older brother in the third story in this volume allowed Kou to get a little more character development. And this particular storyline points out that Hanako-kun had murdered someone. After seeing how Hanako-kun has acted in the series up to this point, it’s easy to forget that Hanako-kun has a darker part in his past. But I suspect there’s more to this murder than what we know at this point, because Hanako-kun just doesn’t come across as someone who would maliciously murder someone in cold blood.

So far, I like how the story has progressed between the first two volumes of the Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun manga. I hope to be able to read more of this series at some point to see how the story continues to evolve and progress.

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