Toilet-bound Hanako-kun is a dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Iro Aida. It received an anime adaption by Lerche and was broadcast through January 9, 2020, to March 26, 2020. It tells the story of Nene Yashiro, a freshman high school student who decides to summon the seventh mystery "Hanako-san of the Toilet" who turns out to be a boy.
After a strain of events, she becomes his assistant and the plot follows them discovering the other mysteries of Kamome Academy along with other supernatural occurrences. Here are five ways the Toilet-bound Hanako-kun anime is different from the manga and five ways it is the same.
10 DIFFERENT: The Fast Pacing
One of the main complaints fans of the Toilet-bound Hanako-kun had was the fast pacing of the anime. Lerche, the animation studio behind the anime adaption, would sometimes cram a lot of chapters into one episode. Toilet-bound Hakano-kun is a monthly manga published in Monthly G Fantasy, so the chapters take a long time to publish.
However, because of how many chapters they had to adapt to make it into 12 episodes, it sometimes had breakneck pacing.
9 SAME: The Comedic Moments
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun has a lot of dark moments, as it is a dark fantasy, but it also has a wealth of comedic moments. These mostly come from the trio of Nene Yashiro, Hanako, and Kou Minamoto.
While comedic moments can also happen by some of the antagonists, the small breathers the fans receive between and after serious arcs are a nice change of pace.
8 DIFFERENT: The Early Character Cameos
At the beginning of Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, the only characters introduced to the audience were Nene Yashiro and Hanako. However, in the anime, a few of the characters made a cameo in the first episode.
The first two characters who made a cameo along Nene and Hanako were Kou Minamoto and Teru Minamoto. While Hanako was helping Nene with granting her wish, they were walking through the hallway talking to each other.
7 SAME: The Foreshadowing Of Incidents
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun may seem like a standard dark fantasy manga on the surface, but there are a lot of events that are foreshadowed throughout the series.
Two examples are when Nene opens up her book to the future and it turns red; another is when she accidentally opens up a door to the past, meets Hanako when he was alive, and he drops some keys which Nene picks up and brings to the future. The anime keeps these events.
6 DIFFERENT: They Skipped A Few Important Arcs
As stated in this article before, Toilet-bound Hanako-kun is a monthly manga and has a lot of chapters, all impossible to fit into a 12-episode anime series. Because of the time restraints and production, a lot of essential arcs were cut from the final production.
For an antagonist to be revealed early and get the ball rolling, arcs that contain certain characters or important scenes were instead cut out completely.
5 SAME: The Everchanging Atmosphere
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun is a dark fantasy that contains other aspects, such as comedy and romance between Nene and Hanako. However, the atmosphere can go from comedic to dark with a quickness.
While something normal may be happening, the next page may be an antagonist appearing and messing things up for the protagonists. The feel and vibe the anime and manga give off are the same.
4 DIFFERENT: The Art Is More Detailed In The Manga
The most eye-catching part of Toilet-bound Hanako-kun is the beautiful art. While the anime does a great job of incorporating the colors and unique style the artist uses, nothing can beat the art of the manga.
Although the colors pop brilliantly in the anime, the stills and concepts used in the manga far outweigh the anime, to which most fans agree. The proportions are sometimes better in the manga as well.
3 SAME: The Characters' Backstories
While little is disclosed about the supporting casts' past in Toilet-bound Hanako-kun as it is meant to be a secret, one big example of a characters' past being the same is Hanako.
While fans do not know how he died completely, although it is hinted he died from taking his own life, the fact that he still wanted to be an astronaut stayed the same. This is the same with the Seven Mysteries that are revealed in the anime.
2 DIFFERENT: The Arrangement Of Chapters
This is one of the biggest complaints with the Toilet-bound Hanako-kun anime adaption. While they did skip chapters, they also rearranged the order of certain chapters.
The first episode is a big example of this, as Nene meeting Hanako was its own chapter, and the mermaid arc happened later down in the chapters. The last episode also took a bonus chapter and placed it at the end instead of the middle.
1 SAME: The Harmony Between Characters
No matter if it is in the anime adaptation, or the manga adaptation, the trio of Nene, Hanako, and Kou remained the same. One of the best parts of Toilet-bound Hanako-kun is how well the main characters get along and bond over the series. This also extends to Kou and his own personal friend he wishes to save from the antagonist.
Although there are many differences between the Toilet-bound Hanako-kun manga and anime, there are charms both of the adaptions hold. Each holds its own unique way of telling the story and thus each one is good for those who wish to begin the series.