nanabansama

[nanabansama]

Hi!

It’s quite clear that Tsukasa loves Amane very much — in his own way, of course. That made me curious: how do you think he would react if someone like Teru Minamoto (or even anyone else) were to "bully" or hurt Amane right in front of him?

We know that Tsukasa seems to observe or at least be aware of Amane’s whereabouts at certain points in the manga. However, when Amane is attacked by Teru, Tsukasa doesn’t show up. But then, right after the kiss between Yashiro and Hanako in chapter 86, he appears not long after.

So that made me wonder: do you think Tsukasa was actually present during the attack, saw everything, and chose not to intervene? Or do you think he simply wasn’t there at all?

To sum it up: I just wanted to know your perspective — how do you think Tsukasa would react if he saw Amane getting hurt or attacked right in front of him?

i don't think he would care too much... the vibe I get from Tsukasa is he's still sort of resentful of Amane. If he got hurt to some degree, I don't think Tsukasa would get mad at his assaulter or try to take vengeance. It just doesn't seem like something he'd do...

However, I don't think he would sit idly by while Amane was in real danger! If Teru or someone was about to kill or exorcise Amane, I think Tsukasa would come to rescue him, provided he knew it was happening.

In chapter 85, I do think Amane was in real danger, but if we go with the theory that Tsukasa was aware of this, I think he also knew Kou and Nene were planning to rescue him? So if you're wondering why he didn't rescue him then, that's my take on the whole thing.

Anyway, I think Tsukasa wants to grant Amane's biggest wish, and he can't exactly do that while he's dead, and I also don't think Tsukasa has much else going for him in his afterlife, so yeah, I think he'd rescue him, but only if he knew Amane couldn't save himself any other way. (However given the added context of Chapter 108 when Amane rescued him from falling, maybe he'd help if Amane called his name...? Hehe.)

[nanabansama]

Hi!

I hope you're doing well. The second part of the anime’s second season has already started airing, and I’m super excited! 😍

Now, about my question: it’s starting to feel like a confirmed pattern that Tsukasa is always present or ends up interrupting shortly after a kiss between Yashiro and Hanako.

For example, after the kiss in chapter 86, Tsukasa appears in chapter 91 not long after, interrupting the moment. That made me wonder... From your perspective, do you think Tsukasa was secretly watching the whole time — including the kiss? And do you think he also witnessed Hanako being attacked by Teru Minamoto?

Also, we know that Hanako seems able to sense Tsukasa when he uses his Kokujodai, since the Hakujodai informs him about it. But what about Tsukasa? How does he always seem to know where Hanako is?

Sorry if that sounded a bit confusing! 😅

hello! I hope you enjoy the anime ☺️

To be clear... while I do think there's a pattern of Tsukasa showing up after Hanako kisses her, I don't think it's necessarily because he's stalking his twin 24/7. I consider some instances more of a coincidence than anything. Its his Twintuition... or twin power!

And just to be extra clear, you have to really stretch to say that Tsukasa appears after the Tanabata kiss or the Rooftop kiss, which coincidentally are the times that Nene kisses him. The theory wholly relies upon Hanako putting his lips on Nene.

I also have to note he doesn't interrupt the Hananene kiss in 86 -- the conversation had already moved since then, and he actually interrupts Hanako while he's giving Nene his spiel about how she can't die because her hopeless optimism is too special to him. This timing is TOO perfect, meaning Tsukasa had to be eavesdropping, and it's fully possible he was also there to see them kiss.

I'm not fully sure how he watched them undetected, but considering the first instance this happens is Chapter 7, where his kokujoudai crane was hitching a ride on Nene while she got kissed... well, it's not too weird to imagine him using those to spy on people! Considering the Broadcasting Club did it all the way back then and all. ☺️

So if we go with the theory he was secretly watching Hanako, I guess it wouldn't be so weird if he was also watching him while Teru beat the crap out of him. The guy is pretty unaccounted for during The Severance so anything is possible. It's just hard to prove one way or the other.

[nanabansama]

Hi!

I love your posts!!

I recently started reading Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun and your posts and I’ve become completely obsessed. But there’s a specific part between the Manga chapters 64 and 71 that left me really confused, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

💭 What happens:

In Chapter 64, when Hanako, Akane, and Yashiro meet up with Aoi (or more accurately, when Aoi finds them), Hanako says that using the same elevator as before isn’t a good idea.

So they look for another way out. Aoi suggests a place, which eventually leads Yashiro and Hanako to the boundary where Sumire is.

So far, it seems like Hanako didn’t have access to the elevator at that moment.

🤔 But then in Chapter 68:

When Hanako, Yashiro, and Aoi are trying to leave, Hanako suddenly summons the elevator with no problem.

That made me wonder:

Was he able to use it all along?

And if so, why didn’t he use it earlier instead of following Aoi’s suggestion?

😮 Then in Chapter 71:

Hanako admits that he used Aoi as the sacrifice.

This raises even more questions:

Did he plan this from the beginning?

Or did he realize after Aoi had been taken by No. 6 and then decide, "I can use this to my advantage"?

Because it didn’t seem like No. 6 originally planned to use Aoi as the sacrifice either. He only seemed to decide that after seeing her.

❓ One more thing:

Even though Hanako is sealed, he’s still able to perform the life exchange between Yashiro and Aoi.

How is that possible if his powers are supposed to be restricted?

---

✅ To sum it all up:

1. Could Hanako actually use the elevator the whole time?

2. Did he plan to use Aoi as the sacrifice from the beginning, or was it a last-minute decision?

3. How is he able to perform such a powerful ability (the life exchange) while being sealed?

Sorry for the many questions 😅 I hope it’s not too confusing — I’m just really curious about this part of the story!

hello!! ☺️ im glad youre enjoying hanako-kun!

Yes, so as you say, i do think it's likely that Hanako avoided using the elevator because he wanted to exchange Aoi's lifespan for Nene's. Everyone in the story blames Hanako for Aoi's demise and he takes full accountability for it. He is guilty, and more importantly he feels guilty, despite his hands never directly harming her.

And yes, I don't think Hanako realized she had kannagi blood until after Hakubo sniffed her out. Then he just rid on Hakubo's coat tails and took advantage of the situation to benefit Nene, whilst also letting the Severance happen to solve the Urabon issue like Hakubo intended. Two birds, one stone.

As for the life exchange I'm not entirely sure how it worked! It's possible it wasn't really Hanako's powers that let it happpen? Just that it was some kind of ritual anyone could perform or take advantage of.

Anyway, Hanako may be sealed, but he still has abilities. We don't know how strong he is unsealed and how that compares to him sealed! For one, he can summon an entire elevator. He also has his tsueshiro, which gives him a cape that repels lightning. I've gotta say, that's pretty strong to me!

[nanabansama]

I saw your post about whether Amane’s future — in both realities — was destined to end up in the hands of the Red House.

Let’s suppose that really is the case (and from my perspective, I believe it is). Do you think Tsukasa knew that would have happened if Amane had lived and grown up without him? That he would eventually fall into the hands of the god who granted him life in the first place?

Because honestly, I don’t think Tsukasa would have wanted that to be Amane’s fate.

So I think I agree with you, but I think it's more like Tsukasa wants to grant Amane's true wish, and it's doubtful that his true wish is to be used as a puppet by the Red House. 😅

However, considering what his reaction was to Amane killing himself, I don't think he's opposed to it in a way that the average brother might be...? He's pro-suicide so long as it's Amane's choice, basically. ^^;

So I guess we differ there... I don't think Tsukasa went back to Amane because he was worried about him. It's more the opposite. Tsukasa was curious and wondered why Amane would kill himself and commit fratricide when Tsukasa sacrificed his entire life for him. He apparently misunderstood Amane's wish and wanted to learn more about him.

I understand it if you disagree, but that's how I interpret his character! It's hard for me to look at Chapter 82 and interpret it as Tsukasa being concerned for his brother. Just interested...

[nanabansama]

[nanabansama]

Oh huh. I never realized this was the same outfit (minus shoes). I feel like I should have realized this sooner...

[nanabansama]

A very small question: Do you think Amane was always destined to remain in the clutches of the red house, after becoming an adult and a teacher?

Or do you tink that should only have happened in this temporal reality?

I definitely think there's a strong possibility... let's not forget that the only reason Amane was able to live till his 4th birthday was because the God granted Tsukasa's wish. His ability to reach adulthood is partially thanks to the wish-granting god dwelling in the Red House.

But let's ALSO not forget that the altered world we entered in Ch. 111 is not exactly the same as the previous one! In the original world, Amane and Tsukasa grew up together until age 13, when Amane committed a murder-suicide between him and his brother. In the altered one, Amane grew up without Tsukasa after chucking him into a well around age 4.

...and later, his parents...

...not sure exactly how much later he chucked them into a well, but probably after graduation? Let's be realistic...

Anyway, while Tsuchigomori has made no comment about Yugi Tsukasa with regards to Amane's book in the 4 PM Library (alongside no mention to Yugi Tsukasa at all. Ever.), it's entirely possible the book he read was not the same as this timeline we see now. Especially since the Clock Keepers had to interfere with the past and get rid of Yugi Tsukasa in order to alter the world to begin with.

So...yeah. I mean, nothing's out of the question, but there's reasonable doubt surrounding the idea that Amane's destiny as a teacher is to murder his students.

[nanabansama]

Any theories on what will lead number 1’s yorishiro to be unsealed? Nene has already shown an unwillingness to remove the yorishiro seal when she was placed in a tough situation and furthering her own death if she chose to remove the yorishiro seal so I’m curious at to what will eventually lead to the yorishiro seal being peeled off to the point where it is the preferred option for Nene.

Great question! I'm personally imagining it going down like Nene having no other choice because she needs to depower the Clock Keepers for whatever reason. Like Kako is getting in the way and she needs him to #Stop.

...which is a big issue because unless Mitsuba miraculously finds himself a yorishiro, then there is only 1 yorishiro remaining, and there is very little stopping Amane from ripping into Tsukasa himself. X_X

Still, I think it's either Tsukasa takes off her hand and does it himself (partly joking), or whatever will happen if she doesn't destroy it is much worse than if she does. After all, she can always just keep a watchful eye on Hanako or Tsukasa... it's worth taking the risk if need be.

[nanabansama]

I really love your analysis on tbhk so I was wondering, what are your thoughts on the current chapter?? Do you think tbhk is near the end of the series or the climax of the series?

Thank you. ^^

Honestly, I don't think it's near the end now at all... not every yorishiro has been destroyed yet, and I'm fully expecting a whole other arc once they have been. However, given that there are only No. 1's and No. 7's remaining, unless No. 3 magically conjures one, that could be sooner than we expect...

As for my thoughts on last chapter, I really enjoyed it! I totally didn't expect Akane to arrive to help Nene but it makes SO much sense in hindsight. We also got a bunch of Nene fucking around and finding out, but she hasn't completely obliterated the timeline yet so there's still hope. It will be a nerve-wracking wait till the next chapter!!

I also really liked the line from the little cat:

"I, too, understand what it feels like to want to save someone...!"

Whichever Yugi Twin you prefer to imagine is this cat, it's a very cool line that tells you a lot about them! I sincerely hope this isn't the last we see of the little kitty, however...

[nanabansama]

Oh what should we call you?

(i am mostly kidding... Nana just makes me sound like a little old lady... 👵💦)

[nanabansama]

Nana, idk if you saw the merch where everyone is in a box of flowers, but did you have any flower language analysis from it?

Ah, yes! I found these on Twitter. Allow me to do a quick and dirty analysis for you... (And don't call me Nana!!)

Hanako: Red camellias. He's often drawn with these, most likely because it means "girl who committed a crime".

Nene: White lillies. A common funeral flower associated with purity.

Kou: Sunflowers. A sunshine flower for a sunshine boy.

Teru: Chrysanthemums. A flower associated with the Japanese royal family.

Mitsuba: Three-leaf clovers. Because of his last name.

Tsukasa: White camellias. He's often drawn with these to contrast with his brother. The white color reminds me of purity and death, similar to what I described for Nene's flower.

Tsuchigomori: Pansies. My favorite flower!! When you give them to someone, it means that they're in your thoughts... perhaps this choice of flower represents how he often thinks back on Amane, the student he failed?

Amane: Queen of the Night. Can mean "fleeting beauty" or "fleeting love". Also means "the urge to see someone just once". References to Nene and his short life, perhaps?

[nanabansama]

Hi! If you’ve already read the new chapter of Toilet-bound Hanako-kun (TBHK), I have a question about it — and if you haven’t, warning: spoilers ahead!

In the latest chapter, there’s a scene where Yashiro tries to stop Kou and Mitsuba from going further and potentially getting killed by the entity that possessed Tsukasa. She runs to the school to stop them and manages to make them retreat. However, right after that, Tsukasa appears behind her — and it seems like he possesses her (I think). After all, she would never try to kill her friends unless she was being controlled, right?

What confuses me in this situation is: how did Tsukasa appear there? From what we know, he should only show up if he’s summoned through a ritual. But Yashiro stopped Kou and Mitsuba from completing it, so… from your perspective, how was Tsukasa free?

Kou and Mitsuba were not the ones to complete the summoning ritual. It was the underclassmen from Mitsuba's photography club. :) He was already summoned by the time they showed up!

[nanabansama]

last post from me tonight and I saved my favorite part of 126 for last…

look at my little sweet angels paralleling each other!! ohhh you are both so full of love and have dedicated yourselves to self sacrifice for the ones you love… trusting some mysterious divine power to take only from you for the sake of those you care about… I hope the blind optimism that it will make things all better doesn’t distort you into something others fear!! I hope your loved ones can still recognize you after you’ve saved them!!!

[nanabansama]

Tsukasa & Kanji

Within the manga, Tsukasa and Amane are depicted using less kanji in their speech when they are toddlers. This is an easy way to express the characters' comparative immaturity, particularly in contrast to their older selves, while still maintaining similar manners of speech.

But there are multiple versions of these young Yugis, right? According to Amane, there's not only him and his younger brother, but also the thing now wearing his brother's skin:

So... yeah. Basically, I wanted to examine Tsukasa's speech patterns in hopes of learning more about him. :)

Our first introduction to little Tsukasa is way back in Chapter 75. In this chapter, he actually uses zero kanji! Which is significant, because if you recall he has a lot of dialogue here.

This use of kanjiless speech continues into Chapter 76 where it abruptly changes. Mind you, Tsukasa speaks quite a bit during this time! There is plenty of opportunity to use kanji, especially simple kanji that a child like him would know. Yet, he only starts using kanji after... ... ...

BOO! Creepy baby jumpscare!

This switch-up is kind of awesome to me. Perhaps I'm reading into it a bit, but I think this was a bit of intentional deception on Tsukasa's part. This happens only after the house has already kidnapped Nene, and when Kou and him are alone. If nothing else, it certainly helps drill in the fact that there's more to this kid than meets the eye, and perhaps he knows more than he lets on... (it's hard to ignore his completely black eyes, too. This is the first time his eyes go black like this as well!!!)

For a bit of proof that he uses kanji he must have known when he wasn't before, here are screenshots from before and after Nene was taken:

If you squint, you can see how the kana Tsukasa is speaking in the first image is similar to the text in the bubble on the far left in the third image... おこら and 怒ら! He knows that kanji, yet he didn't use it. That's just... strange, isn't it?! I think it's exactly that feeling of unease, that something isn't right, that AidaIro wanted to convey here.

Anyway, after this he uses kanji regularly enough (for a kid anyway) that I don't feel much need to elaborate. But I do want to make a quick note that he doesn't use kanji for his personal pronoun, "ore", unlike his more grown-up versions. Despite starting to use kanji when he talks, he still says "ore" in hiragana. (Note: baby Amane also uses "ore" like this. Cute!)

Interestingly, in Chapter 78, where we see a flashback to their 4th birthday, Tsukasa only uses kana. But upon further investigation, this is contradicted in 81 when it shows Tsukasa liberally used kanji in his speech before their 4th birthday. The important thing to take away from this is that the earliest iteration of Tsukasa we've seen uses kanji in much the same way that the Tsukasa we see in the Red House does.

But because he is so young, he doesn't use kanji as much as older characters do. Which makes it all the more surprising when he uses kanji that's rather... grim.

Here, he uses 殺 as in "kill" when Kou tells Tsukasa that Amane murders him. Um... wow! It almost seems to imply that Tsukasa has a deep understanding of what killing is. He isn't just a kid echoing back what Kou says in confusion - he knows exactly what Kou is talking about. Just... wow.

Anywho, remember how I mentioned that Tsukasa's earliest iteration used kanji? Well... You know who DOESN'T use kanji?! You know who doesn't use kanji and is really, REALLY interesting?!

THE PIT BASTARD ITSELF.

You might remember this so-called god mimicked Tsukasa's speech in 81 and spoke backwards at times.

You might also remember that Tsukasa-kun speaks backwards in Chapters 115-116. I can confirm that he speaks without kanji in these chapters:

And when the pit bastard possesses Kou, he also only uses kana (and speaks backwards):

Now, if you're like me, you might be asking... what about Yugi-sensei? You know, the one that does all that Pit Bastard's dirty work?

.. Yeeep, that's kanji all right! Given the stark contrast between Sensei and Pit God's speech in these chapters, it really drives home the fact that Sensei is still Amane, at least partially.

And notably, when Tsukasa returns home at the tender age of 4, he is shown using kanji:

Hmm... 🤔

However, I just realized that the Pit God uses kanji in its first appearance! In chapter 78, it uses the kanji forms of 対価 (equivalent value), 代償 (price), and 贄(sacrifice). Like Tsukasa knowing 殺, I think it's very interesting that these are the only kanji the Pit God has used so far.

Another thing that's interesting is that its speech is a lot more perfected now. It's almost talking like a normal human! That said... there is a tiny imperfection. You see, it originally was flipping the characters backwards, as if it didn't know what to do with them. But here, the writing characters are simply lopsided at points, and rarely at that. Despite mastering certain complex kanji, the Pit God hasn't fully mastered kana, it seems.

...It does make you wonder if the Pit God existed before the kana writing system was invented, haha. But maybe I'm reading into it a little. Either way, its use of Japanese is still pretty unusual in comparison to other characters. I presume this could've been remediated through spending time with Tsukasa in the Red House, before all that progress was undone in the new timeline? But now it's back to flipping the characters around at random... ohhh well.

Anyway, I hope that was interesting to those of you that made it this far! I have much respect for AidaIro as writers and I personally find it fascinating how minor bits of storytelling can get so easily lost in translation. Hopefully I managed to share some of that lost magic with you! Take care.

[nanabansama]

Hey! Sorry if this has already been discussed (if it has, my bad for repeating), but I was wondering—why do you think Tsukasa kissed Yashiro in chapter 105?

Do you think he actually has feelings for her? I’ve seen some people say that might be the reason.

Or was it just to see how Hanako would react? Maybe even to purposely provoke him by “stealing” Yashiro and making her his assistant?

Or do you have a deeper interpretation of that scene? If so, I’d love to hear it! 😁

I have discussed this before actually! Here's a long post with my musings about what I will dub "#Tsunene(?)" for convenience: link.

Anyway, long story short I don't have any confident feelings either which way. I wouldn't really be too surprised if Tsukasa has a crush on her, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he didn't...

That said, I do lean closer to him not having one! Or, rather, the one he would have is more unconventional and nonserious...? I don't know. But you can clearly see a difference between how Hanako acts around her and how Tsukasa does, hehe. He's certainly not a lover boy like his brother. He has greater priorities than a potential crush on Nene.

And to touch upon the Ch. 105 kiss for a second, I personally like the idea that he did it to copy Hanako! I recently posted about how Tsukasa tends to show up after Hanako kisses Nene, and it seems like he knows Hanako kissed her and has maybe even seen it happen once or twice. Not really a big deal since it's clear Hanako has goo-goo eyes for her anyway, but it's food for thought. :p

[nanabansama]

Amane's Death Date

So I recently made a post about character birthdays (see here) in which I mentioned that we know Mitsuba's death month, but soon after making it, I realized we kind of had the same (if not a closer) approximation for Amane and Tsukasa's date of death...?

This might not come as a very shocking post to some of you, and a lot of it is ultimately speculation, but I think I have some interesting evidence to back up what I'm saying!

So let's lay out some facts first:

Amane was last seen alive on July 22, 1969

Amane died in his summer uniform

Summer holiday at Kamome Academy starts after July 22

July 22 should be very close to the beginning of summer vacation, which is a very helpful time frame for us. And luckily, on July 22, we can see Amane's class schedule:

I go into more detail in another post on my blog (link), but we can actually use this class schedule to potentially tell us the start date for Amane's summer vacation. You'll notice that one of the day of the week columns is empty: Saturday.

While it's possible that Kamome simply has no classes on that day, or that students have other activities on that day unrelated to their main classroom, the presence of it on the class schedule itself seems to imply that they have a reason to go to school on Saturday, and that they simply have nothing scheduled that week.

Ergo... what if that's the start of their summer vacation?

Since July 22 is a Tuesday, that would mean Saturday is July 26. And if summer vacation started, then why would Amane need to wear his summer uniform anymore?

What I'm saying here is... what if Amane killed himself between the dates July 22-25, just before summer vacation started?

Now I realize my logic is a little flawed here; students continue wearing their summer uniforms after summer vacation until the weather cools and they switch to winter uniforms, and just because there are no classes marked on the class schedule for Saturday doesn't guarantee that summer vacation started that day.

This is also a minor background detail and it's totally possible that they didn't put much thought into it at all.

...Still, I have trouble imagining Amane waiting to kill himself much longer after giving away his most treasured possession, the moon rock, and he definitely killed himself in 1969 before he switched to his winter uniform at school. That would mean he killed himself anywhere between July 22 up to early autumn.

Ultimately, you can come to your own conclusions, but I personally like the idea that Amane giving Tsuchigomori the moon rock was one of the last memories he had of him alive, so him dying around that time feels appropriate to me.

Anyway, time to get more into speculatory territory...

Since I'm limiting the options to 22, 23, 24, and 25, we have a tantalizingly low selection. There's really no way to narrow it down, though, what with the limited information that we have... So I'll start by describing why each day could work, then declare my personal winner.

First, July 22. This day is pretty appealing as a choice because we see Amane on this day, and he's already acting very suicidal. However, I feel like that makes it a bad choice too... we already had a major event happen on the 22nd. I can't deny that it would be a fateful last meeting for him and Tsuchigomori, though.

July 23 is next, and I can't say I love this day... I do like how it's the day after July 22, so that giving away the moon rock isn't the same day that he killed himself, but otherwise it doesn't stand out too much. The most I can say is that 23 sounds like "ni san" which sounds like older brother in Japanese, and Amane is an older brother. Yeah, that's about it... *sigh*

July 24 is a better one. For this, I'm getting out my auspicious calendar:

As you can see, July 24 is 仏滅 which is the day of worst luck. You might remember this being the same type of day that Tsukasa sacrificed himself. Now, I know I have a bit of a tendency to over rely on the auspicious calendar... but 24 also just sounds like a good death day, you know? 2 twins die, 4 dead in all, 4 is a spooky death number in Japan, etc...

Anyway, July 25 is also a good day. According to my speculations, this would be the last day before summer vacation starts, and would mark both the end of that school trimester and the end of their lives. In addition, the 25th of November was both the day that they were born and the day that Tsukasa sacrificed himself. Also, 25 is goroawase for twins in Japanese.

So in the end, I'm a little torn... even the day I'm not all that jazzed about, July 23, makes some sense to me. I guess for now I'll lean towards July 24, partly because that's the date the Apollo 11 astronauts got back from the moon... but honestly, it's a toss up between all of them.

Considering we don't know the time of day it happened, it's possible that the twins died on different days... and that's not even getting into their parents. There's no guarantee that they even died on the same day that their sons did, only that all four bodies were eventually found in the house, and that it was ruled a family suicide...

Additionally, since this illustration of Amane stabbing Tsukasa has stars in the bg, I wonder if it happened at night time...? Not that it really matters... but if it was after school and Amane stayed late, it stands to reason that the murder could have happened at night. That does lend a bit of credit to it being July 22 as well: Amane definitely stayed late that day.

You might have also noticed a discrepancy between the first image in this post, where Amane is shown poised to stab himself, and the colored one above here where he's hunched over with the bloody knife. Well it might not mean anything, but in the more recent one, the first image, Amane has no visible wounds. It makes you wonder if that's an error, or if his wounds healed before he killed himself. This opens a few possibilities, either that AidaIro changed their minds about Amane having wounds when he died, or that Amane waited a few days after killing Tsukasa before killing himself. Both are interesting ideas, but for now, I'm not going to do anything with them.

Anyway, I hope this post was somewhat informative or at least entertaining. I wouldn't be surprised if I wasn't the first person to talk about this detail, though. Thanks for reading!

[nanabansama]