#i still can't believe one of the first things Hanako does as a girl when he sees Kou is to try to seduce him

[mari-lair]

I miss Kou and Hanako so here are some hanakou crumbs.

The way they are always playing games when Kou arrive in the bathroom before Nene:

Hanako showing up when Kou yelled his name.

Kou sensing when Hanako is not okay and making sure to check on him:

Kou holding his hand on a sad and a happy moment (feat nene):

The play fight they have as background in the clock keeper arc:

Hanako not knowing what ‘personal space’ means:

Hanako jumping into Kou’s arms when he becames a girl, all blushy, and trying to seduce him :

[2n2n]

Hanako said before that a Kannagi’s soul is irresistible to a supernatural… and my first thought reading that was: does that mean Hanako also has a desire to consume Nene? Could Sumire and no.6’s fate be foreshadowing what could happen to HanaNene?

I’m sure the actual ending won’t involve Nene being consumed, Hanako loves her too much for that. But still, I’m wondering if you think he does have the desire?

Yes, I think the Far Shore arc is underlining in red ink, the reality of being a kannagi, which Hanako has been very avoidant of going into the specifics of! Yes, 100% I believe Hanako feels the same urges towards Nene-chan, as those kaii on the bus feel towards Aoi! I think Hanako is speaking from reality.

I think Amane... Hanako ... the person who is and was all of those names, is very, very repressed. I think he has always been, and is always, in life and in death, "holding something back". There are things in Amane he doesn't let out. He lies a lot. Something came out, in the shinjuu. Tsukasa knows something about Amane which no one else knows.

For fun let's think about....

When Hanako first made Nene-chan his kannagi, and knew she was due to die in a year's time, I wonder what the plan was, for her body, her soul? As his kannagi, as someone bound, is it 'his'? Would Hanako expect to get to consume Nene-chan once she crossed into the Far Shore? He says life and death "make no difference" to him... but I wonder what he expected, out of usurping this tragic girl's soul into his conscripted service. Maybe more than indifference, he actually had something to look forward to, at her death? Of course, he can't say something like that aloud ... so we don't get to know yet.

I don't think the manga would 'end' with something like that, since it would be repetitive to simply repeat history (and I think we have something to say about hope, love, wishes, new beginnings, new possibilities, rewriting the rules and imagining a reality better than what is around us or what has happened to us); and he did already 'choose' such an ending for himself + Tsukasa. He's clearly trying very hard to avoid falling into old habits with Nene-chan! Tsukasa is also clearly testing Amane, on what he wants, this time.

However, I will take issue with you saying, "he loves her too much for that". my opinion: That is the wrong way of thinking, and it's not true, said this way. We can consume people because we love them very, very, very very very very much, in this manga. Hakubo's love for Sumire is real, and beautiful, and she accepts the form his love takes-- consumption, taking her into him. I do not think Hanako loves Nene-chan more than Hakubo loved Sumire; they both are painfully in love. You are meant to find their love beautiful. I think Amane loved Tsukasa, and I think he consumed some of him (I know that will sound out of left field, but for now, try to bare with me).

I think resisting consuming someone has more to do with metaphor, symbolism, for feeling your love is destructive, dangerous, bad for someone, doomful, destroying their future, selfish & indulgent of you (as someone self-hating, as someone who feels they cannot/should not be trusted with someone's heart, or as someone with no promising future). Desire to take over someone's future, to pull them into you, possessively, needily, destructively is a deeply romantic concept; poetry is riddled with it. Humans love to express their emotions in such theatrics, it is why we invent mythos suchas the werewolf & vampire and subsequently obsessively sexualize it, take it into a representation of things like predatory or primal urges, a 'dangerous' but 'passionate' lover who 'can't hold back any longer' (basic normie harlequin romance stuff, you know?).

Amane hiding from Nene-chan the desire to consume her, holding himself back from consuming her, is part of the overall story about Amane as someone who won't ever tell you what he really wants, who won't say 'I love you", who won't ask you out; who is trying to run away from having to tell you anything too personal about himself, again and again and again. What is Amane so afraid of Nene-chan finding out?

Love MAKES Amane do CRAZY, terrible things! We all watch this. Amane doesn't "love Nene-chan too much" to NOT DO CRAZY THINGS, he LOVES HER ENOUGH TO DO ALL SORTS OF CRAZY THINGS! Trap her, kill people!!!

[coughs] anyway, don't fear the concept of consumption, and also, do not reject it. That's what I say! It is a beautiful act. Also, it's simply sexy, salacious, riddled with metaphoric meaning, a staple placeholder for sexual urges, etc etc. Every time someone wants to eat someone else, a little bit ask yourself "could this be a metaphor in some way?"

I think the reality of Hanako is, is pretty blunt, when in AUs, Hanako can just Be a Vampire That Kills Nene-chan And Killed Tsukasa..! FOR TO DRINK AND DRINK!

(He kills her in her night-gown, in bed, just like he killed Tsukasa in his nightgown, clutching his pillow and blanket as a ghost forevermore... in this AU. what does it mean....)

In the Bakeneko Ryokan, he is explicitly a creature (a Nekomata) which consumes humans, and he killed Tsukasa. In that AU, I do not see any reality Amane didn't love Tsukasa-- his beloved caretaker, who he rescued from a fire and swept away into the woods-- more likely, Amane's love, and all of his urges, simply came to a head, and... he couldn't take it, and he made Tsukasa eternally His.

Amane is ... he is just often a creature which Consumes. He holds back, he won't say anything, he hides, he jokes, and then, he bursts. This is his sex appeal.

This is part of his amazing romantic nature, which is passionate and intense.... !

Oh yeah, also, it goes both ways, actually ... in a way. Kaii are also apparently incredibly delicious to humans. I don't think it's in the same sort of 'present urge' that Mitsuba, Hanako, or the kaii on the train feel, but it is a fact of reality, that if for some reason, you indulge, you will find it amazingly wonderfully delicious. Unlike something like a vampire, consumption historically happens in all directions.... not a one-way street.

for whatever reason, in the Ryokan AU, both Amane AND Nene-chan desperately want human flesh, and Tsukasa is a human secretly ? what could it mean ? Much to think about. If one thing's for sure, every other AU will give us ways to dwell on why and when someone eats someone else.

[wearepurplejackets]

Crazy theory of this week (cause again, I really need to sleep!)! #JSHK

I don't know exactly why and I assume this information because Teru seems a character that know some relevant sh*t in the story. (He also hates Hanako to a point of no return so... Not maybe the most reliable opinion BUT!)

Anyway, chapter 70 gives two interesting povs. Teru's and Hanako's.

Teru explained to Akane what was going on inside the school under his own conclusions.

Nº6 did all of this, "kidnap a maiden" thing because he wanted to keep protecting this land (Aka the school, that was built on it.)

The Supernaturals of the school threaten alive ones so they keep existing and with that, they protect the school. But they... are losing the power to do that. ("The knife has been very subtle" eh Teru.)

Why exactly? Because this motherf*cker was in love with the girl that was planned to be sacrificed in the first place:

By advising Akane, Teru implies there is going to be a confrontation in the future. "Be careful because Hanako-kun is an evil spirit and in the future I'm going to need you to defeat him." Now we are in chapter 79, we know Teru has a dream. And to make it true he needs Aoi-chan too. In this chapter, he even gave a protection charm to Aoi-chan. Because he knows what's going to happen next and he knows what's going on. He knows this was all planned by Hanako-kun (And he is right. Mostly.) When he reach for Akane-kun in that place, and see Aoi-chan with him, he realizes there is nothing he can do in that moment. And for sure, that he is coming back for her. She is necessary for his own move, and Teru is about to do something pretty soon.... So, we will know sooner or later. We know the Minamoto were part of the village that sacrificed girls just to be safe of the Evil (Which I think is the sh*t that "lives" in the cursed red house. And also in the Fake Tsukasa Yugi we all have seen in the school messing around and not Hanako as Teru believes, the only thing he doesn't know. We can assume that Hanako as a ghost took all responsibility for Fake Tsukasa's crimes...), Teru explained everything in this chapter, he even changed the way he was speaking in order to doesn't sound rough.

(Akane-kun is so relatable here...) Teru knows about Hanako's setup, but not about Tsukasa at all I think. And we have seen Tsukasa (the fake one) just causing chaos. But Hanako, well he is more elaborated. So I guess he thought the evil spirit was just Hanako by himself, when in realise Hanako just wanted Yashiro to live longer. It's like when Tsuchigomori saw him smiling with Kou and Yashiro and told him: "Didn't expect you to want friends at this point." Because Hanako was always a lonely spirit that God put into the school to "atone" his crimes (which I believe are: none.) Another day I'll write some theory about why Hanako is going to come alive, again, because maybe he is not as dead as we think... wait for it!

There are still a lot of questions. Why was Yashiro to be sacrificed in the first place? Why is she a kannagi? (Cause if she is a kannagi cause again, she is going to die soon as all the characters had said, well that's a f*cking paradox.) And what is Teru planning? This way the school is safe and as an exorcist he doesn't have to worry anymore, so why? Hanako did his job. They will lose their jobs as exorcists? Even if the school is sealed more supernaturals will appear in the city and now without the 7 mysteries they have lost a great ally to beat them... Or he needs Aoi-chan to fight this evil spirit who he thinks... is Hanako(?) We might think for sure the school can be attacked now the 7 mysteries are gone... (I also believe the death of his mother is relevant to his interests now...) We will see.

That was Teru's point of course. But that's not all.

This is when everything starts to falling apart. Because, before Hanako appeared in front of Yashiro, she was destined anyway to die young. Okay, right? But how? He wanted to protect her, so he messed up with all the school mysteries ("he was the traitor all the time" the one who weakened them) and they lost their powers to protect the school of... other things. (The night Aoi-chan was kidnapped by Nº6, the supernaturals were all over the place.) I mean, he doing all of this is the reason Nº6 came out of his hole to kidnap some random girl and ending all just fine and the 7 mysteries dissapeared for good... But is not that easy.

What have we been learning so far? Yes, Tsukasa, Natsuhiko and Nanamine started everything with Nº2. Tsukasa's wishes make everything dangerous. But it was Hanako the one who, with the idea of ending these dangerous scenarios, also weakened all the 7 mysteries in the future. He was even judged for it in chapter 61, night of the kidnapping. So: it was to get dangerous anyway? If he just had let the mysteries go wild like they were in the past of the story Yashiro might died even sooner because Nº6 was going to appear in any case? He was going to appear the night of the sacrifice and take Yashiro you like it or not? Yes, but... for this scenario to occur we need: chaos. Because without it, there is no need of protecting anything. (Yashiro's remaining life and Tsukasa's decisions are so related that it actually hurts...)

So my conclusion is... (Hanako needs to take a break.) I think at first Hanako thought that maybe keeping the school without strange incidents was the best way to keep Yashiro alive, Nº6 shouldn't show up to protect the school that night, and everything would be fine... YES, but this is when Tsukasa (the fake one/real evil spirit) comes out on stage. And Hanako/Amane undestands everything is bigger than he believed. Even if he fix a mystery with Yashiro, another will get out of control. There is no stop. He couldn't do anything. If he didn't protect the school, Yashiro dies. And if they keep destroying the yorishiros, the mysteries then lose their powers and can't protect the school either way, so Yashiro dies. (Yashiro dies in every possible line because of that chaos. Because Nanamine's wish and Tsukasa's existence.) There was no escape, he even tried to wish for a fake world (thanks Number 4) where Yashiro could live happily. But that didn't end really well... So the only final way to help Yashiro was... sacrificing another human (which is also... something like what happens when you make a wish in the red house... right).

What Hanako commits is not really different from what Tsukasa does, even if his reasons are compelling... And the same happened in the moment he presumably killed his brother. How much power has the Red house over Hanako? How much of him is himself and how much of his soul is changed cause the evil spirit of the red house? And in the end, Teru said the 7 mysteries threaten but they also protect. That implies Hanako is the one who weakened all of them (having the role of the leader too) and he seems like the bad guy or the traitor, when he just did all of it to protect Yashiro (and the other kids for sure!), so he is just doing what he thinks is correct. He didn't help other mysteries go berserker in the first place but at the same time he let Aoi dies for his own desires. "If she is not Yashiro, then is fine. She wanted to die..."

I also believe Teru and Hanako are destined to fight again, that Nº1 should choose in which side to support. That something bigger is coming, with the supernaturals, the Red house, the Minamotos. And they will have to leave their differences behind to defeat a real evil. (N°6 is an air head btw.)

It also interesting how Hanako didn't want to destroy Nº1 Yorishiro either because, as Teru said too: It could come in handy. Akane was even in the moment Nº6 took Aoi-chan. He also was there with Yashiro first. He is there to protect even if he will sacrifice his own lifespan. He is important for what's coming next, I don't think the other two mysteries of time chose him because those stupid reasons they said...

[2n2n]

What is your favorite jibaku shounen hanako-kun couple? What is the couple you hate the most? It's because? Who is your favorite character? And the character you hate the most? And also why? (I know this is not a related question and you don't have to answer if you don't want to😅)

Anything can be asked at any time! If I don't feel like answering something, I'll just delete it, afterall.

Favorite couple? YUGI8! or, Amane x Nene x Tsukasa! As a complete love circle! Which means, Amane x Nene-chan Amane x Tsukasa and Tsukasa x Nene-chan!

[a collab doodle with my husband drawing Amane] x more here

everything, every way! mwah mwah mwah

Aren't they all three such little goons ... they're all so playful. Everyone here loves to play a little game, roleplay, tinker with toys ... whatever I imagine with the three, at any ages, it's a complete riot ... I want Amane's hands to be full with his otouto and his girlfriend... I want them to rope Amane into all sorts of nonsense ... and of course, Nene-chan needs someone on her side who understands Amane!!! Amane can't act so difficult and avoidant if Tsukasa is there ;) he knows when you are lying... ! The girls need to help eachother not get bullied too much by Amane, wwww..... and getting to see Tsukasa having a nice time with a girl, could heal Amane's heart, eventually (it'll give him a problem somewhere else, but that's fine)... in some ways I think Amane and Nene-chan could really corner Tsukasa, as much as Nene-chan and Tsukasa could corner Amane, or Tsukasa and Amane could corner Nene-chan... literally, the possibilities are endless!!! And Amane will get to dom everyone, good for him :D!

In my heart, I believe it's possible, and beautiful. I even think we will see it happen, some day…. *stares into the stars* I really do…

I don't really think I super "hate" anything in this manga, I enjoy the overall writing and theming enough that I'm engaged when anyone is on the page… though Kou does frustrate me a lot. I've said it many times but I suppose I shall say it all again:

Kou x Mitsuba is, among what shows up regularly in the canon at least, the least fun or cute for me. I think it's Kou's fault though, for also having a crush on Nene-chan… what a meaningless feeling ... on top of that, he apparently values his normal guy friends a lot ... the fact he really thinks of his meaningless friends at all in the Red House really degrades his emotional landscape to me, too .... when you have characters as isolated/one-track minded as Sumire/Hakubo, Aoi/Akane, Amane/Tsukasa and Amane/Nene, even Teru's feelings towards Kou … that makes the overall set-up much less atmospheric ... Kou really is a normal, directionless idiot...

and then his crush on Nene-chan, that degrades whatever Mitsuba is, because it shows Kou can BE complimentary and blushy in a normal way with someone he likes, why ????? He doesn't throw her around the room or scream at her, like he does Mitsuba!!!! So you see, it makes me feel bad for Mitsuba! It feels like Kou has no idea what he's doing or what he feels, AND he's reactive at the drop of a hat, so he'll scream something as if he believes it or as if it means anything, then he won't do a single useful thing…

on top of it all, it's very devastating that he simply didn't remember Mitsuba … even though other classmates of theirs did. That's such a rough "first meeting" for your OTP …………… compared to everything else, EVEN his OWN BROTHER'S feelings for HIM, it's really not romantic at all … Again, it makes me feel bad for Mitsuba…. WHAT A BAD LOVE STORY YOU'RE MAKING, KOU, IF THAT'S WHAT IT IS--!!!! He really makes it all not beautiful at all… !!! Not a single admirable thing about it!!! Tsukasa is doing everything for Mitsuba, too...

Oh I accidentally answered what character I dislike … it is Kou. He is just so stupid … he yells all the time and he is physically violent at the drop of a hat … he for some reason has had no development in his ambitions and still wants to be an exorcist … he just wants to be strong and cool like his big brother. He is very basic normal masculine boy with insecurity about being seen as weak or useless. Compared to someone with a RICH INNER WORLD like Amane, or someone with real lonliness like Mitsuba, he's really frustrating …. he just has friends and family he loves … he is spoiled … yet he has the nerve to insult Mitsuba and blast him with lightning every 3 seconds … he really is mean and shitty … he has no perspective, so sad people like Teru and Mitsuba are without any reassurance .... I have no idea why he is seen as "good nice wholesome boy", he talks extremely rudely, he acts extremely abrasively… he's such a generic shounen protag boy, yelling empty platitudes that don't mean anything. He never has anything beautiful, poignant, or observant to say … I feel like he has the memory of a goldfish....

Kou is most interesting to me when he is finally simply being full bore deplorable, which I feel is closer to his true nature, anyway ... like in Ghost Hotel, he's terrorizing and chopping up and eating Mitsuba ... I like the aquarium thing, because seeing the assault manifest so full-force felt very 'real', for a Kou emotionally explosive moment. I'd like him stop pretending to be a hero, for real ...

But I guess if you wanted to consider non-canon pairings I truly but actually do hate some haha, like, Hanako x Kou (BARF), Kou x Nene-chan (BARF). It's like ... utter nonsense. Truly drivel. Don't you ever let that nasty gangly thing touch any part of my ship …………………..