Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun - A Little Mermaid Story
Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun - A Little Mermaid Story
Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun, or Jibaku Shōnen Hanako-kun, is a story based in rich legends, mythology, and fairy tales from both Japanese and European culture. For example, many readers and new viewers have compared it to “Alice in Wonderland”. However, what drew me into this series was its way of alluding to the Hans Christian Anderson story,“The Little Mermaid”, which permeates the narrative. This is not a spoiler-free look at Hanako-kun, so if you are concerned this will ruin your experience, please return to it later or read the manga to understand.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, at its core, is about the Japanese urban legend of Hanako-san, a little girl with a bobbed haircut and red dress who is said to haunt restrooms. (An excellent summary can be found here.) However, Hanako-san in this case is a middle school aged boy who is linked to the “Seven Mysteries” of the school. He is the seventh and most highly regarded. Yashiro Nene is a self conscious, hopeless romantic in her first year of high school who stumbles upon Hanako.
The story begins similar to the myth with her asking if he’s here.
Yashiro has fallen in love with a boy one year her senior, Minamoto Teru, who she hopes will return her affections. As it goes with stories of this nature, he is referred to as a prince.
Hanako offers to have her wish come true, only to show her a book on how to find love. In an attempt to grant her wish, he asks if she has any “special abilities”, one of which is revealed to be gardening. Yashiro began this hobby to appeal to a boy she liked, however her affections were not (well) received. She is mocked throughout the series for having “radish legs” with her ankles being slightly bigger than average, which links back to her long term gardening activities. Hanako helps her in her various attempts to win her crush’s’ heart but they all fail.
With these constant shortcomings, Yashiro begs Hanako to help her with any other magic items he has. She gets ahold of a pair of mermaid scales which will curse her and whoever else eats the other. Upon seeing Minamoto-Senpai being confessed to, he denies said girl’s feelings and says he had someone he likes, she slowly transforms into a fish. To grant her wish, Hanako will turn her back into a human but she will have to live with this curse. He eats the other scale to seal their fate together. This begins their story.
Comparisons to “The Little Mermaid”
While most everyone has seen the Disney film “The Little Mermaid” it is not necessarily true to the original story. Contrary to many critics, I find the adaptation unique. It also honors its origins with an enormous amount of detail and care for the Hans Christian Anderson tale. It is important to understand the origins of this story before making assumptions about it.
To summarize, the story explores a subversion to the mermaid myth. The Little Mermaid is not fascinated by material things or luring sailors to their death. Her life is built on her relationships, such as with her Grandmother and older sisters. She is seen as the ‘prettiest’ of the Sea King’s daughters and supposedly has the most beautiful voice as well. She does not seem to find joy in these aspects of herself though. She is eager to fall in love and unfortunately when she does, the prince already has his eyes set on another princess, whom he believes saved his life. She gives up her voice, having her tongue cut out by the sea witch, to join him.
Every step is agony, as it feels like needles are piercing her. She cannot speak and has nothing. The Prince takes her in and their friendship is based on mutual respect and care, but it can only go so far. For her to remain human, he must love her more than anything in the world and marry her. However not doing so will cost her death itself as she won’t have a human soul and will become sea foam. When the Prince is reunited with the other princess they are to be wed immediately. On their wedding night, The Little Mermaid is offered a dagger from her sisters who gave their hair to receive such a weapon from the sea witch. If she stabs the prince in his heart and rubs his blood on her legs, she will return to the mermaid world. When the time comes, she can’t bring herself to kill him and jumps into the water as dawn breaks. Instead of passing, she is brought to the Daughters of the Air who can’t reach heaven for 300 years or until every child behaves nicely for their parents. This concludes her life as far as we, the readers, know it. If you are interested in reading the story, this is the version I am using for my analysis.
There are various plot elements that mirror the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale and I may not even catch them all, but I have broken down the essentials.
The Little Mermaid and Yashiro Nene
- Unrequited love
“The ship itself was so brightly illuminated that all the people, and even the smallest rope, could be distinctly and plainly seen. And how handsome the young prince looked, as he pressed the hands of all present and smiled at them, while the music resounded through the clear night air. It was very late; yet the little mermaid could not take her eyes from the ship, or from the beautiful prince.”
“As the days passed, she loved the prince more fondly, and he loved her as he would love a little child, but it never came into his head to make her his wife; yet, unless he married her, she could not receive an immortal soul; and, on the morning after his marriage with another, she would dissolve into the foam of the sea.”
Yashiro is known for her wish to date a handsome older man. While I won’t call Yashiro a “typical teenage girl,” she certainly fits the stereotype of a hopeless romantic young woman. Much of her family life is unknown so to find that sense of security she must seek it out during her time at school. She has dealt with unrequited love before, only months before Hanako-Kun begins. I can’t necessarily say the same for the mermaid, but she certainly romanticizes the human world through stories she hears as a child; so when the time comes for her to visit the surface, she is easily swayed by the handsome prince before her. This serves as the driving force through the remainder of her story. Yashiro is seeking the love of Minamoto-senpai, beginning in the first chapter. Hanako-kun aids her in his attempts to grant her wish, but this fails multiple times. Gradually over the course of the series, these feelings shift to Hanako-kun instead. However this brings a different set of issues, as he is simply a ghost bound to a girl’s bathroom. Regardless, Yashiro is unable to find and keep the love she so desires.
- Insecure in her appearance
“I would give gladly all the hundreds of years that I have to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars.”
While the mermaid is often praised for her appearance, she has little regard for it. She seems to enjoy experiences and connections rather than the pain of beauty. (An experience she has with her Grandmother in preparation for seeing the prince) Yashiro Nene is teased for her large ankles and flat chest and wishes to be more appealing to handsome men. She wants to appear more ‘womanly.’ While this isn’t as large of a comparison, it is good to note both girls wish to change how they look but only in small ways. The mermaid is less focused on beauty than Yashiro is to an extent, but her focus is on helping Hanako and Kou. Both are overly conscious of their legs or lack thereof. It is a bit self explanatory, but legs are how humans move so to lack that mobility or the mobility in the way you want can be detrimental in one’s life.
- Gardening
“Each of the young princesses had a little plot of ground in the garden, where she might dig and plant as she pleased…but that of the youngest was round like the sun, and contained flowers as red as his rays at sunset. She was a strange child, quiet and thoughtful; and while her sisters would be delighted with the wonderful things which they obtained from the wrecks of vessels, she cared for nothing but her pretty red flowers, like the sun, excepting a beautiful marble statue. It was the representation of a handsome boy, carved out of pure white stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck. She planted by the statue a rose-colored weeping willow. It grew splendidly, and very soon hung its fresh branches over the statue, almost down to the blue sands. The shadow had a violet tint, and waved to and fro like the branches; it seemed as if the crown of the tree and the root were at play, and trying to kiss each other.”
An aspect often lost in “The Little Mermaid” is the plot of land given to the princesses to do with as they please. How fitting to have Yashiro begin gardening with her own rose colored glasses. Gardening plays a pivotal role in Hanako-Kun as our protagonist never stops even if she is rejected for picking up such a hobby. Another school rumor is that of the faeries causing chaos, a tree that supposedly guarantees a relationship if you are confessed to under it and disembodied hands that pop up everywhere; including in the gardens. Both girls are known for being skilled in their gardening, but with ‘odd’ interests to their peers. The Little Mermaid places bright red flowers in the shape of the sun, a willow tree and a statue of a human boy in her garden. Yashiro is excellent with crops, which don’t serve her well in romantic endeavors.
- Adaptability to love interest
“The prince said she should remain with him always, and she received permission to sleep at his door, on a velvet cushion. He had a page’s dress made for her, that she might accompany him on horseback. They rode together through the sweet-scented woods, where the green boughs touched their shoulders, and the little birds sang among the fresh leaves. She climbed with the prince to the tops of high mountains; and although her tender feet bled so that even her steps were marked, she only laughed, and followed him till they could see the clouds beneath them looking like a flock of birds travelling to distant lands.”
The mermaid does not leave the Prince’s side so an argument can be made here that he genuinely enjoyed her company, even while not understanding her feelings. However she pays no mind to what she actually wants to do during her time with him. She simply roams his kingdom with all sorts of activities. I don’t enjoy the argument that she “changed for a man” since she had a very clear interest since a very young age. However when the time comes for her to experience it, she just tags along as the prince shows her what he likes.
Yashiro is similar, but in a sense we can understand in the context of a classroom. As stated before, she begins to garden as a way to appeal to the one she loves. He seemed to like feminine girls, and thus began Yashiro on a journey to seem more dainty. For Minamoto-Senpai, she and Hanako try and fail through many attempts to receive his love. All fails when she consumes mermaid scales, as she desperately tries to connect herself to him. Being bound to Hanako is not so bad, as she begins to develop feelings for him and eagerly wants to know more about him. Since he consumed the other scale, he is now bound to her the way he is to the restroom. She earns her keep by cleaning for him daily.
 |
| Yashiro's crush before Hanako-Kun began. |
 |
| The pursuit of Minamoto-Senpai |
 |
| Yashiro's time spent with Hanako-kun, after the contract was sealed. |
- Cursed - bound to a contract under conditions
“But think again,” said the witch; “for when once your shape has become like a human being, you can no more be a mermaid. You will never return through the water to your sisters, or to your father’s palace again; and if you do not win the love of the prince, so that he is willing to forget his father and mother for your sake, and to love you with his whole soul, and allow the priest to join your hands that you may be man and wife, then you will never have an immortal soul. The first morning after he marries another your heart will break, and you will become foam on the crest of the waves.”
Yashiro’s destiny follows a similar curse. It varies, but if she does not abide she is at risk for turning back into a fish. It is later revealed in the story that she will die within the next year. She has no control over such things. Hanako and Kou, Teru’s younger brother, work diligently to save her. Hanako has consumed the other mermaid scale, forcing their bond in a curse. He requests her ‘body’ as payment. Thankfully his only use for her is mostly to clean the bathrooms, but he still holds this power over her. He has taken the role of both Prince and Sea Witch in some ways. The Little Mermaid must make the Prince love her or she loses everything. She will lose her family, her friendships and even her life as she does not have a soul. Later in Hanako-kun, Yashiro is shown in an ‘ideal world’ where he lives and she is able to live beyond the next year. By leaving this world, she loses the chance to live longer. Like the mermaid, she must accept that she cannot break the curse or escape her fate.
- Shortened Lifespan
“If human beings are not drowned,” asked the little mermaid, “can they live forever? do they never die as we do here in the sea?”
“Yes,” replied the old lady, “they must also die, and their term of life is even shorter than ours. We sometimes live to three hundred years, but when we cease to exist here we only become the foam on the surface of the water, and we have not even a grave down here of those we love. We have not immortal souls, we shall never live again; but, like the green sea-weed, when once it has been cut off, we can never flourish more. Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, lives after the body has been turned to dust. It rises up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. As we rise out of the water, and behold all the land of the earth, so do they rise to unknown and glorious regions which we shall never see.”
It is revealed around chapter 27 that Yashiro will die within the next year. She refuses to live in the false reality where everything seems perfect. By giving that up, she gives up the chance to live longer. The mermaid is told that by giving up her mermaid tail for legs, she will die and turn into sea foam if she does not have the prince love her enough to marry her. It is implied since the Prince is found on shore by the other princess that he has only ever had feelings for her. Both girls are destined to end their lives before they ever begin. The Little Mermaid is last recorded to be fifteen and Yashiro is roughly the same age. Neither have much time left.
- Must kill the one she loves
“We have given our hair to the witch,” said they, “to obtain help for you, that you may not die to-night. She has given us a knife: here it is, see it is very sharp. Before the sun rises you must plunge it into the heart of the prince; when the warm blood falls upon your feet they will grow together again, and form into a fish’s tail, and you will be once more a mermaid, and return to us to live out your three hundred years before you die and change into the salt sea foam. Haste, then; he or you must die before sunrise. Our old grandmother moans so for you, that her white hair is falling off from sorrow, as ours fell under the witch’s scissors. Kill the prince and come back; hasten: do you not see the first red streaks in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise, and you must die.” And then they sighed deeply and mournfully, and sank down beneath the waves.”
In order to escape the fake world where Hanako is real and not a ghost, she is told by its creator that she must kill him and then they may go back. She is given a dagger by the artist, much like the mermaid is given her own weapon for a betrayal, to commit the crime. However, Yashiro cannot bring herself to do such a thing. She spends much of the arc looking for alternatives. Luckily a door is found and the Hanako of that world is the same Hanako she was so set on not harming. It is once this happens that they are finally able to discuss their current situation more.
In the arc literally called “The Little Mermaid,” she is told to give up her human life and become a princess in the land of the mermaids. Yashiro, wanting to live her life to the fullest, refuses and is saved by Hanako. Instead of killing the person of her affections to continue that life or numbing herself to that reality, she constantly chooses to live as authentically as possible. It is painful and devastating, but she would rather be honest than manipulated by the mysteries around her.
 |
| Yashiro told to kill Hanako-Kun in chapter 45. |
 |
| Yashiro tempted in an arc called "The Little Mermaid," in chapter 16. |
- Connection to the Supernatural
This is not quite the same association as prior points, but I felt it was still necessary to include. Yashiro’s involvement with Hanako-Kun leads to her meeting various beings that are clearly not of the human world. By sealing her fate with him, she is able to interact more directly with the mysteries of the school. She is friends with exorcists, supernaturals and those that spread rumors about them. Yashiro is often told about rumors and the mysteries of the school by her friend, Aoi. Unlike other students, she will investigate these to the point of endangering herself sometimes. I have always found “The Little Mermaid” to be a bit spooky itself. There are a few similar instances brought up in that world as well.
- Daughters of the air
“Among the daughters of the air,” answered one of them. “A mermaid has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hangs her eternal destiny. But the daughters of the air, although they do not possess an immortal soul, can, by their good deeds, procure one for themselves.”
Those that don’t quite have an immortal soul, but are still pure of heart can still reach heaven through this form of angelic being. They are never hinted at until the mermaid has, seemingly, passed away. She is bound to them until they have seen enough good deeds to go to heaven.
- Human Soul
As previously mentioned, the mermaid has no immortal soul and the drive to be with a human has two purposes. It is to feel loved and to belong, but also to achieve security through her spiritual life. Death is always at the forefront of her mind as she does not wish to become sea foam when she passes. Like Yashiro, she is close to her end since the beginning of the story.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun is a riveting tale of mythology, fairy tale, mystery, urban legend and the supernatural. There is an enormous amount of detail in every chapter. It is a truly incredible story, with so much to see every time you read it or watch it. There are many aspects I am unable to even fit into this analysis. I am excited for the anime going forward and seeing what our little radish mermaid will face in her spooky school. The manga is available to read and can be found on amazon or local libraries. The anime is airing now on Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu.
(Many thanks to Kate for introducing me to the series, as well as editing along the way!)
Sources:
Comments
Post a Comment