Review: JIBAKU SHOUNEN HANAKO-KUN (ANIME) PT 1

IT’S HERE!

In case you missed it, I’ve already talked about Hanako-kun and how much I waited for the anime, which aired yesterday.

Today I’ll be talking about my first impressions, the opening and the expectative I have for this series. Because trust me: despite the ridiculous title, this work is full of promises.

Let me start by saying that I’ve waited for this anime ever since I binge-read the manga, and man, i’m so glad I discovered it late! I couldn’t have waited as much as older people in this fandom did. I just couldn’t. Especially after seeing the anime preview.

I know there’s people who dislike spoilers, so I’ll keep myself at bay the best I can– it’s not as if I plan on retelling it to you, either way. Better go watch it yourself.

Ok, first? I LOVE THE ANIMATION.

Despite the hype the preview awakened in my soul, I had low expectations. Why is that? Because I didn’t like the aesthetic for both Danganronpa and Assassination Classroom, that’s why. Both series have a unique drawing style, like Hanako-kun does– and sometimes unique doesn’t equal to satisfying when it comes down to animation (see Psycho-Pass, elDlive, etc). Personally, I enjoyed both series and I think both were brilliantly done, but there was no harmony between the animation and their style.

I was half-expecting for this to happen with Hanako-kun as well, but… it didn’t.

Rather, the animation compliments the unique style with beautiful and detailed backgrounds, while also incorporating sequences that are downright comic-like. I’m having flasbacks from Into the Spiderverse here because this so well-done.

The opening in itself as piece of cinematic art. It’s catchy, it’s colorful, it’s interesting and probably is the thing that made people realize this anime is not joking around.

If you were somehow still skeptical, the anime soundtrack will seal the deal for you. Kudos to the composer.

And if you’re picky regarding the voice-acting, well… NOT HERE. The VA is also SPOT-ON. Like, dude, even cannon fodder sounds awesome? Wtf. Where’s all this budged coming from? I’m certainly not complaining, I just wanna know.

In itself, all these things together usually mean the plot has derailed, or that the studio pulled a DEAN and butchered the series and redid it as they pleased. But nope. So far, the adaptation is faithful to the manga and I dare say even better, since it took something awesome and enhanced it x100

I’m no one to follow anime weekly, I haven’t done that since I graduated from high school, but I’ll make an exception for Hanako-san. I can’t have enough of this.

Now, if you excuse me- I'll go wild in twitter. See you at the season's end.