Why Does Amane Choose His Name Hanako, I Understand Yako Choosing Misaki But Why Hanako Of All Things,

Why does Amane choose his name hanako, I understand yako choosing misaki but why hanako of all things, why the specific spelling in kanji that means flower kid

Ooh, you know, incidentally, I've been dwelling on the name "Hanako" lately...

The kanji (花子) is actually pretty typical, for "Hanako"... Let's say, it's one of the most classic spelling of this name? Building off of that, the myth of "Hanako-san of the bathroom" (トイレの花子さん) is actually one that has existed in Japan for years, and in it, the name is commonly spelled like that. From a writing perspective, Iro-sensei is just maintaining the ah, iconography of the name, I suppose?

I've talked before in a previous ask about how the "Jibaku" in the title is evoking several things at once. Well, I think Iro-sensei is the sort that likes everything to feel multilayered, so even the usage of "Hanako-kun" is conveying something very particular. Hanako is a very feminine name (as flower names commonly are; think of names like Daisy or Rose) — so appending -kun to it is a little bit strange... My wife and I have joked, it's sort of like, if the story was starring Bloody Mary… but the twist is that Mary is a boy, and we call him, Little Lad Mary, or something… Lol. This is one of those things western fandom might be missing out on, due to culture discrepancies. We read Hanako, and it perhaps doesn't stand out next to Natsuhiko as a very girly name. To the point where I don't really blame anyone for not keying into it; it's not so intuitive for us.

I mean, I myself have had to really internalize what the experience of reading the title could be like, for a native speaker. You're looking at Hanako-kun on the title, and then seeing this spooky cursed boy sitting on a toilet. And you're like "-? ? .. ?? Hanako... toilet ghost, but boy-? And, self bondage???" (lol) There's just ah, a different first impression when picking up volume 1, I think.

Now, to get into the in-world reasons for why Amane uses Hanako... Well. The thing is, we haven't actually gotten a very direct explanation on what Amane feels about the name. Feels quite shrouded in mystery still... perhaps, it's not something we'll know the truth of until we are able to learn about what Amane went through that made him become a mystery in the first place. For now, all we can do is infer...

Logically, we can say the name Hanako comes from the rumor of "Hanako-san", which is something that could have existed before Amane even died. The mysteries can be swapped out by other individuals, as we see with Mitsuba, who becomes the new "Hell of Mirrors". It seems the rumor itself doesn't suddenly change, despite Mitsuba being a wholly different person. And, beyond that, perhaps there was a different entity before that tengu that was the Hell of Mirrors... etc. So, a possible explanation is that the name Hanako was one that Amane inherited once he became No. 7.

Though, we do have examples of mysteries with titles that allude to their specific circumstance... such as the Misaki Stairs and Shijima-san of the Art Room. Questions that arise from this are: If a kaii replaced Yako or Shijima, would the rumor stay the same? What were the rumors for No. 2 and No. 4 before theirs existed? Were there any at all...? I suppose, we don't know how long there have been 7 mysteries guarding the school. In any case... I wouldn't totally rule out the possibility that Amane himself is the origin of the Hanako-san rumor. For whatever reason, his actions in the past might have created Hanako-san. Shijima-san's rumor is a product of misinformation about Mei's death, so it might not have been Amane's choice how people perceived certain events.

I try and keep my mind open to the possibility, at least... though, if you want my personal opinion, I'm leaning more towards the former. I assume that Amane just inherited the role of No. 7, and the rumor associated with it was Hanako-san. The reason is... before meeting Nene, I'm not sure who else would even be calling him Hanako-? The mysteries are relatively distant from one another, and typically refer to one another by their numbers. I would say Tscuhigomori is the mystery that knows Amane the most personally, and deep down, I think Tsuchigomori simply sees Amane as... Yugi Amane. To Tsuchigomori, Amane is the same as when he knew him in life; he's been frozen in place here, never moving on. Tsukasa meanwhile knew Amane best, ostensibly, and was close with him through most of his life... and only ever calls him Amane.

I'm of the belief that Amane himself, does not closely identify with the name Hanako, before meeting Nene. I think it was a business name... I think it was even, kinda funny, like, Lol, girl's name... sure. He's amicable to wearing thigh highs and letting Nene dress up his hair, nor does he really fret about being gender-swapped, so it's not like having a "girl's name" would bother him much. It must feel very inconsequential...? He's only being regarded as Hanako-san on the rare occasion a soon-to-be-dead student summons him. Otherwise, he's Nanaban-sama to his co-workers... and internally, I think he's Amane... er, in a compulsive way-? Like, he can't control this remnant of his past life... Tricky, since there is a bit of compartmentalization happening; I do think Amane thinks of "Yugi Amane" as having died and no longer "really" existing beyond that death... What he is now, is something different and unrecognizable (... or, so he thinks.) At that point of dehumanization, he probably doesn't regard his current self with any name. Maybe he is just, a kaii, a mononoke, a murderer... etc.

Upon befriending Nene... I think that Amane wasn't taking their relationship so seriously. Her referring to him as Hanako-kun was kind of cute, funny, novel. He WAS obfuscating his identity, after all, so maybe it was ideal for her to see him this way. (Amane himself wouldn't have even let Nene know he killed someone in the past, let alone his real name...) So, performing as Hanako became something he does specifically for Nene's sake. This comes packaged with representing the mysteries as more close than they are, his job as more heroic than it really is, etc. I would say at this point, Amane starts to imagine a divide between Amane, living boy, and Hanako, the ghost that came after.

However, over time, the identity of Hanako-kun became more sentimental than Amane would ever have chosen. This was never supposed to be... more than, a flimsy front, a mask he wears, your silly bathroom ghost friend. That's why he's confused in Picture Perfect, with Nene's insistence that Amane-kun is the same as Hanako-kun. These should be separate things — Amane shouldn't be the same as Hanako! But... of course, they are, because he's the same as ever...

Haha, it's all kind of convoluted, but I like how much it makes one reflect on identity... Whether you personally identify with something or not, the urge to split yourself up, but also the way that you're always... yourself, even after things change... *wiggles fingers* Pretty cool, right? Often in posts, I'm kind of wrestling with how to refer to Amane, and how to keep things consistent enough to not be suuuper confusing... but it's hard! The names Amane and Hanako can be useful in tandem. It's such a Vibes thing, at times.

I typically default to Amane when referring to him as... the character, the entity of Amane, across many worlds/timelines. The entire history of the character, is "Amane" to me. Whereas I think of Hanako as more specifically encompassing the time he's spent with Nene! It's really Nene that has made Hanako more than just a title... though deep down, ig the real endgame of this would be regarding him as Amane...? [personal blatherings here...] Anyhoo...

We're surely due for more information on this topic someday. My wife has even mused on why the name Hanako is used for him... It's something to really contemplate-!!