As a Japanese major, I spent much of practicing during quarantine reading manga. I got through one series and a few other books. Then, I stumbled upon an anime called “Toilet-bound Hanako-kun,” which definitely sounded interesting. Well, I watched it, watched it a few more times, read the manga up to the current chapter, got some books, drew some fan art, then bought some posters. I moved back to Vassar, and one of my housemates had a button maker.
One night, I drew one Hanako-themed button, then another, and soon I had 26. Another night, I drew 14 more and put them through the button maker. Now, I have 35 buttons, one for each character. Some are directly referenced from the manga or official art, but I edited them all to fit the button format. Weeks later I am able to draw one in about 20 minutes (which was pretty fast compared to the beginning).
Of course, there are probably a few minor characters missing, but it is probably the biggest set of hand-drawn Hanako-themed buttons on campus. If there is a bigger one, or actually any other Hanako button collection at all on campus, let me know so we can be friends, please.
I tried to put them all on the back of my Vassar-mandated dining bag. However, that didn’t work since there are so many. I ended up putting the remaining buttons on the front, around the painting I did of Yashiro Nene, one of the main characters.
— Olivia
