I loved it. It's another excellent 2010s J-horror "vs" film. It did things you rarely see in J-horror and repeatedly surprised me.

Firstly, it's a J-horror film where ghosts aren't necessarily evil. Some are. Those are called akuryou and they're often too strong for exorcists to handle. Most ghosts, though, are just deceased people who can't move on to the next life. Some are sentient. Some are just echoes. I was charmed immediately when our heroine, Shizukune, sees a ghost by the roadside... and goes over to sit with her and say comforting words before helping her move on.

For me, that was wonderful. I dislike the default Japanese assumption about ghosts being dangerous. Conversely, this is lovely. Mind you, Shizukune's training under an other exorcist (Miyo Minamine) who's much less friendly and regards Shizukune's empathy as both weak and dangerous.

A pop band goes to a scary abandoned school at night, because they're looking for ghosts. They're doing it for laughs. In a J-horror film. So doomed. Their abrasive punk singer goes into the toilet in search of Yousuke (a male counterpart of Hanako) and finds an exorcist's seal on the third compartment, so he pulls it off and burns it. What a knob. He lives longer than you'd think, but you can still expect him to get the film's most flamboyant death.

I like that set-up. We have two independent groups of living humans (for now), plus two different ghosts (as promised by the movie's title), plus a whole load of ghosts who aren't malevolent at all. Sometimes they're helpful... but what about Yousuke and Hanako? Well, one's an akuryou. This is mostly Yousuke's film. He's lethal, his face is rotting and at one point I was wondering if his body count was about to hit three figures. (There's a large group of people and definitely had the opportunity, but fortunately he's more goal-focused than that. There are specific people he wants to kill.)

Hanako of the Toilet is much more famous. We're here for her. We wait, and wait... but when she eventually surfaces, HOLY SHIT. You also can't assume that she's evil, despite being a ghost in a J-horror film. I love that. Admittedly, some versions of the folklore have her dragging people to hell, but her portrayals in popular culture are often sympathetic and likeable.

I'm a fan of this film. I appreciated Shizukune's worldview and sympathies. I liked the good ghosts. There's yet another questionable mother, but at least she's less of a crazed psycho stabber than other Hanako of the Toilet movie mothers. (Hanako's a dead child, so "mothers" would be a natural and perhaps even obvious direction to take such a story even if child abuse by parents hadn't already been in some versions of the folklore.) Also, to my relief, this film has no bullying. I'd definitely recommend this one... although good luck finding a copy with subtitles.