Do I love this series? Nope. It's okay. I quite like it, but I hadn't thought much about Season 1 since watching it and I was surprised to see that it's had lots of continuations. Here's what exists of the anime so far:

The show's about a school with Seven Wonders. This is a Japanese thing. It has urban legends. Mysterious phenomena are said to come in groups of seven (called "nana fushigi") and are particularly associated with schools. These include Hanako of the Toilet, moving statues, haunted classrooms, etc. Anyway, this show's school wonders all have names and personalities. #7 is Hanako, who's male (a break with tradition since Hanako's quite a well-known female ghost) and a gloating, dirty-minded little brat who killed his own brother and is now dead himself. His friends are... uh, non-existent, but he often hangs out with Nene Yashiro (a cheerful girl who only gets aggressive if you mention the thickness of her daikon-like legs) and Kou Minamoto (a nice boy from a family of exorcists).

It has lovely art. The line work is cute, while the painterly colours create charming atmosphere.

The main series (2020 and 2025) is always happy to throw in jokes and silly bits, but it has a heavy-duty plot that can get spooky, scary and dangerous. Yashiro only has a year to live. Hanako declares himself uninterested in this, since a human's death is no big deal to a ghost, and then spends the rest of this double-length Season 2 practically turning into a villain to try to save her. He and Yashiro are pretty serious about each other (despite all their banter) and the conversation in episode 36 where they finally come clean is both long-awaited and funny.

The January-March 2025 episodes take us into a living painting, with inhabitants who duplicate people in the real world. This contains some imaginative horror. The unreal versions of your friends are capable of disturbing. We also get a choice between killing Yashiro or her best friend Aoi... and, yes, this series includes people willing to make that choice. An elevator to the land of the dead reminded me of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (which scared me as a child). The link between the real and mystical worlds is broken, triggering a story arc. Oh, and we learn confusing things about that brother Hanako supposedly killed.

It's pretty good. It's got a serious plot and spooky supernatural horror ideas, but it made me laugh. Besides, if you feel like a break, there's also the cute, light-hearted After-School Hanako-kun, which is throwaway mini-stories for comic effect. They're quite good. They have some nifty ideas, they're funny and they're better than most short-form comedy spin-offs of full-length anime series.

WARNING: there are two main characters called Aoi Akane (or possibly Akane Aoi), who are neighbours and childhood friends. Don't get confused. The female Aoi is Yashiro's best friend and the prettiest girl in the school, while the male Aoi can stop time.

Would I recommend this show? Dunno if I'd go that far, but it's fine. I've watched it all and I'd watch a third season if they made it. The manga has over 10 million copies in circulation. By all means, try an episode or two (and bear in mind that Hanako is nowhere near as sleazy and obnoxious as he pretends). The nearest there is to a weakness is the character designs of the living human boys (i.e. excluding ghosts like Hanako and Mitsuba), who are likeable but a bit too similar to each other. It's much easier to distinguish the girls. Anyway, the comedy spin-off series improves the main one by adding wit and whimsy. I liked its gender-swap episode. This is a decent enough franchise.