School Mystery

There are two versions of "Toire No Hanako-san." The first version, released in 1995, was set in an elementary school and centered on a boy named Takuya and a new transfer student named Saeko (Maeda Ai plays Takuya's younger brother). Takuya's classmates think that Saeko has been possessed by Hanako, the ghost that lives in the bathroom. The rumor is especially encouraged by a girl who has a crush on Takuya and is jealous since Takuya likes Saeko. The second version, released in 1998, centers on a group of high school girls (among them Maeda Ai and Nomura Yuka) who inadvertently release a demonic doll from a shrine outside of their school. Maeda Ai stars in both versions, although she plays a boy in the first movie, and a girl in the second. Prior to the second movie, there was a 1997 video series "Toire No Hanako-san, " that also dealt with a group of high school girls and their encounters with the infamous Hanako.