A second season of frivolity and otaku-centered humor with our favorite indebted combat butler and his hikikomori multibillionaire employer.
What They Say:
Hayate no Gotoku !! (Hayate the Combat Butler - 2nd Season)
The stunning harem manga is coming back to the TV screen, with new episodes filled with more chuckles and excitements that touch the heartstrings of anime-loving teenagers. Hayate is a super-unlucky 16 year-old-boy who ends up shouldering his parents' financial havoc. By chance, he rescues Nagi, the well-dressed little heiress to a mega-rich family from hoodlums, then he gets hired as a live-in butler that guards her from all sorts of troubles. His career, however, requires more than just mental and physical strength: he needs to be entertaining too!
The Review!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Ep 1 The Forbidden Freestyle Marathon
As this episode already ran last week, I'll just sum it up fairly briefly. Following volume 6 of the manga quite faithfully, we are shown the events leading up to the Hakuou Academy's Freestyle Marathon, which Nagi rather foolishly bets with Klaus that she will win, to prove that Hayate is a good butler. The bet made, the race must be run, and Nagi must win, or else Hayate will be fired.
Yes, I'm avoiding the whole "it's been one month since you started working for us" issue. Time is relative in the Hayate universe.
Suffice it to say, there are various obstacles to overcome if Nagi is to win the Freestyle Marathon. There is the competition (including Hinagiku Katsura, the President of the Student Council, and her booze-crazed older sister Yukiji, who is drawn by the prospect of a 150 million yen prize for winning the race). In the end, Nagi, of course, does not win the race (but then most of you already know that, and would find out when I briefly mention it again in my comments on Episode 2 anyway). As the outcome was never in doubt, perhaps it's best if I leave all of the intervening events in doubt.
Beyond that, quite a bit of time was spent reintroducing the characters, which will be good for people who have never seen any of the franchise before and would like to know who is who.
Let's move on to Episode 2.
Ep 2 Money's Tiger
Nagi, of course, is still upset over losing the race. Hayate tries to comfort her, rather lamely, as always. We then cut to Nagi confronting Klaus over the firing. After the usual comic hilarity, including a quick reference to a PreCure parody briefly shown in the last episode, it is determined that Hayate will get a second chance, if he can manage to get special training from the Butler's Tiger Den (tsuji tora no ana; the puns and otaku humor begin to fly fast and thick, as Toranoana is also the name of a well-known manga specialty store in Japan).
Hayate apparently has a nun fetish. At the train station on his way to this mysterious Butler's Tiger Den, Hayate comes across a young woman dressed as a nun. She seems quiet and demure, reading. But she shows a somewhat different side when Hayate drops a few coins on the ground after buying a candy bar. She suddenly leaps up like a cat and grabs the coins off the ground. When she asks whether this means the coins are now hers, Hayate politely says no, to which she replies by calling him a cheapskate.
So, on the train on the way to the Butler's Tiger Den, Hayate continues to admire the young nun, but he is then accosted by a crazed otaku who has just been laid off, and who mistakes Hayate for someone with a job. Looking to start a fight, the young sister intervenes and speaks about peace, love, and all that. The otaku responds by saying that he prefers Japanese priestesses (miko) to nuns, so now he will beat her up. Except that when he tries to land a blow on the nun, she instead grabs his fist and does a judo throw, followed by a thorough pummeling. This sister's not a pushover.
The train arrives at the station, and Hayate speaks to the nun. She asks if she gets a designer teacup for saving him, but Hayate responds that that only applies if a man saves a woman (all of this apparently a reference to Train Man). After hearing her stomach growl (a second time, her stomach already growled once on the train), Hayate offers her the candy bar he bought earlier.
After leaving the station, Hayate slowly makes his way following a hand-drawn make that will take him to Alex San Marco Church, which also happens to be the Butler's Tiger Den. In fact, that's exactly what it says on the sign when he reaches it: "Alex San Marco Church, incidentally the Butler's Tiger Den too." Hayate thinks to himself "Incidentally?" And he's right to do so.
As he comes to the church, he is greeted by Sister Fortesia, who turns out to be the nun that he met on the train. The narrator then notes that this is the same suspicious nun that he met before. Of course.
After the eye catch, we go back to the Sanzenin household, where Nishizawa has come to visit. Nagi, of course, is her ever-charming self, referring to Nishizawa as "Hamster" only, and asking Maria whether she thinks the Hamster would like some sunflower seeds. While there, Nagi reveals that Hayate has gone off somewhere, to which Nishizawa then brings up Hayate's bad luck with women. This naturally causes Nishizaw to fantasize about what kind of misadventures Hayate might suffer at the hands of strange woman (played in her mind by a dominatrix version of Nagi), but her vision of the traps awaiting Hayate is topped by Maria, who suggests that Hayate might not only be prone to being seduced by a woman, but could also be seduced by a man (since he is so girlish), which elicits screams of denial from both Nagi and Nishizawa.
But the narrator, returning things to the church, notes that Hayate has gotten mixed up with a strange woman. Here, Fortesia reveals what the purpose of the Butler's Tiger Den is: to retrain useless butlers. After the overdone visual gag of having large arrow placards with negative traits listed on them being thrust through his body, Hayate is told that tomorrow his training will begin.
That night Hayate calls Nagi to reassure her, but winds up insulting her (telling her he'd never fall in with a woman weirder than she is) and rousing her suspicions when Sister Fortesia, half asleep, charges into the room and demands he hand over his cellphone. The last words Nagi hears are "Wait a minute Sister! No, don't touch me there!" Nagi then immediately goes to Maria and demands to know where the Butler's Tiger Den is.
The next morning, Hayate is told by Fortesia what his training will be. This explanation is interrupted briefly by Nishizawa, who imposes her own fantasy upon the screen for a moment, but after that is pushed aside, it is revealed that Hayate will actually be sent on the Butler Quest. He is to form an adventuring party of four and explore a dungeon built by the Father who runs Alex San Marco Church, and retrieve the Butler Medal as proof of his worth. Hearing of this, Nagi immediately bursts onto the scene and proclaims that she will join Hayate on his quest. Now, they just need to find two more members.
Cut to a small tray of money (¥12,020 [about $120—the exchange rate has changed greatly since the manga was published in English]). Apparently, this is all of the 5 million yen in prize money that Yukiji Katsura will receive for winning the Freestyle Marathon last episode. The disparity is from Hinagiku deducting all of the money that Yukiji owes other people. Yukiji throws a fit and calls Hina a demon, an idiot, and a flat-chested buffoon. Hina of course objects…about being called flat-chested.
Naturally, Yukiji goes off to feel sorry for herself and notes that she needs to find an adventure to make some quick money. At this point, she overhears Hayate and Nagi (who have apparently walked to Hakuo Academy, so the church is not really all that far away) talking about needing party members. They specifically mention that the last person they'd want would be Katsura-sensei. At which point, of course, Yukiji jumps in, proclaiming that they need a beautiful elf in their party, calling herself Yukiji Deedlit (a reference to Record of Lodoss War). While she is initially rebuffed, in the end, she joins the party.
Hayate next tries to speak with Hina, to ask her to join them, but Hina still seems to be smarting over the incident on the suspension bridge back in the race. She also launches a couple of grenades at him (figuratively speaking), but one of them, an accusation that Hayate has a Lolita Complex, causes him to physically be blown up. At which point Hayate retreats, and Hina then blushes and calls him a coward after he has left.
Outside, Hayate comes across Saki, Wataru's maid, and asks her if she knows anyone reliable. She mentions her young master.
Cut to the Saginomiya House, where an elderly woman (we only hear her voice) complains about spirits inhabiting the dungeon under her church. She is seeking Isumi's help to exorcise them. Isumi agrees to help, and then mentions there's no need for her guest to thank her. Her guest, now revealed to be an old nun, is then addressed as "Sister Fortesia."
The plot (full of holes) thickens.
We then go back to the Church, where our adventuring party, Hayate, Nagi, Yukiji, and Wataru, have gathered to enter the dungeon, with "Sister Fortesia" (now revealed to be a fake). And that's where we leave things this week, with the narrator chiming in, wonder whether any of this has anything to do with butlers.
So, with the first two episodes of Hayate the Combat Butler!! (note the two exclamation points to mark this as season 2), we get a quick reintroduction to the entire cast, followed immediately by the first part of a story pulled straight from the manga (as were the events of Episode 1 as well). In fact, what sets this season apart from the first is that there seems to no longer be any anime exclusive characters as there were in Season 1, and there are no longer any manga exclusive characters, since we have been, in short order, introduced to two of the more important ones who have been left out so far. What we get is more of the same otaku-centered humor which the series is known for, with references to works both old and new flying left, right, and center. Only in the Hayate universe would a refreshing course on butlering skills consist of forming an RPG-style adventuring party and exploring a spooky dungeon below a church.
In Summary:
Hayate the Combat Butler!! picks up with volume 6 of the manga by Kenjiro Hata, and seems intent in this short second season (only 13 episodes, as opposed to the massive first season of 52) to follow the manga more closely, with some manga panels being almost directly translated onto the screen. The humor relies heavily on the knowledge of anime fans to get the references and parodies that pop up everywhere. Yet, there is still quite a lot that might appeal to those who are not knowledgeable fans. The characters may have somewhat cliched personalities (what anime does not have them?), but the interactions between them make for good situational humor. And Hayate himself is such a cheerful, well-meaning protagonist, it would be hard not to be rooting for him to overcome his latest challenge. For those who enjoy harem humor, while I would not really consider Hayate a harem show, there are more than a few ladies who are vying for his attention. While one might be hesitant to start into season 2 now, since Bandai Entertainment in North America has left us all waiting for the first season for quite some time, Hayate is not really a show that is dependent upon plot, so feel free to dive in and enjoy the zany ride.
Review Equipment:
Apple Mac Mini with 1GB RAM, Mac OS 10.5 Leopard.
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