A second season of frivolity and otaku-centered humor with our favorite indebted combat butler and his hikikomori multibillionaire employer.
What They Say
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. 4: You're Like Me
It's February 13th. Hayate is standing outside of the kitchen. Nothing unusual about that. Except that there's a note on the door saying that no one is allowed inside. By order of Nagi. And that is unusual. Why? Since, as we all know, Nagi cannot cook, except to make a toxic and lethal stew. But this is a special and trying time for Nagi. For Valentine's day is tomorrow, and she is determined to give Hayate homemade love chocolate.
On the other side of the tracks, we have Nishizawa talking to Wataru at his video store, trying out her homemade chocolate on him. He says that it's not bad, but it's not particularly good either (just like Nishizawa, I guess). So, it appears that she is determined to give Hayate chocolates as well this year. She's really fired up about it, since "Valentine's Day is the only annual event where internationally-renowned Japanese corporations support the delicate hearts of young girls!" Well, then.
And so, we have the competition for Hayate's heart. Except that there isn't really much of a competition. Nagi won't go to school. And Nishizawa is too afraid to give Hayate the chocolates.
At school, of course, things are different with Hinagiku, who has been receiving chocolates from the girls. Not that she wants to. As she is leaving school to get some milk to go with all that chocolate, she runs into Nishizawa being held by the school security detail. Hinagiku decides to step in and help the poor girl. Suffice it to say, Hinagiku does her best to help Nishizawa get her feelings across to Hayate, while Nishizawa herself requires a couple chances to do so. Nagi's chocolate experiments turn out to be utter failures. And as for Hinagiku, we the viewers see that she has unresolved feelings of her own, but she decides to do the noble thing instead (whereupon Miki tells her that's why she keeps on getting more chocolate from girls every year, since she's showing off her tomboy side).
The episode ends with a comical chocolate cooking contest between Maria and Hayate.
In Summary:
With this episode, we see some of the holes that were left in the continuity of the first season fixed (for example, Hinagiku and Nishizawa knowing each other). Of course, this season is following the manga much more closely and is largely ignoring the continuity errors in the first season. And that's fine. We have a good look further into what makes Hinagiku tick, we see Nishizawa finally showing some courage in expressing her feelings for Hayate, and we get Nagi's vain attempt to act like a girl, but in the end, she takes on the boy's role, having Hayate make chocolate for her (which he does all too well, to Maria's chagrin). So, the comedy is hitting its stride now, while the character relationships continue to be built upon and elaborated.
Features
Japanese Language, English Subtitles
Review Equipment
Apple Mac Mini with 1GB RAM, Mac OS 10.5 Leopard
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