First Impressions / Hayate no Gotoku!

Summary:

When Isumi arrives at the Sanzenin mansion, she tells Nagi about having met the new butler with the cashmere coat. However, Isumi also says that Hayate is going to die if they don’t hurry, so Nagi wants to go save him. At that time, a sick Hayate is standing under a bridge thinking about what to do when he encounters the same three thugs who had been collecting on his parent’s debt previously. Things quickly get complicated when Isumi’s bodyguards find him there, and the three thugs decide to help Hayate as comrades. Hayate tries to run away, but they all see him trying to sneak off and force him to fight. Back at the mansion, Nagi is ready to run out to save Hayate, and Maria suspects that the coat got torn. Isumi confirms that it did already get torn, but she also reveals that it was her own fault and that Hayate was really worried – that’s how serious he is about being Nagi’s butler. Nagi’s happy to hear this, and when the doorbell rings to signify that Hayate is back, she first asks Isumi if Hayate said anything else good about her. Isumi, however, only recalls that Hayate called Nagi small, selfish, brash, and violent. Thus, when Hayate opens the door to announce his return, Nagi immediately slams it in his face and stomps off angrily.

Hayate ends up getting a fever of 38.9 degrees Celsius and is stuck in bed. Nagi blames it on Hayate being weak, but Maria thinks that a certain someone shutting Hayate out while he was in drenched clothing is to blame. Everyone knows that Nagi is at fault, but their staring at her just gets her mad. Later in the day, Isumi makes Hayate a milkshake because she personally still feels at fault. When Hayate finds it delicious and praises her cooking, Isumi says that all girls can cook, much to Nagi’s chagrin. Feeling that she has something to prove, Nagi decides to make Hayate some lunch in the form of kayu. Everyone, including Hayate, knows how bad Nagi’s cooking is, yet Hayate still eats the entire bowl when Nagi brings it to him. Hayate compliments her even though it tastes exceptionally bad, and Maria finds out too late that Nagi put cleaning liquid into it thinking that it was oil. After Hayate somehow manages to live through it, Maria comes by his room to tell him about Nagi’s mistake. Hayate explains that he ate it all because Nagi had worked so hard at making it and because he was so happy for being nursed when he’s sick – his own mother never did that for him. Nagi had overheard this conversation, so she sneaks into Hayate’s room after Maria leaves and tries to give him a kiss of thanks. Hayate, however, wakes up before she can do it, so she yells and hits him instead.

The next morning, Hayate wakes up refreshed and gets ready for another day of butler work. As he leaves his room, he runs into a maid he’s never seen before who helps him straighten his tie. The strange thing about this woman is that she trips over and over again as she tries to walk away from him. Tracking down Maria, Hayate tells her about the maid that he just met, and Maria figures out who he’s talking about. Without mentioning any names, Maria informs Hayate that there’s also another guest here today, so Hayate should take this person to the guest room. While Hayate goes off to do his butler duties, Maria reports to Nagi that a member of the Tachibana family is coming and that Saki – the maid – is already here. In response, Nagi calls up Klaus to order the kicking out of the suspicious people in the mansion. She authorizes the use of force because she doesn’t want Hayate to know about a certain something. At that moment, Hayate is out sweeping when he runs into a boy by the lake. He soon realizes that this boy is the guest that Maria was talking about, and to his surprise, the boy wants him to jump into the lake. Not giving Hayate any time to react, the boy proceeds to kick him into the lake.

Although he struggles for a second in the water, Hayate gets himself back out and explains his duty to take the boy to the guest room. The boy is surprised that Hayate isn’t mad, and the two are interrupted by the arrival of Saki. She immediately notices that there’s a robot floating behind them, and the robot quickly opens fire. Hayate escapes with the boy and Saki in his arms because of his duty as a butler, but the boy doesn’t want to be held by someone who’s wet and Saki doesn’t think that a guy should be touching a girl. The two struggle with him and cause Hayate to go crashing through the roof of the mansion’s guest room. Maria and Nagi are already waiting for them there, and Maria explains that the boy named Wataru is Nagi’s fiancé.

Preview:

Let’s see, in references this week there was: the Musou Tensei technique from Hokuto no Ken, Mister Ajikko, and Minovsky Drives from UC Gundam. That’s what I caught from the three beeped-out parts, plus there was the InuYasha bust outside Hayate’s room.
This episode reminds me again of why I find Marina Inoue so talented. If I didn’t know that it was her, I don’t think that I would have recognized her voice as Wataru. Now that I think about it though, Wataru sounds a little like her Kanmuri voice from Yakitate!! Japan, but regardless, her vocal range is still quite impressive. Wataru’s maid Saki was also pretty fun to watch, if for nothing else than because she thinks that being touched by a guy will lead herself to become unfit for marriage.

22 Comments

  3. I don’t see anything that’s not from the manga except for the Nishizawa scene. But she’s been in lots of episodes already and she’s not even suppose to have appeared yet.

    And there’s also the Inuyasha statue, but I don’t think that counts.

    RandomDendohfanboy
    Reply

  4. boo, they skip the pool duel Maria vs. Hayate episode.
    I really love that episode too!! They cut some of Maria’s bath scene before, she doesn’t get much love by the producer is she?

    quina
    Reply

  5. Pretty nice episode, found it quite amusing when we had a classic Shana “Urusai Urusai Urusai” after hayate had awoken after she had gotten on top of him.

    Judge

    Judge
    Reply

  9. There are _several_ original non-manga parts. The most important deviation would be how strongly the anime enhances the Nagi-Hayate scenes. I can’t check it right now, but I’m 95% sure that the near-kiss was not part of the manga.

    Anyway, really enjoyable stuff ^_^ … especially “Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!”

    Mentar
    Reply

  13. I think the show is funny and everything, but i will have to go on a serious small rant here. It seems Japan has still not gotten it self out of the “Wife serves the Husband” mind set as well as “If i am a woman i must marry or i am a failure”. I see this in every single anime or almost every single one (what Nana/Paradise Kiss seem to be exceptions and i am sure there are others)where women are obsessed to marry or they have to serve their husband like robots. Now i know it is silly to base ones views of an entire culture on just cartoons , but is there any truth behind what i have said, because i do think i have read about the wife dilemma somewhere? Also cartoons are not the pinnacle representative of a culture, but they do reflect off the culture and the “woman serves man/must marry” theme always comes up in anime.

    Thank you for your time.

    Daniel
    Reply

  14. @Daniel: Maybe it’s just me, but if I recall correctly, America also went through periods like that too. Anyone remember Disney’s Beauty and the Beast? Or how about My Fair Lady? I think that same subtlety is there in those films too. Frankly, I imagine that it will be a long, long time before women are always treated as men are — assuming we get there at all (which I doubt will happen unless humans de-evolve into one form which is both male and female at the same time, unfortunately). That said, in today’s society, there are still plenty of women who refuse to treat other men as they treat women. If that’s the case, why should men be treating women as men? That seems hypocritical, IMO. Personally, I don’t think people should discriminate against other genders, but… I mean, think about all the people in the world who think a person is “hot” based on their looks. Men and women look different, so, wouldn’t those people, by nature, think that one is hot and the other isn’t? Or treat them differently some other way? It’s crazy.

    Anyways, back to our weekly Hayate discussion–

    I recall in last week’s preview that the soap was green… was it green in the episode itself too? (I can understand confusing yellow soap with oil, but confusing green soap is just kind of sad humor. Really, it is.)

    Pseudo-objectively, I think the anime focus on the Nagi-Hayate relationship is interesting — especially when you consider how it airs on daytime TV (think: four-year-olds watching Hayate… at least, that’s what daytime TV is for where I live) and has censorship to fit broadcast laws (presumably targeted towards protecting children). Of course, the humorous tone of the anime probably offsets that focus enough that no one really minds. (I know I don’t.) In any case, I like the emphasis on Nagi-Hayate… I think their relationship is kind of cute.

    Whatever has been added from the manga, I think, was actually rather well placed — I have no complaints so far about the “story bring ruined” or similar. Which is good.

    I’m very much looking forward to this episode, and the next one. ^^

    cbhl
    Reply

  21. Chiiiiiiii…hahaha. Even Chobits references. It’s awesome how they keep getting so much stuff from different shows in here. Can’t wait to see what happens next!!!

    Itoman
    Reply

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