First Impressions / Hayate no Gotoku!

Summary:

When he was in elementary school, Hayate had read aloud to his class his dream for the future, but prefaced it by talking about his deadbeat parents. He now wakes up in the present after having dreamed about that time and remembers what Mikado had said about his life being meaningless. However, he also remembers how he had decided to protect Nagi. He later gets into a conversation with Maria about future aspirations and launches into a speech about dreams being the motivation power for people to live. Knowing that he’s doing everything for Nagi, Hayate rushes off to work his hardest, and Nagi finds the mansion sparkling clean when she gets out of bed. After Maria explains how Hayate had been thinking about his dream for the future, Nagi starts to think that Hayate intends to be a bride for her. As for her own aspirations, Nagi wants to become a mangaka and sell one trillion copies, causing Maria to feel that Nagi’s dream is different from Hayate’s. However, Maria doesn’t know exactly what Hayate’s real dream is, so she goes and asks him. To her surprise, Hayate declares that his dream is a 3LDK – this is what he told his elementary school class too, and his teacher had cried upon hearing this.

Changing the subject, Maria gives Hayate some money to go buy a new cell phone and allows him the rest of the day off. Hayate heads into town and gets a cell phone that can fit 1000 entries in the address book, but he quickly realizes he doesn’t have that many friends. This gets him thinking about his high school buddies, and since he wonders if he wants to go back to school, he goes to see it again. It is at the school gates that he runs into his old classmate Nishizawa Ayumu and tries to explain to her everything that happened, but she thinks he’s joking. Even though it is clear that she has feelings for him, Ayumu claims that she’s just worried for her classmate, and Hayate starts thinking about coming back to school again. However, one of his old teachers then reveals that Hayate’s officially a dropout. It seems that back on Christmas Eve, Hayate’s parents had told the school that he wasn’t going to come anymore and had wanted back the rest of his tuition. Hayate understands that this means he can’t go to school and says goodbye, but Ayumu stops him and suddenly confesses that she likes him. It is at this moment that Nagi’s sad face crosses Hayate’s mind, giving him no choice but to reject Ayumu. Hayate at first uses the excuse that he’s only interested in two-dimensional characters, and then reveals that there’s someone he can’t leave alone, but regardless, Ayumu is mad enough to punch him and stomp off angrily. Hayate thus goes home with a red mark on his face, though his mood takes a turn for the better because Nagi happily takes his new phone and adds herself as the first entry in the address book.

A few days later, Ayumu runs into Hayate again outside Wataru’s video rental shop and follows him all the way back to the Sanzenin mansion. The guards there catch her and contact Maria, but Maria notices the bag identifying Ayumu’s school and realizes that she must Hayate’s old classmate. As soon as Maria instructs the guards to let Ayumu go, the girl runs off on the mansion grounds and ends up encountering Tama. Running into a tiger in such a place scares Ayumu into fleeing again, and Tama decides to chase after her because of his supposed hunting instinct. As Tama is about to pounce on her, Ayumu yells Hayate’s name, and he instantly arrives to save her with a kick that knocks Tama away. Ayumu then wants to escape from here with him, but they get interrupted by the arrival of Nagi wondering what’s going on. The two girls immediately realize that they are rivals, and since the dragon aura that Nagi projects eats the hamster aura that Ayumu projects, Ayumu decides to retreat for now. Afterwards, Nagi tells Hayate that he can’t leave her to go somewhere, so he reassures her that he’s not going anywhere. Still, Nagi notices how Hayate is looking in the direction that Ayumu ran and, after thinking about all the time they’ve spent together, she decides to do something for him.

Preview:

Well let’s see, I’m pretty sure Hayate was trying to quote James bond during this speech about dreams (that’s the only famous British spy I can think of). The anime references included Suzumiya Haruhi, Getsumen To Heiki Mina, and the Gunbuster‘s Inazuma Kick. I also believe several of the characters from Hayate’s school (like Souya) are from Hayate no Gotoku! author Hata Kenjirou‘s previous work Umi no Yuusha Lifesavers. References aside, I thought this episode felt a bit disjointed as it went from Hayate’s aspirations for a 3LDK to him going back to his old school and meeting Ayumu to Ayumu following him after another chance encounter to Nagi’s mansion. I guess it’s ultimately about how Hayate’s aspirations change to involve wanting to go back to school, but I wish it were tied together and transitioned a little better. Oh well, at least the episode had some amusing parts to watch, like the dragon eating the hamster.

35 Comments

  11. So, instead of a Gundam/Precure parody, we get… Haruhi. I can live with it. Although that almost-BL in that first preview for next week… I don’t recall that from the manga, and can live without it.

    But yes, Nagi developing a rival seems to make her look more like Saber, somehow.

    Haesslich
    Reply

  18. I thought this was going to be an average/above average ep based on what’s in the manga, but them replacing the Gundam gag with Haruhi made my day (not that I have anything against gundam…the Haruhi fanboy in me is just greater)!
    😀

    Dash
    Reply

  27. INAZUMA KICK!
    It’s an ultimate move only for those who have overcome hardship with effort and guts!!!
    https://randomc.net/image/Hayate%20no%20Gotoku!/Hayate%20no%20Gotoku!%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2028.jpg

    Watch Nono from Aim For The Top 2! Diebuster

    Which also reminds me of:
    https://randomc.net/image/Gurren%20Lagann/Gurren%20Lagann%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2029.jpg

    -and-

    https://randomc.net/image/Gurren%20Lagann/Gurren%20Lagann%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2030.jpg

    Servbot
    Reply

  31. That hamster scene really made my day. Thank you, Nishizawa-san. ^_^

    And kudos to Wataru-kun for that excellent line: “Damn you bamboo vendor! Always getting in my way!”

    @claudius: Yeah, I also liked that scene. I’m guessing it really was a parody of Kanon (especially since the taiyaki seller reminded Nishizawa-san to pay up).

    Diego
    Reply

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