First Impressions / Hayate no Gotoku!

Summary:

Despite the fact that they haven’t gotten back the official results yet, Nagi is planning a party in celebration of Hayate’s passing of the entrance exam. Unbeknownst to them, Hayate has actually failed, and Yukiji has been tasked with telling him. She instead heads home to ask Hinagiku about what to do, but she gets beat up once her sister realizes that Yukiji was at least partially responsible for the failure because of a prank. As they head over to the Sanzenin mansion to apologize, Hinagiku decides that the person they should discuss this with is Maria, so they pass along the news by phone. However, Maria doesn’t get a chance to tell Hayate because Nagi is too busy trying to get him to wear a special costume. By the time Hinagiku and Yukiji arrive at the mansion, a celebratory dance party is in full swing. Klaus is one of the happiest people in the room because they’re having a rare party all thanks to Hayate’s passing of the exam, and the way he carries on about it makes it all that much harder for Yukiji to try to tell them the truth. As Nagi dances with Hayate, she talks about how she wanted a private cosplay party instead of this, but Hayate compliments on her dress and expresses how happy he is.

Yukiji eventually decides that she has to tell Hayate because it’s her responsibility as an adult. However, when she tries to tell Hayate in front of everyone, Klaus puts her in the spotlight and forces her to make a speech. With the microphone in front of her, Yukiji ends up congratulating Hayate instead, and that earns her a punch from Hinagiku. Klaus continues the celebrations by introducing Isumi, but the girl has once again gotten lost again, so he moves on to the unveiling of the statue that Sakuya sent of herself stepping on Hayate. Although those two aren’t here, Hayate is glad that Hinagiku and Yukiji showed up instead, and that reminds Nagi to ask why Hinagiku came. Hinagiku responds by pulling Nagi out of the room to tell her the truth, and Nagi doesn’t know what to do about telling Hayate. To make things worse, Hayate then gives a speech about how being able to go to school again is like a dream for him because he had already given up, and he feels that Nagi helping him realize this dream makes him the luckiest butler in the world. Yukiji approaches him afterwards to attempt to tell him again, but she fails again because Hayate thinks that she was going to reveal that she’s his homeroom teacher.

Ultimately, it is Izumi, Miki, and Risa who arrive with the official failure notice they found in Yukiji’s room. Once he realizes the truth, Hayate immediately disappears from everyone’s view. Maria finds him outside the mansion and informs him that Nagi and the others are worried, but Hayate feels that he’s done something horrible to Nagi, Hinagiku, Yukiji, and all the people gathered to congratulate him because of his own high hopes. Hearing Hayate talk about how if he were empty, then he wouldn’t have anything to lose, Maria questions if such an empty person would be fit to be Nagi’s butler. Hayate promises to do his best, but Maria looks into his face and sees that is says he can’t do it alone. That’s why she has a Hakuou student ID with his name on it and reveals that he passed with her letter of recommendation. She feels that an empty person with nothing to lose isn’t fit to do the job, and the day will come when his strength is needed to protect Nagi, so she wants him to become Nagi’s first-class butler. Hayate regains his confidence from hearing this and yells that he’ll become a first-class butler for Maria’s sake. Blushing afterwards, Maria wonders why she was so bold with Hayate.

ED2 Sequence

ED2: 「Get my way!」 by 川田まみ (Kawada Mami)
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2
The new ED is full of summer flair, meaning plenty of bathing suits. Kawada Mami’s song is upbeat, but I didn’t like it all that much. Maybe it’s because all of her songs start to sound the same to me after a while. Overall, I just liked the first ED a lot more.

Preview:

You know, I’m actually kind of impressed by their ability to stretch one manga chapter into an entire episode by adding little things here and there (like the part with Isumi not being there and Sakuya’s statue). As far as I could tell, the anime references were rather light this week, with the Lum costume and the various bread references (one of them sounded like it was Yakitate! Japan). However, there was something about the way Yukiji panics that was just hilarious to me, especially when combined with Klaus being so happy about Hayate’s supposed passing.
Maria ends up being the person who bails Hayate out by giving him a letter of recommendation, but something like that makes me wonder what kind of pull she has at such a young age and why she’s a maid if she’s so powerful. In any case, Hayate can attend school now, and next week’s episode looks like it will introduce a new set of characters.

36 Comments

  9. You know, the way you wrote “happy with Hayate’s passing” sounds like he DIED or something…

    And Helae’s right – not everyone has big breasts, and this counts double for people like Nagi who don’t HAVE figures. Isumi I’m not surprised at, given that she’s about as physically ‘developed’ as Nagi, although I will admit to some surprise that Hinagiku seemed as athletically-figured as she appears here, especially after Nagi’s comments about Hinagiku’s body in the manga.

    Haesslich
    Reply

  12. Omni: There’s a very good explanation for Maria’s ability to influence the School’s decision, but since I haven’t watched the episode yet, I can’t say if it was already given there (probably not)

    What’s notable (and great) is that they stopped jumping around like mad and now seem to follow the school arc in sequence, to let the main plot develop. Which means alot of Hina aswell, so I’m a happy camper 🙂

    Haesslich: What are you referring to? The only comment of Nagi I can remember about Hinagiku’s figure from the manga is that she grudgingly admitted her athleticism and (seething) her big breasts (compared to Nagi).

    Mentar
    Reply

  17. In my recollection, Nagi pointed out that at least she doesn’t lose in GRADES (read: her academic marks aren’t worse than Hina’s), implying that bust-wise she does lose. The manga frame was pretty funny, with Nagi imagining Hina strutting her stuff proudly in Nagi’s direction, who in turn went all >_

    Mentar
    Reply

  23. just for record Maria actually hug Hayate in original.

    Maria’s scene got reduced a lot in anime. Since ep 1 we have less shower conversation etc. In contrast Hina scene is moved forward and crap. I guess this stuffs got influence by popularity.

    Just for record latest official popularity poll:
    1st: Hina
    2nd: Maria
    3rd: Hayate (he is 2nd if you included his female form)
    4th: Nagi
    5th: Isumi
    6th: that gag girl I forgot her name

    Quina
    Reply

  25. Mentar: “Nagi pointed out that at least she doesn’t lose in GRADES (read: her academic marks aren’t worse than Hina’s), implying that bust-wise she does lose.”

    What Nagi actually said was “胸の厚みなら似たようなもんだ！！”, which translates to “we’re not that different when it comes to breast size!!”. She then added “I don’t lose in grades too” at the side of the dialogue bubble.

    Otherwise, why do you think (imaginery) Hina was in shock after hearing what she said?

    Garet
    Reply

  29. Mentar: Yes, I was referring to the ‘big breasts’ comment, and how she could do without them if that was what Hayate liked about Hinagiku… which is somewhat ironic, considering that (as you’ve pointed out), they’re only big compared to Nagi and Isumi, but are clearly ‘not as big’ compared to Sakuya or Maria, who are either the same age or slightly older (16) than her.

    Haesslich
    Reply

  30. … of course, that’s probably due to the scanlation being a tad off.

    Garet: I thought the shock was due to the fact that Nagi had insulted her (Hina) based on breast size. Of course, the girls THERE are normal (compared to other anime), so they’re not all drawn with figures that are about six or seven years more developed than they should be… which is a nice change.

    Haesslich
    Reply

  32. Haesslich: “…either the same age or slightly older (16) than her. ” Wait, are you saying hinagiku is 16 (hayate’s age)? I always thought she was Nagi’s age, 13 or 14 at most.

    DemiTrickster
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *