Final Impressions / First Impressions / Hayate no Gotoku!


It’s not over until we get a kiss! Oh crap…

 

Celestial Being, armed military intervention, GN particles, and Aeolia Schenberg. That’s enough references to make any Gundam 00 fan chuckle under his/her breath. Add in some Lelouch/Zero poses with mention of the United States of Japan and you have CODE GEASS fans smirking as well. Throw in a wild Pocky Easter egg hunt with some good ‘ol Hayate comedic flair and we’re well on our way to an epic season finale. Close off with a kiss from Nagi and you have just the right amount of everything. While the previous episode felt like a good way to end things, this episode really takes the cake.

 


I don’t know why Maria’s on Nagi’s case about this. If I were to get sick, let it happen on some work days.

 


The second coming of Zero? Nagi seems to think Hayate has some Lelouch vi Britannia tyranny in him.

 


Apparently Hayate contributed to the Caramelldansen phenomenon on Nico Nico Douga as well.

 

So as I mentioned in the comments before, the official website had already given us an idea of what this episode was about several weeks in advance. Exhausted from her first day working at the cafe and heading to Sakuya’s birthday party afterward, Nagi finds herself sick in bed and home alone with Hayate. While Nagi believes that Hayate will have his way with her doing “this” and “that” Lelouch vi Britannia style, she is left disappointed when our debt-ridden butler (unsurprisingly) shows absolutely no interest. This leads us to some hypnotic Caramelldansen followed by a story about armed military intervention that is actually supposed to be Alice (Hina) in Wonderland.

 


*dun da dun… dun da… dun da da da dun*
I heard DAYBREAK’S BELL playing in the back of my head when that sparkling orbital elevator popped up.

 


Hina in Wonderland along with three mysterious talking “rabbits”. The student council prez still manages to get her shots in here.

 


After defeating the entire card army, Hina forms the United States of Japan. Now where have I heard that before…

 

Given how I’m all over watching Pandora Hearts at the moment (one of the many shows I watch but don’t blog), I enjoyed the references to Alice in Wonderland. I’m probably totally biased towards what I was exposed to first, but I still prefer Kawasumi Ayako (Athena)’s Alice. Regardless, Itou Shizuka (Hinagiku)’s Alice kicking ass and talking trash is good in its own way. Heck, she formed the United States of Japan too.

 


Hayate breaks the fourth wall and gives us the “to be continued” line. For a final episode, it feels like the producers are mocking us.

 


Holy crap Aoelia Schenberg lived during our time. Gimme that book on GN particles and I’ll be rich!

 


“SWITCH ON!” Super large projection screen out of nowhere for Nagi’s voyeurism pleasures.

 

Much to my surprise, the entire episode didn’t completely revolve around Hayate and Nagi home alone. The second half pretty much became an all out Pocky search to the ends of the Earth, which Nagi and Maria watched from home on the huge projection screen. Funny how it was also conveniently connected to the ant camera already. On another note, that whole scene probably should have had an advisory message against voyeurism. >_>

 


It was only a matter of time before they got Hayate cross-dressing again. He didn’t seem to mind so much this time though.

 


Gotta love how anime characters pull abilities out of thin air. At least Maria’s lip reading came in handy here…

 


…to expose the fact that Nagi’s actually a closet pervert.

 

The proof is in the pudding. It looks like Nagi’s “interests” extend beyond voyeurism and originate from the DVDs she secretly borrows from Wataru. There are just some scenes not intended for her virgin eyes.

 


Shit always hits the fan when it comes to Hayate. It may as well have been national Pocky Day in Japan.

 


But getting fed Pocky by Hinagiku isn’t bad. It isn’t bad at all…

 


Hayate could probably do without the Hakuo Three Amiga shoving Pocky down his throat, but the jealousy runs high in Nagi nonetheless.

 


In the isle of the “100-year-old candy store quietly operated in some back alley that only a select few know about”, Ayumu beats Hayate to the last box of Pocky. Try saying that three times fast.

 

So in terms of some good ‘ol Hayate humour, what would a final episode have been without a ridiculously difficult struggle for a trivial task? The “Hayate can’t buy a break when it comes to anything” theme just had to be there, even if it’s just for running to the closest store and picking up a box of Pocky (“Packy” for legal reasons). While he claims he’ll become the devil himself for Nagi’s sake, Hayate’s still way too softhearted to steal candy/snacks from Ayumu. I mean, how can anyone do that to an honest girl like her?

 


Hayate’s search for a box of Pocky takes him to the ends of Japan, where he (understandably) starts to get depressed.

 


After trying to tell Hayate to come home, Maria and Nagi are dumbfounded at how unlucky he is when they see him drop his phone into the water.

 

Thus, we have a down and out Hayate. Even when others try to help him out it’s a lost cause. But as usual, it’s up to Hayate to dig himself out of the hole he’s always in.

 


When all else fails, you have to do things yourself — even if it means making counterfeit goods.

 


Counterfeit Pocky complete! BOOYAH!

 

The homemade counterfeit Pocky operation was just too funny. Watching Hayate meticulously make the actual Pocky was one thing, but the imitation packaging and labeling had me laughing out loud.

 


This was supposed to be an omnious scene, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the toy ambulance running into the crumpled box of Pocky.

 


While I already know the end result, I’d love to see a MythBusters test on this.
“Can you survive getting hit by a truck with a soccer ball?”

 


I understand that this was the only Pocky that survived the crash, but what’s with all the national flags?

 

I was impressed by how they managed to build up some suspense right at the end of the episode, even if we knew nothing really happened to Hayate. This flowed nicely into a tearful Nagi turning into an overjoyed one from eating “the best” Pocky in the world. Follow that up with a kiss on the cheek for her diligent, hardworking butler and then roll the credits with ELISA’s WONDER WIND playing. Finale done! Game, set, match.

 


We can’t end the season without some more Hina groping can we?

 


Sakuya still has her way with pushing Wataru’s buttons. She just uses Isumi and runs with it.

 


Hibino Fumi (Asumi Kana) and Sharna Alamgir (Gotou Saori). They showed up in the OVA, so do they still count as “new” characters?

 


Wow, what a tease of a last scene. Athena!!!

 

Athena, Athena, Athena. Will there be a 3rd season? If so, when? Your guess is as good as mine right now.

54 Comments

  3. What a finale. JC Staff kind of started out awkwardly after taking over from Synergy SP, but damn if they didn’t make it their own by the end. Great season for any Hayate fan, and desperately looking forward to more that won’t come soon enough.

    Dan
    Reply

  6. Mmm… Athena from ten years ago. Also, I think that the reason Hayate doesn’t mind being dressed up as a maid this time is that Sakuya made him do it, or so it appears there. Sakuya makes everything better. 😉

    Haesslich
    Reply

  7. Wow, for a show that was about NOTHING, they sure did crap 77 episode of keem out of their asses. I’m impressed. This is probably one of the top 3 eps in my book, but I still think the 1st episode of the 1st season was the best – just look at how many times they repeated the same craziness that occurred in that eps & you’ll see what I mean.

    Megas
    Reply

  12. seems like a lot of this episode is anime original, but having not seen it yet, i can’t say for sure. i’m still disappointed that they didn’t animate the chapter with Risa and the crocodile even though it’s in the opening.

    curious one
    Reply

  19. 2nd part of this final episode was anime original. Last scene made me a bit excited about a third season. We will now have to wait for an official announcement to be made, though id put my money on Spring 2011 or Spring 2010. But id rather like it on Spring 2011 so that the manga has progressed meaning we will have more sources to be animated.

    Stan
    Reply

  22. Omni using the soccerball to defend from a car/van is from the 1983 anime Captain Tsubasa when Tsubasa was still a young child around age 3-5 was almost killed by a car but due to the soccerball he was saved.

    Athena season 3 in april 2010

    arigatou
    Reply

  28. “Will there be a 3rd season? ”
    C’mon Divine, we both know, that S3 is inevitable with how this season ended. And we will see it sooner than later (2010 anyone?).

    There’s enough source material, so you shouldn’t worry about that. Although we, Hina lovers, might not like the manga ending ;<

    @Phantasm:
    Yeah it happened way before Sakuya’s b-day, so they probably won’t animate it, and actually I was kinda looking forward to it, it’s like the only time when Risa get’s some screentime ;<

    Zenzen
    Reply

  30. @WingZerizxt
    Athena is the name of the girl in the last picture

    Also the manga is on mangafox its not hard to find.

    Cant wait for season 3, however if the manga is any indication I cant wait to see Show Spoiler ▼

    Game8910
    Reply

  35. @Game8910 yeh i know i cn get the manga i really dont have time to read the backlong however (i rmemeber how long that took with naruto!) and was just asking a simple question

    Cheers for answering it

    WingZerozxt
    Reply

  38. re. & @ Zenzen

    TIS NOT THE END!!! TIS ONLY THE BEGINNING!!!!11!!one

    Being the first girl dragged into the mess she actually has the best chance out of all the ‘old’ girls. Start of a great story imo.

    S_1
    Reply

  44. And so it ends. Besides Clannad After Story, this is one show where I find the second series more enjoyable than the first. Maybe it had something to do with JC Staff taking over and staying true to the manga 90% of the time. (Again, this doesn’t mean Studio Synergy’s effort in season 1 was bad in anyway. )

    I’m not surprised that Hayate survived the crash, being the indestructible combat butler that he is, still, the soccer ball thingy was over the top. lol

    Fumi and Sharna turn up just in time for the epilogue scenes, though it neither adds nor harms their standing amongst the fans as so far in the manga they’ve mostly appeared as comic relief, taking over the role originally played by the Student Council trio, who have grown more popular lately, especially Izumi (the purple haired Class Rep with a gay butler that stalks Hayate).

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  45. Here’s a very long post attempting to speculate when a possible season 3 will be made, and how long it will last. Please bear with me.

    Season 1 covered from chapter 1 all the way up to volume 12, though the chapters adapted were randomly inserted between original fillers (which were quite fun to watch, since it is a comedy series). It didn’t hurt the show much mainly because season 1 avoided the more “juicier” chapters that contributed to crucial romantic character development.

    Those “juicy” chapters all ended up here in Season 2, which strictly covered the chapters between chapter 52 up to chapter 147 not yet adapted in Season 1 (less than 95 chapters).

    As of this post (24 Sep 2009), the latest chapter is 241. Assuming we have to wait at least another 12 months before a 3rd season is made (October 2010 earliest), the producers will have 146 chapters to use. (241+ ~52 weeks = 293, 293-147 = 146 chapters)

    Of course, producers wouldn’t be so dumb as to exhaust all the source material at once, so they might give it some leeway and adapt up to around chapter 260-280.

    However, I have a feeling a possible season 3 will start in April 2011 instead, since the previous 2 all started in the spring anime season, plus Season 2 ends up nicely just when the new school term begins for our heroes.

    This will give the producers a cushion of another 6 months (146 + ~26 chapters more = 172 chapters) for their disposal.

    With the exception of FMA:Brotherhood (Bones seems to know what they’re doing), and the neverending Shounen Jump adaptations like Naruto and Bleach, the trend for an anime airing over 24-26 episodes non-stop has become rather unfashionable lately. (Examples include Clannad, Gundam 00 and Code Geass. )

    Rather, studios would split series into different seasons. Plus the advantage of limiting the number of episodes ensures the animation quality stays consistent and doesn’t get compromised by a budget that’s overstretched from too many endless episodes. (At least for the big studios like JC Staff anyway. )

    So I would speculate season 3 having between 24-26 episodes, and still have more than enough room for a season 4, to come after yet another 12 month wait, so they can milk our moe appetites and even our wallets (DVD) for a longer period of time. But don’t take my word for it. :p

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  48. why is everyone so obsessed with Hina? I just find her so boring because she’s one of those overhype characters that is great at everything she does, except look over balconies.

    Before I continue, i do enjoy this show, I’m not here just to insult it. Also, as Kinnny riddle stated, there are comedy filler episodes, but in a whole other league there is Hayate no Gotoku, Pleeeeeeeeeeeease just get to the point for once!!!! I do enjoy the ridiculous extremeties things have to go to just to be done, and on a personal note i would like an episode where Hayate’s parents return, ask for forgiveness as a disguise to get more money try or force him to leave his job or something

    ohayou
    Reply

  50. I soooo want a third season ;_; This series is just too good…

    It got me hanging so bad that I went and read the manga for the continuation. But alas, I have finished 241 scanlated and even viewed 242 raw. Noooooo! I still want more! Lol

    I started to fall in love with Athena because of that. And now I want more Athena. And because of the final scene in this episode, they better make a season 3!! *shakes fist*

    Lei-Lei
    Reply

  51. Just wondering when Hayate gets a third season will J.C. Staff still be the one to produce it? Since the second season is a lot better than the first one, IMO, I think it was a different production staff that did it.

    X
    Reply

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