First Impressions / Hayate no Gotoku!

OP Sequence:

OP: 「ハヤテのごとく!」 (Hayate no Gotoku!) by KOTOKO
Watch the OP! Mirror 1 Mirror 2

Summary:

When he was young, Hayate had a dream of Santa Claus not giving him a present because he was poor. Santa had instead told him that he needed to work hard and said that the last laugh goes to the earnest and serious people. Now that he’s in high school, Hayate works as a delivery boy who gets into a lot of accidents but pulls through them relatively unscathed. On the way back from a delivery, Hayate runs into his friends who are on their way to a Christmas party, and they accuse him of only caring about money since he works all the time. Hayate, however, reveals that his father is unemployed. Upon getting back to the office, Hayate is surprised to find that he’s been fired for lying about his age. The only reason his boss found out was because Hayate’s parents came by and told him. He had given them Hayate’s wages, which causes Hayate to panic because he knows that his parents will lose the money on gambling. Rushing home he finds the envelope that’s supposed to contain his wages, but inside is only a note from his parents saying they lost it all. He then finds another note from them informing him that they’ve run away and left him with their 156,804,000 yen debt. It is at this moment that a bunch of shady people show up looking to collect the money, so Hayate ends up jumping out the window.

Frustrated that his hard work ended up like this, Hayate decides to kidnap a young girl and try to get the money through ransoming her. Before he can go through with this plan though, two guys try to pick her up. Acting quickly, Hayate saves her by punching one of the guys, and gives her his jacket because she’s cold. Still wanting to get ransom for her though, Hayate surprises her by asking her to go out with him. She agrees only after getting him to promise not to be unfaithful and then gives him the phone number that he wants. Hayate leaves her to call her home and demand a ransom, but he accidentally gives his last name when he calls, so he hangs up. Dejected, Hayate trips and loses the last coins that he was carrying on him into the sewers. When a bunch of snow then falls down on his head, Hayate stays on the ground and doesn’t get back up. Shortly thereafter though, a woman on a bicycle approaches his body and tries to help him. She gives him her scarf, and her kindness causes Hayate to cry. This is interrupted when Hayate hears the cries of the girl from before being forced into a car by two men. The woman recognizes that the girl is being kidnapped, so Hayate goes to save her. Inside the car, the girl is about to be touched by one of the kidnappers, so she calls out Hayate’s name (which she had learned from the envelope in his jacket pocket).

As if he’s responding to her call, Hayate appears in the air on top of the bicycle. He manages to land in front of the car, but the kidnappers don’t stop. Getting hit by the car sends Hayate airborne, but he finds a way to land back on the hood of the car. The fearsome look on Hayate’s face scares the kidnappers into giving up the girl, and the police soon arrive to take them away. Hayate claims that he’s okay, so the girl starts talking about being indebted to him, but Hayate then faints. As he’s doing so, he mentions finding a job. Around this time, the woman from before, whose name is Maria, finally catches up with the girl, whose name is Sanzenin Nagi. As a helicopter then arrives to pick them up, Nagi declares that she’s keeping the promise of finding Hayate a job by making him her new butler.

ED Sequence:

ED: 「Proof」 by MELL
Watch the ED! Mirror 1 Mirror 2
As expected, the opening song is sung by KOTOKO. It’s an okay fast-paced song, but after several listens, I actually ended up liking the ED a little more.

First episode was just about what I expected. Kugimiya Rie was perfect for Nagi, and I quickly got used to how Shiraishi Ryouko sounded as Hayate (it felt slightly odd when I originally saw the promotional commercial and DVD). The best part, however, is definitely Wakamoto Norio doing the narration. Since I’ve read the manga and am familiar with the story, hearing him proved to be quite entertaining. I also found the obligatory keep-the-room-well-lit-and-don’t-watch-too-close-to-the-tv-screen message prior to the start of the episode (it had Hayate carrying Nagi away from the TV) really cute. Of course, the various anime references were great too.
Synergy SP did a pretty good job with the animation, but since this is airing in the morning, there was some censorship. It wasn’t so much bothersome as it just felt awkward. It was a good episode overall, and I’m interested to see what direction they take the series in future episodes.

49 Comments

  6. uhh,…no. No little kids for me please. I would watch it if the characters don’t look like they belong in grade school. I’m acturally very picky when it comes to characters and their ages. Nagi was cute but not hot and thats what I go for. XD

    Mimsy
    Reply

  8. Hey, first anime I’m interested in is the first of the new season you blog. I wonder who’ll pick this show up for blogging.

    Well, this first episode doesn’t really tell me much, guess I’ll have to watch episode 2-3 to decide if I keep watching or not.

    Mutio
    Reply

  23. Great start to what I expect to be one of my must-watch series this season.

    As a side note: anyone noticed that Hino Satoshi, Kugimiya Rie’s partner in “Shakugan no Shana” and “Zero no Tsukaima” was in the voice cast for this (as Hayate’s classmate)? Could this means that there may be a chance of Hino voicing one of the sub-characters later on?

    Garet
    Reply

  31. I caught some excellent parodies in the episode. Nothing in-your-face like SHAFT, very well done.

    They changed some scenes, like Hayate lying about the “twintailed girl he didn’t see”, but I’m pretty satisfied about how it turned out.

    Eleutheria
    Reply

  33. Gundam figure in the OP.
    Ikari Gendou in early stage.
    And then, I don’t think anybody mentioned this yet, but Hayate disguised as Larharl from Disgaea in the later stage. XD

    Rasmiel
    Reply

  34. It was a lot funnier in the manga but they adapted it close enough that I didnt mind that much.Was that a picture of Dorothy from MAR on the electric post where Hayate was hiding?lol.

    tabs05
    Reply

  35. I loved this first episode. And I love the manga just as much. I agree Omni, the Gendou reference funny. And it reflects the manga’s nature of reference jokes

    Darco_emp: “This and StrikerS in the same day = WIN”

    Hell yeah. MUST FIND STRIKERS RAW.

    Avisch
    Reply

  36. Considering the show airs at 10 AM (where any six-year-old, maybe even younger, could probably simply switch to the show if their parents had the TV service for it), it was surprisingly close to the storyline. Show Spoiler ▼

    Frankly, if it weren’t for the fact that the 13-year-old Nagi mistook the situation for a love confession (*sigh* The power of manga…) I wouldn’t be surprised if someone took this and it aired on North American Daytime TV 5 years from now. (The way it is, I have a hunch it will either be mangled or be put as straight-to-DVD…)

    I think I’m definitely following this one, no matter what. Although, it’s kind of frustrating when, for the manga, only Volumes 1 and 2 are out locally, and you see Japan has 10 volumes already… -.- Oh well.

    Omni — I don’t envy you… you have a busy schedule, and there’s a lot of anime one could possibly follow this season. Good luck making your picks.

    cbhl
    Reply

  37. thank god i have a replacement show for sunday. i thought that once kiba was done i was screwed. lol yes i watched kiba. yes it was pokemon on crack. yes they even had their own poke balls. yes i even liked that show but now i have this. i know this was talked about in the random musing but i cant help it. lol i hear a shana voice. what can i say. its my favorite loli voice. then i think i also recognize the narrator’s voice also. (i might not be right but who cares) everytime i hear it i just want to start yelling “shakin” and then watch some ah my goddess.

    Genesis
    Reply

  40. [spoiler]https://randomc.net/image/Hayate%20no%20Gotoku!/Hayate%20no%20Gotoku!%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2009.jpg[/spoiler]

    is it just me, or does that guy look like Sinji’s father from Neon Genesis…

    Kurosaki Ichigo
    Reply

  43. I really think that ‘censor’ thing was just a part of the humor. You know, one of those anime techniques which are supposed to signify something in greater degrees than it could be signified if it was just shown.

    In this case, Hayate’s head is supposed to be in a very gory state (as Wakamoto Norio narrated) to which I’ve seen that same censor technique applied in several animes.

    Rasmiel
    Reply

  47. OMG!! BESERKER EVA-01!! As expected, just like manga, very promising! And thx Aigon for pointing out another robot is Optimus Prime. XD The one u didn’t mention is Tetsujin 28, or Iron Man 28 from Gigantor XD

    ExE
    Reply

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