Hayate no Gotoku 35-36
Normally I consider it extremely bad form to question the 'favourite' lists of others. After all, it is about their favourites, not mine. Still, when I saw that Hayate no Gotoku was ranked Number 2 for 2007 on Hop! Step! Jump!, I couldn't help but think: 'Ooh yiah boh, Jeff?' (Translation: 'Surely you jest, Mr Lawson.')




Well, but then again, I do share his surprise that this series isn't more discussed among the Anglophone anime bloggers. It does have, at least, one AWESOME character: thanks to Mentar and Haesslich, I have converted to Hinagikuism. But as she's not one of the main characters, she hasn't been nearly the amount of screen time that I would love to see.



And yes, this series has caused me to laugh so hard that I had to pause the anime when Klaus started mumbling: 'I mustn't run away. *repeat*' And then some more when Hayate, Maria and then Nagi started talking about the AT Field and the Sea of Dirac. Likewise the AMG reference which just so wrong but also so funny. It's even worse than realizing that My Angel is the Centrefold; Admiral Ackbar, you have no idea, Sir.


Nonetheless, Hayate no Gotoku has been a strangely frustrating series. I would love to see more coherence and faster character growth and inter-chara relationship development - which the manga seems to be exploring, at least in what I've seen from Volume 7 and 8.
From the bits I've sampled, it's been an entertaining ride but it's been feeling like a merry-go-round with the occasional servings of LOL ROFLMAO surprise and Hinagiku fan service. Not sure I'd prefer the ferris wheel or roller coaster but I just can't help but suspect that this series could have been even more entertaining. For me at least.

Supplementary question: 'Maria is sexier in her civvies than her meido uniform.' Discuss.
Related posts:

January 2nd, 2008 - 23:25
“Supplementary question:
January 2nd, 2008 - 23:32
Love this anime XD
January 3rd, 2008 - 01:50
Yup, all the pictures I’ve pointed out elsewhere are here. Excellent.
And for Suigintou…
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/34/hayate35mariadress2mc6wr3.jpg
Pity about the lack of her screaming ‘JUNK!’ in the series, especially after Hayate accidentally insulted her with regards to her age, but nobody’s perfect.
January 3rd, 2008 - 02:30
Man, I want some of those buns too XD
I enjoy HnG characters very much and am utterly in love with Hinagiku. But just thinking of wading through all the flotsam and jetsam for a glimpse of Hina-goodness makes me weary. I think I’ll just wait til Hina-centric eps before performing surgical strikes on the series.
January 3rd, 2008 - 03:10
Stripey: then you will never be watching HnG, ever. The Hina-centric stuff really only seems to be in the manga, as the artist seems to like her too (as does Hayate, apparently), and they use her more for fanservice than anything else.
January 3rd, 2008 - 04:49
At this point, I’m just sticking with the Manga. The Hinagiku-fans may have it rough with the anime, but for Maria-fans like me, it’s even more frustrating…
Natch.
January 3rd, 2008 - 06:02
Why is it that the best girls are rarely the main heroines?
Guess this saves me time and bandwidth.
January 3rd, 2008 - 07:01
January 3rd, 2008 - 23:34
uinreli: because if they WERE, then the shows would get awfully boring as the conclusion would be seen a mile away, instead of having them as ‘worthy adversaries’ for the official couple.
Adun: Her zettai ryouiki was superior, yes. Her cluelessness about the outside world was about as funny as some of the outfits she’d tried on though (Hayate thinking to himself that the places she was talking about hadn’t existed since like 1990-1993 was… interesting).
January 4th, 2008 - 00:07
re: Suigintou. I felt that the scene could have been just a little bit better drawn. That’s why I didn’t screencap it. Also it just reminds of how much I’d LOVE Rie Tanaka to play MOAR cool megalomaniac females.
Skane, my sympathies to the Maria-fans, she doesn’t get much time in the manga either it seems…
January 4th, 2008 - 05:12
Zyl: she gets more in the manga than here. Remembering Volume 7 and her ‘oneesama’ bit to Hayate and Nagi. There was a LOT of that ‘oneesama’ thing in that chapter, wasn’t there?
January 4th, 2008 - 09:19
Haha, yes, you’re right. That was good.
But Maria also noted that she hadn’t had much page time in the past two volumes before Vol.7 IIRC.
January 4th, 2008 - 12:42
Ain’t she so happy. ^^;
Part 1
Part 2
Cheers.
January 5th, 2008 - 04:14
Check out Episodes 37 and 38. Not as much Hina, alas, but Nishizawa gets some airtime, much like she will get in Vol 8 of the manga with Hina. I love seeing Nishizawa bond with the other female characters, or at least get to interact with them…. especially with Hina.
Incidentally, Ep 37 seems to take elements from the later chapters of Volume 7, which again involve Nishizawa’s family. Or at least the jokes are identical, with the change mainly in who’s with Nagi. Except she’s cuter here than in the manga, incredibly. Even if it’s not following the manga exactly, they seem to be drawing inspiration from several chapters for the recent eps.
January 5th, 2008 - 04:23
…
Spot the reference:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1544/hayate37shanabw1.jpg
January 5th, 2008 - 04:40
Yup. Just like the date chapter at the end of Volume 7.
January 5th, 2008 - 09:56
Poor Maria, you’d expected the mansion to have a better karaoke machine but I suppose Nagi isn’t in to that.
Meron pan-looking cream puff LOL. She also does her ‘urusai urusai urusai!’ fairly often.
January 5th, 2008 - 15:38
Maria’s civies accentuate’s her youth and beauty, while her meido fuku serves to remind Ayasaki Hayate that Nagi is the master of Maria, and to only love Nagi (although it didnt work) ^_^
January 6th, 2008 - 03:56
Zyl: Let’s just say there’s quite a few refs in 37, albeit not as many as in earlier episodes. but it’s probably one of the better ones.
January 18th, 2008 - 02:49
does anyone know where i can read this manga. i’m up to chapter 75
January 18th, 2008 - 07:19
George, AFAIK at this time the manga has only been scanlated up to chapter 75. Scans of raws are floating around though.