Hayate the Combat Butler!!

kenikki Oct 6, 2009

5

Story: 3.5/10 Well, I like the initial premise of this show. It's silly and fun. But now, what actually plays on that premise is just like half of the series. The other half is that godawful harem part, which I've noticed is actually most of it's fans favorite aspect of the show. As for me, I definitely prefer the previous, "premise" side of the series, which although is also cut into two pieces of it's own. And those pieces are the all humor and purely episodic part and the part with more serious character development. Unless it deals with the harem part of the show of course. I do like basicly all the episodes that deal with the "premise" side of the series, but unfortunately there are very few of those in this season. Most episodes deal with the crappy harem side. Which, as I've already stated before, sucks! So low score here. Animation/Artwork/Visual Effects: 7/10 It's definitely a step up from the first season. And while it's not really necessary, it's always nicer to look at something if the appearance is a little better. Something that pissed me off quite a bit here was the constant use of the "sparkles around a cute-looking character" scene which is probably the most clichéd scene in all of anime and one of the scenes I hate the most as well. A lot of people would probably say that they use it alot because it's a parody of harem shows, but this isn't even a parody anymore. It has developed into an actual harem series. And not a good one at that. Anyway, nice A/A/VE, but nothing special. Sound: 7/10 The voice actors does a good job. Nothing to complain about here. And I gotta say that I love Rie Kugimiya as one of her tsundere roles and that the unique voice of the narrater works really well. The BGM has a kind of silly sound to it that works well with comedy scenes, but it definitely gets repetetive after a while. And while it works fine, it's still not even that good to begin with. The OP/ED sucked imo. Characters: 3.5/10 A lot of HnG!!'s fan probably think that this is the show's strength, but I highly disagree. I think that Klaus, Tama, Hayate, Nagi and Maria are funny, but only when they interact with each other. Outside of that they step out from parody and into the world of cliché. Although Wataru is alright from time to time. And I did like the other butlers, but they hardly even appeared in this season. They had a few seconds of screentime in the first episode and one of them appeared for another few seconds in a later episode, but that was it. And hell, Klaus only appeared in a very few scenes and Tama barely even got any time with the exception of the episode that focused on him. Most of the time was just wasted on Nishizawa (bleh) and Hinagiku (snore). A lot of time was even given to that useless and unfunny schoolgirl trio. Overall: 5/10 If the comedy was what you liked from the first season, then stay away from this one. If you for some reason liked the "romance", then by all means, watch this. But if you ask me, then I'd say to watch Shuffle if you want a decent harem, watch Toradora for light romantic comedy and watch Ouran High School host Club for a show that makes fun of harem romances, even though Ouran mainly makes fun of reverse harems/shoujo harems. The only reason I didn't give it a lower score overall is because of the production.

krofire Jul 1, 2022

7

J.C.Staff renewed the original effort of Synergy SP and brought this crazy rom-com back our screens a year after the first 52-episode season had closed. We panned the first season largely, and unfairly, because the version we watched on the big screen was in standard definition rendering the whole experience uncomfortable viewing. It made the whole show look like a made-for-kids Saturday morning cartoon. All colour and stupidity. On Crunchyroll season two is in high definition allowing us to focus a bit more on the story rather than trying to save our eye-sight. There isn’t much of a story to this and season two continues in much the same vain - at first sight. Our hero, the young “combat Butler” Hayate Ayasaki is still working for his temperamental young charge Nagi Sanzenin to pay off the debt landed on him by his parents. She is infatuated with him yet, being only 13, the Butler doesn’t quite see her in a romantic sense leading to her getting angry with him at every opportunity. Yet he remains devoted to her. Season two does move things along a little as is evidenced by the closing titles for the first thirteen-odd episodes. These are dedicated to just one character, Hinagiku Katsura, Student Council President and kendo club president at Hakuo Academy where they are all schooled. Nagi largely melts into the background as we now focus on Katsura and her potential romantic engagement with Ayasaki. They had already hit it off a little in the first season but in season two we learn now that he is finding himself attracted to her. Boys in these sort of harem animes are usually clueless about their feelings toward girls so for him to admit this is significant. She is, after all, his age unlike Nagi. The dramatic complication now introduced is when his school friend Ayumu Nishizawa befriends Katsura and she confesses that she loves Ayasaki. This sets us up for a complicated love-triangle that drives large chunks of the story through season two. That is probably about it for “story” as the rest if the action is all the normal irreverent craziness we have come to expect from this madness. Sadly, the love-triangle seems to melt away a little towards the end of season two and the whole show starts to rest again upon action, stuff blowing up, sexy maids and more killer robots. The show draws its influence from so many different sub-genres that there really is something for everybody. Yet jack-of-all-trades-is-master-of-none and it all starts to look like an Otaku’s homage to a whole bunch of much-better shows. It fails to really satisfy as it never really gets good at any one thing. As a whole: a mess. Yet it has its fans. Heaven knows why.

Tomo90 Aug 14, 2011

9.6

Hayate no Gotoku!! is the next series of the excellent prelude Hayate no Gotoku!. When I began to watch this series I wondered how they could top their previous series and what would be in store for us. I was surprised after a couple of episodes in when I realised that the show when off in a different direction. The first Hayate no Gotoku was all about comedy and parody but the second season was slightly different. There were still parodies and spoof but there wasn’t as nearly as many as the first and they were far between. It was still funny but it was a different type of comedy. Hayate no Gotoku had turned into a sort of harem/romance comedy mismatched with parody. Well I suppose it was always that genre but now it focused more on the harem/romance comedy than the parody. After the initial shock I have to admit I loved the new direction that the show when in. The comedy was absolutely hilarious! The characters were developed much more and the situations they were in although not surprising but just simply a joy to watch. There were many laugh out loud moment and there were also a lot of tender moments. It was also the perfect mix of comedy and romance, it was wonderful simply wonderful. The animation and music was pretty simular to the first and the songs were again a delight. Overall I got to stay, although it was different to the first series and when a slightly different direction it was again a brilliant anime, definitely one to watch.