2. Hayate no Gotoku
Yes, Hayate no Gotoku is still airing. The show seems to have fallen off most people’s radar, but it never fell off mine. Ever since it first started airing this past April, I’ve been looking forward to new episodes on a weekly basis. It’s truly the first long running series to grab me in a good while.
Of course, the show’s long broadcast run may be one reason so few people watch it. Today’s anime fans have short attention spans. And when it comes to Hayate no Gotoku, short attention spans need not apply. After all, the show is utterly pointless. I mean, completely, totally, absolutely devoid of any point whatsoever. Yet, it teases you. It promises plot and character development, only to deliver a Norio Wakamoto monologue and a Gundam joke. You never know what the show will do next, and if you think you know… well, you’re probably wrong. And Mr. Wakamoto will be sure to remind you of such.
And that’s why I love the show so damn much. It’s unpredictable in a way that teeters on the edge of absurdity. Sometimes, the show has two feet planted firmly on the ground. Other times, it’s throwing itself off the edge of the world. And it does all of this within the span of a single scene. Or within a single stretch of dialogue. Hell, I’ve even seen it manage both at the same exact time. The show is positively schizophrenic.
It also makes me feel a little nostalgic. The constant references to anime series long forgotten may have something to do with that, but I think Hayate no Gotoku differs from a lot of today’s comedy anime in that it doesn’t rely so much on wit and clever direction for laughs as it does play things straight. Yes, it’s goofy as all get out at times, but the jokes and gags are almost always instantly recognizable. And when those jokes and gags start coming in quick succession, the show can get very funny, very fast. Very few comedy anime series anymore get me laughing so hard that I’m reaching for the pause button just so I can collect myself and catch my breath. Hayate no Gotoku, however, has done so more than once.
So why doesn’t the show enjoy greater popularity? The manga was relatively well-known prior to the anime adaptation’s premiere, so it’s not as if it’s a dark horse or anything. And I would think the show’s particular brand of comedy would be right up many an anime fan’s alley. Yet, aside from those friends who watch the show as religiously as I do, I don’t know many people who kept up with it past the first ten episodes or so. It’s very odd. It’s also a real shame.
After all, the only reason Hayate no Gotoku didn’t get my top spot this year is because the coin came up heads instead of tails.
I loved the first half of the series. The second half left me cold… it coincided with the start of the whole butler wars thing, but that wasn’t the cause. It just felt like the writers changed, or they ran out of manga material, or something…
Did you not notice this change yourself? Perhaps it was just me tiring of it.
I didn’t notice any significant change about half way through the series, but I do remember there being a few slow episodes around that time. However, some of the recent episodes have been the best of the series (in my opinion), so I’d say it’s still going strong.
The idea that the show ran out of steam somewhere along the way is something I’ve heard from a lot of people, though.
I watched for 25 or 26 episodes, and I enjoyed it quite a bit… and then I wandered away for no real reason that I can tell.
God help me, I think I might have actually wanted some plot… what was I thinking???
I’m still watching the new episodes week-by-week. While I wouldn’t say Hayate no Gotoku is the second-greatest highlight of my year, it’s pretty funny. And sometimes that is enough.
My problem is I read some of the manga about 6-12mo before they announced that there will be an anime.
I had already dismissed the entirety of anything Hayate no Gotoku as boring trash back then. Alas, even if I know Nabeshin is known for blowing up silly manga adaptations (which I do) I am just not motivated.
I need Chocolate Cake, or something, to act as bait. Even if it’s a lie.
omo: Considering that apparently they seem to deviate from the manga a little with the new episode, maybe that could be up your alley somewhere. I thought you had liked it when you started reading it actually. :/
name: I actually thought the the second half infused more life into the series, as it was starting to get monotonous, especially when there were “anime only” episodes in the first half.
When I have had a pile of episodes to watch this year, Hayate episodes would always be the first ones that I’d watch, even if there were (or are) shows out there better than it. It wasn’t always good, but it was always fun.
I don’t know about English Anime community, but Hayate no Gotoku is still very popular in Korea. Need I point out that Katsura Hinagiku of Hayate no Gotoku was crowned Queen of Korean Best Moe Tournament?
The problem may be that so much of its parodies require such an in depth knowledge of the anime history and Japanese Culture, that most of Fansubbers actually uttered following sentence, in Japanese and Korean,
“I’ve despaired!! All those parodies left me in despair!!!”
Most of the big names in Korean Fansubbing community has given up on translating the anime episode, citing overwork, and now only one Fansubber(blog name: FeelSoGood) is bravely continuing to translate this into Korean, and the he is doing this because the Whole Korean Anime community practically begged him,
“Help us FeelSoGood! You’re our only hope!”
There was one famous case where the fansubber blogged that one of episode took him about 24 hours of actual work not counting sleep, meals, and rest, to just come up with suitable translation, and those were some of very recent episodes of last 2 month! These incidence made me wonder if some of the lack of popularity of HnG in English community made be due to lack of cultural connections or to Anime history in Japan. Most veteran Korean anime fans were fans starting from the 70s, thus able to get even the jokes based on really old anime series like YatterMan or Mazinger series, but these would be lost without much explanation to relatively younger English Anime fans. While the biggest strength of HnG is that you can know nothing about any other animes while still find the jokes very funny, without them, HnG may lack that extra Oomph that makes a series special. Without history, HnG, being without much long term plot, becomes weekly slap-stick comedy, which can get tiring like eating too much sweets.
I’m still watching Hayate no Gotoku. In part I think it doesn’t show up on the anime blog “radar” as much is exactly because it’s so long. Everyone who’s going to watch the show pretty much already is by now, and those who don’t like it have said so and moved on. Very few people are willing to commit themselves to writing episodic entries about something that’s going to run for 50 episodes or more, so there’s not really much left to talk about.
Also I would agree with earlier comments that the series humor has become spottier over the course of its run, and it definitely requires a fair amount of otaku street cred to properly appreciate.
That said, we’re still out here (Hayate fans), we’re probably just more quiet about it than fans of other long-running series that cater to the shounen crowd. ;)
5 dollars on Zetsubou-sensei for #1
I think some of the disappointment comes from Hayate not following the manga faithfully, which means people who were expecting an adaptation of the manga (a la Mahoraba or Honey & Clover) were displeased, while the inconsistent pace of the show’s not helped it keep a following. Between that and its length… well, you have to be an addict to keep up.
Mostly I keep up with the anime for Hina - I don’t expect good Hina stories like those in Volume 8 of the manga (which if there is any justice, will get animated - but I doubt it will occur), but it’s been amusing despite some of the changes and slow episodes. Most of the episodes since 29 or so have been original eps, which again turns away some of the manga readers… although there was the fish virus one which followed the manga storyline fairly closely. I think THAT, as much as the slow pace and at times weird art style, has hurt the series as much as anything.
I stopped watching it after it became clear that I simply was Not Getting the vast majority of the references, leaving me completely cold. The same for the manga, actually.
I usually don’t read the comments and just pop in to leave my two cents, but just before typing up this comment I read what they guy above me had to say and he took the words right out of my mouth: a lot of new kids just don’t get it. I, of course do, being an anime fan of many years and being one who partakes in a lot of older shows, I get most of the jokes, and I that’s why I love it. Nagi being incredibly cute helps, too.
The show is like PPD lite, which is not a bad thing.
I agree with what you said about Hayate. It is quite a good show. Even I went off it at one point. (At episode 25. I just stopped watching but kept downloading. Ment I had a good laugh-fest once I started watching again).
Seeing one particular of the references that is coming up makes me want it even more!
Hayate is still a great show, and when it broke off from the manga, it continued to be great. I honestly cannot say it’s something I look forward to, but the show is good for easy watching. It’s something that I immediately watch when it finishes downloading, unlike some other shows (ie: Shugo Chara, Bamboo Blade) which I constantly keep avoiding for some reason or another.
I’m not sure whether I’d count as a “new kid”, actually.
I started with stuff like Doraemon and Tetsuwan Atom when I was little, and then actually Got Into Anime with Ranma 1/2 and Slayers and Tenchi Muyo, but I’ve never watched a lot of the classic stuff like the first Gundams or whatever giant mecha robot show was around. (I do remember watching whatever anime was “adapted” into Macron-1.)
With all that, I still prefer the current crop of moe harem comedies. So I suppose that I’d count as a medium-new who has renounced his heritage or something.
I just didn’t get most of the references in HnG up until I believe episode 6, when I decided that there wasn’t much point left in me watching and Not Getting It. I don’t know whether that’s because I’m a New Kid or because I just didn’t watch all those shows everyone else seems to know about.
It’s a rather fun series to watch, but I can’t bear to watch it raw nowadays.
Sadly, SS-E seems to be slowing down on their Hayate releases…
For me it’s quite simple. I stopped watching it because I didn’t find it funny (maybe put it on hiatus would be better as I do intend to finish it some time in the future). I liked the first three episodes or so and did laugh out loud during them but then after that I just found it increasingly unfunny with each passing episode. Perhaps only one of the anime original episodes between then and ep 24 (the last one I watched) did I really laugh. But I’m finding that with a lot of anime comedies now. Like people will say “Wow. That was absolutely hilarious. My ribs are hurting from laughing so hard.” and I’m sat there scratching my head thinking “Really? I cracked a smile, but I didn’t think it was that funny.”
Now when I say unfunny, I suppose I should qualify that, I mean laugh-out-loud-hilarious where I’m audibly laughing hard for a while. I don’t sit through the episodes totally emotionless. I admit to cracking the odd smile here and there and perhaps finding one or two things amusing but it didn’t seem to ever cross that barrier into LOL territory (bar the exceptions I mentioned). By the time I reached episode 24 I just had less time to watch anime so inevitably some of the average stuff had to be dropped and HnG was included in that. Admittedly it wasn’t a hard decision to make and I don’t think I’ve really missed it since. Maybe it’ll never get off my “to be completed” list or perhaps I’ll watch it in a few months time and it’ll all click and I’ll finally understand what the fans see in it.
@digitalboy
It’s gonna be Potemayo at #1.
“It’s a rather fun series to watch, but I can’t bear to watch it raw nowadays.”
I can get by pretty well with my one semester of Japanese, but then again I’m not actively trying to understand it and only pick up on a few lines naturally here and there.
One to go, and we haven’t seen either Gurren Lagann or Potemayo yet. One gets chosen, one gets stiffed. The tension mounts…
My guess is that Potemayo gets the knod.
Hayate is alot of fun but it is somewhat hit and miss. Sometimes the throw everything at the wall and see what sticks approach was tiresome, other times I was left in stitches. Potemayo was more consistent in this type of comedy, maybe because it didn’t rely so much on parody/homage.
I prefer my comedy to be character driven and unfortunately for a lead Hayate just doesn’t have much, well, character, but that is more than made up for by Nagi, Maria and the excellent *something for everyone* supporting cast which is so large that most people have three or four favourites. The show does a good job of rotating these so no-one overstays their welcome.
Kudos to the producers for keeping me laughing this long but I desire more from a show if it is going to make my top five.
I have continued to watch this show too. It always is able to deliver a laugh at the end of the day. I love the whole premise of the show with the fundamental misunderstanding between Hayate and Nagi continues to play out week after week like some kind of inside joke only Maria and us viewers are privileged to be in on. They had me at Nagi’s “Okay, but don’t cheat on me.”
I don’t get most of the parodies either. Maybe that’s a not bad thing in upon a moment of sober self-reflection… I agree with Wildarmsheero’s comparison to PPD lite. I was just thinking that myself. Of course, Oyasumi-subs did a masterful job of referencing most of the obscure stuff in the subtitles for PPD. I liked PPD for it’s absurdity too.
Still for some reason I can’t figure out, the series feels like it has run out of inertia recently. I will continue to watch though. We have all seen series stutter a bit at the mid point only to pull up again later.
I also liked the first 3 episode and then I can notice that my enthusiasm dropped episode by episode. One reason might be that the storyline stablised since it is all around the maison now. The increasing amount of fighting scenes are quite pointless and does not involve parodies much. Hayate is also quite tolerant on other’s unusual behaviours. When I watch Gintama, I find it funny when characters make ugly face when they faced oddity, but in Hayate, you don’t see it. The characters also have a “disposable” feeling. I think I feel this way when the character is in between the protagonist or a side character, when it is not so realistic and only have one or two stand points in their personality. If they merge some character it might help (this is just some amateur’s opinion though). Lastly I think the jokes in Hayate does not continue on, which means their power do not accumulate (unlike Gintama). Well these are just some personal opionions I came up on the run, hopefully they might make some sense.
The show nearly lost my attention, although there were a few funny bits in the last few episodes, compared to when it first aired however, its not nearly as good. I do like the plot to be honest, although it isn’t that much of a plot, but there has been an increasing amount of anime that focuses on otakus, hikikomori and anything of that sort this past year. This is anime takes into account of a hikikomori with a different environment, being a girl and rich etc which differs it from other anime of the same genre, however for a nonsense comedy type anime (which there are a lot of this year - Pani Poni Dash, Lucky Star), it lacked potential after the first few episodes.
Another reason for watching anime is obviously the seiyuu for the main star, Rie Kugimiya. After watching Shakugan no Shana, i also watched Zero no Tsukaima and now Hayate no Gotoku and even Gintama. I really like her Loli + Tsundere type voice :P
After all, the show is utterly pointless. I mean, completely, totally, absolutely devoid of any point whatsoever.
Love that too!
I only made it to episode 14, so I haven’t gotten the bloom of it all, but I found it awesome enjoyable. Probably should have made a point to have caught up with the releases, but I just never found a good time to do it… marathoning HnG seems … like it would be a great workout!? :)
I stopped watching this around ep 24, and it was mostly because I didn’t find it funny. I was a fan of the manga, but the anime made me hate it. That’s how awful I think it was. Total randomness with the hope of catching some plot from the manga is not what I look forward to.
I’ve been watching since the begining, it dropped off a little around the middle but I still find it funny. It’s good that they spiced it up with parodies of recent anime while still being faithful to the manga. The show has definetley managed to do well considering its been going on so long, i’ll be watching till the end for sure.
lol, utterly pointless. Completely, totally, absolutely devoid of any point whatsoever. XD XD omg nice XD so agreeing with Ryan A XD
I really like this series. Its like a Haruhi Suzumiya world on crack!
I dont get a lot of the references, but it doesnt prohibit you from enjoying the general context of the show.
Further its a great anime that fuses traditional anime elements with erratic and offbeat devices that creates this weird post-modern anime. Hayate no Gotoku Ski Desu!
Hayate no Gotoku’s first half of episodes are entertaining as a comedic anime can get. The references do most of the work of a comedic part of the anime. While this anime is on the level of funny where it actually had me laughing enough to make me stop, click the pause button and catch my breath.
The anime’s started to get sad after the 2nd half of it. I think the turning point of the Hayate no Gotoku was the fact that Nagi is now honestly to god trying to get Hayate to like her. That was a bit of a turn off for me, it didn’t quite do the job i expected the anime to do. The original plot including the misunderstanding on Christmas day drew me to watch it. Now that the misunderstanding is coming to a slow end, it’s started to get a little boring. Still, I stay loyal to Hayate no Gotoku and have it as my 2-3rd favorite anime this year. and probably 1st of all time, (I’m the kind of person who takes laughs into serious consideration.)
All in all, I’ve constantly checked on SS-E’s website for any updates on fansubs but no luck. What’s taking you guys so long? T_T
My first anime was in the late 80’s. I’m only 21 years old, what do you expect? lol So my first anime experience was Samurai Pizza Cats(I bet very few people heard of it). I started watching anime again when I started junior high, and never stopped enjoying anime since.
I first read the HnG manga a few months back. Of course, I loved it or I wouldn’t be posting here. I don’t mind the references. I can understand about half of them(even the Kimagure Orange Road one in the manga). For everyone’s information: ALL anime series normally start with a bang, then fade a bit. Those that are not like that are usually like Nagi’s manga; dry, confusing, and pointless. HnG is not even near dry or confusing, even if you lack anime knowledge. At times the sensoring is the funny factor when you don’t understand.
When I download new anime to try, chances are I’m getting either children shows or serious adult audience material for some reason, so to pick up HnG was almost like a godsend to me. It’s definately up there on my list with Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu and Kimagure Orange Road among other masterpieces. Like what Worosei said: You don’t need to understand most of the references in order to enjoy it. The show is not meant to be taken seriously.
i don’t know about most of you guys who get most of the parodies but i don’t get A LOT(haven’t seen any classics) of them but i still enjoy the show. yes, i agree that it can be very random at times but still to me it is just great. i’ve been watching all the way through to 48 rite now(come on 49) and can’t exactly stop myself from watching it. the plot at the begining was great and got a little boring but i really started to see some character development near the later episodes and really wanted to kno if hayate is going to end up with one of the ladies(hoping for hina).
@good show: Nagi x]]
It may be a bit late in saying with the series finished now but I quite liked the earlier hayate material where it was moe focused on hayate being Nagi’s butler and all the wierd quirky stuff (and all the references) that cropped up with having to look after Nagi.
As the series progressed more episodes like ep 18 “the rare card is swimsuit” and ep 23 “A genius teacher, whoes not small, appears” kept cropping up. These episodes to me felt like the writers where trying to buy time. The jokes felt a bit stale and basic here.
That said I continue to watch the series but I dread looking to far beyound where I am (33) as Ive heard its all origonal. I hope they can pull it off without that filler feeling of how to make jokes without changing the storyline.