Hayate no Gotoku!

Here is an anime that's not like many others. Hayate the Combat Butler is a colaberation of all kinds of Anime thrown into one, in order to make fun of it of course. What I mean is that Hayate is one of those Animes that make fun of Anime in general. I first herd of this series when it came out as a manga and so I got the manga and read a few books. Now even more intrigued, I began my search of the animated version. To my surprise there it was and began to watch it with my good friend from campus, Edge. ... Both of us fell in love with the series and it's comedic view on Anime.

Like I mentioned before, Hayate is a comedy anime, so it doesn't have a strong storyline. But what it's missing in story line makes up with many vibrant characters. Each character has their own interesting persona which gives a feel and equal balance between characters. It is obvious to say that the little storyline is really nothing to complain about. Another interesting thing to point out is how they transition many aspects of the Manga into the Anime. Though the Anime doesn't follow along the original chapters of the Manga, the characters still have the same aspects and don't astray from their original concept.

The comedy in this Anime is truely halarious, but not many will understand it if they haven't seen many mainstream Animes like; Dragon Ball Z, Mobile Suit Gundam, Saint Seiya and the Knights of the Zodiac, etc.. This Anime heavily uses other anime quotes, actions, and scences as references. They also use alot of Japanese television cullture in this as well. References to famous idols, Soap Opera, and other TV shows. Most of the anime's they bleep out during discusions are purposely done because of how it was like in the Manga. Originally the manga would bleep out certain words so they wouldn't get sued by other companies by using certain names, example; Gundam would be changed to Gu--am or ---dam on the TV show or Manga. But that in itself is halarious.

The art in the anime is pretty good. Though the characters are all flashy with serveral Neon color overtones, they don't look all too bad. There is no serious fan service in this anime so if you are looking for enourmous Boobs, you won't find any here. Many other characters are of proper proportions and aren't really saturated. Though in certain scenes they make tease pictures of certain characters in the end of the episodes for Fan Service, which are really more funny then sexy. Also they have certain episodes where they change the animation stylings as well. In one episode they hire the designers of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann to do the episode.

In the end I wrote nothing but good about this anime, that's because I favor humor against many popular animes. Indeed not many of you will enjoy this Anime, it's all about preferences and interests. I, however, will encourage you to watch a few episodes and see what I mean. This Anime is one for my record books. I've got my laughs and can't wait till the next season comes out, oh wait...kinda spoiled it for you guys, lol.

Hayate no Gotoku (Hayate the Combat Butler) is a hilarious romantic comedy that is chuck-full of parodies and censorship. It follows the story of a very ordinary boy Hayate, who’s always been a noble person and forced to work most of his life. One day his parents left him with a huge dept to pay, to some very kind people (the Yakuza). Now that he’s lost all hope, Hayate attempts to kidnap a rich girl, Nagi but he ends up saving her from the “very kind people”. She returns the favour by allowing him to work as her butler, thus their adventure begins.

That’s basically the ... set-up of the show with one of the funniest opening episodes ever. With this being a romantic, comedy both of these aspect are important. There are several obvious romantic interests between the characters like Hayate and Nagi. This really isn’t all that relevant to the story though but it just helps give it purpose. On the other hand the comedy is what stands. The jokes are funny and fresh, making the gags so blatantly obvious that you’ll have to be asleep to not notice. The comical “Can’t show this” gag and bleeping (****) out anime/manga references are just a few of the running gags that will leave you in laughing fits. There are dozens of whacky parodies in this anime series that can easily surpass the like of Exc*l S*ga. One thing this anime will become known for is perfecting the art of “breaking the 4th wall”, which also has been achieved in several other series. ^_^

*For those who don’t know “breaking the 4th wall” is when a character is aware they are being watched and they even interact with the audience*

The animation quality is great for a comedy with the characters having the classic “Moe” features (e.g. big eyes, big head, slim body). Compared to similar romantic comedies that arrived around the same time “Nagasarete Airantou” and “Seto no Hanayome” the animation in Hayate no Gotoku! is just as luscious and vibrant, however there are scores of anime with superior animation. This doesn’t matter because the way the show looks definitely suits this anime. The music also suits the fun nature of the show and has plenty of catchy beats but it can get fairly repetitive after a while.

Overall this is definitely an anime for anime fans who’ve seen plenty of shounen anime, due to the number of jokes related to those. However for those who haven’t seen much anime won’t feel left out by not understanding, as most of the jokes are just blatantly obvious. Though no matter how enjoyable this series is, the story is the weakest aspect and after a while it gets fairly unimpressive and repetitive. Even with all the added hilarious action, in the second half, it can get a bit old. But if you’re just looking for a series to watch, for a laugh and not take seriously then this is definitely the one.

^_^

52 episodes? Yes.

Don't get me wrong now. There were some entertaining scenes and sometimes even episodes in Hayate the Combat Butler! It's just that, you know, there aren't enough. I can also say with a certainty I rarely feel regarding any anime that this was too long, way too long, for its own good. There are reasons of course. First of all; this anime is episodic, 52 episodes of episodic plots is too much. It will never be good, in any anime. I don't really have anything against episodic animes, but this genre, or these genres are perhaps not suitable as a base for a ... 52 (!) episode anime where each and every episode has its own plot. At some point it gets tedious.

In Hayate the Combat Butler! I can honestly say I don't even remember at what point it got tedious. All I can say is that the three episodes that Nabeshin was contributing to with storyboard and directing were the best, especially the one where he appears in person with his 'fro. I did laugh at other scenes aswell, but as I said before, the laughs came too sparsely for it to be worth living through 52 episodes. There are other, better animes with denser, in want for a better word, comedy (laugh) value.

There were some references to other anime and populat culture in general in this anime. For the people who have seen this; did you notice them? Yea. They were hard to miss. I don't mind it once or twice or maybe even ten times, but when we're talking like 100 times it, as the entire anime, gets tedious.

Did you know that when you're 20 you're basically ready for retirement in Japan? Throughout the entire series I was contemplating if the subtle (not) hints you got that this was the case were serious or if they were just yanking my chain, so to speak. I'm more inclined to say they were serious though. Maybe this entire anime was made for those kids in middle school that form anti grown up clubs and enter depressions and states of emo-ness due to the fact that they'll soon enter highschool in which case they will be "old". Perhaps I was never meant to watch this anime at all, I honestly don't know.

Did you know that there was no character development of any of the characters, whatsoever, in the entirety of Hayate the Combat Butler! It's true, if anyone should disagree with me I ask of them to show me proof by pointing out character and episode and I will take the time to rewatch the entire episode just to see if it's true. That is how certain I am that character development does not exist in Hayate the Combat Butler!

If anyone should be interested I will go after Wikipedia's definition of character development which is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_development

52 episodes? Yes.

“Hayate No Gotoku!” was an enjoyable romantic comedy, with most of the emphasis on comedy, rife with hilarious situations, absurd humor, filled with references to other anime and culture elements. Most episodes were a great laugh and I enjoyed following the series, even though most of it is based on tried and proved humor and events.
I do like the fact that the series did not take itself too seriously and often not only made fun of other anime and manga, but also made fun of itself and its own absurdities as well, which showed in elements such as characters interacting with the narrator or seemingly ... reaching out to the audience to question what is happening on-screen.

The cast of characters is large enough to provide ample variation, however many are more stereotypical characters or are comprised out of stereotypical character traits, luckily they're quite effectively or humoristically used at times, which helps greatly.
Then again, Nagi, Hayate, Maria, Hinagiku, and the many more of the large cast present in the series were always good for a laugh or a surprise.
Some characters barely appeared tough, such as Himegami, Chiharu and Aika, they were added to the second opening sequence as if their characters would have quite a bit of screen time and importance but they ended up appearing only a few times. This could give the impression the creator/writers aren't sure yet where they want to go with the series.

The ending of “Hayate No Gotoku!” 52 episode run was somewhat unexpected though, it was a nice episode with some evolution of the main plot but offers no closure since they announced a second season is in the works, so be prepared for that if you intend to watch the series.
I'm unsure how well another series run will do for “Hayate No Gotoku!”, I'm unfamiliar with the manga so I do not know how much material is left for them to use. While I did enjoy the show a great deal, the question is will it be able to carry itself for another run of 52 episodes?
However, now that “Hayate No Gotoku!” has finished airing, I notice how I do miss it, seeing the antics of Nagi, Hayate, Maria, Hinagiku, for such a long time made them grown on me, I was used to seeing them around every week.

The animation on “Hayate No Gotoku!” was always good to decent, while the obvious fanservice scenes got better animation and finish compared to other scenes that were more simply animated or illustrated, I didn't find this bothersome. The series looked like it also tried to keep some of the character design style of the manga, most characters looked good, albeit generic at times.
With the many homages, easter eggs, many links and references to other anime series, the style sometimes did change during several scenes which would often lead to hilarious scenes.

The soundtrack was allright, clearly made to accompany what happens on-screen without truly standing out. In contrast I am fond of the opening songs done by Kotoko, I generally enjoy her music a lot and found her contributions here were energetic and lively tracks that fit the pace of the series perfectly.

If you're looking for a good romantic comedy that does not only have the themes we're used to but is also rife with absurd humor and links to other series then you most likely will love “Hayate No Gotoku!”.
At 52 episodes it is a long series so I'm not sure how viewing it in a batch will come over, I do think watching it weekly or with some pause between episodes may make it more enjoyable.

I'm writing this review in order to help balance out the disproportionate number of positive reviews. I'm not doing it out of spite; having seen all of both the first and second seasons, I can definitely say that I was disappointed with how this series turned out. So, let this be fair warning so others do not make this mistake: Hayate no Gotoku is NOT a story-driven anime. While I began watching with some knowledge of this, the total absence of any plot whatsoever and any character development at all (I will say the second season provides a lot more development though) were incredibly frustrating ... for me, and I'd like to prevent others from having to endure over 70 episodes in order to learn the same lesson. Please understand this is nothing more than my personal opinion, and that while I recognize that others did enjoy the show, it reached the point where I no longer could.

Story:
1/10, Mainly because there is none. Nor is there really a pretense of one. The purpose of this show is nothing more than comedy; it's goal is not to tell a story, and so there is no plot. If you enjoy this approach, then it can certainly be amusing, but for anyone looking for the barest hint of a story, you will find nothing.

Art & Sound:
8/10 and 7/10. To be honest, I rather enjoyed the art style, and that's part of what kept me watching for the duration of the series. That said, for most of the first part of the season they "censored" out a lot of the blood/violence/random words (not even explicit language). Although this was amusing at first, it was heavily overused and became incredibly annoying.

Character:
4/10 For a reasonably strong cast. Unfortunately, there is no character development whatsoever, which makes it very difficult to watch the characters making the exact same mistakes they did 50 episodes ago and having it still be funny. Because of the lack of plot, the characters really needed to carry the show, and in the early episodes they do an admirable job. But a series this long really demands more than what was provided, and by the end I was totally unsatisfied with almost every aspect of the show.

Enjoyment:
3/10 As others have mentioned, the series starts off strong, but it really does become a grind to get through the second half. And getting to the end and realized that there has been no progression whatsoever really makes it difficult to look back positively on the show as a whole.

Overall: 3/10
Solid art and sound work, but every other aspect of the show is totally inadequate for meeting the demands of a show that is more than 50 episodes long.

Hayate no Gotoku! This is just pretty much an anime not worthy of your time if you doesn't want to waste your time becoming fanatics to a few characters in this show.
Anyway,this show is a pure romance comedy which have attracted many people with its characters and comedy. It have its own kind of comedy unlike anything else including the non-existent fourth wall thanks to the fact that every characters destroy it almost every episodes.

Story: This show actually doesn't have a true storyline.Most of the episodes are fillers and some of them actually bend with the manga but that's the funny part of it.
The central ... plot is pretty much about a boy name Ayasaki Hayate becoming a butler to a 13-year old girl name Sanzenin Nagi(and she's mine BTW, RAWR!!!!) and the whole plot revolves around this baka butler journey toward becoming the best butler ever.

Art: Nothing to comment except its awesome xD. The art is so great that it makes 3D looks like ugly for a while.

Sound: This show have some of the best OST I ever heard.Both OP is awesome and hilarious at the same time while its ED have those romance feeling. Proof have these sleepy,sow sound while Get My Way! have these party style. Chasse have these calm-sound and the best ED by the way while Ko No Me Kaze have these unknown-feelings.......

Character: These show have some of the best characters you gonna ever saw like Katsura Hinagiku and Ayasaki Hayate but not all of them are as awesome as Nagi ojou-sama xD. End of point

Overall: Overall, this show is what makes me an otaku to start, so if anyone who doesn't like anime at first, take this show and pledge yourselves as a full anime fanatics xD

For all of those thinking of watching Hayate the Combat Butler let me just say that the comedy in this show focuses mainly on making parodies based on a variety of animes and mangas. So if this is the first time watching anime I would suggest that this would not be a very suitable anime to start on.

Story:
The main plot of Hayate is not very strong, but it does set up a good environment for a comedy to take place. Basically Hayate takes on the role of Nagi Sanzenin's butler in order to pay off the debts left behind from his parents. There is not ... much story development after that and I'm not exactly sure what there was to develop, but that didn't make the show any less fun to watch. The episodes consist of each episode that doesn't really matter if you watch it or not because most of them don't change anything. Many people may look at that as a turn down, but as a comedy it was probably necessary in order to keep each episode funny. So each episode takes on a different event in the life of a butler is how I could interpret the story.

Animation:
The art/animation for Hayate was, I thought, very well done. The style used for this show was perfect to set the mood of a comedy. There were many bright colors used in the animation from the characters to the background. Also this isn't like other animes where they try to make it as realistic as possible, but this is a positive seeing as they weren't looking for realistic nor a serious looking anime.

Sound:
To get right down to it the theme songs, background music, and character voices were all very upbeat. The theme songs especially made the show seem very much like an upbeat show. As for background music I'm pretty sure they were going for a classy sort of comedic beat seeing as the settings were all suppose to have that rich-like theme. The character voices was probably the strong point in sound. All of the voices suited the characters for what they were suppose to be (except maybe Maria?). So sound is good in all, but nothing really special. =)

Character:
Heres where I thought Hayate succeeded in the most. The characters were what made this show enjoyable and one of the most funniest animes out there. All the characters (and there were MANY) played there parts in jokes that made me laugh throughout the anime. Even the most serious of characters were in their own way comedic and contributed to making this show very funny. One problem I did find was that because there were so many characters some of them found themselves taken out of the storyline for up to 20 episodes (maybe even more). Noticing this problem the makers of Hayate still made a way to turn this into a joke (or maybe it was intentional?).

Enjoyment:
I thought this show was very enjoyable and those looking for a few laughs keep looking because you won't get a "few" you will get ALOT. Although I did enjoy this anime and thought it was very funny there were somethings I thought were annoying or unnecessary. I have nothing against comedy, but I couldn't give this show a 10 for enjoyment because I still like action and horror better... =.=

Having recently gone from having an interest in animes to an obsession , I can safely say that this is the funniest product to ever come out of Japan. Hayate the Combat Butler, is the story of unlucky teenager Hayate Ayasaki,who after being sold to the Yakuza(Mafia) and inheriting a debt of 156,804,000 Yen, decides to kidnap a girl named Nagi Sanzenin. Unfortunately, the idiot(Hayate), botches up the plan, and due to poor empathy, makes Nagi believe that Hayate is in love with her. After saving her from another kidnapping plot, Hayate then becomes Nagi’s butler, where he must use all means necessary to protect ... her, completely unaware that Nagi is in love with him.

It was in 2004 that Kenjiro Hata released this hilarious manga (which eventually turned into an anime) which featured funny characters, outrageous humor, many references to popular culture, parodies of pop-culture, and the craziest situations created. Whether it be walking to the grocery store only to end up getting attacked by thousands of bodyguards with swords, to attempting to sneak into a school, only to be met by a crazy alcoholic history teacher that really wants to kill someone, the situations simply from crazy to ludicrously demented. The reason for most of these “incidents”(If you can call them that.) is due to the fact that Hayate is the unluckiest 16 year old I have ever seen in my life. While he is skilled in combat, martial arts, stealth, weapon use, painting forging, assassinations, cleaning, door to door salesmanship, etc….(How he learns all these skills are beyond me), he just seems to always be at the wrong place at the wrong time. One other factor could also be that his weakness, girls added to what seems to be the poorest empathy I’ve seen from 16 year old, simply makes Hayate’s life a living nightmare. Whether it be that every single girl in Tokyo is insane, or the fact Hayate still hasn’t figured out (After two season and 20 volumes), that most of the girl’s that he meet are in love him, usually results in Hayate being in a lot of mental and physical pain.

The format of the show is basically scenario after scenario, a basic format that really doesn’t distinguish it from other animes/mangas. However, it is not format but the scenarios that it get right, for every scenario usually involves a lot of parodies, breaking of the wall, truly insane action, and lots of freaking misunderstandings. Whether it be misuse of the word “play”, or accidently killing off a character for really no reason what-so-ever, the series revolves around the idea of world where everybody takes everything too seriously, resulting many casualties caused by a war that ends many innocent lives. (Moment of Silence Please) However, all of these scenarios are hilarious, as for they rely on outrageous humor, a ridiculous amount of sexual innuendo, and amusing character abuse scenes. Even the normal scenarios are hilarious, for they range from attempting to get into one of the greatest school in Japan (An obvious parody to Love Hina), to trying to escape a gay person who loves Hayate, instantly turns into a fight to the death situation.

If their one flaw with this series (I don’t find it a flaw, but many people do), it’s the fact it leans VERY closely to Harem. For those of you who don’t know, Harem is usually an anime with the situation in that one guy is involved with two or more girls. This isn’t bad, in my opinion, but it usually leads to girls being made into sex symbols. (Still have no problem with that) Meaning if you are a woman, you may be turned off by this series. however, if you are willingly to overlook this and just laugh at what you on screen, then you will really enjoy this show.

If what I said make’s Hayate the Combat Butler a mindless comedy, then you are wrong, This series can be very touching at times, as for before Hayate became a butler, he was dirt poor kid that had to support two lazy parents that sold him to the mafia, even going to the extent of giving him the . After seeing the first episode, you really feel the problem that Hayate is going through, as for everyone has abandoned him. Heck I’m not afraid to say that I even shed a tear. Hayate the Combat Butler is the story of survival. Hayate, being a butler, has to constantly serve the most spoiled child I have ever seen (Nagi) and no matter how angry she gets at Hayate, Hayate always seems to do everything willingly, even feeling guilty when he isn’t working or taking a day off. Basically it’s the story of Hayate wanting to be accepted, but due to bad luck, has a very hard time doing it. Since the series is still running, I can’t come to any conclusions if Hayate is going to actually end up being happy, so I am hoping that the conclusion is really well done, as for death shall come to Kotoko if they do release a crappy final episode.

Hayate the Combat Butler is simply hilarious and touching. While the slight harem feel may stop girls from reading/watching this, most of the population will simply enjoy this great manga/anime series.

Hayate no Gotoku was by far the funniest anime i have ever seen! From episode 1 to episode 52 the wasnt a single moment where I wasn't either chuckling or laughing my head off.
Ayasaki Hayate is a normal kid, except, he is over 100 million Yen in debt. The story begins with him being sold to the mafia by his own debt ridden parents to ease their money problems. Hours upon hours of comedy ensues.
The story is like a bamboo tree - sure it goes direct and gets to the end but there are many twigs ... jutting off that are highly funny, but not a part of the actual story. If you have seen D.Gray-Man, you will almost instantly relate Hayate to Allen because of their parents/master and what they had to do to pay of their debts. Even their hair and voices share similarities.
There are so many parodies in this series so make sure you watch quite a few beforehand although it isn't absolutely ESSENTIAL. There are references to Evangelion, Death Note, Final Fantasy, Shakugan no Shana, Full Metal Alchemist, xxxHolic, Dragonball Z and.. well as many other anime as you could shake a Lance of Longinus at. Though even without understanding all of the references this IS the funniest anime.
The comedy is not all randomness and parody, there is some romantic comedy aspects (as Hayate is the most clueless character in history). There are action scenes and things that are so unexpected and funny such as ... well all I will say is Tama is not all he seems.
Basically, if you're looking for a historically funny anime - look no further! Hayate will literally make you LOL, LMAO and perhaps even ROFL.

What can we say about hayate no gotoku? Well, the first thing I can say with a large amount of confidence is that overall it's a pretty good anime, the comedy is usually pretty funny, and the action is fast-paced enough to keep it exciting, but not overbearing. By the same token, it's not great, it's comedy is not drop-dead hilarious, the action doesn't bring you to the edge of your seat, and it does not bring anything really ground-breaking to the anime industry. This anime does a great job of establishing a sense of normalcy, and does a great job with ... characters that aren't too deep establishing a few funny quirks for you to learn about for each character. These are both the anime's strongest qualities and its weakest point; the characters rarely have any depth at all and seem to be cookie-cutter molds of the industry, but that doesn't make them bad characters, cookie-cutter molds exist for a reason, because its what people like. Also, the normalcy is impressive, but no real story climax results from it, even though what happens in the last few episodes might be considered a climax as I've said before it doesn't really make you grip the edge of your seat in anticipation.
If you're debating whether or not to watch this anime, I would suggest trying it out for a few episodes, and if the character of Hayate and the first 2 or 3 episodes don't do anything for you this anime is not for you. Also, this anime is a harem-style anime, but it manages to keep it pg, so not too much fan service for those of you that are into that.

For many years I had been recommended this show by a variety of friends and it looked very promising. A lot of comedy, some romance, and Queen Tsundere, Rie Kugimiya . Kugimiya also voiced other popular characters such as Louise in Zero no Tsukaima , Taiga in Toradora , and Shana in Shakugan no Shana (among with a variety of others). I personally have seen all of those except Shana and I'm a huge fan of her voice so this show was an easy pick with her playing the young, rich, spoiled, shut-in otaku tsundere Nagi.

But moving past characters let's actually talk about the show.

The ... show started off pretty strong. It was about poor Hayate who is thrown into a world of debt after his parents gamble him away and in a last ditch effort to make money he thinks about kidnapping young Nagi in the hopes for a ransom only to back out the last second and end up saving her. So for the first few episodes we follow this narrative and the introduction of characters and settings. I want to say about the first 10 episodes are focused. However it's what happens after that changes everything...

Any sense of focus or story is thrown to the side. In a 52 episode series, there's less than 10-20% of episodes with some significance. Is this necessarily a bad thing to drift away from the story? Of course not! It's good to get a break. But when there are this many episodes it quickly gets tiring. Each episode basically pits some ridiculous situation and stems a large amount of jokes on anime references and the such. Again, all things that aren't that bad, but when you go 20 some episodes like this it quickly gets old. I remember falling asleep during so many episodes (which is VERY rare for me) just because I failed to keep interest. I would literally let the video run on the side and work on something else only looking over on occasion for the subtitles and things that catch my eye. I stopped watching the show a few years back with less than 7 episodes left to go and a couple months ago watched 4 or 5 and stopped again. I only NOW gained the motivation to finish the show more so I could take it off my list...

Now in counter-point apparently the manga is a little more focused and different but I only read a few chapters to start. Also the voice acting is great and some jokes hit here and there but it's forgetful. The show also does the horrible crime of suddenly remembering there was a plot in the last 2 EPISODES and decides to make a mention to it like "oh yeah remember that? Yeah, we're not gonna resolve it but just wanted to remind you that it did exist once".
In conclusion Hayate is a show that would've served fine with simply being shorter and having a few more episodes to develop the plot. At most I would've given it 26 episodes and that's stretching it. The fact that there's a 2nd season baffles me in the sense of how much more junk could they figure up to fill up the gaps. I'm sure I might just be taking the series a bit too seriously but I'm the kind of person that overlook things in the hopes of taking things lightly, this just pushes it too far. If you really wanna check it out watch the first few episodes and maybe a few more. Nothing ever gets resolved anyway so don't worry about finishing it. If you want, catch a few episodes here and there just to meet some new characters but it won't matter too much. The whole show basically revolves around the characters you meet at first.

Final rating? Stream it on crunchyroll, DON'T put any money into it. You could go without watching it though it is a somewhat referenced in anime fandoms so you might be out of the loop on some things. Also Kugimiya is an awesome voice to hear.

Anime is known to be weird and crazy. And this is one of those anime's, it's where nothing makes sense and where many different genres are thrown in one package. There is rarely any doll moment in this anime, and it keeps you entertained all through if it is romance-comedy or fighting big machine's and saving the girl.

All the characters are as solid as they come, you can't help but love everyone of the character's, who always find up some crazy schemes to torture Hayate or some other poor person. Or some other girl that misunderstands what Hayate says and sooner Hayate get's beaten up ... because of it.

This is one of the best romance-comedy's out there because you can never predict what's going to happen next! There is always those ''WHAT'' moments that never grow old. This anime always find's different way's of enternaining you!

“A butler is one who serves. A butler is one who dedicates himself. A butler is the formal guardian who supports the days of their master.”Now whats so special about this quote? Well in Hayate no Gotoko (Hayate the Combat Butler) it forms the basis of the anime making it your perfect comedy anime filled with action, romance, laughs, gags, and of course...some fan service(but the fan service if very little). I can tell you that this is a comedy unlike any other. It is full of references to other anime and Japanese culture. If you are familiar to Japanese culture or enjoy watching anime ... a lot, then the references made in this anime will make you giggle with enjoyment. Saying that it doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy this anime if you haven’t seen your fair share of anime it just means you might miss quite a few things.

PLOT
Plotwise Hayate no Gotoko specifically doesn’t have a plot. It’s not an anime you watch to view a steady progression of events nor does it follow through consistently with a main story line. Yet this can be seen as one of the strengths of Hayate no Gotoko. Since it doesn’t strictly follow a story line the comedic elements of the anime are strictly reinforced, ensuring that anything can happen so the audience doesn’t need to sit there waiting or trying to predict what could happen in the next scene.

CHARACTER
The character archetypes are very cliché so you won’t expect much development here. We have your typical airhead Hayate, your small tsundere Nagi etc etc. But that’s not the point of the anime. Character development doesn’t need to play a major role in the development of this anime. The sole basis for these set archetypes are to poke fun and create hilarious situations using these characters. The strength of this anime is to utilise a particular archetype eg the tsundere and turn it into hilarious figure to laugh at by manipulating its very flaws and set mindset. It plays on typical character archetypes and creates the ultimate gags by placing them in awkward situations.

ART
The art in this anime is easy on your eyes and could be described as very colourful and relaxing. They do use a few neon based colours, but that isn’t a reason why you shouldn’t watch this anime. Basically it is a very well drawn like any other standard anime.

MUSIC
The music in this anime is very relaxing and comfortable to listen to. It either adds to the comedic elements of the anime or adds to the calm, steady pace of it. They may at times reuse the same melody with a different tune each time. Either way the music adds to the relaxing nature of this anime.

CONCLUSION
This anime is for you sort of anime if you want to relax and take a break from life. This is your perfect procrastination pill. The thrilling thing about this anime is that in each episode you just don’t know what’s to come. The main strength of Hayate no Gotoko is not the fan service...or the action....nor is it the romance (although it is fun to watch the character relationships develop); its the ability of the anime to parody other animes, movies and Japanese and Western culture without feeling “damp” (ie overused, dull, boring), giving it a fresh new feel to the genre.
(Thank you it would be nice if you could rate this review and maybe provide feedback)

so i watch this anime recently and it's cool yuo can enjoy while watching it.this anime includes : romance,harem(kinda),action(exaggeration),comedy

so the story goes on like this:
Hayate Ayasaki is an unlucky teenager who worked since childhood to make ends meet due to his parents' irresponsible behavior. One day he finds out that his parents were planning to sell his organs to the Yakuza to make money, leaving behind a massive gambling debt on his shoulders. While running away from the debt collectors, he ends up meeting Nagi Sanzen'in, a young girl who is the sole heir of the wealthy Sanzen'in estate, and due to a misunderstanding, Nagi ... ends up falling in love with Hayate. After he rescues Nagi from some kidnappers, she hires Hayate as her new butler.

Aside from performing his ordinary duties as a butler, Hayate must fight to protect Nagi from harm, a difficult task as her life is always in danger because she is the target of other individuals coveting her family's fortune, and sometimes deal with some extravagant requests from her, oblivious to Nagi's true feelings for him.

sometimes u will fell sorry or him(he crossdressing for his master no way in hell i can do that :D)bu sometimes u will laugh with your ass open so it's a cool anime

story: it's cool 10
art: yeah they did their best and it isn't an old anime so 10
sound: i liked the op song and the songs in episodes so 10
character: they aren't that uniqe so 9
enjoyment: hell yeah 10
overall: 10

Story: (6)
After the prologue (read the Synopsis) you'll get a "slice of life, (love)-comedy , parody"-anime. There are so many references to other anime/manga in this show that you honestly could never understand each of them. Aside of that it tells about events spanning over more than a whole year, though there isn't really a big storyline holding everything together. Only characters will develop and change a bit.
At this point I should also mention that females easily outnumber males. This show could easily be seen as a harem... and well, it kinda is. (There are enough Girls, who seem to really like Hayate, the protagonist, ... though not all of them) However it's not the main-aspect of this show, the comedy is.

Animation: (7)
Well it's ok. There are episodes with quite nice animated fighting-scenes, which are usually not to be taken serious anyways, but mostly it's nothing special. (It is mostly comedy after all) Art was good as well, though once again nothing too special here.
For what this show needs it's really well done.

Sound: (7)
Intro- and Outro-Songs are all quite good, the normal OST however isn't... you'll probably not remember anything from it. (Not a big deal for me though)
Japanese Dub is also quite nice. Nagi, the heroine, is voiced by Kugimiya, Rie. (Shana, Taiga...) Other characters have their fitting voices as well, especially Izumis laughing is really cute. :)

Characters: (10)
This is actually the reason, why anyone would/should watch this. There's a ton of different characters in this anime, so most likely you'll find one you really like.
The downside of so many characters is that not every character will appear in every episode and some will disappear for quite some episodes.
Though some characters have a rather bad introducing, pretty much all of them are likable.
As for me, I really like Hinagiku, though Izumi, Isumi, Ayumu.. there are really quite a lot of nice characters in this anime.

Enjoyment: (9)
Great characters and funny episodes make this anime a nice watch.
Furthermore there are, like I already mentioned, lots of references to other things. They may appear in picture, sound or dialog and are mostly nice to have. However the dialog-ones might become tedious, since they are beeped and in my opinion there are a few to many per episode. (It's not nice if it beeps too much) Eclipse/Static subs censored these words as well and made it like "hangman" (e.g. a *s* could be a psp) which was quite nice.

Conclusion: (8)
Nice anime you should try out if you are into (love)-comedy/parody anime.
Random Note: Watch at least 4-5Episodes.

Maybe nice to know: There's a second season currently (June 09) airing.

I was a little apprehensive when I started a 52 episode-long anime, being mainly accustomed to watching 24 episodes and less. However, I'm glad I decided to delve into the world of Hayate, Nagi, Maria, and others.

The story is summarized very well in the details section, so if you want to find out specifics, check out that tab.
The story was very good. Its success can be attributed to the always present, comedy aspect of the series. Some might think anime comedy is a little "meh," but this definitely is an exception. I'm sure if you've watched the majority of the popular anime shows ... out there (HtCB utilizes a lot of references from popular pop-culture movies/icons as well as anime), you're going to be giggling or even laughing-out-loud. Personally, I haven't seen many of the "uber-popular" animes out there, so I might have laughed even more if I actually had.
Continuing with the comedy, it's solid, but not "30 Rock" or "Arrested Development" caliber and you won't be laughing non-stop, but you will be laughing a lot at certain times.
Don't expect too much contribution from the romantic side of things, too. The chart on the main page of this show's profile are very accurate representations of the actual "dosage" each genre offers. But overall, the story is moved forward by the [main] story arch of Hayate needing to pay back 150 million yen (approximately $1.7 million USD to put it in perspective)to Nagi; and I'm totally alright with that.

The art and animation was surprisingly consistent over a 52 episode-long series; consistently good, not bad. It's not the best animation ever, but still really good for this day and age. (2007-2008)

Sound was sound. It's hard to judge this accurately other than pointing at the track/theme and the voice actors. All which were solid, they had a few opening themes over this span, and the voice actors were also very consistent when delivering emotional, funny, or generic scenes.

I think it would be impossible to watch this series and not become partial to one specific character. For me, that was Maria. She was subtly good and never really did anything very exuberant or anything to "wow" you. She idled in the background, but was a main character and that combination really compelled me to her.
Really, every character is well-done. Very deep (as expected of a series as lengthy as this) and multi-dimensional.

My enjoyment and my overall grade are always synonymous with each other. If you like it: give it a good grade, if not: don't. I, personally, had a fun time watching this anime. Like it usually is, the middle is slow, and it focuses on characters that really shouldn't be given major roles.
But, if I had to make one major correction with the show - more romance. Coming from me, whose interest lie in that sort of genre, I would be lying if I was satisfied with the amount of "romance" we were given. To me, that would've put this show over-the-top: funny dialogue, great characters, compelling story, and great romance.
One of the reasons that relates to the romance vs. not-as-much romance is the fact that the anime doesn't really have an identity and it's floundering between a comedy, action, or a romantic story. It's never really the same and sometimes I just wanted, like the majority of the other attributes of this anime, more consistency. Be a comedy! Be an action-packed story! Be a romantic story!
It had too much of each to really be one.

Hayate isn't too lucky.
He comes from a poor family who, despite bad finance, enjoy spending.
Hayate's parents leave him with their debts and dissapear.

Hayate rescues a little girl named Nagi, who happens to be rich.
As a repayment, Nagi pays off Hayate's debts, as a repayment to Nagi, Hayate becomes her butler.


This story started off flawless (first ep).
Good, easy to follow storyline.
...
However...

Looking forward to seeing a series full of adventures....

Oh no...

The series turns hareem, and a number of token bipolar anime girls show up (the female lead is one also).
No real character development.

Dispite it's flaws, it's a decent series that's worth the watch if you're into mild comedy.

This is one of the most funniest anime I have ever seen. One day when I was looking for anime, I didnt find one that I liked untill I found this. I watched the first episode and I just fell inlove with it. I could not even stop watching it untill it got late. So the People who like comedy, love, and wired this is the one for you and I hope that they make it into a very long series because I will be watching all the episodes they make.

This is my favorite anime it’s perfect (in my opinion) it’s characters were good and hayate himself is hilarious and somewhat ignorant. So please watch this anime if you haven’t. 10/10 man how long does MAL want me to make this.
Eh Hinagiku is best girl followed by Nagi followed by Maria. So yeah watch this anime please I promise it’s good. Man what else should I wright hmm 🧐. Umm it’s pretty funny and if you’re stuck inside it’s pretty long and has four seasons along with a movie. All four seasons have been dubbed if you watch dubbed anime. It can be action ... packed or it could be heartwarming and that’s my review.

Hayate the Combat Butler! is a very diffrent and fun anime, ive always disliked comedy and parody animes but this one changed my heart.
i Dont know how but for some reason i cant stop watch it or stop laughing. There are funny moments in almost every scene and they often dont disapoint you.((i maybe got bad humor)).

All i can say is if ur a guy that isnt much for comedy and parody anime then i think you should give this show a try becaus who knows it might change ur view and open up alot more anime shows for you.