Alternative TitlesEnglish: Hayate the Combat Butler Synonyms: Hayate no Gotoku! Japanese: ハヤテのごとく！
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 52
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Apr 1, 2007 to Mar 30, 2008
Duration:
24 min. per episode Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.051 (scored by 6720 users)
Ranked: #2512
Popularity: #86
Members: 13,392
Favorites: 356 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
action comedy parody romance |
Votes are counted and displayed within 24 hours
| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
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8 |
| Sound |
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| Character |
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| Enjoyment |
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Oct 23, 200752 of 52 episodes seen 65 of 87 people found this review helpful 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.
^_^ read more
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
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Sep 27, 200752 of 52 episodes seen 74 of 99 people found this review helpful As you might expect from an adaption of a comedy manga, Hayate the Combat Butler is a comedy show. It flirts with other genres - most notably action and romance/harem - but it is, through and through, about laughs. This presents a good reviewer with a particular problem: comedy is very personal - we don't all agree on what's funny. Given that, I shall give an overview of Hayate's particular brand of humour. But before I do, let me just say that I personally think this is a very, very funny show....
The central plot, and the grand-scale, over-arching joke of the series is based on a misunderstanding - good-natured but hapless sixteen-year-old Ayasaki Hayate's attempt to free himself of debt by kidnapping the (exremely) rich thirteen-year-old Sanzenin Nagi is misconstrued by her as a confession of love; Hayate swiftly finds himself installed as Nagi's butler/bodyguard, and the only person who actually grasps what's going on is Nagi's attractive maid (you can't go wrong with an attractive maid) Maria. The show's skeleton plot revolves around Hayate's misadventures in the bizarre world of the ultra-rich, all the time unaware of Nagi's slightly obsessive affection for him ('Hayate is the most handsome man in the world!')
But this show isn't one to watch for the plot, which develops slowly when it develops at all. It's really about the gags, which are thrown at the viewer at a frenetic pace. Hayate the Combat Butler doesn't just break the fourth wall . . . it smashes it down, dynamites the remains and then schedules the whole neighbourhood for rezoning, with characters regularly recognising their role in an anime show, and a (rather over-the-top) narrator commenting smugly on the action. There's also a plethora of references to other anime, games and manga - Nagi herself is an otaku - and spotting these is in itself an entertaining pastime. Indeed, several episodes are, in their entirity, well-observed pastiches of anime cliche - witness, for example, the 'beach visit' episode, which simultaneously parodies fanservice and provides it. And if this is the kind of humour which suits you, you'll probably love the show.
The voice acting is actually pretty good, though there's little opportunity for the voice actors to show their full range. (Kugumiya Rie seems to be in danger of being typecast, what with Shana, Louise and Nagi on her C.V.) The music is unremarkable, though of course given that this is a comedy it doesn't have anything particularly challenging to do. The animation has a noticeably crisp, shiny look, and the animators love to use bright colours, which makes Hayate's imagery as charged with energy as the other facets of the show. On the other hand, there's no sense that the animators devoted more than the usual amount of effort to this production - the animation is bright and attractive but not especially detailed, though it improves as the series goes on.
All in all, this is well worth checking out if you like comedy, especially comedy which relies on pastiche and parody. Don't expect anything deep or significant here, though. Hayate the Combat Butler is not a classic or a great, but it's pretty good - and Hayate is certainly the funniest butler since Jeeves. read more
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
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Apr 14, 200852 of 52 episodes seen 42 of 57 people found this review helpful 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 campu...s, 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. read more
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
7 |
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7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
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Apr 26, 200852 of 52 episodes seen 6 of 9 people found this review helpful “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 i...tself 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. read more
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
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Jun 1, 200852 of 52 episodes seen 5 of 10 people found this review helpful 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... =.= read more
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10 |
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10 |
| Animation |
8 |
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8 |
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10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
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Jul 19, 200852 of 52 episodes seen 2 of 7 people found this review helpful 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. read more
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| Overall |
8 |
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5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
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8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
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Aug 18, 200852 of 52 episodes seen 1 of 11 people found this review helpful well i find Hayate the Combat Butler very good overall .After the first episode i got hook into it but the story of this anime started to go downward starting from episode 26ish. the story starting from 26 is completely random, basically each episode have their own individual story BUT some of these stories were really funny but some were just plain stupid.Also in this anime their were alot of **beep** which makes it hard to understand sometimes.so yea i was bored out of mind starting from epi...sode 49 and i have to drag myself to finish the anime.If you run out of anime to watch, i recommend you to watch this
(THIS IS ALL MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THIS REVIEW JUST PRESS THE NOT HELPFUL BUTTON) read more
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| Overall |
10 |
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9 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
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10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
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Sep 13, 200852 of 52 episodes seen 1 of 12 people found this review helpful this anime is the whole package... without a doubt... watching it from first episode to end I've probably never had so many emotions come across in one anime. the character was someone you could really understand, it was like "walking in his shoes", having him self constantly struck by misfortune then pulling himself back up again, i guess you could say it was motivating. Combat Butler... bravo and please some one slap me if i ever say that again.
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9 |
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10 |
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10 |
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8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
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Jul 18, 200848 of 52 episodes seen 0 of 4 people found this review helpful not a bad show, this anime doesn't contain any dramas. so, for those who like animes such as 'zero no tsukaima' or 'seto no hanayome'(both are harems that contains less drama and more comedy), i recommend you guys to watch this anime.
the story line isn't bad i guess you will get a little bored in the midle part of the story......... in this anime, i dont realy like the main male character(hayate), he's just too innocent.
nonetheless, this is my 3rd favourite anime( 1st ...is zero no tsukaima & 2nd is seto no hanayome . read more
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