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.
