Hayate no Gotoku! Heaven Is a Place on Earth

With 2 anime seasons before it, the popular Hayate manga series gets its 3rd animated project in the form of this movie titled "Heaven is a Place on Earth". This time around studio manglobe is in charge of production where JC Staff had handled season 2, and Synergy SP handled season 1. How will manglobe's shot at this franchise fare in comparison with its previous entries?

To start with this is NOT an adaptation of any chapters from the manga, the story for this movie is completely anime original and it is supposed to be set a couple of months AFTER the point the manga is ... currently on when I wrote this. This means that in terms of timeline, the movie's plot is pretty far away from where the anime ended on season 2. However the story introduced for this movie is one that does not heavily rely on knowledge of the currently non animated parts of the manga so any fans of the series who has already watched the first 2 seasons of the anime can sit back and enjoy this movie fully. For those that do read the manga however, you will definitely find a couple of extra surprises along the way.
I am not going to spoil the plot of the movie here, but as far as the story goes it is nothing extraodinary yet it does not deviate from what you could expect from the Hayate series either. If it aint broke, dont fix it applies very well here. There is some good comedy and references to other anime in true Hayate fashion, there are some supernatural occurences, and of course you have Hayate protecting Nagi from whatever tries to harm her. And it works.

The art manglobe uses for this movie is also very simple but at the same time very clean and consistent. It lacks detail and shadows, however the character designs and animations fit the mood of the series very well. The opening sequence in particular looked really good. Its a matter of personal taste between which artstyle you favour more throughout the 3 different hayate anime, but personally I am content with manglobe's style and I wouldnt mind seeing more of the series like this. Oh and the colours were very nice too.

The opening song is very catchy and it fits the series well but for me, it is the ED song by fripside that really takes the cake. Anyone familiar with fripside would enjoy this song as its their usual style. The voice acting continues being a strong point in the series with a high tier list of names on it. I found Kugimiya Rie's performance as Nagi this time around to be a bit better than in the TV series as well.

Of course the strongest point of the entire Hayate series is the characters and this movie is no different. The characters are the same as always, Nagi being spoiled, Maria being a maid, Hinagiku being tsundere, the idiotic trio being idiotic, its all there. Although I did mention that you dont need to read the manga to fully enjoy the movie, non manga readers might be puzzled as to where this mysterious new girl named "Kayura" came from and why she is close to Nagi. Fortunately she does not really play an important role in the movie apart from comedy moments so there is not much to lose. With such a large cast it is hard to give everyone some screentime but I felt that the movie was pretty good at distributing that around. By the time I finished watching I felt like no one was truly left behind and was able to enjoy it greatly.

For anyone that enjoys this series there is no reason why you should not watch this movie, everything that makes Hayate enjoyable is present here and I believe manglobe did the series justice here. Whenever a 3rd TV season of the series comes, if they announce manglobe as the studio in charge, I will not worry because I now know that the franchise is in good hands.

When I first heard of this anime, it got me interested. I did like Kuroshitsuji so I wanted to try something light for a change.

Main characters: Hayate, Nagi, Maria and Hinagiku (+ a bunch of Nagi's classmates)

I'll score everything a 7.

I was not really expecting a lot from this anime. I've seen the 1st season and it had a pretty much the same plot.

Background: Hayate is acting as Nagi's butler to pay off his debt. Nagi is a rich and spoiled 13 yr old who oftentimes gets into trouble then Hayate will be there to save her. Cute, yes but it is not really ... saying much.

This movie is not any different. We have the main cast spending their remaining summer break on a countryside. Being as spoiled as she is, Nagi is constantly whining about everything and Hayate is always there to pacify her. A spirit then shows up - makes Hayate forget about Nagi and tries to make his life better and easier - or so she thinks... they get separated - Nagi gets stuck in a some kind of carnival while Hayate is still serving as a butler but this time, Maria (Nagi's personal maid) is his 'milady'.With some confused flashbacks, Hayate remembers Nagi and saves the day.

What I liked about this is Hayate and Nagi's relationship. Though they might not have the same feelings towards each other. Nagi seem to like Hayate romantically while Hayate is just acting as his loyal self (I think). Hayate is sincere enough that anyone would definitely fall for him, especially a 13yr old. But I still can't help thinking: I know that he sort of likes Maria and Hinagiku, but if Nagi was a little older, would he feel any different?

To sum it all up for me, it's a very simple anime - with a simple story and a simple art. Good enough movie for Hayate no Gotoku fans. Other people can skip it since I don't think it offers something new and different. Pick up the 2nd season instead - it might just be better than this...