Hayate no Gotoku! - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating
 

This thread is to be used for discussing the entire 52 episodes of Hayate no Gotoku! ... your thoughts about the show, overall impressions, expectations and hopes about the DVD only footage etc.

A few subjects you might want to ramble on about:

• General impression of the series.
• Opinions on the overall story, writing & plot devices.
• Thoughts about the animation quality.
• Characters/Character Design
• Voice Acting
  
  
• Which kind of footage (DVD only) you feel you'd really like to see.
• What the show meant to you.
• What could the creators/animators/writers have done better.
• Hopes and general expectations about Season 2.

And so on.

The poll represents your total series rating. In other words, how you would rate all the episodes combined (1-10)? If you'd rather rate the whole series by technical/artistic merits, you can do so. An example:

Animation Quality: 1-10
Voice Actors: 1-10
Script: 1-10
Editing: 1-10
Enjoyment: 1-10

Average = Total Series Rating

Or a combination of the two. Or your general gut feeling.

Feel free to discuss and more importantly, have fun :)

Well I thought the series had a pretty good animation quality, so I'd give it a 10.
I don't pay attention to Japanese voice actors, unless I can't stand the voice, so I give it a 10 for not making me want to throw my speakers out the window.
The script I give an easy 9, since it did have a nasty episode from time to time (all animes do though).
Editing... Can't really say on that one. But enjoyment was easily a 20. Every episode still made me laugh, even the worst of the episodes still were enjoyable in a comedic sense.
So on average, I would give the series a 9 9/10ths. I still wished for a more romantic ending of some kind.
As far as season 2 goes... Cheers! Here's to another 52 episodes (Better be 52! Or more!) of comedy, cuteness, romantic moments, and Hinagiku! I could deal with 52 episodes of pure Hinagiku without exploding. Better than Zeta and it's transforming Un-Gundam (00's doesn't count, since they're a team of Gundams, and not just the one. Plus, that one is actually 'cool')...
But all in all Hayate was a wonderful series, and probably the highest on my list, even above Last Exile. Cry. Cry... Sadness... It has more than it's share of moments that require you to bust out a screencap for the sake of never forgetting the pure joy you felt, and more than it's share of cute romance. They couldn't have done a poor job with what they've been given here in terms of quirky characters and a teenage heartthrob with blue hair that's had every job a misfortune-struck Japanese child can feel.

And so... the long long 52 episodes are done.

The OP and EDs were all very enjoyable. :)

Overall, great series and very enjoyable to watch. Very funny, and there are a good number of touching moments too. Almost all of the characters are likable, which is another plus. Design-wise, no problems. A lot of characters are pretty flat, which I prefer, especially over giant breasts (my feelings only get stronger thanks to garbage like Kanokon...)
Can always count on this to start the day off good, since it doesn't go deep dark and angsty, and is a bright series in general.

Story-wise, Hayate the Combat Butler doesn't really have much of a plot. Just episodic adventures of our poor and indebted butler. The only part I didn't really care much for was the whole Kuzuha/Snake arc. Though the random butler battles and parodies were hilarious.

Unless it really stands out, I usually don't notice the BGMs much, so no complaints or compliments here.

Rating: 9/10, as much as I like this series, it doesn't get a 10/10 because there are definitely more boring episodes, and a couple of characters I'd rather not appear or see.


And onward to season two, whenever it appears. Maybe I'll think about being more active on this sub-forum.

Animation Quality: 10
I love the character designs.

Voice Actors: 9
Ha ha ha Shana, Charles di Britannia... very notable voices. I'm glad I didn't recognize Hayate's, Maria's, and Ayumu's voices.

Script: 6
Too many episodes I will never remember, but a few I will absolutely never forget.

Editing: 8
Series was too long.

Enjoyment: 10
The best episodes in this series made it a blast. I don't think I've laughed so hard watching anime before:

Good:
* production quality on most episodes
* Hinagiku
* parodies, both from the manga and anime original
* basic source material
* songs and music

Bad:
* anime-original buttler battle arc and Hakuou superintendent nonsense
* timeline shuffling
* not enough Hina x Hayate (I'm afraid Synergy SP will screw up the next season!)

7/10

Hayate no Gotoku... hmm...

Animation Quality: 10
I just love the character designs, how Hinagiku Katsura drawn... Oh, perfect...
Voice Actors: 9
All the voices is excellent, I just didn't hear "Urusai!" and "Baka" enough from Rie Kugimiya...
Script: 9
The story isn't really strong, It simply is a comedy.
Editing: 10
What can you expect? They could be this consistant on 52 Eps...
Enjoyment: 10
Humor, Comedy, and lots of Fun...

Conclusion
+ Animation Quality
+ Hinagiku
+ Comedy
- Lots of useless filler
- No Hinagiku ending
- Ending = Bonus page of manga...

A perfect light comedy with enough in-jokes for the die-hard anime fans, but let down by a less-than-stellar Butler War arc (I think the series lost a lot of momentum there). However, the arc ended with enough episodes left to let all the girls shine.

So 10, less 2 for the Butler War, add one back for Ep 48 Hina :kisskiss: Love. 9/10

you can never know til it´s over

HINA-CHAN FTW;)

Well, maybe that "-" became "+" If it's true :P

Don't really feel like criticising this show too much. Despite its apparent flaws, it provided for great weekly entertainment, got too formulaic and lost its steam towards 30~40ish episodes, but I very rarely didn't enjoy an episode (one episode I can still remember not enjoying was that stupid beach episode). There wasn't anything heavy or particularly memorable other than silly laughs, but I'm glad they at least didn't try hard. Nothing sucks more than having to watch a mediocre anime trying to be EMOTIONAL and failing so bad at it. 7/10. Not sure if I'll still be following this one yet. 52 episodes is long enough.

I felt that this show was a bit too long. The only reason I kept watching was because of the characters. Some episodes were very good, some boring. Even in the end, many things were left unsettled. The humor was good, not something that will make your stomach hurt. I give it a 6/10. If you take out the crappy episodes and make it shorter, with a little more story development then it is 8/10 since the characters rock!

Did you honestly just ask for Hayate to give you a story?
Even the freaking manga was "chapter-sodic" (except for volume 6)
SynergySP isn't going to rape the original source and stick in a plot.

I said "IF" that would have been the case then i would have rated it higher. I never asked them to rape the original source and stick in a plot.

even the cheapest porn usually has a plot, but as with porn, in comedy you must sacrifice story for (hopefully) something better (jollies, laughs). but i too wished at times there were more hayate-hamster and hayate-hina episodes (i know most of you hina fanatics probably wished for the latter :P)!

Ok. That's all folks for Hayate no Gotoku- the first series.

While I'm still able to call on my memory, it was last year on March that I among the many waiting for the premiering to Hayate no Gotoku.

All the hype I read and see at the AnimeSuki forums about the manga and the upcoming anime set up my mind to give it a shot.

Boy, was I ever right for doing so?:eyespin:

The comedy, the spoofs, the pop culture and anime & manga references, the characters per se, and the struggle to fight the broadcast code won my heart over on this show.

This isn't goodbye but a farewell, as the last of the ending credits announced that the second series is in production.

Hayate no Gotoku is the ninth and the last anime that I concluded for the spring 2007 season when I first started to watch it.

This show is pretty funny,but i agree that story develpement would`ve made it a better show.
Still it was definetly time well spent.
It`s a 7 out of 10 for me.

this anime has the best OPs and EDs of all animes I've seen, and It's probably the funniest, since not much anime could make me laugh out loud a few times in one episode. 9/10 because there's still the second season to go!:p

Despite it's random and comedic nature, the show sure does know when to add a touch of emotion when needed. I first went into Hayate based on a recommendation and the main reason i continued watching i guess was largely for the obscure anime references and the constant laughs they would envoke. By the end of it though, it had somehow shifted to the characters themselves. I dunno why or how but the show just has this alluring magic about that makes the characters, even the villains and minor ones so enjoyable to watch and before you know it you begin to grow attachments for them. That's when you know you're gonna be left with that empty feeling inside that longs for more of the show as you slowly watch the credits come to an eventual close. Not many shows are able to evoke such emotions out of me, but Hayate no Gotoku! was certainly one that did and for that I'm thankful. Here's to the 2nd season! :)

Art Style & Animation
The most amazing thing about the production is the consistent and certainly above average animation quality. Despite employing a multitude of different episode directors and experimenting (actually ... parodying) with several animation styles, the studio (Synergy SP) has done an amazing job at keeping the quality very high. Character designs (by Horiuchi Osamu) are equally worthy of praise, since despite their seer number each and every one is very distinct visually and their personalities are reflected on their sketches.

VA, Music & Sound
Voice acting is very fitting, from a femine Hayate, to a spoiled Nagi, a mature Maria, a timid Isumi, an outgoing Sakuya, a kind Ayumu and last but not least the popular Hinagiku. All actresses have done their best to provide to their roles distinct characteristics. Music on the other hand is the trivial happy-go-lucky j-pop (not my thing), but it is quite fitting with the mood of the show and the lyrics are at least relevant (though as with pop, quite idiotic). Finally the overall sound adds to the light atmosphere.

Plot & Character Development
Now here comes the difficult part. Hayate no Gotoku! is a cross between parody and harem and with this in mind I expected the plot to be non-existant and character development absent. To my surprise, both are present, though not to my satisfaction. Though the major characters are given quite a lot of background rarely they are affected by the events taking place within the contemporary timeframe of the series. But at least, they are funny, lovable and most importantly consistent, which for its gerne is much more important in order to make the show enjoyable. As for a plot there are some multi-episode arcs, but for the most part the show retains its episodic nature, which is not necessarily negative, since it makes it easier to watch.

Overall
Well, in conclusion, it was a really fun ride for a whole year, no episode was boring, some episodes I have watched several times, animation, art and sound are very good and consistant ... so where is the problem? Actually there isn't any ... granted this is neither Laine nor EVA, but if you want something relaxing and funny without downgrading your intelligence, Hayate no Gotoku! should be one of your top picks ;-)

For a more comprehensive treat check my blog (lot of images, including all eye-catches)

Hinagiku herself and Hayate is enough for me gto give a 10.

Only minor issue I have is that they deviates from the manga too far [i.e. Himegami has yet to appear in manga] when there are still more material from the manga that they can use.

But the whole butler tournament and legendary butler cloth [obvious pun to Saint Seiya] is hilarious unfortunately it was cut a bit short after Himegami, I mean Princess God, stole Hayate's cloth and is kind of left hanging....