Cuties started out pretty rocky, and it was never
great but overall I had a good time watching it. The last two episodes were my favorites, not just for the resolution but because it felt more like an old-school Hayate story then the rest of the season. Which is odd when half of the season was super old chapters, but eh.
If I wanted to break it down by episode:
1. Okay. First half was way too slow, but second half was good and I'm pretty fond of the manga storyline they used. (Again because it was refreshingly old-school.)
2. Alright. I'm a Nagi fan but aside from the zombie movie one these aren't chapters I would have picked really. A little too slow-paced.
3. Eh. There wasn't much more they could do with Alice but these were not great chapters originally or in this, even if it was nice to see Alice animated for the first time. Shoe-horning in a rushed version of Wataru's storyline didn't help matters.
4. I liked it. Isumi and Sakuya are always fun, and these were good picks for a change. It was nice to see them go the flashback route too, shame they didn't stick with that...
5. Meh. If I had to pick Hina stories I actually kinda like, these would be near the top, but I didn't like the execution. Also starts the trend for the season of pulling chapters way out of context and mangling them a bit too much.
6. It was fun. One of the better ones, surprisingly.
7. Loved the bike story in the manga, and it was almost as good here. Second half not so much. They took Ruka's introduction and spoiled most of what was good about it. Also swapped out Nagi/Chiharu for Hina/trio, which just felt awkward.
8. Hamster birthday story Yay! One of my favorites for the season, although the other stories they chose weren't amazing and it just emphasizes how ignored Hamster is as a character ever since Mykonos ended.
9. Ehh. I can barely remember what happened in this one. A lot like the Alice episode in that they didn't have much to work with for Kayura combined with it being ostensibly a half/half episode.
10. Classic Maria chapters are fun. Another character who never does anything anymore.
11-12. Was the highlight of the season for me, partly because Season 3 spoiled me on watching stuff I'd already read vs new material.
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One thing, though: What the heck was up with the opening making Hina look like the main character and Hayate and Nagi like side characters? Just... what? They even put Hayate and Nagi's scene together in a way that made them look like the token lovey-dovey couple.
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Yeah, that was dumb. (Loved the Hayate/Nagi bit, don't get me wrong.) Just another entry in the long Manglobe saga of making clumsy overtures at Hina fans that are poorly done and feel disconnected from the rest of the movie/series.
See:
1. Hina's pointless angst in the movie that doesn't lead anywhere at all.
2. Episode 3 of CTMEOY that was apparently shopped out to a third party studio they cared so much about the animation quality. Again is a side adventure that ultimately doesn't have anything to do with anything. Hina making up with her sister is the closest thing to a coherent storyline she has in this season.
3. Just Cuties in general, which milks the OP and some other stuff throughout to try and make Hina seem more important, except not really. There's some hilariously misleading ads voiced by Hayate/Hina before it came out that are even funnier in retrospect.
I think a large part of it is that trying to pander to Hina shippers
at the same time all the Manglobe stuff is going the completely opposite direction with Hayate/Nagi is inherently dumb. They did it really badly but it's kind of doomed to fail from the get-go.
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Also Suiyoubi no Sunday is a damn great song and I'm listening to it on loop now ok
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I've long observed that Kayura is a much better anime character then a manga one. It's easier to throw in a bunch of references/cosplay gags and play with her deadpan delivery and such. I always feel like I
get Kayura better when I'm watching her then reading her.