Hayate no Gotoku: Season 2 Episode 1

Hina and the student council from the ending song of Hayate no Gotoku's Season 2 first episode.

     My favorite comedy anime is back! It’s been a long wait since the end of the 52 episode Hayate no Gotoku Season 1. And what better way to reward me for my wait then an ending song featuring my favorite character from the series, Hinagiku Katsura and the student council backing her up. 

     One thing I’ve noticed is that the animation is a tad bit different than the fist season and that’s because J.C. Staff is taking over after they did the brief OVA a few weeks back. I would describe the animation as being a bit more simple looking than SynergySP which isn’t a bad thing.

The official Japanese Hayate no Gotoku Homepage, that they just recently redid, chock full of info and merchandise.

     When we left Hayate, a combat butler that can beat the hell out of any-type of Mechas that get in his way, he still owed a huge amount of money because of his good for nothing parents and working for the tsundere-otaku-rich girl Nagi Sanzen’in, and getting into some crazy situations with Nagi and her friends at school.

     After the opening song of the new episode we’re treated to a brief overview of last season and get into the episode where a race is coming up for the school, and Hayate sees his chance to get Nagi outdoors. 

Hayate no Gotoku – Season 2 Episode 1

Hayate and Nagi during the opening of Season 2.

     One morning, Nagi gets a leaflet from her school announcing long distance running competitions. So she decides to take the day off from school so she doesn’t have to participate. Maria, Nagi’s maid, won’t hear of that and talks Nagi into participating with Hayate coaching her. 

     Hayate is pretty confident that Nagi can do run and hopes this will bring her to the outside world more often rather than indoors in her Otaku ways. Hayate begins training Nagi, unfortunately she’s not capable of much….

Unenthusiastic Runner and Overenthusiastic Coach.

Some of her friends show up to support her...even though they all think that she will fail and.....

...after 5 minutes running a total of 50 meters, Nagi's down for the count.

     Nagi’s about ready to throw in the towel, when Nagi’s head butler, Klaus chimes in and says that Hayate’s not a good butler and steering her towards a corrupt path. Nagi’s angered by this and says that Hayate is a great butler and so much of a good influence that she bets that if she doesn’t win a race, Klaus can fire Hayate.

     Klaus and Nagi make the bet with Hayate completely dumfounded by this. Nagi believes she has a chance to win a race as long as the school star runner, Hina, doesn’t run in the event she chooses. So she dispatches Hayate to meet with Hina. 

     Hina suggests that both Nagi and Hayate run the freestyle marathon which is a pair’s race where there is a cash prize involved. Unfortunately, Hina’s sister-teacher Yukiji hears of this and wants to get involved to the dismay of Hina and Hayate.

Student Body President Hinagiku Katsura talking with Hayate about the competition.

Yukiji Katsura thinking about how much alcohol she could buy with the race's prize money.

     After so much training and Hayate’s job on the line, Nagi’s more determined than ever to participate in the race with Hayate and win. But both run into a few obstacles and some familiar opponent/friends from last season on their way to victory. 

Nagi begins to show distress early into the marathon. Hayate is totally worried about the race and his job.

Himuro, another butler at the school, stops Nagi and Hayate's path to victory.

Hinagiku and Miki, a fellow student, try to stop the teams advance. Unfortunately for Hina, Hayate leads her to a suspension bridge away from Nagi.

Hina's one weakness is heights so she's not doing too well on the suspension bridge.

     With Hayate dealing with Hinagiku, it’s now up to Nagi to win the race. As she gets closer to the finish line she begins to like running and sports in general. Maybe it’s the start of a whole new Nagi.

Nagi makes it into the stadium closing the distance to the finish line and realizing sports isn't that bad afterall.

And of course Nagi wins the marathon with much determination!

But of course Yukiji's determination for more alcohol beats Nagi's determination by inches. I love the expression on the guy's face.

At the end of the episode, Yukiji wins the marathon, Nagi will probably never do any sports ever and Hayate has lost his job.

     Not a bad start to the second season! It was pretty funny, especially at the end where I really thought that Nagi was going to win. It’s going to be interesting since the next few episodes deal with Hayate out of a job and trying to improve himself so that he could once again become Nagi’s (combat) butler. 

     The animation from J.C. Staff didn’t really bother me. After watching the OVA, I’m pretty much used to the way that the characters are drawn now, and it’s not a substantial change when compared to other anime series.

     It’s a real struggle not to read the manga to get an idea of what might happen during this season’s episodes. But it’s all the more reason to watch the series. Another plus for this episode is the amount of Hina coverage she gets. She’s also featured in the ending song. Win win! Until the next episode.

Ayumu Nishizawa, who has a crush on Hayate, and her brother try to see the competition at the school. Their stopped by some scary looking security guards.

Izumi (another favorite of mine) and Wataru doing the marathon commentary.

Maria cheering on Hayate and Nagi.

Miki, Hina and Hayate watching Nagi closing in on the finish line.

Nagi putting Klaus, the head butler, in his place.

Nagi and Hayate think of victory.......as everyone else starts running.

Another shot of Hina during the ending song of the episode