Well, before I start, I have to give myself a hearty congratulations for reaching over 2500 views! This was pushed over the edge by 52 Turkish readers who stopped by...in one day...when 50 views is a solid haul for a month let alone a day...and Google claims they somehow didn't actually read any articles...but thanks all the same!
Now, back to anime. I haven't decided yet if this is to be the final part of the Hayate trilogy, or to extend it to a fourth part to give some concluding statements. I guess we'll see after I say what I have to say here, and see what's been said and not said. Anyway, the remainders of the cast.
Ayumu Nishizawa:
You see that name right there? Forget you ever saw it. This is my discussion of Hamster. That is her name. Don't ask me why. You'll find out when you watch Hayate no Gotoku. Which you should be doing. Right. Now. Forget this garbage. Go here. Enjoy. Forget this blog exists. Run! Be free! Still here? Fine. I'll presume you've already seen it.
I fucking adore Hamster. Without a single doubt, I call her my favourite character in the series. Do I ship her and Hayate? No goddamn way. Hayate's a creepy bastard with no standards. Hamster can do better than that. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Hamster is a student at the high-school Hayate attended before the events of the anime, and she represents a connection to the life Hayate wanted to lead. She represents normality, stability, reliability and everything that is ordinary. By that logic, you would think she would be boring. But she really isn't. Hamster is a regular person (by anime standards, obviously) who is just infused by an inhuman drive towards everything. Be it Hayate, her work, Hayate, showing up Nagi, Hayate, Hayate or even Hayate, Hamster gives it her all.
As you can probably see, Hamster is obsessed with Hayate, and that's...still a shame. I AM employing double standards considering that I had issues with Hina's identical obsession, but...I don't know. Everything Hamster does seems much more natural with Hayate than Hina does. Hina seems constantly enraged at Hayate, every encounter being in some way cringeworthy. Hamster? Yeah, sometimes the same is true, but only sometimes. Far more often her time with Hayate is just...stuff. Fun, pointless stuff. Just...stuff. I like that. Hamster comes across as far more human than any other cast member, and in an anime this wacky, I really appreciate an unintentional grounding influence.
Hamster's relationship with Hina is equally interesting. The two meet, and Hina perceives them as rivals for Hayate's affections, despite the two getting along great. Hina passionately confesses that they are after the same thing...and Hamster's fine with it. She's relaxed, eager to see how things turn out. She won't let her Hayate hunt get in the way of a good friendship. Despite having some odd priorities regarding a dog-faced kid in a butler uniform, Hamster knows what's important.
Overall, Hamster is just awesome. She's human, flawed like a human, not uber-rich (yes, I'll bring class-struggle into anime. Hayate's just the illusion of class mobility. There you go), and just is nice to people. I don't have a deep emotional reason for calling Hamster my favourite, but she is just genuinely the most likable character, and doesn't come off as constructed to be lovable as Hina or Hayate are. She rings true, and that's the best way I can put it.
Athena Tennousu:
You've had all the best, and most of the rest...so here's Athena.
I don't like Athena very much, to say the least. It isn't even a problem with the personality of the character. Athena, from what I can gather, has a good heart and is appreciably lazy, which I have no fault with, but is controlling, condescending, spoilt and a general nuisance. And that isn't even my problem with her. Prepare for the stupid. It doesn't even deserve
SPOILERS ENSUE: Athena was a childhood sweetheart/master of Hayate, who took him to her magical garden castle that was hidden away from the rest of the world and could only be found by those who truly sought it but Hayate fucked up, or more specifically Hayate's parents fucked up and the castle was destroyed and Athena grew up to become the head of Hakuou Academy despite being the same age as Hayate and then in Greece she found him and he had to choose between her and Nagi and he chose Nagi but Nagi lost her fortune anyway but Athena became a child again and now lives with Hayate and Nagi also something about royalty I never really followed that also, magic.
Yeah. I kind of appreciate the anime/manga personifying all the stupid pointlessness in a single character for me to hate, but they give said character waaaay too much screen time. On top of this, the three states we see Athena in (kid, adult, kid for a second time) prevent us actually getting to know her. Also, the fact she may or may not have been possessed by evil spirits the first two states also doesn't help.
I'm not going to bother going on. I'll save my bile for an anime that deserves it, even if this particular character certainly does. Athena, despite being Hayate's kindergarten sweetheart, has no relevance in this story. Every time she appears, there is no real impetus to do anything. She just makes trouble because magic. And betrayal. She's a waste of time in an anime I consider to be very valuable. At least the current version of Athena, kid v2, or "A-tan", is looking permanent enough to get used to (except the last chapter of the manga to date. But that's stupid and shouldn't count).
Y'know what? I think that's all I really need to talk about. There's an idol who only really gets any real characterisation in the manga, there's Chiharu, who's interesting, a few other additions to Hayate's harem, Nagi's parents...kinda...but no-one I feel is necessary to discuss, especially if we look at just the first two seasons. Considering this, let's wrap up Hayate tonight.
Music:
I fucking love the music from Hayate no Gotoku, particularly the theme from Season 3 (the image is slightly uncomfortably Lolita, so a mild NSFW warning). Just, goddamn, there isn't a Hayate intro or outro that doesn't bring a smile to my face. I haven't seen an anime yet with a soundtrack as good as Hayate, although Code Geass comes a little close. That's all I have to say about the music. Goddamn listen to it. Also, each of the 12 episodes of season 4 has a unique opening, and they're all worth hearing.
Conclusions:
OK, I love Hayate no Gotoku. This is not a trick statement. Everything I've said outside of the discussion of Athena must make this obvious. Why? The characters. The sense of childlike wonder in the stories and setting. The knowing parody of more self-important maid anime the series toys with. The light sense of meandering which is so rare in most anime. Hamster, just by herself pretty much. And things I probably can't even put into words. I adore this show. No, it's not my favourite. Considering the subject matter and the people I talk with, it probably isn't even one of my easiest recommendations, either. But it is an anime I'll always want to watch to make me forget everything else.
Now, let's have some real negativity before we go. No matter what I say, I still believe that you, anonymous Internet denizen, should watch and enjoy this show without shame or qualification.
Light issues I have include the fact Hayate has no personality. That's not that big an issue. The stories get a little to fluffy sometimes, and I sometimes feel just a little more story could help. Look at the story-heavy season 3, which was amazing. They can pull it off, and I like it when they do. Again, not a big issue.
The only big issue I have? Fanservice. No, it's not heavy. No, it's not graphic. The issue is that some of these characters really feel like they were designed to be Lolita fanservice. Nagi and Isumi particularly. The fanservice isn't the most blatant or uncomfortable of all anime I've seen, but it's there. And this bothers me because of how Hayate is trying to take the piss out of so many shitty maid animes, and does so pretty well, but keeps this as a real part of the show.
I may have said this before, but I'll restate it here: I don't like sexual fanservice. I can't stand it. If I want porn, I'll go after porn. This is the Internet. If I want really light suggestive titillation of very specific anime characters in very specific ways, I'll find it myself. Again, this is the Internet. It has no place in anime for me. I don't consider myself a prude for this. Sex is fine, but pointless titillation targeted at the audience rather than any in-universe explanation is just stupid. Hayate isn't the biggest offender, but still, it's there.
OK, that's all folks. I'll be back at no specific time to start on the next anime, which is...He Is My Master. May I have a quick and painless death before I have to even think about that trainwreck again.
Cheers for reading,
H. Rourke
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