After the 52 episodes of the first Hayate no Gotoku! season, we have the 25-episode second season, Hayate no Gotoku!! (with two exclamation points). Despite the second season being shorter, I found that I enjoyed it more than the first…
I’ve heard that the Hayate no Gotoku! anime is changed significantly from the original manga. But despite this, the anime has proven to be extremely popular in its own right. Probably its main appeal is its satirical, parody humor that specifically targets Japanese otaku culture, much like Lucky Star. The series is a straight-out comedy that never gets too serious, and is full of slapsticks, humorous romance, and jokes that only otaku would understand. And also like Lucky Star, although there isn’t much of a plot in HnG, the characters are full of appeal, from the reliable, good-natured Hayate, the caring but sensitive Maria, the love-struck tsunderes Nagi and Hinagiku, and the cheerful but unlucky Ayumu. With these qualities, HnG is an extremely character-driven series: if you don’t feel any affection for the characters, even the show’s humor would probably not help much in getting you through 52+25 episodes of an episodic series with no ongoing plot. But if you do love watching the characters be their colorful selves amongst constant gags and Japanese pop culture humor, then there’s no getting enough XD
Truthfully, I don’t think I got that into the HnG characters with the first season. At first, the show’s unique parody humor and witty gags are what kept me interested. And many will agree that the HnG narrator contributes heavily to the show’s appeal XD But despite being a romance/comedy series with a lot of female characters, fan service scenes in HnG are few and hardly notable. The show’s focus is the parody and character-driven humor more than anything. But as the 52 episodes of season one waned on, I felt that there were more repetitive or just plain lame episodes than good ones. But I enjoyed the series enough to want to check out the second season.
The HnG OVA that was released before the second season started airing (called episode 00) was great in IMO; it did an excellent job reintroducing all the principle characters in a typical HnG scenario that had both humor and a little drama/romance. But as for the rest of the series, the main reason I enjoyed it more than the first is because it seemed to focus a lot more on the characters rather than the parody. I noticed the second season’s lack of the show’s famous otaku-centered parodies early on, which I know irked some fans. But for me, this season did an excellent job in delving deeper into the characters, such as Hinagiku’s realization about her love for Hayate and her reluctant rivalry with Ayumu, more background on Maria’s past and Nagi’s relationship with her mother, and of course some great Hayate+Nagi moments. But even with its romance and character development, it still retained the light, humorous, and not-too-serious air of the first season. There were plenty of hilarious, humor-driven episodes too: Hayate’s visit to Isumi’s house, Nagi and Ayumu bicycling together, Tama and Shiranui going on an adventure (Tama asking for help on a forum was too funny XD), and one of my favorites, Nagi getting lost in the mall and playing a memorable trading card game with some kids XD And the otaku parodies, though not as common as in the first season, were still very much alive in certain episodes of season two.
Besides the overall episode quality and more character-driven antics, the second season also had two awesome ending songs. The first season had two great openings by Kotoko, but the second season had equally memorable endings – the first being a hilarious karaoke song by Hinagiku, and the second, an adorable duet by Nagi and Hayate. I think those two will go down as two of my most favorite anime endings of all XD
In summary, I enjoyed the second season of HnG more than the first. Although it had fewer episodes, I felt that the number of quality episodes was higher. And even though it might not have been as blatantly humorous and parody-driven as the first, emphasis on the romance and characters, while still maintaining a light and humorous yet warm and touching atmosphere, definitely made up for it. I have a feeling we’ll see more HnG anime someday. Hopefully we won’t be waiting too long =)