What I’m Watching 13

In this post, I will be reviewing Ah! My Goddess: Sorezore no Tsubasa episode 24, Pumpkin Scissors episode 15, Hayate no Gotoku! episode 01, and Hayate no Gotoku! episode 02.

Ah! My Goddess: Sorezore no Tsubasa 24 (OAV 02)

Peorth, Skuld, Urd, and Belldandy are sitting playing a game of Mahjong when Belldandy wins on the first move. Peorth walks away knowing she can never beat someone so lucky. Hearing Belldandy say something to Keiichi, she remembers this part of her mission and confronts Keiichi. She asks if he’s ever said he loved her (using the Japanese word “suki”) and of course he hasn’t. When Belldandy interrupts their conversation, he takes the opportunity to flee. The following day, Keiichi observes Belldandy at work and asks Chihiro-san about women wanting to hear “I love you.” She tells him they do want to hear it, but when she tries to arrange it, K1 flees again.

That night at home, Peorth arranges for some special training getting Keiichi to tell her “suki,” which Belldandy overhears as she brings tea, forcing her to make a hasty retreat. Urd has been observing and talks to K1, saying “I love you” in many languages. She attempts to give him special medicine, which Peorth intercepts and forces on Urd. Urd pretends to fall in love with Peorth causing her to make a hasty retreat.

That night, K1 asks Peorth why she cares and its due to an aura around him. So she sends him up to the top of the bell house where Belldandy is sitting. Urd manages to get some of her medicine into K1 anyway and so whenever he says “suki,” it causes the person he says the words to pass out in a pleasant way. So Belldandy is out and Skuld gets mad. Coming up to inflict punishment on K1, she too passes out when K1 explains and uses the word “suki.” When Urd and Peorth come up and debate who’s at fault, he accuses them of trying to kill him, the phrase “koroSUKI ka” coming out of his mouth and causing them to pass out and fall to the ground. And so it goes.

Thoughts/Review:

Well, this was pulled from much later manga volumes and out of the blue (chapter 193-195 to be exact). Its not a bad story and it is a good adaptation, but here Peorth is talking about her mission which is explained in the manga (Urd’s test for becoming a 1st Class Goddess). Oh well. I suppose there won’t be any more TV series, so why not have it end with K1’s confession (of sorts). Oh, and there was a little bit of Belldandy fanservice with an every-so-slight peek up her skirt. You don’t see anything really, but it stands out just the same.

Pumpkin Scissors 15

As the 908 trooper attacks, Alice tries to drive the group away, only to find themselves trapped by a wall of fire. The Waterworks thugs arrive, only to have the 908 trooper attack and kill some of them. The rest flee, but find their escape blocked with bars that hadn’t been there before. Complicating matters is the rising water. The 908 trooper sees the 901 emblem on Oland’s lantern and relates to him. However, the waters rise fast and Oland is pulled under. He awakes in the hospital and Alice is curious to know what the flamethrower soldier said to him. Oland won’t say, so Alice leaves. He’s then visited by Kauplan’s assistant, who calls herself Kauplan now. She gives him some injections and does other things to Oland to repair him. Oland asks her about the 908, and she states that officially, the flamethrower troops were supposedly isolated from the heat of their flames by a special liquid in their suit but in reality, they just cannot feel the pain of their burning flesh.

As Pumpkin Scissors continues their busts of Waterworks drug dealing employees, Major Connery pays Captain Hunks a visit. Hunks has some burned remains of emblems from Connery’s Section I troops who’ve been killed on their secret mission. Meanwhile, Oreld and Machs come across the girl they rescued, Marielle. Oreld compliments her on her hair cut which she says makes her happy, but her tears and the money packet she holds tells Oreld that she sold her hair so that her father could by more of the drug Himmel. Staging an event in the sewer where he pretends to have purchased Marielle, her father gets angry. When Machs joins in, the two get a beating, but Marielle is happy her father defended her.

Mertz has been busted again by Pumpkin Scissors and again is released on bail. He returns to Waterworks president Albert Mione’s mansion only to find him missing. He sees and open door and following it, he finds the 908 trooper in one of the rooms, meaning his boss had betrayed them. He then returns to Section III HQ and gives a confession to them. Alice gathers the troops for a mission to stop the next delivery of drugs, but Hunks has a special mission for Oreld instead. Elsewhere, Albert and the 908 trooper great a mysterious person, calling themselves members of the Silver Wheel.

Thoughts: Entertaining and messed up. The fact that the 908 trooper is basically slowly burning himself to death with every mission is very messed up. It was interesting to see how Oland gets his injuries healed. But despite this, we don’t seem to be learning a great deal and certainly nothing about the war that spawned these troops nor its mysterious ending.

Hayate no Gotoku! 01 — (aka: Hayate the Combat Butler)

SANZENIN Nagi finds herself confronted by a mecha unit that wants her dead. After throwing five insults about the stupidity of the one attacking her, she screams for Hayate who saves the day. However, the shows opening theme is about to start and prevents him from making a proper introduction. So the announcer makes an introduction about this combat butler, which Hayate protests is too fast.

After recalling an incident with an insulting Santa-san that inspired him, Hayate gets to working, riding a bicycle that goes faster than cars. He makes a delivery on time to a happy customer group, only to have his bad luck cause him to crash down into the subway tunnel. After meeting his “ordinary” high school friends on the road, he heads back to his job where his boss fires him for being underage. His parents reported him and they subsequently took ¥170,000 he’d earned. Because his parents are worthless bums, Hayate races home, hoping they haven’t already blown his cash. He finds their poor apartment empty save for a note with a bill from the yakuza for ¥156,804,000. The yakuza come to take Hayate as payment, but he escapes.

Stopping far away, he notes a young, rich girl wanting to buy a warm beverage from the vending machine on this snowy evening. An angel and devil version of him debate what to do, with the angel deciding they should kidnap the girl and hold her for ransom of ¥150-million, which the devil finds a bit excessive. However, before he can enact his plan, two punks come up and try to have their way with the girl, but Hayate quickly sends them packing. He has no money to give her for the beverage she wants (and the vending machine doesn’t take credit cards) so he gives her his jacket, which she quickly ID’s as poor.

She decides to reward him and so he decides to tell her he’s going to kidnap her. However, his words come out poorly, as if he’s asking her out and wants to date her. She’s surprised by this, but blushingly agrees to it providing he never cheats on her. This puzzles Hayate, but he’s off to call her guardian to demand a ransom. Unfortunately, he spoke his name and his plan got flushed. Feeling a failure, he collapses in the snow, only to be rescued by a young woman. Her kindness makes him believe in doing the right thing, so when the girl is being kidnapped, he rescues her by chasing down the car with the young woman’s bike. The girl hurls insults at her kidnappers and calling Hayate’s name, he arrives and rescues her. With that, the young woman and the girl take the injured Hayate away in a helicopter as he’s to be her new butler as a reward (he having asked for a job).

Thoughts: Yeah, I’m going to like this one. Nagi’s tough girl attitude and insults are pretty funny. Hayate’s inhuman abilities and incredible bad luck are funny. The joke reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion character Gendo Ikari was funny. And the censorship jokes about what they can and can’t show on TV Tokyo (complete with a little figure holding a sign saying “Can’t Show!” and a comment on the anime writers fighting the broadcast code) was pretty funny. The anime doesn’t take itself seriously at all, and I’m loving it! The narrator helps there.

Hayate no Gotoku! 02

Hayate finds himself in the clouds and Santa-san tells him he’s dead and complains that Hayate hit him last episode. Awakening, Hayate figures he’s either dreaming or in heaven since he’s in such a rich place. Heading for the large indoor onsen, he starts bathing only to notice Maria-san, the young woman from earlier. He passes out and upon awakening, Maria-san convinces him he had been dreaming. She inquires about him wanting to take Nagi-ojousama away and he confesses to his kidnapping plot and apologizes, letting Maria know it was all a misunderstanding (Nagi thinking Hayate confessed to her). Nagi comes in to see how he’s doing and asks him to be her butler. He agrees and swears to do whatever, which of course leads to more misunderstandings. The older man, Klaus-san, inquires about Hayate and ultimately decides that Maria should get rid of him. Maria instead gives him a butlers uniform and he does the best cleaning job she’s ever seen.

After coming into Nagi’s study, he finds an unlined notebook with what he assumes is a picture diary (its a manga). Nagi comes in and tells him to get out. He misunderstands this to mean he’s fired and leaves. The yakuza are waiting for him and take him away, which Maria observes. Maria asks Nagi about this and Nagi states she was only throwing him out of the room, not the house. Seeing the bill, Nagi decides to take action. Wearing a silly mask and acting as a super hero with the name Mask the Money, she plants a card into the forehead of one of the yakuza. When they go to attack her, Hayate, knowing its Nagi, defends her. Nagi produces the bill and then a suitcase full of cash. The yakuza paid off leave Hayate tells Mask the Money that she should tell Nagi he’ll work hard for her (since she’d told him his being fired was a misunderstanding) to pay back the money. Nagi had intended for it to be a gift, but when Hayate calls her manga a picture diary, she gets mad and tells him he will repay the debt. As they bicker, Klaus and Maria observe from a distance with Maria noting they are like brother and sister.

Thoughts: Good but not as funny as the first episode. The constant misunderstanding jokes could get old. Still, this is an enjoyable series and it will be interesting following the adventures of Hayate and Nagi-ojousama. ^_^