Hayate the Combat Butler Ep. 37
ハヤテのごとく！Episode 37

SPOILER Summary: Nagi is reading a magazine and calls for Hayate, demanding to know what type of girl he prefers. Maria attempts to provide him some cover but Hayate decides to answer just the same. He wants a normal girl. Nagi ponders this for a while but when Hayate tells her she wouldn’t understand, she punches him in the face and runs off. Hayate wonders what went wrong and Maria states that he wouldn’t understand, knowing that Nagi’s feelings for Hayate are the root of the problem.

Nagi runs off and decides to learn what it means to be normal. She happens upon the “Hamster” Nishizawa and decides that maybe Nishizawa will be someone to learn from. She starts tailing the “Hamster” much to Nishizawa’s dismay. As Nishizawa is going to do some shopping, Nagi is going along. They go to the train station, which excites Nagi. However, she’s frustrated by the gate system and Nishizawa has to explain that one must pay to get through the gate. They wait on the platform and when an express train roars past, Nagi is stunned at the thought of trying to board a train at that speed. Nishizawa has to explain things, surprised that Nagi doesn’t know.

The get on train where Nagi is excited by the ride. She wants to go up to where the driver is, which Nishizawa explains can’t be done since this isn’t a train video game. When others get on the train and sit on the same bench as they, Nagi is distressed by this because as far as she’s concerned, the bench is hers. Nishizawa continues to be amazed at Nagi’s ignorance and has to explain normal things again. Nagi gets depressed by this, leading Nishizawa to ask why she wants to be normal all the sudden. Nagi won’t say.

They arrive at their destination and Nagi is distressed to learn they have to walk a distance to get to the shop that Nishizawa is going to. They get in line outside a cake shop, which is something Nagi has seen in manga and anime. Nishizawa asks the person taking orders outside if they still have a Koyuki Special Seafood Cake (they only make a few a day), which they do so she orders one. Nishizawa is excited by this since her parents and little brother are away, meaning she can have the cake all to herself. Nagi finds that normal people want boring things which insults Nishizawa and leads her to tell Nagi she won’t get any cake, even if she begs.

Nagi is tired of waiting in line and goes down the street a bit where she calls Nishizawa out of line to join her. Nishizawa does and finds Nagi excited at having bought something in limited supply but without having to wait in line. It is a game console made out of 18 karat gold. Nagi is distressed to learn that Nishizawa doesn’t want one. They return to the cake shop, only to find that the Special Seafood Cake is now sold out. Nishizawa is forced to go for some left over creme puffs. Nagi is not satisfied with Nishizawa as a reference for a normal person. Nishizawa says she’ll call Nagi’s people to come get her, but Nagi won’t return until she’s learned about being normal.

When Nishizawa opens her cell phone, Nagi sees a “print club” photo of Nishizawa and Hayate, which Nishizawa got Hayate to do back when he was still a bicycle currier. Nagi is upset to see this and Nishizawa sees a chance to score points on Nagi. Nagi counters by showing she has Hayate’s cell phone number in her #1 slot, something that Nishizawa doesn’t have. Nagi stands on the bench to lord this over Nishizawa, saying she’ll never give up Hayate. Nishizawa tells her that Hayate will get tired of selfish ojousama’s and leave. Despite their bickering, Nishizawa decides ultimately to take the high ground and invites Nagi over to her place since it is nearby, which Nagi reluctantly accepts, especially since her feet are blistered from so much walking.

At the apartment complex that Nishizawa lives in, Nagi is surprised by the smallness of her place. Nishizawa serves Nagi a creme puff, which Nagi likes and thanks her for. Nagi apologizes for her earlier statements which pleases Nishizawa. Nagi decides she wants dinner too, so Nishizawa prepares a frozen dinner. The two play games and when they go to take a bath, Nagi decides that normal is a scaled down version of what she normally does. In the bath, Nagi confesses that the reason that she’s hung up on being normal is that Hayate likes normal girls, which gives Nishizawa reason to hope.

At bed time, Nishizawa offers Nagi her bed, saying she’ll sleep on the couch. Nagi hints at not wanting to sleep alone, so Nishizawa decides to stay. As a reward, Nagi gives Nishizawa her cell phone so that she can call Hayate and tell him that Nagi will be spending the night. Nishizawa is very happy about being about to talk to her crush and so makes the call. The to go to bed, but seeing that Nagi is afraid of the dark, Nishizawa leaves the lamp on. Nagi tells Nishizawa to call her “Nagi,” instead of using her family name, so Nishizawa addresses her as “Nagi-chan.” Nagi continues to call Nishizawa “Hamster” though.

Meanwhile, Hayate had tailed the two all day to make sure Nagi was OK. As he goes to return home, Isumi calls to him from the top of a tower structure (smoke stack?). Hayate goes to rescue her when Wataru-kun rushes passed Hayate to save her. Saki is concerned over Wataru, so she goes up to rescue him, but realizing the camera is about to look up her dress, puts her hand in front of the camera. A gust of wind blows Isumi off the tower, so Wataru tries to catch her and falls off. Hayate has to catch them both as they fall, which he does and brings them to the ground safely. Then Saki falls on him, followed by three of Isumi’s guards and Sakuya, thus filling up time to end the episode.

Thoughts: A good episode to be sure. Nagi and Nishizawa were pretty funny together. I liked how the writers made up some filler for the end of the episode, bringing in characters we hadn’t seen much of recently.

References! (Ah! This is where the evil that is Wikipedia paid off when the wiki-gods deleted this link as a not good enough for them. )