Hayate the Combat Butler “2nd Season” Ep. 07
ハヤテのごとく！！Episode 07
Hayate no Gotoku!! – 07

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Nagi finds herself alone in the mansion and having to make tea by herself while Maria is in disguise at the school to check on Hayate, who hasn’t caught on that this is Maria. However, when the elevator has a fault, Hayate realizes who this is and decides to apologize for causing her trouble. A sudden elevator lurch has both on the ground in an awkward position and when the doors open, Hina sees them and is not pleased by this. After leaving the clock tower, Maria tells Hayate that she was worried about him, which makes him cry in happiness. Nagi calls, so Maria is off, telling Hayate to come back to the mansion the following night.

Hayate changes back into his butler’s uniform and after school meets with the annoyed Hina. He puts her off her irritation by announcing that he’s cooking dinner at Hina’s mother’s request. So the two head to the supermarket to obtain the ingredients for Hina’s two favorite foods — hamburger steak and non-spicy curry. At Hina’s home, Hina decides that she’s going to help Hayate cook by making the hamburger steak while Hayate makes the curry. Both sample each other’s food and are very impressed. However, while they wait for Katsura-sensei to arrive, Hina tells Hayate to take a bath. He thinks she wants to bathe with him, which was not her intent. However, she takes the opportunity to ask him whom he’d bathe with — Hina, Ayumu, or Maria. Hayate has no answer but rejects the idea of bathing with Katsura-sensei.

When Hina learns that Hayate doesn’t actually have a girlfriend, she’s suddenly uncomfortable being alone in the house with Hayate and takes off to get some ice cream. Upon returning home, she encounters Ayumu, who’d gotten lost while chasing a sweet potato vendor. Hina is desperate to keep Ayumu in the dark about Hayate staying with her, but Hayate appears and Ayumu immediately assumes Hina and Hayate are married and flees. Hina chases her and upon catching her, convinced Ayumu to return to Hina’s home and spend the night so as to understand the situation. On the way back, they find a kitten and bring it home.

After Hayate leaves to get some kitten supplies, leaving Ayumu and Hina to talk. Hina learns that Hayate had been abandoned by his parents and saddled with a ¥150-million debt. Hina realizes that Hayate has a similar past to her own. When Hayate returns, the kitten uses the bathroom on Hina and causes her to take a bath. She and Ayumu again talk with Ayumu revealing her pathetic strategy for Hayate and her belief that she wouldn’t have to do these things if she were as cool as Hina. Hina denies being cool and informs Ayumu that she will root for her.

Thoughts/Review:

While it is kind of a throw-away segment, I do miss that Hayate got Wataru up in order to pick out the best stuff for the kitten. Its just a little character development item for Wataru that is also pretty funny since he’s so educated on the care of kittens.

Tama got a cameo. He’s been sorely missed in the new series IMO. His one role from the unpublished manga that could have been added to the anime was dropped. Now that Shiranui is in the story, we will finally get a Tama story from the manga. I’m looking forward to that. ^_^

I love the friendship between Ayumu and Hina. I’ve read how people find Ayumu annoying and Hina lacks a spine. I don’t see that at all, but admittedly, I’m biased based on having read the manga. Ayumu was there first and she’s getting a proper treatment in this anime series, which is good. Her behavior is typical of a teenager who lacks self confidence when dealing with the person they really like. Hina has always been a kind, generous person and despite being very strong and popular, she puts others first. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a spine but it means she’s always looking out for others (and that’s why she gets so much chocolate at Valentine’s Day). I look forward to both Ayumu and Hina getting their stories progressed, though the writers are going to have to compensate for the first series having already given Hina a birthday party (which is so unfortunate).

Not much to analyze, but I can say that I still continue to love this adaptation of the Hayate the Combat Butler manga over the first anime series. To me, it just proves that sticking to the manga story rather than attempting to be clever in going off on your own is the best solution.