Hayate the Combat Butler “2nd Season” Ep. 24
ハヤテのごとく！！Episode 24
Hayate no Gotoku!! – 24

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Ayumu and Hina go for an evening walk through the sakura trees to watch the falling petals when Ayumu decides that they should go to the Ginnan Shopping District to talk as they have a symbol there for courage. Hina agrees but is horrified to learn that this symbol is actually a giant Ferris wheel. However, she is talked into getting on despite her fear of heights and while she tries to hide it from Ayumu, Ayumu quickly figures out the truth. When the wheel stops turning, Hina gets scared so Ayumu has her sing a song. Hina starts singing a song about dango and as Ayumu wanted, Hina calmed down.

Back at Sakuya’s party, Nagi has disappeared so it is time to find her. Sakuya’s father has some giant, human-sized rat traps baited with manga to catch Nagi but sets off one of his own traps instead. Isumi suggests they call Nagi’s cell phone which shocks the others for the idea’s brilliance but Nagi doesn’t answer. So they split up to search and as they do, Sakuya and Hayate talk briefly about relationships where Hayate remembers his childhood sweetheart. Hayate reveals that he has an older brother and Sakuya decides to tell Hayate that she has a thing for “oniichan” guys, thus seriously wonders if she should address Hayate as “Hayate-oniichan.”

Returning to the Ferris wheel, Hina finally works up the courage to tell Ayumu that despite saying she’d support Ayumu’s love, she’s betrayed Ayumu by falling in love with Hayate. Ayumu had expected Hina to confess to actually dating Hayate and more and so Hina’s confession doesn’t really phase her. Ayumu is amused by Hina’s “won’t lose” attitude, which is a lot like Nagi’s. Hina says she will not confess to Hayate nor ask him out since that would mean losing but would consider dating Hayate if he asked her. So an amused Ayumu asks if Hayate will ask Hina out first or if Ayumu will get Hayate to look at her first.

To end the awkwardness of Sakuya’s “oniichan” remarks, Hayate returns the subject to Nagi. Sakuya says she knows where Nagi is since Nagi often will go to see “Yukkyun,” Nagi’s mother’s nickname. This means that Nagi is star gazing and looking at the moon as well. Hayate finds Nagi and she speaks of how seeing Sakuya’s family made her feel a bit down. Hayate says that Nagi has himself and Maria for family but Nagi tells Hayate that eventually Maria will leave her to start her own family. Hayate tries to cheer Nagi up with a lame joke and Nagi makes Hayate promise to stay by her side. After that, Sakuya’s birthday fireworks go off, meaning everyone, including Ayumu and Hina in the Ferris wheel, get to see the show.

Thoughts/Review:

While remaining a fun episode, this episode was also somewhat poignant with Nagi’s reflections on family and being smart enough to realize that Maria will eventually meet someone, marry them, and leave Nagi’s service. That’s not the kind of thinking one expects from a mostly comedy/parody series like this (with bits of romantic comedy to boot as well as adventure) as it is just natural to assume Maria will always be there along with Klaus and the rest (though I did note that the anime does not mention Klaus at all). Nagi’s reflections on the departure of Himegami (though not mentioned by name) were also of interest and makes me wonder what the anime will do if the manga story finally introduces him. Remember, the first anime series took it upon themselves to make up their own story surrounding Himegami so if the manga does one, the anime writers will be forced to make a decision (or not, depending on if there is a 3rd series created).

While I expected Ayumu to be OK with Hina’s confession, I admit that I too was as unprepared for her reaction as Hina was. Of course Ayumu was expecting the worst and when all she got was that Hina liked the same boy she did, well I suppose it is only natural to have the “is that all” attitude. *lol* Still, I like the friendship between Ayumu and Hina and hope to see more of it (or rather read more about it since next episode is the final one).

Sakuya pondering addressing Hayate as “Hayate-oniichan” was rather a surprise in some aspects. Like the other girls in Hayate’s life, she too has fallen for Hayate in her own way. I think that became pretty clear in the manga when they were trapped during the snow storm. Well, this is a harem title of sorts, so it is only natural that Hayate would have all the pretty babes fall for him. I wonder if Sakuya will address him as “oniichan” from here on out, but considering how the moment ended, I kind of doubt that will happen.

I wonder why Aika had a pendant like the one Nagi’s grandfather gave to Hayate. The look she gave it suggests there’s a story to be told there, but not in this anime series. Man, now I really want to read ahead and not wait for Viz’s translations. ^_^;;;

When Hina started singing about dango, I immediately thought about the Clannad ED theme song “Dango Daikazoku.” I wonder if that the song was supposed to be a parody of it. It would have been very cool if the anime production team could have scored rights to “Dango Daikozoku” though, as they did for “Cruel Angel’s Thesis,” the OP theme of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Another good episode that actually felt like a series finale rather than there still being one to go. I say this because of the sheer number of characters in the episode (though Miki, Riza, and Izumi were missing, but that’s understandable). We’ll see how the last one goes.