I demand a Hayate reality show, because the hidden camera segment was the funniest thing I’ve watched in recent memory.

Between the hidden camera, the Gundam and Code Geass references, this was arguably the best filler episode of all time. Oh yeah, not to mention, image spam:

It’s been a while since we’ve had a Hina-heavy episode. I’ve been zetsubou shita ever since they replaced the Hina ED with the other ED that I always skip over. But Hina (and Hamster) were back in force!

I just loved the colors in this scene, the pinks, the dark purples, the blues. It gives off such a wintry, exotic vibe. It also blends really well with Hina and Nishizawa’s hair colors.

Could our tsundere hero be afraid of heights? (well we all know the answer to that question)

NO! DAMMIT!

Well… maybe. It’s probably a bad time to remember when you’re stuck in a 300 foot tall merry-go-rounds. Shizuka Itou’s scared, "are we going to die" Hina voice was just off-the-charts cute. God, why is Hina so damn cute! Nishizawa should’ve done the chivalrous thing and hugged Hina.

To keep Hina calm, Nishizawa suggests singing a song. Hina asks Nishizawa to sing along with her… and actually starts singing!

Heh heh heh. Nishizawa was a pretty cool cat during this episode. I think any guy would be lucky to have her. I love how she had frightened Hina in the palm of her hand.

With the fun and games finally out of the way, Hina stirs up enough courage to finally confess her feelings to Nishizawa… about Hayate that is. Darn. Oh well, I guess there’s plenty of time for the eventual Hina x Nishizawa confession. Anyway, so Nishizawa must’ve been pissed off, eh? Since her pal Hina, who promised to support her, suddenly turned on her.

Told ya. Nishizawa is one cool cat. She survived confessing to Hayate. She survived working with Nagi. She can survive a Hina confession.

Oh man, this chibi version of Hina is unbelievable win. Although I can totally empathize with her. There’s nothing more awkward than explaining something important and then thinking "uh oh, do I have to explain this again?"

To be honest, as serious as Hina was, I’d probably be thinking the same thing Nishizawa was. If this was School Days, I suppose Hina would’ve revealed that she was pregnant. But the thought of Hina getting all dere dere about doing "all sorts of things" with Hayate really amuses me though. I can totally see that… never happening. But it’s really fun to imagine.

Once a tsundere, always a tsundere. Someone needs to hook Wikipedia up with this video clip, because this is the prototypical tsundere scene in my mind.

In the end, I can’t help but give Nishizawa so much credit. She’s such a level-headed, good girl, with a real mature and sensible outlook on the competition. This is why Nishizawa shocked Tomoyo in saimoe. How could you not love her? This is one of the rare cases where I really would hate seeing a loser.

But in other non-Hina, Nishizawa news, there were plenty of things that happened this episode.

Some hilarious Isumi fanservice.

Hayate has an older brother!? Oh and Sakuya reveals that she as a weird fetish. lol, I should’ve known.

As a Hina x Nishizawa fan, this girl is going to piss me off (I think) if they ever animate her.

And finally, a little fanservice to the Nagi x Hayate shippers… although I think it’s really unlikely to happen, because this was another scene where Hayate refers to himself as family, and to Nagi as a little girl. I think at the end, Nagi is going to let Hayate go.

If this turns out to be my last Hinagiku no Gotoku post, I’ll just say this second season of Hayate has been an absolute joy to watch. The random comedy is cool, and gives HNG that special, quirky feel, but the romcom developments are what I’ve loved, and made it more than just a gag show. I hope they do a third season.

Why didn’t I just go ahead and write about this show from the start? Of course, even I didn’t know all the awesome (and Hina) that Hayate no Gotoku would deliver this season, this episode being featuring the latest Hina-Nishizawa hot spiciness, and the typical silly comedy that makes HnG so great. This episode had so much fertile material, I’m looking forward to the ever so enjoyable Hontouni’s THREESOME posts for this episode.

They should’ve gotten Aki Toyosaki to voice Maya. ~Ui~

So Nishizawa might have a nicer body than Hina, but I’m sticking by my favorite pink-haired girl. Nishizawa, of course, is much too classy to go for the onsen oppai glomp. (Sadly for the rest of us.)

Embarrased Hina has several shades of red until smoke starts puffing out of her. Deflowering naked Hina, proposing three-way marriage, I gotta say, I like the way Nishizawa thinks. That’s my kinda girl. Actually, forget Hayate x Hina. Nishizawa x Hina FTW!

Anyway, the rest of the stuff, the Maya spaceship events, the boys love attack on Hayate, the Gibson Jr. warp, was random, but hilarious. The scene with Nagi’s mom, Yukariko was touching, but just before they pushed it too far, Sakuya comes to save the day. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. As far as my sheer enjoyment goes, this show is pushing close to a perfect 10 for me. If they end it on a Nishizawa x Hina ending, it gets an 11. No questions asked.

With Horo, Hinagiku and now Sora no Manimani, I feel like I’ve been fanboy gushing a little too much these days. Thank goodness my gushing for Haruhi has been kept to a minimum, because I think I’d have to be sedated then. But this season of Hayate has been fantastic and well worth the praise. And while I’m a whole-hearted Hinagiku fan, if by chance the Hayate x Hina ending didn’t come to pass. I’d be ok with Hamster getting lucky. She’s so sweet and honest it’s hard to root against her even when I’m rooting for Hina. You know it’s a great harem when it’s hard to pick one girl over another. So I was really glad to see JC Staff animate this great Nishizawa scene, probably her equivalent of the Hinagiku balcony scene.

Having selectively read bits and pieces of the Hayate manga in anticipation for the 2nd season, I would say for Hina fans, there’s been one scene that we’ve wanted to see animated. And thankfully, it did not disappoint.

The grandiose scene of Hina and Hayate on the balcony, looking out into the city, as Hayate holds her to keep her from giving into her fear of heights and then Hina’s subsequent realization of her feelings… it should bring out the fanboy in even the hardest of hearts. My only qualm is I liked how the scene was drawn in the manga better – closer in, more dynamic angle, much less darkness and empty space – but other than that, I think JC Staff did a tremendous job in adapting this scene, as well as the last couple episodes. Between this and Hatsukoi Limited, I think JC Staff has proven to me that if there’s ever a romantic comedy adaptation to be done, there’s no other studio that I’d want taking it on (those Zero no Tsukaima and Shakugan no Shana sequels on the other hand…).

Confession sequence notwithstanding, everything in this episode was so wonderfully done. Hina’s revelation about her parents. Maria’s teasing of Hayate, Hina’s flashback of her sister getting money through dubious means, and even the omake, which wrapped up the Kotetsu x dark Hayate arc so hilariously. I also appreciated that they took the time to animate a couple filler scenes that I really enjoyed reading: Ecchi Isumi and Nagi’s sudden Haruhi-related realization were random, but provided a nice, little dash of that meta-humor that is Hayate no Gotoku. Now… on to Isumi! (I’m such a HnG tramp.)

Colossal Hinagiku image dump follows.

Hina’s a tsundere through and through. The kind that blushes in her dreams. The kind that blushes when she wakes up in the morning. The kind who punches out lovestruck Kois. The kind that can get your blood running with one fiery look. I can’t believe that Mio outplaced her in the Top 10 Waifus survey. That is damn blasphemy if I may say so myself.

What I love most about Hayate no Gotoku is that there’s not one character I don’t love. Or really like.

Sakuya and Isumi? Maria? Izumi? Nishizawa? Miki? Saki? Love ‘em. Love ‘em. Love ‘em. There’s no doubt in my mind that having deadbeat parents was the best thing that could have ever happened to Hayate. Otherwise, he’d probably have ended up as some loser headlining an equally lame harem like Keitaro or Tsukune.

Then again, life aint all peaches and cream for Hayate. Getting cursed as a crossdresser for life probably isn’t the worst thing in the world, since all the girls seems to go wild about it. But I’m sure he wouldn’t mind living without the random love confessions from his teachers. Plus, I don’t think Hina would be wooed over by the "Hermione" look.

So in the time that I haven’t been completely sucked in by Persona 4, I’ve basically put the Hayate no Gotoku ED – Honjitsu, Mankai Watashi iro! – on non-stop loop. Rated by Mikotoism as the top ED of Spring 2009, I can’t help but agree fully. If a song could personify Hina perfectly, this would be it. It’s cute, it’s quirky (~everybody poe poe), the lyrics fit perfectly, it’s undeniably catchy, and I just can’t get enough.

I thought I might get bored of it a few episodes into the season. I didn’t. I thought I’d get sick of it after playing it like 30 times. I haven’t. It’s brilliant. Somehow they always give Hina the good songs, as I recall her character album being the only one I liked from season 1 of Hayate.

Now the official ED is out with the full song and 2 alternate versions (along with the standard karaoke versions)..

Foolrulez has graciously karaoked the full song. Embedded below:

Besides the main version featuring the student council, there’s also versions featuring Hina’s sister Katsura, and a love-duet with Nishizawa. They’re all the same song with slight differences. The Katsura version dials up the quirkiness, while cutting down on the cuteness. It’s a little too similar to the main version, so I usually skip it. Meanwhile, the Nishizawa one dials up the cuteness and cuts down on the quirkiness, and also replaces the electric guitar with an acoustic guitar, giving it a more "standard" pop song feel. I like this one though, because I think it has the best intro, I like the sound of the acoustic guitar and Nishizawa’s parts mix it up enough to not make it sound like a complete retread.

Man, if I knew this season’s Hayate was going to be this great, I would’ve picked up writing about it from the beginning. No fillers, no random unfunny jokes, all character and story-driven humor and goodness. Oh yeah, I guess there’s also been plenty of screentime for that pink haired girl… what was her name? Hina?

While this post is no best post ever, I reserve the right to post images galore!

There’s something about Hayate no Gotoku that brings out the shipper fanboy in me. I liked the first season despite the plethora of fillers, but I’m loving the second season so far. It’s like they’ve cut out the unnecessary crap from the first season and pumped up everything that was already awesome (i.e., the wonderfully quirky characters and their relationships) into overdrive.

Couple things we knew:

• Hina = 100% WIN
• I’ve underrated Maria, but she’s also 100% WIN herself. I just love how she seems to know everything

Couple things I learned from episode 6:

• Hina gets her awesomeness from her mom (just in time for Mother’s Day)
• Maria needs to work on her undercover skills, but Maria + serafuku = off the charts WIN

A Hina x Maria showdown would be off the charts. Maria may be the only person in the world who could out-Hina Hina.

I wasn’t particularly enthralled by the last couple episodes of Hayate no Gotoku. But Hina is filled with so much win, even when she only has a cameo, it automatically becomes the best part of the show. To wit, the many faces of Hina, all full of 100% pure, natural win:

Stern Hina

Sarcastic Hina

Angry Hina

Bashful Hina

Tsuntsun Hina

Deredere Hina

Action Hina