Hayate no Gotoku! Can’t Take My Eyes off You Episode 3

Oh, give me a break!

Ever since the end of Episode 2, we are reminded at least three times “that person” is making an appearance in this Episode: Hayate the narrator said it once, and the official Twitter of the anime mentioned it twice. It seems that the staff have been creating a hype around “that person”, pretty much like an Apple event.

Finally here we are, and the hype needs to be rounded up before we proceed to the Episode itself. Hence there stands “that person” with her back on us, while Hayate hosts a rather lame guessing game on the identity of “that person”.

And here’s my reaction to all this fuss:

“……”

I mean, come on. The production team make it looks like we (suit yourself if you want to be included) have been grabbing their legs, begging for her appearance in tears. Unfortunately, it seems that some people believe that we actually have done so, and any manga chapter or anime episode focusing on “that person” is thus labelled as zombie treats.

The way the production team promote “that person” is not doing anybody a favour. We feel embarrassed because we are wrongly said to have done something shameful, while other people look down on us because they think we are the cancer of the series. Discrimination is an intolerable evil, yet in this case it is encouraged and made use of by the production team.

There must be a bottom line to this. Of course I can’t force anyone to stop hating “that person” and her fans but at the very least, could those in charge of the series stop making use of “that person” and her fans to build up hypes which are more annoying than rejoicing? Seriously, I am not asking much here…

Well, okay.

All right, that’s enough of another wave of criticism (though this time my primary target is the production team). Let us come back to Episode 3, in which “that person” appears. And you got it right: “that person” is Katsura Hinagiku.

If you have time to scroll to the very bottom of this article and find the picture remember, the very first promotion pictures of the new anime include a sketch of the Hayate-Hinagiku “Date arc” (manga chapters 162 – 164; referred to as “the Date arc” below). However, as it later becomes clear that the new anime is set in mid-September and is a continuation of the manga timeline, it seems that the Date arc won’t be made into animation. After all, Hinagiku can’t have two “first date” with Hayate, right?

I have hoped that this is not the first.

In the end, however, the Date arc is animated, and it creates all sorts of questions: Is Hinagiku having her second Date arc? If not, does the anime Date arc replace the manga Date arc? If not, should the anime Date arc be considered canon? If not, should the new anime be considered canon? If not, Hata is lying again.

This is a problem which arises from an original and in-the-future anime: the settings of the new anime mean that Hata and the production team must avoid animating any of the previous chapters, arcs, or even sagas. The inability to adhere to this rule creates all (and more) questions listed above, and now I am at a total loss.

The very best thing we can say about the anime Date arc is that it is in essence a remake. The overall plot has not been changed, but a lot of details have been rewritten. This makes the Episode fresh and, well, original. Hata suggested on his Twitter that the anime Date arc is the “complete version”, and therefore canon.

Okay…

I suppose Hina’s desk was against a wall?

For the first time in this anime, we arrive at Hakuou Academy. Yukiji calls Hayate over for some help. She needs to give some papers to Hinagiku, her own younger sister, whom she is currently afraid to see. It is because Yukiji has spent almost all of the 10K yen borrowed from Hinagiku just a day ago. Nobody knows why she thinks she has to make a reference to the money to Hinagiku.

So there goes Hayate to the Clock Tower. He enters the Student Council Room (without knocking again), but he does not see Hinagiku. He moves a little closer and finds Hinagiku sinking into her seat, sleeping soundly. You can’t blame her really: it is a sunny afternoon and the wind is blowing gently…

The desk is impractically large.

Suddenly, Hayate finds himself in a dilemma: Should he put down the papers and go, or should he wake her up? This is not even a question for other people – just do want you prefer, won’t you – but certain it is for Hayate on Hinagiku, as he is deadly afraid of her temper. He must make the right choice to avoid making her angry, even on such a trivial matter as to whether to leave your friend alone for a quiet nap.

Unfortunately, Hayate is not even given a chance to think. A gust of wind sends a piece of paper to Hinagiku’s face, and as Hayate takes it away in horror, Hinagiku is awake. She asks what he is doing here in a perfectly neutral manner, but Hayate automatically assumes that she is already angry. Little does he know that it is exactly this kind of attitude that annoys her…

Hayate: “How am I supposed to answer…?”

To make things worse, the SC Rangers come out of nowhere and suggest that Hayate’s fear of Hinagiku arises from the fact that she is scary – she might not always be angry, but she always gets angry when they do something wrong. Unfortunately this applies to Hayate as well, so he actually has the same opinion as the three girls: Hinagiku is scary when she is angry.

Hinagiku is annoyed by the SC Rangers, so they run away. Hinagiku is annoyed by Hayate, so he runs away as well. As she is suddenly alone, Hinagiku realizes that she has built a barrier to her feelings for Hayate with her temper. If he is always scared of her, he would never know that she loves him. As such, Hinagiku has decided to become more gentle.

Who picked it up on the table…?

Her first test comes soon enough, as the SC Rangers has broken her precious tea set while playing tag. Hinagiku responds with sparkling eyes and a gently delivered order to clean up. A moment later, Kaoru reports to Hinagiku that Yukiji has spent all her money and keeps asking him to lend her money. Hinagiku responds by lending another 5K yen to her sister with a smile strikingly similar to the Mona Lisa… in the sense that it is mysterious.

The SC Rangers (as well as Chiharu) discuss Hinagiku’s strange behaviours on the balcony outside the Student Council Room – meaning that they are talking about Hinagiku right at her back. While Chiharu insists that Hinagiku is a good girl who doesn’t easily get mad, Izumi concludes that Hinagiku could be bottling herself up until she can deliver the final blow… In order to reduce the damage of the “mines”, Miki thinks the best way is to detonate them.

The person Miki chooses to do this job is Hayate, as she is sure that he will set Hinagiku in a grand explosion. Hayate, always searching for his sins against Hinagiku, thinks that it could have been him interrupting her nap. In order to make Hinagiku happy again, Hayate takes up the “mission” to take her to a movie called (meow) “Kitty’s Adventure Diary”, a movie for children.

He steps backward as she steps forward.

Hayate meets Hinagiku at the lobby and makes his invitation. Embarrassed by Hayate’s sudden invitation, Hinagiku shows signs of rejection or at least hesitation. However, she thinks that the invitation is a reward for her efforts of being kinder, and she has to keep up the good work. As such, she tries to accept the offer as merrily as possible. Unfortunately, as she is a horrible actress, Hayate finds her “smile” scary.

CM Time: Isumi on cat ears and Cat App – actually a mirror would do the trick just fine. Sorry that I forgot to capture pictures until too late.

So Hayate takes Hinagiku to a movie. On the way to the theatre, Hinagiku suddenly realizes that it seems she is on a date with Hayate, so she cannot suppress a smile. Unfortunately, they are not alone for long. Tsugumi, who is supposed to stay at the Violet Mansion, suddenly appear before Hayate and Hinagiku and demands the butler to take her to movie as well. She then introduces herself to Hinagiku by her tagline: “I am Tsugumi Ruri, the little sister of Sanzen’in Nagi.” Realizing that Tsugumi could be an obstacle (and rightly so), Hayate gives her the Iron Claw and takes her to an alley.

There, Tsugumi explains that she has been looking for something at the Sanzen’in Mansion again – where are the SPs, seriously? However, she has no way to escape Nagi’s inspection. As the “Gian philosophy” did not work on Nagi, Tsugumi got thrown out of the Mansion again. Hayate still does not want to take her along to the movie, but Hinagiku allows her to come along, even if it means that her “date” would be ruined. This is a very nice part of her character that she doesn’t realize.

Family game again?

The three of them arrive at the theatre to watch (meow) “Kitty’s Adventure Diary”, in which Kitty looks exactly like Shiranui… As it is a movie for children, the theatre is filled with younglings kids. There are two mysteries in this set up: the first is that Hayate, Hinagiku and Tsugumi manage to find three seats among the kids (okay, I accept that they already have two seats, but the third…?); the second is that the kids ignore Tsugumi and say that “adults” are watching this movie.

Soon enough the kids begin to gossip very loudly. Hayate finds the situation bad enough, but he soon makes bad into worse by accidentally touching Hinagiku’s hand. The kids begin to gossip even more loudly, and Hinagiku finds herself on the verge of losing patience… Fortunately for her (or for the kids?), the movies starts so everybody shuts up and watches the movie.

Her tears could be more precious than pearls.

It turns out to be a rather nice movie, but Hayate isn’t really paying attention, as he keeps an eye on Hinagiku (who is watching attentively) and Tsugumi (who has fallen asleep). Something really bad happens just at this moment: the film is snapped into halves right across the stomach of Shiranui Kitty. Hinagiku is very upset: she thinks that she has been cursed (probably correct, by our dear Hata), and she is worried that if she loses her temper and gets angry at Hayate again, then he would hate her again…

Hayate knows that he must do something to make Hinagiku happy again. He remembers Miki’s words: “Cast a spell that makes her smile.” He invites Hinagiku to go somewhere else with him, while leaving a napping Tsugumi on her seat with the kids. Poor Tsugumi…

Ruka… I have stopped guessing what she is doing here, other than narrating through her play.

Her hair is spectacular…

Hayate and Hinagiku arrive at an amusement park. Hinagiku reveals that she has never been to amusement parks before, because she isn’t sure how to have fun with the knowledge that more or less everything is artificial. On things like this she is as rational and realistic as boys, and of course it means she lacks the romantic nature which is supposed to be in girls.

Hayate’s first step to re-enchant Hinagiku is to take her to a drop tower. As Hinagiku is deadly afraid of heights, this ride scares the Hell out of her. It shows that no matter how realistic she is, an amusement park is not to be underestimated. Hayate wants her to keep this in mind, and allow the park to cast magic on her.

Amid the graphical terror, this is one good frame.

So there they go. Minute by minute, Hinagiku beings to open her heart and enjoy herself in the park. She becomes so happy that she is rushing towards the other facilities, with Hayate chasing her at the back. At night, as they watch the fireworks show, Hinagiku takes the bold action of moving toward Hayate, and touches his hand with hers – this time, none of them backs off. With Ruka’s new song echoing at the background, this makes a very, very lovely scene.

And honestly, the artwork suddenly looks less horrible.

Finally, Hayate and Hinagiku have had enough fun, and leave the amusement park. Suddenly, Hinagiku stops and asks Hayate why he has asked her out today. Hayate, looking guilty, admits that it is Miki’s idea. Realizing that he did not invite her by his own intentions, Hinagiku is so disappointed that she feels the magic spell has faded, and simply wants to go home.

Fact: When Hayate intentionally takes her hand, Hinagiku never refuses him.

Hayate then grabs her hand from behind, and explains that although he had been on a mission to make her happy, he was so happy to spend time with her and seeing her have fun, that he enjoyed his time as well. As such, he feels comfortable to tell her… that he wants her to lend him the train fare back home.

I have a difficult time understanding why human beings need to feel happy before they could ask someone to lend them train fare.

The mines finally explode, but damages seem to be minimum – Hayate stands on his feet wearing only an apologetic smile, and the special effects that Nagi and Maria are watching are equally meek… Hinagiku, in response to Hayate’s earlier words that he didn’t think she would accept his invitation, has something to say…

Hinagiku’s First Confession

Yes, it is my Top 5 Hinagiku moments number 4. Of course, Hayate couldn’t hear her, and Hinagiku isn’t repeating what she has just said. But then, if he could cast another magic spell on her again, maybe she would tell him what has been hidden by the passing train.

To be fair, although it might not be as good as Season 2 Episode 13, this is still a lovely Episode between Hayate and Hinagiku. The biggest problem is still the artwork, which has deteriorated to such an extent that the audience do not discuss the story any more, but capture the horribly portrayed Hinagiku for fun.

One might wonder why, while the artwork of the series has been criticized since day one, it is Hinagiku who causes such negative reactions. However, before automatically labeling Hinagiku fans as zombies again, let us ask why it is Hinagiku’s face which is distorted to such a degree, while the likes of Nagi, Ruka and Tsugumi remain fairly acceptable?

Should you want to make an argument against me, do remember to capture a frame of your favourite character which is as awful as this:

That’s why we say the artwork SUCKS…