Someone recalls Neo trapped in the train station?
After an episode’s absence, Hayate makes his appearance in a strange place, where he is surrounded by numerous colourful clocks. He wonders if he is already dead and in the Underworld, but a strange thing – which Hayate recognises as a panda, while the thing itself claims it is a tanuki – answers both questions with a “no”: Hayate is not dead, and he is not in the Underworld. Rather, he is trapped into, in a way, eternity which is more horrible than death. Let’s put it this way: some people believe that you can have eternal peace and happiness in the Underworld if you are a good person, but if you are alive and trapped in an eternity of suffering and horror, it is definitely worse than death.
It is clear that Hayate needs some time to understand his own situation, because the first thing he worries about is how ugly the “angel” which welcomes him to the Underworld is. It takes a slap on his head by the tanuki and some further explanations for him to understand. You might, like Hayate, wonder why it is so big inside Kurotsubaki, but let us not forget that Hayate is now merely a soul. A soul takes no form, and there is no guarantee that it is of the size of a human being – a soul could be very small indeed.
That’s the part which really troubles him.
The tanuki’s explanation as to why Kurotsubaki brings bad luck to the owner isn’t clear enough, so let’s try to elaborate. It seems that as a soul grieves in Kurotsubaki, it either generates dark energy which brings the owner bad luck, or it curses the owner outright. This is of course an extremely undesirable course of action, especially given that the other option could create a win-win situation: by praying for good luck for the owner with a song on the “soul stage” (a rather lame one there), the owner would prosper while the soul could end its eternal suffering by vanishing from this world. Of course, if a soul refuses to do so, it is understandable – nobody wants to vanish lightly.
And no bloke in his right mind would want to wear girl’s clothes on the stage lightly.
Obviously Hinagiku and Miki have not emptied their bladders before Ruka’s concert started, because they have to take all the troubles leaving the Hall and go to the bathroom. This is the most frustrating experience during a concert, especially if you are enthusiastic about it. Then again, the two girls might not have been that enthusiastic about the concert, or that they (Hinagiku at least, as she was not seen among the group in the last episode) haven’t attended the concert in the first place – just like Maria and Yukiji. Upon knowing that the two older women (“HEY!”) have not been seen for some time, Hinagiku begins to worry…
Love makes you mad.
Meanwhile, Dolly is still in her Super Mode. Amusingly, while we all know that she doesn’t have much energy to waste, she keeps wasting her energy on smashing buildings and Tsugumi, whom she reveals as merely a thief she saved. Isumi and Sakuya arrive at the mess, as the former intends to settle her business with Dolly once and for all. Shidou is here to interrupt her this time, but unfortunately Isumi is in no mood to play with anyone this time, so our poor Birdman is soon overpowered. As Isumi prepares for her final blow (Boy, is she trying to kill him?), however, Tsugumi once again interrupts. She orders Shidou to take Dolly back to the sanctuary as she tries to hold Isumi back. This seems sensible – Dolly isn’t listening to her anymore, but hopefully she would listen to Shidou.
And then Tsugumi reveals her own secret: she is not the biological daughter of Dolly. She was saved from the desert and raised by Dolly, but she was not Dolly’s biological daughter. Still, as Tsugumi has no other motherly figure, it is natural for her to call Dolly her mother. One more point to bear in mind is that in Japanese, “mother” and “foster mother” are one in the same word. Then again, it causes some troubles as we try to understand the origin of Tsugumi, her Systema skills (Dolly doesn’t look like Russian, does she?) and her attachment to Nagi. Then again… well, whatever.
So Hell is some lightning strikes, I see…
Tsgumi seems to always have the upper-hand against Isumi with her melee attacks, which from a RPG point of view makes sense. However, some would note that Isumi has been holding back all along, and it seems that Isumi has finally decided to show her true powers to Tsugumi. Sakuya, best friend to Isumi and her companion on various missions, warns Tsugumi to run – from the enraged Isumi.
Isumi is not the only one who is enraged here, as Dolly seems to be even more angry. She demands the return of Kurotsubaki, and she simply wouldn’t listen to Nagi as the latter explains that it is Hayate who is in the clock, not Dolly’s king. Realising that Dolly is unreasonable, Shin takes Nagi to flee from the scene, but Dolly drags herself on to go after them. Of course this would waste even more and more energy, and nobody knows this more than Shidou. Unfortunately, Dolly has become so mad that she sends Shidou flying onto a building near Starside Hotel – or could it have been the hotel itself? I can’t really tell.
If you say she is older than 17…
Meanwhile, Yukiji cannot do anything to the robbers as they have turned into kidnappers, holding Maria hostage. Time has come for Maria to redeem herself, so she tricks her kidnapper with a brilliant little trick, much improved English, and a mysterious little trip on the man’s leg (why would such a little trip generate enough momentum to send a big man flying down the stairs is indeed mysterious). Fine, I am ready to get hurt, Maria-san…
As the other robber (who manages to smoke pipe in a mask) runs to the roof, he accidentally runs into one of the most dangerous situations on earth: Isumi attacking Tsugumi with (more or less) full power. Tsugumi screams, the poor man screams, and the building shakes, alerting Hinagiku to check if Nagi is alright up on the top. She then asks Yukiji to escort Maria to somewhere safe. The elder sister would of course prefer to find her money, but Hinagiku once again reminds her that there is something more important than money – for example, Maria’s life and general righteousness.
Oppa Gangnam Style!
Isumi’s attacks prove too powerful for human flesh, so both Tsugumi and the robber are knocked out. As she recovers from her rage, Isumi doesn’t seem to understand that she has gone out of bounds – she recognises that she wanted to win, but she also admits that she had to sacrifice the robber (to a certain extent, an innocent) in order to win.
As Sakuya and Isumi bicker over the incident, neither of them notices a broken pillar which is falling on Tsugumi. In comes Hinagiku who reduces the pillar into tiny pieces with some impossible swordplay and Shirosakura. She then asks Sakuya and Isumi to take Tsugumi to the hospital. Isumi looks reluctant because she is determined to help Nagi, but as Hinagiku says that she is to help Nagi herself, Isumi obeys.
So a lack of delicacy is not a problem.
Shin and Nagi are still on their run, and Shin asks her daughter whether Hayate is just so important to her. As Nagi replies, we can note that the “clumsy” part is quite the same as what Nagi said about her mother’s love for Shin in the previous episode. With such an obvious reference, Shin is able to understand something…
They reach a helicopter with spectacular colouring. Shin reveals that as a butler (that’s not a reason, really) he could fly helicopters and even fighter jets. A big surprise comes as he opens the door and reveals Yukiji. As she has already done her job to ensure Maria’s safety, I guess not even Hinagiku could argue that she is not allowed to look for her money…
Not that Hinagiku has the time anyway. Dolly is approaching… fast, so they have to take off fast. Yukiji drags Hinagiku (who of course is scared of riding anything that flies) into the helicopter, but Nagi has her leg grabbed by one of Dolly’s branches. Dolly then grabs the helicopter with yet more branches, so in any case the vehicle cannot fly any more. Dolly then grows into an even bigger tree, which incidentally is mistaken as a decoration of Ruka’s concert…
This is Spa… I mean, America!
Dolly threatens to crush Nagi if she doesn’t turn Kurotsubaki to her, but Nagi replies that, should Dolly be in her position, she wouldn’t surrender Kurotsubaki either. Shin wants to save his daughter from above, but Dolly crushes the helicopter even harder, that Shin realizes that it won’t last long, and he tells the Katsura sisters to jump with a parachute. Hinagiku is understandably worried, so it is Yukiji’s turn to encourage her – although, money isn’t the issue for Hinagiku.
As the Katsura sisters jump to safety, Dolly demands Kurotsubaki and her beloved one for the last time. As Nagi is forced to repeat herself, Dolly decides enough is enough and crushes Nagi. Just as our main heroine is losing consciousness, Shin appears with Kurotsubaki in his hands. He suggests that there is a very good way to prove who is trapped in the clock. After asking Nagi to look for his lost wedding ring, Shin stabs himself with the black sword, exchanging his soul with whoever is inside.
Time has come for Hayate and Shin to exchange places, although Hayate seems to have no clue about what Shin is asking. By the way, while we have complained all along that Shin looks just too similar to Hayate, there is quite some significant difference between their faces in this episode…
… but then he looks like someone else.
As she thinks that her king has returned, Dolly throws Nagi into the air and addresses her king. It seems that her real name is Dryad – defined as a nymph inhabiting a tree or wood (Ah!). What awaits her, however, is some spectacular swordplay from the blue-head in butler uniform, who then jumps into the air and catches Nagi. So we now know who it is: our main character, the ultimate gigolo butler Ayasaki Hayate.
Dolly is completely defeated. She has been over-exerting herself for some time already, and upon witnessing that the one who comes out from Kurotsubaki ignores her completely, her body cannot last any more. It means that Hayate and Nagi will lose their stand – on Dolly’s branches, of course – very soon. Meanwhile, the helicopter blows up, and it begins to rain money.
Hata’s version of The Fall.
Hayate admits to Nagi that under normal circumstances, there is no way they could survive such a fall, but he also believes that Hata Shin would protect Nagi. As proof, he shows her Kurotsubaki, which now has both hands pointing at eight.
As they make their jump, their fall is slowed down by balloons with Ruka’s name on them, which seem to be released for the finale of the concert. As Hayate and Nagi fall down very slowly (which is physically impossible because there is a certain force which is called gravitation…) Nagi reflects on the moments she has been with Hayate, and makes the following statement:
Shippers rejoice.
No interruption. No misunderstandings. No funny jokes. This really is some privilege. Yuck!
I know some people might call for my head once again for ruining their moods with the following statements, but I still have to say that Hayate’s response is not what you would expect when a boy accepts the romantic confession of a girl – a line in “I love you too.” and a kiss would be more in place. Some might say that he has accepted her confession by not rejecting it, but even so I guess it is more of an acknowledgement than an acceptance.
Hinagiku informs Yukiji that it is raining money but Yukiji doesn’t care about it at the moment. Tsugumi mourns over her dead “mother” with Shin’s ring in her hand. Isumi knows that a miracle has protected Nagi (and Hayate). Shin has finished his stage performance in girl’s clothes. As he turns, he reunites with Yukariko as both their souls leave this world – for (perhaps) the one last time.
They have become my favourite couple.
Hayate and Nagi’s survival from the very slow fall is justified by yet another wave of balloons, which serve as cushions for them. Not far away, a dried (not exactly dehydrated, but…) Dolly falls to the ground, dying. Nagi grabs her hands and tells her what her mother has told her about the king’s last words as he died – it was kind words of gratitude towards Dolly, which she deserves. Satisfied, Dolly turns into dust and leaves this world forever.
Hayate looks at Kurotsubaki, which is now broken – so scrap any fantasy that Kurotsubaki would become Hayate’s weapon, or that there would be an encounter between the black sword and Shirosakura. Ruka has just returned to the stage for encore, so lady and butler return to the concert – for the first time of the night, really.
Isn’t his voice too old for such a handsome man?
As we listen to the new song “Here I am, Here We are” by Hayate, Nagi and Ruka, we enter the epilogue: Kaoru shouts at Yukiji, but she has no money to compensate him. Hinagiku cannot do anything about it, but it seems that Maria can. The SC Rangers watch the news and see that the robbers are wanted – although a warranty of masked men is not helping anyone to find the criminals. Isumi nearly gets lost in the airport, saved only by Sakuya. Tsugumi returns Shins’s ring to Nagi, while Shidou reveals himself to be an extremely handsome man. Hayate grabs Nagi’s hand. Shippers rejoice.
Hayate and Nagi return to Yukariko’s grave in Shimoda, where they now place Kurotsubaki and Shin’s ring on. It is once again confirmed that Kurotsubaki is not working any more. Nagi then remembers something: hasn’t Yukiji won 1.2B yen in the casinos? Should that be considered good luck?
Define “true love”.
To this, Hayate answers that, for one thing, she has lost the money, and losing something you have gained before is definitely bad luck. For another, if Yukiji is allured by the money, she might lose her precious little sister – there are things which are more important than money, and family is definitely one. For his excellent insight into the matter, I raise no objection.
Hayate then asks if Yukariko and Shin would be fine now, as the wife died under the impression that her husband has had an affair. Nagi replies that while bad luck could bring bad luck and misunderstandings, true love won’t lose to bad luck. Perhaps she is also referring to her relationship with Hayate.
They leave the grave and head home for dinner. The show ends with Nagi winning everything again. Shippers rejoice.
Hayate Report 