Hayate no Gotoku Second Season Ep 12

Screens:

Preview:

Summary:

As Kotetsu, mistaking Hayate for a girl, confesses to Hayate, Izumi shows up and reveals to Kotetsu that Hermione is actually named Hayate and is a boy. This shocking revelation causes Kotetsu to snap and he runs after Hayate to kill him for “betraying” him. At the festival, Nagi runs into Hina and gives her the watch she bought her as a present. Nagi tells Hina she only came because she was told the birthday party was today by the student council; though Hina hasn’t heard anything about it. As Nagi leaves, Hina tells her to come to school and Nagi replies she will when she feels like it. As Nagi is with Maria and her SP, she wonders where Hayate is; upon hearing the name Hayate Kotetsu, hiding somewhere, asks Nagi her relation to Hayate. Nagi replies that Hayate is her butler, and with that Kotetsu comes out like a gust of wind and abducts Nagi before the SP or Maria can react and instructs them to tell Hayate to come get his master if he’s a butler.

Back at the festival, Sakuya is playing a shooting game and manages to win a doll; the operator of the game throws in a small extra prize for Sakuya for being cute. Sakuya shows her prizes to Wataru and remarks that if she knew Hakuō was so nice it wouldn’t have been bad to come here with Nagi. This causes Wataru to feel awkward as it was thanks to Sakuya that Wataru got the chance to enter Hakuō; so Wataru offers to buy Sakuya some cotton candy and to treat her to a game of goldfish scooping. While this is going on, the SP struggle to search for Nagi; Maria decides it can’t be helped so she calls Nagi on the phone and asks where she is. On the phone Nagi asks Kotetsu what his objective is and he tells her he fell in love with Hayate; which causes Nagi to tell Maria to tell Hayate not to come because there’s a dangerous yet not dangerous guy here.

Hayate wakes up at the bottom of a cliff after managing to escape from Kotetsu; he shocked to find that his maid clothes have been upgraded to a short skirt and some bunny ears. Zeppette, the doll craftsman and source of the curse appears before Hayate; after introducing himself, Hayate strangles him and wonders that if curse will disappear if he strangles Zeppette till he stops breathing. At that moment Hayate receives a call from Maria and is informed of Nagi’s situation. Meanwhile Hina is at her birthday party with her friends and family; Yukiji gives Hina some coupons for a free back massage from her, and Hina talks with Miki about suddenly hosting such a big party. Miki replies she’s used to it as a daughter of a politician and thinks to herself that it’d be a problem if Hayate and Hina had a party with just the two of them. Hina then starts thinking about the challenge letter from Hayate that she received from Isumi, and wonders if the letter was a roundabout way for Hayate to be alone with her.  Miki and Risa remark that now that Hina’s here they can start the party; with that Risa announces that Hina will be singing a song for them. Back with Hayate, he is informed that running through the festival would be the shortest route to Nagi; Zeppette comments that the kick from earlier really hurt and wonders if a more embarrassingly look would look better on Hayate. Hayate comments that this curse is retribution for being so self-fixated lately and says that Nagi is now kidnapped because of that; Hayate tells Zeppette that what’s embarrassing isn’t the clothes he’s wearing, it’s his heart and responds that even if his clothes are a maid’s his heart is that of a butler.

Back at Hina’s party, Hina is pushed on stage wearing an outfit similar to Meer Campbell and forced to sing A Cruel Angel’s Thesis; as Hina sings, a montage of Hayate running through the festival is shown. After Hina finishes singing, she starts her counterattack and announces that Risa, Miki, and Izumi will be singing The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Hina is talking with her mom, and her mom comments that it’s a shame her father could be here because of his overseas job; after looking around Hina’s mom wonders where Hayate is. This gets Hina thinking about the challenge letter, and she asks her mom to leave first since she has a score to settle.

In an abandoned building somewhere Nagi is yelling at Kotetsu for bringing the wrong kind of coffee, and Nagi begins lecturing him on the necessary preparation required of a first-class butler. Kotetsu yells at her and asks if she understands that she’s only being kidnapped to lure Hayate, but Nagi replies that she’s always pointed out the faults of her kidnappers. Kotetsu tells her to shut up and tells her how he fell in love with Hayate at first site, and how he felt betrayed when he found out he was a boy. Nagi comments that it must be a shallow love, Kotetsu tries to protest but Nagi tells him the reason he’s unpopular is because he can only give that shallow love that’s based on physical appearances. At that moment Hayate runs in and tells Kotetsu he won’t forgive him if he’s laid a hand on his master. Kotetsu tells him he’s returning her and comments he’s an idiot for snapping when he found out Hayate was a guy. Hayate asks Nagi what happened, and Nagi says it just means he’s not that bad of a guy; Kotetsu thanks Nagi for opening his eyes, and he asks Hayate to come to Holland with him where same sex marriage is allowed and marry him. Nagi kicks Kotetsu in the face and tells him that Hayate belongs to her body and soul; Nagi tells Hayate that they’re going, but Hayate brings up the matter of the curse and points to Zeppette. Nagi, with a pissed look on her face, asks if Zeppette is also going to bother Hayate; Zeppette, intimidated, disappears and so does the curse on Hayate.

Back at the mansion Hayate is laying on his bed and wonders if he’s forgetting something; he suddenly remembers Hina and runs back to Hakuō. Hayate enters the student council room and finds Hina sleeping serenely on the coach; Hina awakens and on a silent night, on an empty campus, the special party of the two begins…

Opinions:

The scene with Hina singing a Cruel Angels Thesis was everything I hoped for and more! They even matched up the images with the Eva opening! I found a youtube video with a comparison and thought it was worth mentioning:

The timing, images, and everything was done well, and it just moved my heart. This episode was perfect on so many levels; the way they handled Hina’s concert for one, the whole Sakuya and Wataru dynamic and relationship, and I loved that they showed Miki, Risa, and Izumi singing The Girl Who Leapt Through Time; despite that they weren’t singing it on the character album, and it makes me wonder if they’ll release another character album ( I really hope they do). I really can’t praise this episode enough, it was downright theatrical and would’ve made for a decent Hayate no Gotoku movie; particularly the scene at the end where Hina wakes up and the zoom out showing Hina and Hayate alone in the student council room. The music played during that scene had a sense of romance and expectation with how the violin was used. I’m looking forward to the conclusion of the arc next week, and I’m hoping it ends with a bang with how this episode was handled.