Hayate no Gotoku Second Season Ep 20

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Summary:

One day Father Rin announces that he’s considered passing on, but before he can he wants to be able to flirt with a maid. Hayate scolds him for his impure wish, and brings up the fact that Maria can’t even see him. Father Rin realizes something when Hayate says that and tries to excuse himself, but Hayate stops him and questions what he plans to do while knowing Maria can’t see him. After Father Rin’s pouting, Hayate takes him to see Isumi since this is in her area of expertise. Isumi explains that the easiest method would be to have Father Rin possess someone’s body so he can flirt with a  maid, but since Hayate is against the idea of donating his body to the cause  Rin uses his backup idea and has Isumi dress as a maid. Rin is unsatisfied since even though Isumi is dressed like a maid, she doesn’t have  a maid’s “heart. This leads Isumi to seek what a maid’s heart is, so she asks Nagi about it; Nagi has Isumi hide and calls up Wataru to ask his opinion on the matter. Wataru explains that the spirit of a maid lies in the way their skirt lightly rises as they turn, in the way they tip their toes when they reach for something high, and their straight back. After Wataru finishes explaining, Nagi reveals Isumi, who comments to Wataru that he’s very knowledgeable on the subject. This causes Wataru to go red from embarrassment and run out.

With this new knowledge, Isumi tries to send Father Rin to the afterlife by performing a maid turn; though she ends up tripping and falling affter a dramatic set-up. Isumi asks about maids from Sakuya this time, and Sakuya introduces her new maid Haru. Apparently Haru worked at one of the maid cafes Sakuya’s family runs and since Haru was too perfect of a maid, Sakuya hired her as her personal maid during her free days and weekends. As they’re walking down the hall, Father Rin shows up to see what kind of technique Haru will show. When Hayate questions where he’s been, he replies saying he looped the footage of Isumi tripping forward and falling and has been watching that. Haru tells Isumi that the secret to being a maid is a fake smile. First, Haru tells Isumi if she wears a short skirt she won’t fall. If you can fake a smile you can fool 80% of the customers; though this leaves Hayate and Rin with mixed feelings as it seems realistic, yet destroys the dreams of young men. At the end of the day, Father Rin says he’s satisfied and prepares to leave. He thanks Isumi and says she has a wonderful maid spirit; Isumi hopes he can rest in peace, but Rin tells her that what he said about passing on was an April Fool’s joke. This causes Isumi to chase Rin and forcefully make him pass on. Later it’s revealed that Haru is actually the Student Counil Secretary, Chiharu.

Opinions:

Well, I liked the episode beinga  maid-man and all, but it felt like more of an Isumi fan service episode more than anything; which I suppose it was. Isumi is certainly cute in the maid outfits, my favorite being the short skirt one. I think I can understand Father Rin’s outlook on the whole “maid spirit” thing. Haru is indeed a perfect made, and what she said about the whole “fake smile” thing may be true realistically, but she comes off more as a perfect “cafe” maid. By which I mean she may be nice and smile, it lacks sincerity that a true maid should have. I don’t know, maybe I’m being stubborn on this issue but I truly believe that for a true maid sincerity is essential! Smiles are meaningless without sincerity behind them! It’s like attacking a water element monster without a lightning element weapon! Or fighting ghosts without a holy attribute weapon!!!