OJOU-SAMA
Hayate no Gotoku is an immensely appealing and long-winded series that has plateaued over the past few months. However, it is still known for its good anime references, its sly humor, and for the damn good harem. However...when it was adapted into an anime series...let's just say it wasn't pretty. And I'm not just talking about the plot. The graphics were bad, none of the OPs/EDs were up to par (with perhaps the exception of Honjitsu Mankai Watashi Iro), and even for an adaptation of a series that doesn't really have a major arc at any point in time, a lot of the crap on the 70+ episode, two-season series seemed like filler. Needless to say, I felt like HnG should have stayed solely as a manga.
Then came the savior. The messiah. Manglobe. People spoke about it in hushed whispers in conventions and clubs around the world. How would this studio be able to improve upon the ruins of the past?
And then they delivered...this movie.
OJOU-SAMA
The graphics are good.
Wait, the graphics are good?
THANK YOU GOD.
But seriously, both the character drawings of SynergySP AND J.C. Staff of the HnG cast were horrific. The noses were too big and noticeable, there were too many complex lines (the manga's style is relatively simple), and worst of all, the face proportions were off like no other (imagine 2/3rds of a brand new stick of gum. That would be what all of the faces in HnG seasons 1 and 2 look like). Manglobe not only has brighter colors more suited to HnG, but it fixes the proportions and makes the faces more square and rounded out like they are in the manga, creating much more appeal than the squished features of the previous adaptations. For this alone, Manglobe...thank you.
OJOU-SAMA
The sound was pretty good - I mean, it is a "major" anime film after all, if they didn't have a good soundtrack, it would be a horrible setback for the series, which is having a hard time with its adaptations as it is. The inserts and overall soundtrack are both noticeably good; not masterpieces, but something I would definitely listen to more than once or twice if I had it on my music player.
But I mean, as long as they didn't play Wonder Wind at any given point in time during the movie, it was fine for me. That shit was egregiously bad and a terrible use of a great singer (ELISA).
OJOU-SAMA
As for the plot, the movie is set quite a bit from where the anime left off, HnG: Heaven Is a Place on Earth introduces a whole bunch of characters that you will never recognize if you've never read the manga. Anyways, it's a standard story teaching a standard lesson about the devotion of a butler...that involves Katsura Hinagiku. And mind-controlling, reality-warping magic, but mainly Hinagiku. The story itself isn't too shabby, but I like the idea of the identity of the ghost that's unveiled at the very end (makes for a heart-warming moment).
Personally, I didn't care about the story and I don't even think it was the main point of the movie, so I'm not going to elaborate on the plot. I'm pretty sure that Manglobe made that movie to showcase what they could do with Hayate no Gotoku. And boy, did we need someone like them to take up the mantle. Their production values in the movie are far better than anything else I've seen from the HnG adaptations.
So please, Manglobe. Do season 3.
OJOU-SAMA
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In other good news, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko Derpa released not only a deliiiiiicious 13th episode and will be doing a second season sometime in the future. HOO YEA. Now that I look back at it, I wonder why I didn't give it more New Years' Awards...
Shaft. Stop taking all the cool series with awesome conversations. Leave some for the other studios.
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