Anime 9958 Hayate No Gotoku Heaven Is A Place On Earth

When I first heard of this anime, it got me interested. I did like Kuroshitsuji so I wanted to try something light for a change.

Main characters: Hayate, Nagi, Maria and Hinagiku (+ a bunch of Nagi's classmates)

I'll score everything a 7.

I was not really expecting a lot from this anime. I've seen the 1st season and it had a pretty much the same plot.

Background: Hayate is acting as Nagi's butler to pay off his debt. Nagi is a rich and spoiled 13 yr old who oftentimes gets into trouble then Hayate will be there to save her. Cute, yes but it is not really ... saying much.

This movie is not any different. We have the main cast spending their remaining summer break on a countryside. Being as spoiled as she is, Nagi is constantly whining about everything and Hayate is always there to pacify her. A spirit then shows up - makes Hayate forget about Nagi and tries to make his life better and easier - or so she thinks... they get separated - Nagi gets stuck in a some kind of carnival while Hayate is still serving as a butler but this time, Maria (Nagi's personal maid) is his 'milady'.With some confused flashbacks, Hayate remembers Nagi and saves the day.

What I liked about this is Hayate and Nagi's relationship. Though they might not have the same feelings towards each other. Nagi seem to like Hayate romantically while Hayate is just acting as his loyal self (I think). Hayate is sincere enough that anyone would definitely fall for him, especially a 13yr old. But I still can't help thinking: I know that he sort of likes Maria and Hinagiku, but if Nagi was a little older, would he feel any different?

To sum it all up for me, it's a very simple anime - with a simple story and a simple art. Good enough movie for Hayate no Gotoku fans. Other people can skip it since I don't think it offers something new and different. Pick up the 2nd season instead - it might just be better than this...

With 2 anime seasons before it, the popular Hayate manga series gets its 3rd animated project in the form of this movie titled "Heaven is a Place on Earth". This time around studio manglobe is in charge of production where JC Staff had handled season 2, and Synergy SP handled season 1. How will manglobe's shot at this franchise fare in comparison with its previous entries?

To start with this is NOT an adaptation of any chapters from the manga, the story for this movie is completely anime original and it is supposed to be set a couple of months AFTER the point the manga is ... currently on when I wrote this. This means that in terms of timeline, the movie's plot is pretty far away from where the anime ended on season 2. However the story introduced for this movie is one that does not heavily rely on knowledge of the currently non animated parts of the manga so any fans of the series who has already watched the first 2 seasons of the anime can sit back and enjoy this movie fully. For those that do read the manga however, you will definitely find a couple of extra surprises along the way.
I am not going to spoil the plot of the movie here, but as far as the story goes it is nothing extraodinary yet it does not deviate from what you could expect from the Hayate series either. If it aint broke, dont fix it applies very well here. There is some good comedy and references to other anime in true Hayate fashion, there are some supernatural occurences, and of course you have Hayate protecting Nagi from whatever tries to harm her. And it works.

The art manglobe uses for this movie is also very simple but at the same time very clean and consistent. It lacks detail and shadows, however the character designs and animations fit the mood of the series very well. The opening sequence in particular looked really good. Its a matter of personal taste between which artstyle you favour more throughout the 3 different hayate anime, but personally I am content with manglobe's style and I wouldnt mind seeing more of the series like this. Oh and the colours were very nice too.

The opening song is very catchy and it fits the series well but for me, it is the ED song by fripside that really takes the cake. Anyone familiar with fripside would enjoy this song as its their usual style. The voice acting continues being a strong point in the series with a high tier list of names on it. I found Kugimiya Rie's performance as Nagi this time around to be a bit better than in the TV series as well.

Of course the strongest point of the entire Hayate series is the characters and this movie is no different. The characters are the same as always, Nagi being spoiled, Maria being a maid, Hinagiku being tsundere, the idiotic trio being idiotic, its all there. Although I did mention that you dont need to read the manga to fully enjoy the movie, non manga readers might be puzzled as to where this mysterious new girl named "Kayura" came from and why she is close to Nagi. Fortunately she does not really play an important role in the movie apart from comedy moments so there is not much to lose. With such a large cast it is hard to give everyone some screentime but I felt that the movie was pretty good at distributing that around. By the time I finished watching I felt like no one was truly left behind and was able to enjoy it greatly.

For anyone that enjoys this series there is no reason why you should not watch this movie, everything that makes Hayate enjoyable is present here and I believe manglobe did the series justice here. Whenever a 3rd TV season of the series comes, if they announce manglobe as the studio in charge, I will not worry because I now know that the franchise is in good hands.

This Hayate movie can be viewed as an OVA as it doesn't really have anything to do with the main story line. Basically Nagi's group decides to end their summer vacation by visiting the Japanese countryside (apparently Ayumu has a summer villa). There, some extraordinary circumstances take place resulting in kidnappings, randomly appearing theme parks, and cameo appearances by lots of characters (some that are apparently manga specific).

This is not Hayate at it's best. The comedy is significantly below what was in either of the two TV adaptions and some of the personalities even seem a bit off. The plot doesn't help either with a ... predictable progression combined with unnatural elements (like the ability to erase specific memories). If you really want more Hayate, petition for another TV adaption so we can get more Hinagiku, and spare yourself an hour of disappointment.

Animation:
Hayate keeps getting face lifts, and this movie is no exception. Unlike the second TV adaption, this face lift is for the worse. Hayate's hair gets longer and his face makes him look even younger/less responsible. A lot of the other characters also get some changes including Izumi who suddenly gets much longer hair. I got royally confused at times trying to decipher whether the person on screen was either a modified TV character or a new addition.

For a movie, the quality is also abysmal. My latest movies at the time being Kara no Kyoukai and Eve No Jikan, this is so many levels below that it's somewhat pathetic. The colors are average (minus character shading differences from TV) but backgrounds are lacking in detail at times. Pretty much this entire section is sub par to the second Hayate TV adaption.

Sound:
The Movie has a nice paced OP (and does a decent job of recapping the entire TV series so far while at it) and a nice, upbeat electronic based ED with a pretty good melody. The BGM is somewhat comparable to the anime series though isn't used very often in this hour-long production.

The VA cast is identical to the TV series, and you can expect their performance to be on par with that version. If anything is disappointing, it's the limited exposure that Hinagiku gets.

Story:
This movie takes Hayate on a very "magical" tangent where many mysterious elements take place. He finds himself in the Japanese countryside where his master is dying of lack of iPhone reception (yes they actually refer to the device by name) and heat. After following a mysterious person, Hayate loses track of Nagi who, as usual, ends up "kidnapped". From that point onwards, it's very linear in progression and the climax/conclusion are all very predictable.

While the mystery is decent at the beginning, I soon grew tired of repeated elements and farfetched explanation of what was happening. The only worthwhile part of the movie was a tiny bit of new background information on Hayate. But it isn't worth sitting through Nagi's unusually high amount of complaining and whining.

Character:
Character relations are very very weak in this movie. The Hayate TV adaptions were great for balancing good comedy with light romance. Here, Nagi seemed overly ready to abuse Hayate, more so than is characteristic of her. It made it really hard to figure out whether the movie was between the two TV adaptions or at some other point in time.

As for the other characters, expect lots of brief cameos and a bit of Hinagiku. Unfortunately, you only get a brief glimpse of her tsundere feelings for Hayate. Ultimately, the movie is about Hayate's deep commitment to Nagi, though the execution doesn't make it very convincing.

Value:
This is a solid skip. Unless you absolutely are dying for some more Hayate, this isn't worth your time.