Daijoubu

Since I recently read the first volume of the manga, I decided to check out the Hayate anime’s first episode. It follows the first two chapters of the manga pretty closely. I wondered how they would handle the funny narration/commentary that’s in the manga, and they did it by actually having quite an entrtaining narrator. So the anime, as anime adaptations often do, does simplify a lot of the jokes and dialogue, but it still keeps a bit of the original tone of the manga. Of course, anime adaptations that are as well animated as this add a lot of coolness, like the action sequences, in compensation for what’s not carried over from the manga. This one also adds some Eva references–although I didn’t catch the Gendo one until I was looking at another blog later on (that’s what I get for watching this after 3am!). The outlines of the giant robots in the opening looked familiar too! It’s also a lot less bloody than the manga, but I guess that’s better for poor Hayate! The part where he’s hit by the maid’s bicycle in the manga is totally removed. Later, for the part where he’s covered in blood, they make a joke out of their own censoring of the original image by covering him with a warning sign. I think this show will be worth following, although when it moves beyond the manga that’s out in English I’ll have more trouble following what’s going on.