Mum, can we get Hayate the Combat Butler? No, we got Hayate the Combat Butler at home. Hayate the Combat Butler at home:
Yes, Saijo no Osewa (full title: Saijo no Osewa: Takane no Hanadarake na Meimonkou de, Gakuin Ichi no Ojousama (Seikatsu Nouryoku Kaimu) wo Kagenagara Osewa suru Koto ni Narimashita) is very much cribbing from Hayate. It got a hapless, unlucky poor protagonist having to work half a dozen part time jobs to cover his school tuition because his parents are useless, with said parents immediately running off with his money at the start of this first episode. Luckily for Itsuki, unlike Hayate, they didn’t sell him to a bunch of nice guys, but he’s still left with only 200 yen to his name and the rent due. And then he gets involved in the kidnap of the rich girl seen above, she takes a liking to him and he’s hired as her caretaker.
Konohana Hinako is one of those hyper competent ojo-samas anime is so fond of. Good lucking, excellent student, great at sports, heir to a huge conglomerate. But in private she’s a lazy, selfish slob that has driven all her previous caretakers to madness. And now it’s Itsuki’s job to take care of her, as she has taken a real like to him. Which means enrolling into her rich people school. Unlike Hayate Itsuki doesn’t have a millions of yen debt hanging over his head and even gets paid for his new job. In typical idiotic too nice for his own good protagonist fashion he at first refuses the offering pay of 20,000 yen a day (or roughly $200) thinking it far too much when in reality this seems on the low side for such a demanding job…
Having read the manga version of this, I roughly knew what to expect going in. the appeal of this series is of course the wishfulfilment fantasy of being the competent hero who is the only one the heroine can show her useless, vulnerable side to. There will of course be other girls later on to complicate things for Itsuki. Whether or not I’ll keep watching depends on the execution: this first episode was okay, but not great. Character designs are a bit meh, the animation itself is average but it does have some bright touches, mostly with Hinako’s transformations into her useless moeblob form. A series to turn your brain of for.
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