Hayate no Gotoku! Episode 44

'''Hayate no Gotoku! Episode 44, title name as Mystery Behind the 120% Acceptance Rate (Temp.) (就職率120パーセントの謎(仮)) aired on February 3rd 2008, the English Animax dub aired on August 11th 2009.

Synopsis
This episode begins with an opening sequence of "Millenium Legend: Magical Destroy". The opening starts with a scene of a rocky cliff overlooking a large sea. As various logos appear on the scene, Nagi adds sound effects with her voice. After the logos, the actual opening sequence starts, showing Nagi's character, the extremely muscular magical girl Britney. As the sequence plays, Nagi sings the theme song. When the sequence shows Britney working at a flower shop, Hayate yells at Nagi to stop, afraid that the fake intro will confuse the viewer. Nagi explains that she intends to celebrate the 44th episode by showing her manga and says KOTOKO will be sing the song in next episode, but Hayate objects, and the normal title sequence begins.

Nagi shows Hayate the completed version of her manga, claiming that she took his advice and made it simpler to understand. Hayate reads it, and finds that it is not really much different than before, which makes Nagi angry. Maria appears, and she finds herself unable to take Nagi seriously. Isumi then enters the room, and claims that she found Nagi's manga to be interesting, and she responds by drawing a continuation, named "Life of a Kitty." Her followup features nothing more than a cat with wings flying through the air. After a few panels, a bit of text mentions that the cat was moving at 23 km/h. Nagi enjoys this followup, but it confuses both Hayate and Maria. Sakuya then appears, commenting on how impressive it is that they understand each other. Maria asks if it actually is difficult to draw manga, and Hayate responds saying that if the art is decent and if the story is carefully told, you have a fairly good chance of winning a prize. Maria then remembers that Hayate once mentioned that he once won such a prize, which makes everyone present want to see his work. With a little hesitation, he shows them his take on Nagi's story, featuring his own version of Britney, this time a clumsy young flower shop worker. She reveals that the flowers attract many varieties of bad guys, and that she repels them with her magic. Everyone present seems to dislike it, with Sakuya claiming that it's playing things too safe, while Maria feels that the art, while cute, is a bit too far on the wrong side. Isumi then states that the manga is trying too hard to be popular from the start, detracting from its appeal. The rest of them then ask for Nagi to explain what happens next in her manga, and she begins telling them the story. After a little bit, Maria finds herself unable to listen any further, and she silences Nagi. Sakuya and Hayate claim that she needs to try harder to make it understandable, which makes her angry again. Suddenly, she decides to take them all to a ramen shop. The others are initially confused as they sit down at a table. The lights blink of then on again, and they find themselves in the middle of an animation studio. Various workers are seen doing their jobs, with some of them appearing overworked. Sakuya mentions that she's heard of a rumor that animation studios disguise themselves as ramen shops. The Hakuou Three Amiga then enter the studio, and Izumi asks one of the workers where the voice actors are. Risa watches over the shoulder of one of the animators, to her annoyance, while Miki sits down at an empty desk and draws a title card for a show featuring themselves. Maria sees someone collapsed on the floor, and Sakuya approaches them and jabs them with a small tool. Nagi remarks that she had passed out from being overworked. At this point Hayate asks Nagi what they're doing in the studio, and she announces that she intends to have her manga produced into an anime. Most of them express shock at this idea, since her manga hasn't had a chance to prove itself, though Isumi is naturally excited by this idea.

A meeting occurs with the directors, where she explains her idea to them. Maria is concerned that she won't be able to get her idea across, which she wants produced in a single week. When Nagi finishes, the frustrated directors explain that her ideas are impossible. Suddenly, one of them receives a call on their cellphone. They answer, and listen for a bit, suddenly becoming shocked during the call. They instantly change their minds and begin production of the show. Sakuya is curious what could have happened, and Nagi explains that there was apparently word that if they produced the anime, their stocks would increase. Initially, things look bleak as they find themselves understaffed, but they eventually get on track, and start producing the anime. However, nearing the end of production, disaster strikes as the company who was doing the animation vanishes. Nagi announces that they'll have to resort to a trick to produce test footage. They take a video clip of Ayumu, and drop the colors from the scene. Izumi asks what they're doing, and Miki explains that it's a way of creating test footage. She then explains further, that if constraints were large enough, they'd sometimes use art from the planning stages, or storyboards, showing examples of each on the television with the same scene featuring Ayumu. She then explains under extreme circumstances, they'll just use a line from a colored marker. The narrator then explains that since physical film is no longer used, they no longer actually do this. The directors then appear on the TV, explaining that they'd rather not do this, mentioning that they want the recording to be in color, and regretting that they don't have more time or money. Eventually, the anime is finally finished.

In a theater, all of them sit down to watch it. Hayate and Maria find themselves expecting the worst. The video starts with an advertisement for Hayate no Gotoku! items. Hayate asks what the advertisement was, and Nagi explains that they included some tie-ins. After the advertisement, the actual intro sequence begins, which is the same as the one seen at the beginning of the episode, but with completed music and sound. The show begins, and Britney is shown being played by Maria. Maria disapproves of the art, and the video continues with Britney asking her mentor if he wants to eat lunch together. The mentor is portrayed as Hayate, confusing him also. He agrees, and they sit together and eat, while the narrator explains that Britney loves her mentor, but she's unable to tell him such, the reason being that he already has a wife and a child, who are portrayed by Nagi and Wataru respectively. But then, an evil witch, played by Yukiji, turns Britney's mentor into a star. This causes his wife to become sick, and his son to turn into a delinquent playing video games. Britney was capable of reversing the transformation, but this would cause him to return to his wife and son. However, she could also bring him along with her on her journey, and be able to spend time with him. As Britney thinks about her choice, a title card for "Life of a Kitty" cuts in. A sequence showing a cat running along the ground plays, while Isumi provides narration, indicating that the cat is running at Mach 5. She then further explains that regardless of running speed, reaching the sun would be impossible. The presentation ends here, and Nagi expresses how she was impressed by Isumi's ending. Everyone else in the theater feels extreme disappointment from the ending, however.

Later that night, Maria is seen reading Nagi's manga. Hayate enters, and says that he was intending to do the same. Both Hayate and Maria want to try to understand her manga more, and they also want to figure out what decision Britney makes. They read ahead to find that Nagi hasn't completed this part yet. Hayate asks Maria what she thinks Britney will choose, and she says that if the mentor was like Hayate, she didn't think it would be that bad to keep him in the star form. Hayate then asks her to draw this idea. She initially refuses, saying that she's never drawn manga before, but she decides to do so anyway. She draws a picture of a brutish man, threatening to crush all the heroines. Hayate asks her who exactly this character is, and she responds saying that it is him. Maria then reminds him that he needs to make his choice, and she asks him to draw his own version also, though he refuses. Before the episode ends, Nagi shows the audience a fan service shot of her form of Britney in a bikini, though Hayate mentions that the shot doesn't really work. He then shows some normal fan service shots, including one of his own version of Britney. The last image in the sequence is a picture of Hayate in a maid uniform, which Hayate questions if it really counts as fan service.

Adapted From
Volume 10
 * Chapter 100: Congratulations ☆ 100th Episode! But This Is Actually the 99th Week, Because Two Episodes Were Published the First Week...

New Character

 * Britney

Cultural References

 * In the studio, variations of various anime characters can be seen in the background.
 * Yoko Littner and Nia Teppelin can be seen in the studio, who are characters from the series Gurren Lagann.
 * Nabeshin (who made a few cameos earlier in the series) can also be seen in the studio.
 * Animate's mascot Meito Anizawa also known as "Anime Tenchou" is seen in the preview before "Millennium Legend Magical☆Destroy" and later in Maria's drawing.