Hayate no Gotoku!! has been stagnating since the Hinagiku birthday episode, and it’s been even longer since HnG has done what it does best, a proper reference joke. It’s all well and good that season two’s plot has been moving at a steady pace, but the plot alone isn’t strong enough to keep the show going by itself.

I don’t mean the plot is bad, it’s just that HnG needs reference jokes since they’re in the blood of the show. References are the reason we fell in love with with the series in the first place, and the show feels like it’s missing a part of itself without them. Previously, the only reference that was remotely memorable in S2 was the Butler Quest RPG way back in the third episode, and it’s a stretch to call that a reference since that was more of a take on generic RPG dungeons than anything in particular.

Did someone order a Trap Card?

I’m not asking for the barrage of references from S1, which was too much at times, but S2 really does need more of them. You could argue that it’s become more difficult to sling them around since the story is actually getting (somewhat) serious now, but good drama has comedy elements to lighten the mood between dramatic scenes, so there’s no reason not to have more referential comedy bits.

Collect them all at a store near you!

Aside from Hayate parading around as a bunny maid, the card game in episode 19 was the most fun I’ve had with S2 to this point. It came out of left field and awesome, a Yu-Gi-Oh parody that perfectly mimicked one of the show’s most memorable scenes. I wish this skit had gone a bit longer with more Explanation -> BS power ups -> Shock moments, but it was pretty good. I especially loved Nagi shouting the famous, “DORO CHARA CADOOO!” line . Having Hayate barge into the room to hold Nagi back and having her yell Yugi’s now memetastic, “HANASE!” would have been icing on the cake, but alas it wasn’t meant to be. Shameless product placement is such fun. Now I have to buy a couple packs of the Hayate no Gotoku!! TCG. Such shame!