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Hayate no Gotoku
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Animation - 8.5 |
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Sound - 8.0 |
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Story - 7.0 |
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Character - 8.4 |
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Value - 7.8 |
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Enjoyment - 8.6 |
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Average - 8.1 |
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Summoner |
(2009-05-02 02:39:24) 2009-04-29 01:23:24 |
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| Average |
6.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Note: This review applies to Hayate no Gotoku's first season and OVA. I will update once the second season is over. It is also based on SS-Eclipse fansubs, which are some of the best I have seen lately, marvelous both quality and translation wise.
Quote:
A butler is the person who must protect their master even at the cost of their life.
Originally created as manga by Hata Kenjirou and directed by Kawaguchi Keiichiro (Zettai Karen Children) Hayate no Gotoku is a romantic comedy which weighs heavily on parody gags. It tells a story about a multi-billionaire "ojou-sama" Sanzenin Nagi and her debt-ridden butler Ayasaki Hayate. Since our rich girl is hikikomori otaku and possess tsundere attidude and since our main character is a kind boy who never had more than a dollar in his pocket this show succeeds at being mildly entertaining due to other anime parody and money jokes. I myself found the romance aspect of the story the most entertaining, however the director's stubborn attitude to never let any relationships develop past the point of platonic kind of killed the fun. Though Hayate no Gotoku had a potential to become an above average romance story with good characters it was degraded to a romantic comedy which doesn't go anywhere and is only mildly funny. I kind of get the feeling that manga is much better since the quality between what seems to be adapted storyline and fillers is visible by naked eye. Just for reference I'll mention that a very similar situation also exists in School Rumble which created an awesome lot of cool characters and intervening story paths, but ultimately failed to piece them together and degraded to a brainless comedy in later seasons. What will Hayate no Gotoku follow only season two will foretell, but as it stands now, I'd say it's one of the most average anime I have seen to date yet.
Conclusion: If you have it for romantic comedy and tsundere type girls you might want to watch Hayate no Gotoku, at least up till episode 16. If you are turned on by parody jokes - you can give it a chance as well, but I must stress that you must have watched a lot (like in hundreds) anime to fully catch the jokes. It doesn't exceed in anything and it's not intelligent, you might want to check it out when you are bored and tired, when watching complex anime doesn't strike you as fascinating. Other similar anime I've watched and found better than Hayate no Gotoku is Seto no Hanayome, Bobobo, Fullmetal Panic?! Fumoffu. Shakugan no Shana is also a pretty nice light romance tsundere show.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| A butler finds himself in the service of the richest little blond girl in Japan and Hayate no Gotoku maps out their budding (well ... maybe) relationship. Longest series ever to say nothing in particular but still an awesome series to rewatch again and again.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Shai_Halud |
(2008-10-06 02:06:27) 2008-10-06 02:02:48 |
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| If the English title did not make this obvious to you, Hayate no Gotoku is an anime which makes fun of action/giant robot/shounen animes. And in the tradition of Yakitate Japan! it carries this out beautifully. It occurs to me also that some people may see this as a harem anime as well as Hayate, by the end of the series manages to rouse the interests of three different girls. Here, as a romantic comedy, Hayate no Gotoku passes with flying colors as well.
Probably the crown jewel of this anime is the relationship between Hayate and Nagi. Nagi is convinced that Hayate is madly in love with her and Hayate is convinced that Nagi is sweetest, kindest, most generous person on earth (neither of which are true, at first). The parody, plot arcs, and mock battles are the spice of the series, but what keeps you coming back is the constant question, "Will these two ever figure out what the hell is going on?".
Of all of Kugimiya Rie's recent parts, I believe Nagi is the only one she totally fits and the role she was born to play. A selfish, spoiled, and socially ignorant little girl about the age of 13 is the type she's famous for and that description fits Nagi to a T. At first, Nagi has difficulty even comprehending the thought of kindness to others, but once she becomes convinced Hayate is in love with her, she is desperate to hold onto him.
Hayate, the main character, has basically led the life of a tragic hero from a Charles Dickens novel. His parents refuse to be employed and he has been poor all his life. He stole food from animals at the zoo and worked in a bar as a child. When he was 8 he started working for a sanitation company. At the age of 13 he was writing award-winning manga for money, And now that he is 16, he is considered the best courier in Tokyo. However, his parents soon sell him to the Yakuza to repay their debt of over 154,000,000 yen. To escape slavery and death, Hayate tries to kidnap Nagi, the sole heiress to the Sanzen'in fortune, and to force her family to pay off his debt. However, his poor choice of words lead Nagi to beleive that he is not trying to kidnap her but rather is asking her out. She, having read too much shojou manga, gladly agrees, but Hayate bungles the attempt and some other people who owe the Yakuza money kidnap her. After saving her, Hayate is offered a job by Nagi (who now considers him her secret lover) as her personal butler. Hayate accepts and is thus convinced of the overwhelming virtue of Nagi's character.
Character is very much the strong point of this anime and plot is the weak point. Other than developments in the relationships between characters (especially Nagi and Hayate) there is little or no overarching plot. The smaller plot arcs and single episode plots are usually more than entertaining enough, however, there are several episodes scattered throughout the series that are inconsequential and generally less entertaining than the rest. There are perhaps 15 of these eps out of the whole 52. There's a particularly high concentration of these between episodes 30 and 45, so don't get depressed when you hit that bunch. The last few episodes totally make up for it all (as if the first half of the series didn't already do that).
Anyway, I loved the series and can't really think of anyone not to recommend it to. A message at the end of the last ep promises a second season is on the way, so, eve if you feel let down by those 15 lousy eps, there plenty more Hayate in the works.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Surprisingly, Hayate no Gotoku manages to be a brilliantly funny anime by making fun of everyone, including itself, all the while being fresh for all 52 episodes without running dry of parodies!
The animation is surprisingly good coming from a relatively unknown studio. The animation is fluid, the designs are fresh and varied, and because of its parody nature, the character design can change without being out of place. It doesn't get any better than that.
Hayate contains a really strong cast. It combines the big name cast such as Tanaka Rie, Kugimiya Rie, and Norio Wakamoto coupled with the relatively newcomers like Ryoko Shiraishi, Marina Inoue, etc. And of course, lots and lots of cameo appearances like Yuko Goto, Tomokazu Seki, etc, making this one of the most diverse anime ever in terms of its voice cast! And of course the OP and ED themes by KOTOKO and Mami Kawada all give memorable theme song performances.
There isn't much of a main storyline, I would go as far as saying it feels like watch the Japanese version of The Simpsons in terms of its episode content. This works out as unlike Lucky Star, their parodies are on a different level. From the blatantly obvious, to the subtle ones where it give you a smile if you catch them. They even make fun of themselves by making one episode a detective them where you have to try and catch their small details.
The characters are a bit of a letdown, but most of them do express enough sides that don't make them boring. But like a typical anime, the main characters, Hayate, Maria, and Nagi never seems to developed to their full potential in all of the 52 episodes. Little of their inner characters have grown in a year's worth of episodes, until the last couple of them at the end. One must wonder the lost opportunities for them to grow for such a long time.
One thing that's different from watching Hayate then other anime is that watching Hayate is FUN. Unlike others, they may be touching, fulfilling, entertaining, but never is watching an anime can be that much fun. It doesn't matter if you are an anime veteran or just a newcomer to the world of anime. This is the anime that can satisfy anyone who just even want to watch some cartoon!
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3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Hayate was a fun watch all hrough the whole 52 episodes
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
Budding |
(2009-10-10 17:08:41) 2008-04-21 20:47:15 |
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Hayate the Combat Butler is a 52 episode romantic comedy released in 2007. For an anime of this length, Hayate the Combat Butler makes surprisingly few mistakes, and as a result, is one of the best long running romantic comedies to date.
The graphics, animation, and character design in Hayate the Combat Butler are of very high quality, which are further enhanced by the numerous cameos made by numerous other popular and concurrently running anime. There are a few scenes which lack animation, but those are barely noticeable especially given the random and funny animated moments throughout the series. Randomness is one of the key characteristics of Hayate the Combat Butler, and it is present in more than just the animation.
All songs and theme songs in Hayate the Combat Butler are performed by very well known and highly respected Japanese artists. The voice actors also do an excellent task of maintaining the believability of the totally unique characters throughout the series. Additionally, the various background music are not repetitive, and complement each scene very well. Hayate the Combat Butler is very impressive in terms of sound, most noticeably in its voice acting and its numerous songs.
Although there is barely any story development, the storyline of Hayate the Combat Butler is so random and hilarious that it is a pure joy to follow. Being 52 episodes long, there is the occasional episode with the boring story. However, the characters in the anime remedy the stale story most of the time. Hayate the Combat Butler makes numerous references to other popular anime, which really adds to the comedy if the viewer is familiar with the anime mentioned. A number of the references are very subtle, so it will require a very keen observer to be able to experience the full hilarity of Hayate the Combat Butler.
A number of occurrences featured in Hayate the Combat Butler follow events near the dates during which it is broadcast, and the anime also has a tendency to make fun of its previous episodes, which make for a pleasant surprise.
Character development, like the storyline, is also near non-existent. However, the uniqueness and hilarity of the characters more than make up for that downside, and solidly maintains the enjoyment of the anime. Most of the humour is generated by the cast, and there is almost a character of every personality. Of course, the personalities are exaggerated, a feat which is performed to near perfection by the excellent voice actors.
Hayate the Combat Butler is no doubt one of the best long running romantic comedies to date. Its entertainment value does not depreciate in the least over its 52 episode length, and a sequel is expected soon. As mentioned before, storyline and character development are almost non-existent, which makes Hayate the Combat Butler not one to watch for viewers expecting romantic developments in this romantic comedy. However, for viewers looking for a lengthy good quality anime which packs a lot of laughs, Hayate the Combat Butler would be at the top of the recommendation list.
As a comedy lover, I thoroughly enjoyed every episode of Hayate the Combat Butler, and cannot wait to watch the sequel of this outstanding anime.
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Another 52 episode show is completed. You know that feeling you get when you finish something that has been going on for a while now. And then the week after that you seem like something is missing from your life. Hayate is the second 52 episode anime that I've completed and it does not disappoint. If it did disappointed then I wouldn't have stuck with it for an entire year.
Animations were keep consistent throughout the anime. There were never any horrible episode in animation quality and there were even a few good ones too. The character designs were cute and the background were colorful ..... even though they reuse a lot of the backgrounds throughout the 52 episode run.
The OP/ED songs were excellent. KOTOKO sand both of the opening songs and they were both bubbly pop songs that set up the correct mood for Hayate. While most of the ED songs were quiet and peaceful, except for Kawada Mami's song. MELL, IKU, Kaori all sang quiet peaceful songs that closed the anime nicely and showed most of the characters sleeping. Thought it was a nice touch from the usual rock music that is used in most animes. Background music does get repetitive though. A few bad songs doesn't hurt ...... that much.
The story is about a boy named Ayasaki Hayate who has parent that gamble like crazy and that they would sell their own son to nice people for money. Hayate escapes and works as a butler for Nagi who is a rich girl that loves to play video games and stay inside. Basically, this has romance/comedy written all over it. Not to mention like a million of parodies in each episode. The story was well throughout at the beginning, but then I felt like they never got to it again and just had some random fun filler moments.
There are a lot of characters and I do mean a lot of characters. I counted around 30 characters in the first OP sequence. Yikes, that's a lot. But they are all special and do contribute to the story. Even though some of them get very little screen time, but most of them do get a lot of screen time and Hayate no Gotoku does a good job at reusing their characters, so the characters are never left out.
Hayate has a lot of parodies, but most of those parodies are hard to get and for most of them I had to go research what they actually were. Never did find most of them though. The parodies were nice and I even spotted a Caramelldansen dance in the middle of one of the episodes. I remember that, because that was one of the parodies that stuck out into my mind the most.
Hayate could have been better. With a plot that is actually used instead of just filler like fluff that's entertaining, but doesn't really go with the story. Most of the episodes are filler, but sometimes you don't even know which episodes are anime original and which ones are actually included in the manga. That's for the people that have never read the manga. Which is me included. They are making another season of this and I might as well watch it, but I don't know if I can watch another 52 episodes if most of them are fillers. Still a fun watch and a fun way to kill some time.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Pakxenon |
(2008-04-13 04:13:34) 2008-04-13 03:59:04 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| It's hard to say anything complete after that good final episode that wraps up everything and leaves you with a good impression, especially since the negative thoughts I had about this show has been wiped with time, for 52 full weeks. Thus here's yet another sectioned review from me on Hayate the Combat Butler.
Animation-
Great quality upkeep for 52 episodes. Not only that, but the integrated CG, wacky animation styles, imitations of cheap animation from before digital, and a whole ton of parodies to keep you entertained. Sexy character designs and manga design adaptions; needed more fanservice.
Sound-
I think I'm falling in love with all the girls from I've, which includes Kawada Mami, KOTOKO, MELL, IKU, and a few others. Every single OP and ED were performed by these girls, and they are all excellent. In addition to the themes, I have all the character songs, my favourites being Nagi's and Hinagiku's (Rie Kugimiya and Shizuka Itou FTW). This area would have been a ten if it were not for that annoying trumpet track and a few other BGM pieces.
Story-
Despite promising a plot about getting the debt money back and getting power levels, HnG is essentially a romance/gag-comedy teasing you every which way for 52 episodes. There are some weak and boring episodes where not much happens, then there are some awesome episodes filled with excellent character humor in addition to the gags and references found in almost each episode. In fact, the best episodes are found at the end of the 3rd quarter, which is anime-original but actually carries the theme of combat butlers for this short but excellent arc. Otherwise, most of the episodes are your standard fling-flair in which relationships seem to advance even though they actually go nowhere. But that's where the fun is found in a romance/comedy that's light on romance and more on the comedy. HOWEVER, if the producers actually stuck a plot to it as well as advance relationships like crazy, HnG might as well have been the best conceived romance/shounen/comedy EVER.
Character-
Time for the best part of HnG, which is also its greatest weakness. There sure are a lot of characters in this show, and vast majority that are girls are certainly damn hot and sexy and underage. Each girl is unique, with some damn cute traits to go along with their various personalities. You'd just wish Hayate would get half those hormones in his head and have an actual FLING with each of the girls, further pushing your love-life/fantasy-life into despair. As always, there are always going to be favourites out of this shackpot, and my two awards go to Hinagiku and Nagi. And as with any huge cast of characters, the greatest weakness is the screen time each of them get. Sad to say for all you fans of the peripheral characters, Nagi (and Ayumu) gets prime screen time in every single episode, while you have to wait a couple episodes before your favourite even shows up for a line or two, and further episodes for an entire devoted story. So despite the cute and attractive cast of girls, there are simply too many of them to make full use of them.
Value-
And here's the text wall that I failed to conjure until now.
Reference gags have always been the cheapest form of comedy conceived, referencing for the sake of "oh look! they did that thing from this show! awesome!". There's nothing wrong with having it in there - it's just that they won't connect with the viewers who don't get it, which makes it a waste of time to even put the gag in. This reason, and that references are free commercials, are why references gags don't garner a lot of points in anything.
Hayate relies on A LOT of reference gags. 96% of the episodes contain them, and there are anywhere from 1 to at least 25 references in a single episode, and this doesn't just include blatant acts or background drawings - it may be as subtle as the very dialogue they are saying or the shiratori game they are playing at each eyecatch. I'm not saying that reference gags are bad; I'm telling you that to get MAXIMUM enjoyment out of HnG, you should really not look into this anime until you horde at least 150 at-least-popular titles, at least 20 recent popular titles, and most of the others from before the millenium and the 90's, spanning from all genres.
And that's the reason why value is a 5. It could be lower, but decided against it. And that rant was pretty lengthy. I'll doubt you even read it because it's such obvious/useless trivia.
HnG should be enjoyed one episode at a time, given it IS a 52 episode ROMANCE/COMEDY. Yep.
Enjoyment-
Despite not getting at least 70% of the gags, I 98% enjoyed all the character interactions in HnG, especially all the Hinagiku-centric episodes. Here's to a second season.
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Encu |
(2007-11-19 14:06:13) 2007-10-21 05:30:07 |
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| Average |
5.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
4 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Hayate no Gotoku is a pretty good anime, with consistently good humor emanating from an original setting.
The comedy is overall enjoyable, and so I'd mildly recommend it if you're looking for something relatively upbeat and amusing to get into, but there are better anime comedies out there if you're looking for something to really make you laugh.
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4 of 7 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I can't believe anyone would give this anime a 2. To clear up any misconceptions from the start, I'm a 27 year old law student. and a complete anime nut, of course. Although there are kid elements to Hayate no Gotoku, it is not a kid anime. There are adult themes, pop culture references and random violence.
The anime is best classified as a parody. It often addresses the viewer and makes fun of typical anime conventions. In many respects, it takes the best elements of Excel Saga and incorporates them into a typical comedic shoujo story line. I have only seen up to episode 22 at this point, but I have been very amused. Don't watch this anime expecting a resolution of any romantic sort. Remember, the hero is 17-18 and the heroine is 13. Unless the series goes on for several years (which I don't think it will, since this kind of anime vehicle usually has a short life span) there will be no grand finale (except potentially a kiss or something). Any way, I thought it was great and definately worth a watch.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I have no complaints regarding this series. The characters are a lot of fun, the story is funny, it parodies other anime and itself, and it has re-watch value.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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Zukan |
2007-06-21 14:49:24 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Probably the best comedy of the year.
Hayate no Gotoku makes fun of everything from the progression of the story to the varied characters and even the dreaded censorship that so often ruin potentially good looking new series.
The show keeps pounding you with endless gags and it's easy to find yourself immersed in the world of HNG whenever someone starts to question Hayate's economical state (or rather, his misfortune with it).
The story is simple and should only be considered as something to lean on while you fall in love with the characters which all combined, becomes the true success of this show.
So give it a chance, grab yourself some snacks, take a seat and if you happen to like it, we'll make sure to continue the battle against broadcasting regulations next week too.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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itaru |
2007-06-18 03:24:45 |
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| I found this anime original and enjoyable. From a plot summary, one might worry this could be centered around ecchiness and overdone anime stereotypes. Rather, after 12 episodes I can say it keeps an original comedic air.
There are a few previous comedic anime about a rich heir surrounded by beautiful maids; this one certainly bares similarity to those but as a twist, this one's male hero is the butler to a rich [and spoiled] heiress.
I liked all the characters and looked forward to see how the relationships would develop.
There isn't much of a progressing storyline, but it doesn't seem to hurt as there is plenty of character development.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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