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⏎Hayate the Combat Butler: Can't Take My Eyes Off You ⏎ Rating: 3 (out of 5) ⏎ Review: ⏎ It's been a while, but Hayate Ayasaki, put-upon butler to spoiled little rich girl Nagi Sanzenin, is back with more wackiness and some new art. The first major difference longtime Hayate fans will notice is a distinct lack of Norio Wakamoto – Hayate takes over the job of narration, and while he does a fine job, and the juxtaposition between his words and actions is quite amusing, he's just no match for the gleefully evil sound of Wakamoto's narrator. As you might guess, this is definitely an indicator of some major changes in the Hayate formula. ⏎ The episode begins with Nagi baking in the Nevada sun in a wrecked car. After some run-ins with the local flora, she quietly laments that Hayate is no longer her butler. Cut back to the Sanzenin mansion, which is significantly more detailed in this incarnation. Hayate and Nagi are up to their old tricks, with Nagi frittering her days (and nights) away, Hayate trying to stop her, and Maria quietly watching over all. On this particular morning, a phone call from Nevada comes in telling Nagi that the police may have found her late father's possessions, and they need her to come from Japan to identify them. Maria and Hayate are against it, but Nagi, amped up by a TV special about Area 51, is ready to go. When her servants don't agree with her, she storms out in a huff, leading the way for more of Hayate's amazing bike skills in what is arguably the best part of the episode. Two new characters are also introduced, an idol singer with a thing for fairy tale symbolism (can you spot the references to Sleeping Beauty, The Juniper Tree, and Snow White?) and a purple haired girl with creepy eyes and a surprising identity. Just what role they will play is uncertain, but it looks like there may be a more serious storyline hidden in here somewhere. ⏎ Visually there are some big changes as well. Characters are thinner and sharper, Maria's headdress has shrunk, and Hayate appears to have learned how to mousse his hair. The major difference here is that Nagi looks rather older than she has previously, and while all of this will take some getting used to, it generally looks very nice, particularly the ending theme, performed by a lip-syncing idol singer partly in the buff. All in all this newest addition to the Hayate the Combat Butler stable is not quite as funny as its predecessors and lacks some of the randomness that made the other seasons such fun, but it does have potential. ⏎ I still miss that narrator, though. ⏎ Hayate the Combat Butler's newest season is available streaming on Crunchyroll. ⏎ From the New World ⏎ Rating: 4 (out of 5) ⏎ Review: ⏎ It has been one thousand years. The humans of Japan now live in a pastoral land that is an odd melange of the Nara period (that's the one before the Heian era) and contemporary society. Students attend elementary school until they are visited by the “blessing spirit,” some sort of spiritual/psychic awakening. At this point they the unified class, or upper school. Saki is the last of her group of friends from Harmony Elementary to receive this blessing, and clearly it has caused her some angst. She's thrilled when she is taken to the temple to be initiated, only to find that the powers she has might not be the powers she gets to keep. The ruling theocracy believes (or appears to) that one must give up all worldly desires in order to move towards adulthood. Between this, some cryptic comments overheard from her parents, and a supernatural siting of what the children call “The Trickster Cat,” but the adults tellingly call “The Impure Cat,” the stage is set for an ominous tale. ⏎ Artistically this is so far the strongest of the season, which given that we are three shows in may or may not be high praise. The opening sequence fades in and out of focus, a neat trick that gave me a headache, but I can appreciate what it was going for. It is followed by a scene of children playing around a rice paddy shown only in black silhouettes against a lavender sunset, an effective technique for relaying “creepy.” A folktale is shown in light silhouettes against a white background with sketchy details, which is visually very interesting. Add to this the clothing of the period, another combination of Nara and contemporary, and the place settings that fall somewhere between high fantasy and light science fiction and you've got a show that looks fairly unique. The only odd note is the characters' eyes, which just have something off about them, though I can't quite put my finger on what it is. ⏎ Though much of this first episode is world-building, it still grabs onto your interest and doesn't let go. Parts are slow and talky, yes, but overall this tale of a dystopia disguised as a utopia that has a lot of promise and should go in some interesting directions. ⏎ From the New World is available streaming on Crunchyroll. ⏎ My Little Monster ⏎ Rating: 3 (out of...