A friend convinced me to check out HInako Note, and it was....okay. Very cute, but not a series I'd actually recommend.
As Kayo-chin says, there was gay in it, but very Class S sort of "the girl I admire and occasionally stalk" gay. There's a story arc that lasts all of half the series, then the director doesn't seem to know what else to do so the second half is heavily trope-y random episodes, including the required by law beach episode and staying overnight at school while one character thinks there are ghosts in the dark episode. And who can forget the totally original "character gets a minor fever but passes out anyway for some reason and everyone else acts like they don't know what a cold is" storyline?
There's also a surprising amount of utterly random fanservice, given that the girls have a chibi look through about 80% of the show. Just all of a sudden it's BAM! Bunny outfits with the tits practically falling out or girls bending over in short-shorts. No particular lead-up to most of it either, just stuck in there for no more reason than "the director likes it".
Even more surprising is that the NINE YEAR OLD WITH BIG TITS isn't given revealing fanservice shots. She's presented as basically a scaled-down adult for the most part though, and it's actually refreshing when she has moments where she acts like a kid for a change.
I won't deny it's cute, and even fun. There are some good jokes, but the whole presentation really didn't come together for me.
