Hayate the Combat Butler, Vol. 1

On Christmas night nice, hard-working boy Hayate Ayasaki discovers that he is actually the unluckiest teenager in Japan. His irresponsible gambler parents not only ran away from home, leaving behind a massive amount of debt (about $ 1.5 million). Not only that; for fearful yakuza gangsters are after him, trying to "collect" his organs. Desperate Hayate thinks of kidnapping a 13-year-old girl Nagi Sanzenin, whom he encountered in the park. What he didn't know was she was a spoiled girl of an incredibly rich family, and Nagi mistakes Hayate's "I want you" for confession of love and she falls in love with him! In spite of the contrived and impossible opening chapters, "Combat the Butler Hayate" starts pretty well, as an amusing comedy (yes, it is a comedy) about Hayate, Nagi, Maria (17-year-old, Nagi's maid), Klaus, the head butler of the family and Tama, a tiger Nagi keeps in her room. There are several pop culture references (see p.132, for example, references to Batman, Thunderbirds, and Death Note), but most jokes and gags are easy to understand. And they are funny, well, most of them. Kenjiro Hata's comic has been serialized in Shogakukan's "Shonen Sunday" since 2004. This is a manga for shonen magazine (boys' magazine), so though the manga contains romance (only on the side of Nagi, anyway), the comic is basically a comedy in the vein of Rumiko Takahashi's "Urusei Yatsura" (which was also serialized in "Shonen Sunday"). If you are looking for so-called moe or fan service, you will be disappointed. VIZ Media's translation is excellent. English words are carefully chosen and faithful to the original phrases. All FX is translated and the content of the English edition is almost exactly the same as that of the original. The only difference is that the preface/postface manga (two bonus four-panel comic strips) are in color in Japanese edition. "Combat the Butler Hayate" is nothing groundbreaking, but enjoyable nonetheless, with several interesting characters and above-average illustrations. [TRIVIA] The boy's name "hayate" means "fast, storm-like wind" in Japanese. The heroine's name "nagi" means "a calm" or "a lull."

Intro: Hayate no Gotoku (The Combat Butler) is a story of Ayasaki Hayate who is in debt after his parents sold him off to a group of Yakuza. In order for him to pay off his debt, a young Ojo (Rich Young Girl) named Nagi comes to his rescue to pay off his debt and in return Hayate works as a butler at her place. Now that we have the basics down, unto the review! Pro: The characters in Hayate are the main reason why you are reading this series, the plot (while a bit plain) is not it. While reading this book, you will understand the circumstances each character faces, Hayate with his huge debt, Nagi who is infatuated with Hayate, Maria who is trying to resolve the misunderstanding between the two and so on. The manga is filled with many humorous moments (my favorite happens to be the one where Hayate is dressed up as a cat girl and Tama goes crazy for him). Every character is interesting and refreshing, there are no 2 characters which are alike. Con: This is a shonen so expect some things that are familiar with other shonen manga (such as tournaments, lame fights, etc...though none of these are present in this volume). Conclusion: I highly recommend this to any fan of anime or manga as well as anyone who wants to read something funny. You will not be disappointed.

This manga is very good! It's funny and very cute, I can't wait for volume 6!

Hayate Ayasaki is in a bit of a quandary. Since the age of nine, he's had to take a variety of part-time jobs to support his deadbeat parents who spend all their money gambling. In contrast to his parents, he is an impeccable and honest employee who prides himself in doing the best job possible. But this time his parent's troubles are too big for even Hayate to cope with. Their gambling debts are $156,804,000 yen! In an effort to pay off this money his parents sold all of Hayate's internal organs to the Yakuza! The catch is that Hayate is still alive and the Yakuza have come to collect! In desperation, Hayate decides to kidnap a young girl and hold her for ransom. Luckily, for him, the girl he decides on, Nagi Sazenin, is the sole heir to one of the richest families in the country. But in a bizarre mixup, Nagi misunderstands Hayate's intentions and instead thinks he is in love with her. And right about then, two bona fide kidnappers snatch Nagi away! Hayate has always believed in honesty and passion. Now what will he do? Will he worry about his own problems or rescue an innocent girl from the clutches of some vicious thugs? Hayate the Combat Butler Volume 1 was a very funny book that made me laugh with its bizarre off the wall relationships and deconstruction of family ties. Just take the opening sequence to get a flavor for the humor. Hayate had a dream when he was little of asking Santa Claus why he never got any Christmas presents. Santa replies with brutal honesty: "Because you're poor!". Even after he tells Hayate that honesty and passion are the keys to living life, he still tells him he'll never get a present! The merciless nature of Hayate's world is a dead-on sendup of the cutthroat nature of modern life. When Hayate's parent's leave him the IOU for the million yen they even draw a cute little waving rabbit saying "We'll leave the rest to you". This manga is an example of how to merge surreal humor, social commentary, and good characters in one book. It was hilarious. The art is very good too.