ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 362

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

SUIRENJI Ruka was born from a father who’d been a one-hit wonder rock singer, and a mother who’s idol career never amounted to much. As such, they decided their daughter would live out their dreams of success in the music industry. They began training her and created an idol production company called Fly Dolphin to make that dream come true. They spent all of their money and then some, but they could not succeed due Ruka not being backed by a large production company.

Ruka heard her parents disappointment and decided to make their dream come true. Thus, when a large, idol production company held auditions, she decided on her own to try out, where she wowed the audition judges as well as the other participants. As such, she was signed up and given an exclusive manager, and within a year, she was a hit. However, her parents saw Ruka’s success with someone else as another failure, thus they abandoned her and left her with a ¥150,281,000 debt, which Ruka was not obligated to pay, but decided to do so as it was her last link to her parents.

While being an idol had been her parent’s dream, Ruka’s dream was always to become a manga-ka.  When she visited the office of a famous manga-ka as part of her idol responsibilities, she learned how far she still needed to go in order to succeed in the manga creation world, thus she tested her skills with a doujinshi, where her identity was uncovered by Chiharu, whom she would then befriend. Through Chiharu, Ruka met Nagi, who shared the same dream as Ruka, and Ruka began to grow as an artist. However, her latest doujinshi comes to the attention of her manager, who decides to put a stop to this distraction.

Thoughts/Review:

This chapter reads like a recap for folks like me who’ve not been privy to Ruka’s introduction to the manga series.  If that’s true, I am grateful since I am SOOOO far behind, but I’m guessing some of you might be bored by this.  However, I get the feeling that this is the start of a new, multi-chapter story arc.

As to Ruka’s past, I was struck by how they were oblivious to how their remarks might affect Ruka. Sadly, I think that many parents today say things without considering how their children will be impacted by those words, which at a young age, carry great power from the adult.

Ruka’s parents are of course selfish to the extreme in that they forced their dreams onto their daughter. Their reasons for abandoning her are even stupider, and inexcusable. They aren’t evil like Hayate’s parents (don’t know the circumstances of Hina’s parents abandoning her and her sister, so I can’t compare there), but they are still terrible parents.

Still, Ruka’s success story is one of perseverance.  She didn’t complain about how unfair life was, nor how her family was poor while others were stinking rich. She worked hard, took a chance on her own, and she succeeded.  Now, she is a popular and apparently well paid idol, going one step beyond in paying back her parent’s debts.  I read this chapter, then see how many spoiled losers go out protesting because life doesn’t give participation trophies, corner offices, nor bags of riches just because you think you are entitled to those things, I find myself somewhat depressed. Rather than look for scapegoats, a tactic the National Socialists used quite well in Germany prior to World War II, I wish we had more real life stories of people who’ve succeeded on their own despite the odds.

As to Ruka’s dreams of becoming a manga-ka, she’s following that with the same drive that made her an idol.  Her manager’s decision to end that dream reminded me of White Album, where the idol Yuki’s manager Shinozuka-san did whatever it took to keep Yuki from being distracted. It will be interesting to see how Ruka overcomes this obstacle, if at all.

So, though no laughs, it was a good chapter to prepare people like me, and to remind long-time readers, of Ruka’s story before proceeding forward.