ハヤテのごとく！Manga Volume 1
Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Volume 1

Buy Hayate no Gotoku Manga Volume 1 from Amazon.com!

Review: As I blogged about the Hayate no Gotoku! anime series, regular blog visitor HughRoe suggested I read/blog about the original manga. I figured to do just that, but I wanted to wait until after I’d seed the four seasons that composed the first series. Why? Well, I know from my own experiences that if I’ve read the source manga first, I generally don’t care for the anime adaptations quite as much (meaning they aren’t as enjoyable). However, if I watch the anime first, then read the manga, no matter what changes are made in the anime or how better the manga is, I don’t have as big a problem (I cite Love Hina as such an instance).

There are nine chapters in this first volume and all but one I remember from the anime (chapter 9 story with Tama and the giant snake don’t strike a cord with me but maybe I’ve just forgotten it). Basically, things are like I remember from the anime — Hayate is left with his massive debt from his family; Hayate decides to become a kidnapper; Hayate and Nagi have their misunderstanding; Nagi gets kidnapped for real; Hayate rescues her; Hayate is hired as Nagi’s butler.

Reading this first volume, I was reminded of just how funny the anime happened to be. I still laughed at things in the manga such as Nagi’s insults to her kidnappers, asking them to stop breathing as they are polluting the air. While there are things that the anime makes funnier (I think), there are just moments captured in the manga which made me laugh, especially with Nagi. The story with the giant snake and Nagi forcing Tama to fight it made me laugh and laugh. If that was in the anime, I sure don’t remember it (I guess I’ll have to look through my blog archives).

It was interesting getting to see the stuff the anime had been forced to censor, such as blood. Hayate gets pretty bloody when he attacks Nagi’s kidnappers. That kind of surprised me.

The only thing I didn’t care for so much was the character designs for Tama. He didn’t have nearly the funny face he had in the anime. However, in the extras of the manga, Tama looked a bit better so I’d guess that improvements are made to his design in the manga.

I haven’t read the Viz release because I’d been boycotting them. However, since they’ve been doing an OK job with Honey and Clover AND I read they are doing a similar job with the translations on Hayate the Combat Butler (sans explanations), I think I’ll take a risk.

Update (08 Sept 2008): I picked up the first volume from Viz. The only down-side I see is that there are no translation notes. However, this adaptation by Viz is pretty otaku in nature with full use of Japanese honorifics, including the term “ojousama.”