Hayate The Combat Butler, Volume 5
ハヤテのごとく！Manga Volume 5
Hayate no Gotoku Manga Volume 5

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: The manga begins with Hayate learning about deadly techniques, starting with Nonohara’s “Safety Shutter” attack during their fight at the Kendo Club’s dojo. Hayate manages to win but Nagi still won’t join the club.

Ayumu is at Wataru’s video store and talking with Wataru on understanding a boy’s feelings. After leaving the store, Ayumu remembers something she wanted to rent and returns to the store to see Hayate. She’s unable to catch him but follows him to Nagi’s estate. She thinks it is a yakuza place and is going to free Hayate but is found by Tama, who give chase until she’s saved by Hayate. When Nagi arrives on the scene, Ayumu is forced to retreat as her backup is a hamster and Nagi’s is a dragon.

Hayate continues his pursuits of a deadly technique to the annoyance of Maria. Hayate is sent to school to retrieve one of Nagi’s notebooks and discovers Katsura-sensei is living at school and giving extra lessons to female students Risa, Izumi, and Miki. In the darkness, Hayate gets turned around and ends up at the abandoned old school where he’s joined by Hina. They end up encountering weird things including a biology mannequin chasing Hina. Seeing Hina face these things causes Hayate to want to train with her after they leave, after which Isumi and her guards get to work on exorcising the spirits.

Nagi decides to help Hayate learn deadly special techniques and in the Sanzenin library, there is such a book. However when Nagi learns that Hayate is looking for the technique after a promise to Hina, she burns the book and runs away from home, misunderstanding the situation. She runs into Ayumu, who then challenges Nagi to karaoke. She loses as Nagi seems to have the spirit of the famous seiyuu Megumi (HAYASHIBARA) on her side.

Wataru sees that Saki is depressed and after some consultation with others, he determines it is her coming of age ceremony, which she missed. He buys a furisode for Saki as a gift but a miscommunication has Isumi come by, thinking he has a present for her. He gives her a DVD boxed set and Saki the furisode, but is stunned when he learns Saki’s distress had come because of trying to choose a cell phone.

Nagi figures that having a cold attitude toward Hayate will make them closer in the end. So when they (along with Maria and Klaus) come aboard Sakuya’s cruise ship, which looks like the Titanic. Hayate is confused by Nagi’s sudden cold attitude. Meanwhile, terrorist board the ship and attempt to take over. They are defeated by Klaus and the other butlers/security (sans Hayate) but one of the terrorists sets off a bomb. The ship is sinking and Isumi, who’d gotten lost below, has to be saved from the incoming water by the injured Hayate as he fends off sharks. He manages to do this and be rescued by Klaus to boot.

Finally, there’s a marathon race at Hakuou Gakuin. Klaus decides that in order for Hayate to keep his job, Nagi must win one of the races, but unfortunately, Hina is also in all of the races and is the favorite to win.

Thoughts/Review: Viz continues with the otaku-friendly adaptation of the manga, this time including the title “obocchama,” which like “(o)bocchan” means “young master.” I like that these quirky titles are being used because like using “ojousama,” it adds to the flavor of the manga for me. Plus, I just enjoy getting a Japanese perspective on things, not an American twist on Japanese things.

There’s no doubt that things flow much better in the manga than they did in the anime. As others have pointed out in previous volume reviews (and my episode reviews of the anime), the anime takes many things and displayed them out of order. That’s really a shame because I find this flow in the manga makes the story much more fun.

Along those lines is Ayumu. I seem to remember her using Wataru’s video store for rentals but not being friends with Wataru (Ayumu doesn’t know that Wataru is actually engaged to Nagi and is well versed in Nagi’s rich world). That was a nice touch and I hope we see more of it.

The final chapter started a story I don’t remember being in the anime. I recall some competition Nagi being in with Ayumu, but not a run and certainly not anything that would cost Hayate his job if Nagi failed to win the race. Since the last chapter is the start of that story arc, I look forward to seeing where things go since it appears to be new material for me (everything else in the volume was pretty much covered by the anime).

The standard complaint about a lack of translator notes still exists. Some references were pretty easy to get but not all. Had I not been a fan of HAYASHIBARA Megumi, I wouldn’t have appreciated that reference in the manga. I wonder if Hata-sensei envisioned Megumi as doing the voice of Nagi. I could see that working, though Nagi’s seiyuu KUGIMIYA Rie did a great job (and is a pretty impressive seiyuu herself).

The standard extras from the Japanese tankoubon are here with the characters of Himuro, Taiga, Nonohara, and Azumamiya getting profiles.

On the whole, Viz is doing a fantastic job with their manga adaptation and all I can say is “It is about time! Please keep it up!”