ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 359
Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Chapter 359

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Ayumu is sitting with the school’s guidance councilor, and not amused with how she is asked on what her future plans are. When pressed, she says her dream job would be to become a musician, a reply that stuns the guidance councilor, who insists she get serious about her future over the summer break.

As Ayumu walks home, she realizes she needs to consider the future, and has a vision of her marrying Hayate. As she imagines her life with Hayate, it gets worse and worse as they get more and more debt. As such, Ayumu decides she needs to get rich if she’s going to be with Hayate.

On cue, Hayate and Nagi arrive, causing Ayumu to assure Hayate she will become rich before dragging Nagi off to the cafe for some advice on getting a job that will get her rich. Nagi looks at Ayumu’s grades and since Ayumu’s only strong point is being a sound sleeper, Nagi suggests Ayumu give up. Ayumu refuses to do that because she feels she has some kind of potential to earn lots of money.

Nagi suggests Ayumu take her time and find a dream that suits her, leading Ayumu to ask how Nagi’s dream of becoming a manga-ka is coming. This takes Nagi off guard, and she informs Ayumu that dreams aren’t easy. As they talk, Nagi speaks of her next project, and in doing so, Ayumu causes Nagi to have a flash of inspiration on her project’s storyline. Nagi is now excited by this new idea and thanks Ayumu, who doesn’t feel she did anything. Nagi says that she did and that Ayumu’s talent might be in drawing out the potential of others. Ayumu wonders how that is helpful, as quote from Walt Disney about being an idea man is shown.

Thoughts/Review:

Who the heck is this?

Oh, THAT’S Ayumu? *_*  Yeah, I know; I’ve already complained about the character designs and this is why.  It is too generic. I’m guessing it is easier for Hata-sensei, but I loved the old character designs.

The image of Hayate and Ayumu getting married was cute. The expected results were still humorous with Hayate getting poorer and poorer.

I’m glad to see that Ayumu and Nagi are still friends. Ayumu’s continued poor skills were amusing. I loved how Ayumu inspired Nagi. It is interesting that Hata-sensei used this story to quote Walt Disney (I checked and I didn’t see anything that disproved this as being an actual Disney quote).

I am in no sense of the word a great artist, not even a great animator; I have always had men working for me whose skills were greater than my own. I am an idea man.

Supposedly, it was Walt Disney’s movie, Bambi, that lead Japanese animators and manga-ka to adopt the big eye form they use today.  So, quoting Disney would be impactful to Japanese audiences, with the moral of the story being that people with average talents can be quite successful.

As an aside, I’ve read another back volume of the manga, but just haven’t blogged it.  I’ll try to put something together this week to get the gap closed. ^_^