ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 361
Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Chapter 361

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Chiharu observes Maria scolds Nagi for bringing her dirty laundry late, and remarks to Hayate how much like a mom Maria is.

Later, a frustrated Nagi speaks with Hayate about how annoying Maria is becoming by nagging her. She wants to tell Maria off, but needs ammunition. So, she tasks Hayate to find this while Nagi returns to working on her manga.

Maria goes off shopping and is tailed by Hayate. First, Maria uses a coupon to get a free shake, which is normal enough. Then, Maria goes to an appliance dump where items are not to be taken, leading Hayate to think she’s going to take something. However, she had noticed a cat that had become trapped, whom she frees.

Hayate then follows her to a clothing store, where she looks at ready made clothing first before buying bolts of cloth, revealing to Hayate that Maria’s maid uniform is handmade. This makes Hayate realize that there’s still so much he doesn’t know about Maria.

At another store, Maria buys a Popsicle. It is there that Nagi calls Hayate, looking for the goods, but Hayate has nothing bad to report.  When Maria returns home, Nagi is still upset with Maria, but Maria has the Popscicle and offers it to Nagi, leading Chiharu to again remark to Hayate on how much like a mother Maria is.

Thoughts/Review:

I didn’t laugh once during this chapter, and yet I have to say that I absolutely LOVED this chapter.

Even though Maria is only seventeen, she has been a mother to Nagi all this time.  I recently reread the volumes Viz releases, and that motherly aspect came out from time to time, such as when Maria forced Nagi to not skip school on the day of the running events, and to actually participate.  Maria isn’t always so tough though, since Nagi still skips school sometime.

Anyway, Maria has also had other motherly aspects to her in how she used to run the mansion, which I always liked.  However, chapter 361 here really highlights Maria as a motherly figure, and that made me smile a lot.

Nagi’s reaction to Maria’s scolding is typical teenager, and that too made me smile. Technically, Maria works for Nagi, so Nagi could fire her (unless there are other elements at work here that I’m unaware of due to not being caught up to present).

On the artistic side, one thing I noticed is that at times, this chapter appeared to be pulling back the old character designs. I really hope Hata-sensei fully returns to the old style, which was MUCH more attractive for the characters, and gave them more personality.

So, a fun chapter featuring Maria. Loved it!