ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 400

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Now that the 400th chapter of Hayate the Combat Butler is here, Nagi wants her manga published within the pages of the 400th chapter. She cites the promise made at the beginning of the Hayate the Combat Butler manga, when her manga was supposed to be published if the series got to 100 chapters. To date, Nagi’s manga has not been published in the pages of Hayate the Combat Butler.

Hayate reminds Nagi that she’s in the middle of a doujinshi competition with Ruka. Nagi doesn’t want to hear that, since everyone already knows she wins, thanks to the events of Hayate the Combat Butler! Heaven is a Place on Earth anime movie and the anime TV series Hayate the Combat Butler! Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.  As such, Nagi points out that Hayate wasn’t married to Ruka in either of those canon anime productions, so clearly she wins.

Hayate can’t believe she just said that, stating that throwing in spoilers within the manga is just not done. Nagi doesn’t care about that as she was promised something in the early manga, which readers can buy themselves and see, and she wants that promise fulfilled. Hayate isn’t sure, since Nagi’s art isn’t good. Nagi says that she followed Ashibashi-sensei’s advice and so drew what happened around her.

So, Nagi’s manga gets inserted into the 400th chapter of Hayate the Combat Butler. In addition to her normal Brittany “magic girl” character, she portrays Hayate as a robot, Maria as a witch, Ayumu as a squirrel-familiar, Chiharu as a rabbit-familiar, Ah-tan as an ahoge-haired cat, Kayura as a manga eater, and Hinagiku as “No-tits,” a bossy tsukkomi-type person.

The real Chiharu enters the room and whacks Nagi on the head with a shoe, loudly stating that she doesn’t have a locked folder on her computer like Nagi said she did. Maria and Hina are also not thrilled with their portrayal in Nagi’s manga, though Ah-tan notes that Hina’s breast size is rather small.  Nagi says that the manga is about to get really exciting, but the others have had enough.  Nagi doesn’t want to wait for chapter 500 to continue her story.

Thoughts/Review:

Oh Hata-sensei — you do enjoy tweaking fans, eh? *lol*  There’s no doubt he is keenly aware of what Japanese fans are saying.

This chapter was good on several levels. First, it established that the Hayate the Combat Butler! Heaven is a Place on Earth anime movie and the Hayate the Combat Butler! Can’t Take My Eyes Off You anime TV series are both canon. So, that means that the story of Hayate grandmother and Nagi’s father are canon, which is fine by me. I’ve long thought that Hata-sensei has been using the anime stories to tell canon tales he can’t work into the manga as they are just side stories.

Secondly, the chapter broke the fourth wall, whereby Hata-sensei uses Nagi to voice complaints some fans have had with the current storyline. While I don’t often participate on forums any more, I do surf through from time to time. One complaint I have seen pop up more than once is that since Can’t Take My Eyes Off You is considered canon (was Hata-sensei allegedly stated some time back), then what was the point of the current storyline since that anime revealed the following:

1. Hayate, Maria, and Nagi are back in the mansion.
2. Nagi completed her doujinshi, and it doesn’t appear to have been a Brittany one.
3. Hayate has not married Ruka, thus Nagi must have won the competition (fan speculation).
4. Nagi still owns Yukari-chan House, and there are still renters there, though Hina and Ah-tan appear to be gone.
5. Ruka and Nagi are still friends.

My contention has been that just because Hayate and Nagi are together again in the mansion doesn’t necessarily mean that Nagi won.  Indeed, I have stated my opinion that it would be more likely that though Nagi’s manga is greatly improved, so much so that Ruri liked it and bought a copy (in the anime), Ruka’s was probably still better. However, in the process of winning, Ruka realizes that even if Hayate marries her, Nagi will still have a higher place in his heart, and that he won’t be in love with Ruka romantically (though he would care for her and love her in that way). Thus I can see Ruka forfeiting the contest or otherwise giving up on Hayate.

Well eventually see which way Hata-sensei goes.

I was also amused at Hata-sensei poking fun at himself with the remark on how sluggish the manga is moving so that it was able to get to 400 chapters. *lol* Hata-sensei is a master of moving things slowly along, more so since he often feels the need to stop for several weeks to do one-off comedy chapters.  No wonder he needed to use the anime format to tell other stories. ^_~

Nagi’s manga was amusing in how it revealed how she saw those whom she currently lives with. I was amused by their reactions to Nagi’s viewing of them.

So, does Hata-sensei go back to Nagi trying to find material for her manga? Does he press forward after her supposed Kyoto trip? I guess I’ll just have to wait and find out. ^_^