Hayate the Combat Butler Volume 24 Manga Review

ハヤテのごとく!/Hayate no Gotoku manga volume 24 review
Hayate the Combat Butler Volume 24

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Since I’ve already reviewed this volume based on the Japanese tankoubon, this review will focus on the Viz release as well as additional thoughts regarding the content of Hayate the Combat Butler Volume 24.

***SPOILERS***

Hayate the Combat Butler Volume 24I hate Viz, and not just because they falsely accused me of theft. I hate them because as far as I’m concerned, they’ve completely hosed their handling of Hayate the Combat Butler, and they purposefully make things worse by their 2 volume a year release schedule.  Hata-sensei wanted volume 23 and 24 released together, but naturally, Viz says, “Up yours! We’ll release as slow as we want. Be thankful that we are forced to continue working the manga at all.”

So why continue supporting a company I hate (and one whom I believe would turn down a million dollars to speed up the release schedule)? Because I love this manga series and I do want to send that message with my hard earned money.

That aside, it was a joy rereading volume 24. Hata-sensei is really good at crafting very interesting stories and characters while infusing them with plenty of humor. It is also amazing to see how Hata-sensei manages to keep all of these plot lines together, more so when one reads the more current chapters.

Resolving things with Athena in this volume was very nice, and the aftermath that started to be seen at the end of the volume was rather sweet.  I’m really hoping that my theory that Hayate will end up with Athena at the end pans out.

Since I don’t have anything else to remark on with the contents, I’ll move onto Viz’s stuff.

I was disappointed to see that Hina referred to Yukiji as “Sis” instead of “Oneechan”, as she does in the Japanese. Viz has always been hit or miss on how Hina addresses Yukiji, sometimes using “Sis” and sometimes using “Oneechan”. Considering how this adaptation uses a lot of honorifics and titles, including ojousama, as well as some Japanese terms, one would think that they’d just stick to the “Oneechan” term and be done with it.

Otherwise, it seemed that the Japanese honorifics were intact.

The other usual extras are here (the two comic strips; the “front cover” comic page; a note from Hata-sensei; the omake pages, this time featuring Yukariko; and the visual novel choices art). I note with no amusement that Viz has a 2-page ad for the next volume of Hayate the Combat Butler. For a brief period of time, it looked like Viz was planning to release it this December, but then dates were corrected to the usual February time frame for the first of its two volumes a year release schedule. No wonder I’m so angry and want to slap the people who run Viz in the back of the head…repeatedly.

Despite this, I do recommend purchasing the manga, at least to give secondary support to the brilliant Hata-sensei.

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5 Responses to “Hayate the Combat Butler Volume 24 Manga Review”

  1. pressurewasher says:

    What sort of contract is Viz under that forces them to keep translating and publishing Hayate No Gotoku? And when does that contract expire? My biggest fear is that the manga stops being published in English half way done, and I can’t seem to find information anywhere, but you seem to know your stuff.
    Thanks in advance,
    – Dale.

    • AstroNerdBoy says:

      Sorry for the delay.

      I have not talked with anyone at Viz as I have no contacts there. However, I have talked to folks at other manga publishing companies, and from what I understand, once they license a manga, they are stuck with it. So if it fails, to cut costs, they simply reduce its production schedule. (Of course, that just amplifies an already bad situation to make it worse.)

      The only manga titles that are unfinished in America (that I’m aware of) are due to either (1) the manga being unfinished in Japan for whatever reasons, or (2) the publishing company got out of the manga business and the licenses weren’t rescued (ie: Kannagi when Bandai bailed; School Rumble when Kodansha Comics forced Del Rey out of the manga business; Sgt Frog when TokyoPop bailed out of the manga business).

      So, my understanding of the situation is that once Viz licensed the manga, they are stuck with it. I don’t think they have an option to outright cancel it, or if they do, it would cost more to not release anything than to release two volumes a year.

  2. Hey AstroNerdBoy, I came across this page because I have recently been watching the Hayate no Gotoku! anime and wanted to read the manga.
    After reading this, it kind of made me a bit sad that they would slow down the releasing of the manga. Would you still recommend picking them up? If so, to save money, what volume should I start at if I’ve finished the anime?
    Thanks for any reply.

    • AstroNerdBoy says:

      Thanks for writing. ^_^

      I’m still buying the manga (obviously) and I don’t regret that. My feeling on this is that if more folks who like the series buy the manga, then Viz will change course and increase the number of volumes a year.

      As to the anime vs. the manga, you pretty much have to go manga only. That’s because the various anime do their own things and rearrange things to (sometimes) have different meaning. Plus, the anime completely skips the Athena backstory stuff (and the entire trip to Greece), which is a crime.

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