November 24th, 2015 
AstroNerdBoy ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Manga
Hayate the Combat Butler Chapter 511 Review
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Hayate and Nagi are in a gift shop, looking for souvenirs, but when he learns that a t-shirt costs $20, he decides that he’ll bring back toilet paper from the hotel for Maria and Las Vegas sand for Ayumu. Nagi reminds him that he’s pretty much rid of his debt, so he may has well spend money. Hayate rejects this, citing the Kochikame Pattern, whereby people who pay off debts get caught up wasting money and get more debt. Since Hayate doesn’t want to get a ¥300 million debt, he’s going to be frugal.
Elsewhere, a furious Yukiji can’t stand the fact that Hayate won ¥150 million when she picked up ¥28 million in debt, which she voices to Kayura and Chiharu.
Back in the hotel, Hina ponders the situation of Hayate paying off his debts, but while she wants to take action, she doesn’t know what her next move should be.
Meanwhile, Hayate and Nagi are walking and discussing the forthcoming trip to the Grand Canyon when they run into Kananiwa. She mentions doing another orientation, since her final contest at the Grand Canyon was never done after Hayate got them to do the card game. The angry and frustrated Yukiji shows up, demanding a chance for redemption. Hayate realizes he’s being dragged into a situation he doesn’t want to be in, which is aided by Isumi who wants to participate.
When Kayura asks about a possible prize, Kananiwa says there are ¥10 million in gold coins hidden in the Grand Canyon. Others want to join this, which Kananiwa is fine with. Hayate doesn’t like this, but Nagi says that since his prize money isn’t at stake, it is just a fun game. Hayate ponders this and wonders why Yukiji is OK with picking up a mere ¥10 million when she owes ¥28 million. Sister Sonia asks this privately of Yukiji, getting the response that one never knows what will happen in a competition.
Back at the hotel, Sakuya reports to Mikado that Nagi (and Hayate) have Kananiwa’s King’s Jewel. She says she can get it, but Mikado asks her to leave it alone and warns her to be careful as he thinks an assassin as been sent to get the stone.
Thoughts/Review:
So after a very pointless school trip arc so far, Hata-sensei may have discovered a bit of motivation for writing something a bit meaningful and explain Ruri’s presence, which up until now, was merely fanservice for those of use who’d watched the Can’t Take My Eyes Off You anime.
Hayate having won the ¥150 million was anti-climactic to me, but while I felt this meant that Hata-sensei wanted to end the manga, I accepted that Hayate had the funds to mostly pay off his debt and wanted to see where Hata-sensei would go from there. With this chapter, Hata-sensei is putting out the notion that Hayate may well end up with ¥300 million in debt before all is said and done. If the status quo is returned with Hayate getting more debt, I think I will be quite angry.
Regardless, we get one more competition where everyone is involved. Suggesting that Ruri might be an assassin is a bit interesting, but she still hasn’t been properly set up as a character. Ruri addresses Nagi as “oneechan” in the manga, but that hasn’t been touched properly. I can only assume this was done because Ruri in CTMEOY had a story arc where her goal was to get close to Nagi by pretending to be Nagi’s younger sister and thus addressed Nagi as oneechan. It is unfortunate that Ruri hasn’t properly been set up in the manga.
As to Yukiji, I’m hoping for her to really receive some massive punishment. More than that, wouldn’t it be cool if this next sub-arc allowed us to get a deep exploration of Yukiji’s and Hina’s past?
Speaking of which, since we are going to have one more story in Vegas, I suppose it is too much to hope for that Hata-sensei will actually put effort into this and give us something meaningful. I don’t mind gags and such, but I want to see really good stuff in terms of characters and plot. How awesome would it be to have Nagi’s father brought into the story as he was in the anime? (Not saying the same way, but in a similar way.) Or as I mentioned, a really good look at Hina’s and Yukiji’s past.
Still, with us going into the holiday season, I can’t see us getting too much in the way of plot. Hata-sensei sometimes surprises us, but I figure he’ll follow the pattern he did last year (presuming he isn’t attempting to get this manga ended as soon as possible).
Finally, I was amused by Hata-sensei’s comment on the splash page by naming the chapter, “The More I Drew, the Cuter Kananiwa-san Became.” I’d recently chatted with other Hayate fans about Kananiwa vs. Dolly from Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, and this topic came up, so it was more meaningful and amusing to me.
In the end, this chapter implies there might be interesting things to come, but also that the status quo might be restored. Nothing to do but wait and see what Hata-sensei decides to do with this.
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i am glad this manga was picked up so quickly.
but dammit hata! if hayate is going to be back where he began it will become even more frustrating and finally when i thought story was going somewhere. i don’t think we will get to Christmas in this manga even by end of this decade.
Looks like the team that did it for RHS made their own group to continue the work. 🙂
By the way, I’d already seen the raws when I made those comments about Dolly/Kananiwa — that’s why.
Lots of Ruri in the next chapter. Also, in case you’ve been wondering what Chiharu has been up to…
At the very least, looks like Hata isn’t ready to make a rushed ending just yet. In any case, I think whether the debt returns or not is inconsequential anyway. What really matters is that we find out why Hayate made that decision to stay as Nagi’s butler. I have a feeling that it’s going to be forestalled forever — just like the imminent “bomb” going off. Speaking of said “bomb,” I have a feeling that aside from the 1st volume of the manga, it’s also going to relate to chapter 413 and a few other chapters that I can’t name off the top of my head wherein Nagi was beginning to doubt Hayate’s feelings for her (and that doofus just made the situation worse by confirming her false beliefs)
i felt debt paid off was a step forward because now he cannot ditch any proposal on the grounds that that he cannot support anyone financially. so without those ties he could think more clearly. the story is progressing but if hata really rushes it then i think it will ruin the story. hata has decided on how to do this even before volume one got released( in chapter 9 i think there was foreshadowing that nagi will open the path to royal garden). he lives in the future.
the bomb will go off soon. may be we will get a time skip. but i feel it might happen after hayaye’s birthday. so as per manga time 2 years.
Fair warning to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.. set your expectations very low for the next chapter.
Excellent point, thank you. I wonder how long it will take any of the harem to think of it in these terms. Hina’s starting to put the pieces together already, though apparently she’s stalled for the moment.
It probably boils down to the big question of whether we’re still descending from 36k feet, or making the final approach. We’re still quite many miles away from completing the journey.
Oh FSM, please no. Anything but that.
A-tan doesn’t want to wait ten years to grow up to be a teenager and fall in love with her dad. XP
Nagi doesn’t have her D***h *ote yet to enact her plan for world domination.
And Hayate doesn’t need two and a half years of training for his final fight, he’s already a master at “spreading the usual disease”*. (^_~)
But most particularly, a time skip is rarely a good idea unless it’s to get past “empty time” – i.e. a period where you can pretty much guess how things will go, but it would be boring to read (kinda like how we only ever see the beginning or end of characters sleeping, eating, doing homework, etc unless something else is going on). There are way too many unresolved plotlines in the air right now, and skipping ahead would be very frustrating (if everything is suddenly resolved) or sad (if little has changed).
* – That joke kinda stuck in my head… if others didn’t find it memorable, it’s chapter 472 page 10.
😆 Boy, wasn’t that the truth. Man!
I don’t think we’ll see a time skip in HnG, mainly because the manga was designed to cover a one year period in Hayate’s and Nagi’s life (as I understand it). Of course, a time skip for an aftermath set of chapters might be in order.
Absolutely correct there. Continuing the plot is great, but rushing it would kill the series.
Ah. OK.
I actually hadn’t been wondering about Chiharu, but… 😆
Yeah, I guess not. However, I don’t know how he’s going to keep doing three manga titles at the same time. ^_^;