January 2nd, 2016 
AstroNerdBoy ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Manga
Hayate the Combat Butler Chapter 515 Review
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Nagi agrees to Yukiji’s demand that she play the roulette game, but then lays down the condition that she gets all the winnings after their debts are covered. Yukiji is forced to accept, but she does insist on a cut of a winning, pleading until Nagi agrees to give a small percentage. Nagi then explains that they’ll have to get Maria to agree to some rule modifications since Maria won’t lose unless they are allowed to be able to shift their bet. Further, they have to remove 0 and 00 as options. Nagi has one other notion in order to improve their odds.
Maria agrees to Nagi’s demands, but says that if they bet on red and then Negi touches the coin, they are forced to change their bet. Nagi agrees. Nagi places the coin on red, then she touches it, causing Maria to believe Nagi is forced to bet on black. Maria throws for a red number, as Nagi changes her bet to red 14. This move stuns Maria, and everyone else is stunned when Nagi wins.
Ruri does the calculations and based on everything, the ¥10 million bet pays off with ¥36 billion. This causes Hayate to wonder if Nagi really needs him.
Thoughts/Review:
Well, this didn’t go anywhere like I thought it might. That’s why it is so hard to know where Hata-sensei will go with things.
I’m ultra relieved that my fears of Hayate getting saddled with new debt hasn’t come true. It still might, but right now, he’s safe. Excellent.
While it is in character, I’m surprised that Yukiji only begged for a percentage of the winnings. Considering Nagi won the amount she did, after paying off all the debts, Yukiji should be in for a nice little bit of money.
As to Nagi, I like how she comes off here. Years of playing games and coming up with strategies pays off here. The manga has been slowly setting her up as someone who really will be OK if Hayate and Maria leave. We already know she’s a genius, and when she sets her mind to things, she can accomplish anything, including selling a doujinshi manga after years of drawing and writing crap. The missing element here is why Nagi is so afraid to be alone. I really hope Hata-sensei goes into this. I think he has the answer and I think it is tied to Isumi’s attempt to allow Nagi to communicate with her mother after Yukariko.
As to Hayate, his whole purpose for being devoted to Nagi to the degree he is stems from his guilt at having abandoned Athena and left her to her pain. As such, he won’t put Nagi through that. However, for the first time, we are seeing him worried that maybe Nagi doesn’t really need him. Without Nagi needing him, and without his debt, what does Hayate do? He can’t go to Athena at this point since Athena is still trapped in a child’s body. Plus, Athena doesn’t need him now. So Hayate’s fears are understandable.
I wonder if this is the hook that Hata-sensei uses to force the Hayate x Nagi love connection that has never existed in ten years of the manga. I hope not because it will come off as forced and unbelievable. However, I cannot shake the feeling that come hell or high water, this is how Hata-sensei ultimately ends the manga — Hayate and Nagi hooking up.
I have no clue what happens next, but I did enjoy this chapter a lot. It is nice seeing Nagi get her game on.
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My biggest question, though perhaps I’m being picky: Who’s on the hook for the 36 billion yen (~$300 million at the current exchange rate)? The school?
kananiwa after all she arranged all this.
Who’s bankrolling her?
*lol* You know, I never even thought about that. However, it is a good question, assuming Hata-sensei has thought about that.
I have nothing against maria, I feel her worries with regard to nagi should be addressed but even I liked the way nagi won. It was her no one helped her, nagi from cover to end panel from planning to execution she nailed it.she even got hayate thinking. Her sudden transformation never ceases to amaze me she started this trend from Mykonos where she broke the stone.
I got two conformations in this chapter first nagi has her mother’s luck and second hayate has a heart so he is a human with feelings but sucks at expressing it. Nagi’s manga and hayate conflicted me into thinking may be he is hybrid doremon or something mumbling similar lines like you should wake up early or you are most important person. I know I should not get on his case so much with so many emotional blows and head injuries it’s a relief he did not become a serial killer.
This chapter may be indicating that hayate is going to have his charater development and it will be interesting to see. He is childish in his beliefs about relationship and stuff. For his growth it’s important that he gets closure with his parents. He was shattered when they abandoned him the guilt of what he said to Athena that he was trying to forget resurfaced and poor guy kept saying that she was right and he was wrong. He is insecure being needed by nagi was what made him feel important but now its changing. Their relationship is like this because of nagi’s misunderstanding which hayate has not grasped but can feel something is not right. Unless it’s resolved hayate will be conflicted like this.
What isumi did to nagi caused her to fear dark places but nagi has always been lonely and with hayate she feels secure. There is also the fact that she loves him so she needs him to be with her. I don’t mind them ending together its like Cinderella gender reversed unless hayate crossdress then no one can really tell.
i forgot to mention athena has a holds on hayate and no one can deny it. he thinks about her as his ideal. in mykonos they parted with hayate saying will a day come to him when he will be able to say i love someone. athena may not have given up she returned nagi her hat saying she may not it [hayate] next time.
athena has got most romantic development with hayate but she was his past. she made hayate what he is today and so she has a special place in his heart. the way story is progressing i cant see her, hina or ayumu as end girl. nagi on the other hand has come out of her shell she trusts hayate and no longer a tsundere around him. all this development in her is leading somewhere. they are comfortable around each other and nagi understand him well but ironically has a big misconception about him and their relationship. this melancholic theme will bring lot of drama in future. but hata sensei can pull it off after all he has kept us hooked 11 years.
Yes, there is that. I’m an Athena x Hayate shipper, so I want that ending.
I wanted to say something here, but liz already put it better than I could have. As much as people think that Nagi has never experienced any kind of character development, the reality is that she has been growing slowly and steadily as a character and right now, it’s Hayate who hasn’t really budged an inch since the Mykonos chapters. Nagi’s development might have been subtle, but it’s definitely there and this chapter just affirms it.
That’s really an excellent point. Hayate is locked in place because he will not allow what happened to Athena happen to Nagi.