ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Manga
Hayate the Combat Butler Chapter 521 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Even though they have a chartered Airbus A380 (?), Hina is dreading the forthcoming flight, causing Risa and Miki to berate her. Hina is not phased, stating she’d rather swim back to Japan rather than fly for 13 hours.

With the plane ready for boarding, Kayura tells Chiharu that all of the seats are business class, meaning they’ll have lots of room. Hayate asks Nagi if this will seem cramped, but Nagi is not worried about it, citing how they’ll be back by they time they wake up.

After they get Hina on board, she has a request of Hayate, so Nagi tells Hayate to take care of Hina. The petrified Hina asks for sleeping pills or to be knocked out. After taking care of her, Hayate returns to Nagi, who reflects on the trip and how Hayate’s birthday and then her birthday are coming up, followed by Christmas.

Sometime later, after everyone is asleep, Hayate is looking out a window when Hina comes in. He serves her some coffee from the lounge, then mentions how this will probably be the last time something like this happens for the group. Hina thinks that he and her sister should be celebrating since they are debt free. As such, he can now fall in love with someone or quit being a butler if he chooses, now that he has his life back and a new chapter begins when they return to Japan.

Hayate agrees, then thinks back on the information Mikoto has given him.

Thoughts/Review:

And so, the manga is now winding down.

While this chapter was mostly fun filler and wrap up, there were a few items of interest. For starters, the maturity of Nagi continues here, starting with her being fine with the business class accommodations (as opposed to her custom aircraft, which we saw during the trip to Greece). Then without jealousy or the like, she has Hayate take care of Hina. I loved those moments.

I think that if Hata-sensei weren’t on such a roll to end the manga, Nagi’s progression wouldn’t feel as accelerated as it does. I have long felt that Nagi has been growing as a character, howbeit slowly. She now feels as though she’s made a major leap (which she has), and while I don’t mind, it is a shame that so many filler, gag chapters were spent when further character development would have been warranted.

The other item of interest is Hina casually dropping the hint about Hayate falling in love and quitting his job as a butler. Obviously, she’s hoping for herself in that girlfriend role. However, I think that Hata-sensei having Hina mention it is a way to signal to the fans that he’s probably going to resolve the harem element.

The rest of the chapter was devoted to humor, and most of that regarding Hina’s fear of heights and flying. That all was pretty amusing, as was Aika’s fondest memory of the trip being that bugs die when they are squashed. ^_^

In the end, there’s not much to Hayate the Combat Butler Chapter 521, but it is OK for what it is as we prepare for the manga to end.