ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Manga
Hayate the Combat Butler Chapter 548 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Hisui continues to battle Hayate while Yozora avoids Athena and Isumi to call in help. Hisui doesn’t answer Athena’s and Isumi’s question on whom she called. Yozora vanishes, then appears between Hayate and Hisui. She kicks Hayate aside and grabs Hisui. Yozora races away, telling Hisui that she cannot defeat Hayate. Hisui doesn’t want to hear this, but Yozora knows. Yozora tells Hisui that she has a final present and that she was honored to meet Hisui.

With that, Yozora seems to disappear and is replaced by the giant, skeleton hand from King Midas. The hand swats Hayate into a wall, causing his King’s Jewel to fall out and roll to Hisui. The hand then dissipates.

Hisui reaches for the stone, but finds a bunch of swords from Athena are pointed at her. Hisui ignores the warnings from Athena and Isumi and picks up the King’s Jewel. At that moment, the ceiling blows in as a man drops in. He apologizes for being two seconds late. Hisui forgives him.

Hayate wants to know who this is. Isumi realizes who this is and appears to become afraid. As the man turns around and takes off a mask, Hisui introduces him as Himegami.

Thoughts/Review:

Things are certainly moving along at a fast pace now. Too bad we now have a long break before another new chapter comes out.

Yozora Gone?

Because Hata-sensei is pushing the story forward to its end, he’s not trying to be clever and make things harder to predict. However, Hayate the Combat Butler chapter 548 shows that he’s still really good at the unexpected twist. This time, it is Yozora.

I had expected that Yozora would be there throughout the battle.  I felt she’d either get defeated by a combination of Athena and Isumi, or she’d reveal a greater power due to her being a Royal and defeat the girls. Instead, Yozora calls for help, rescues Hisui from defeat, then she does use her power to defeat Hayate before disappearing. I didn’t expect her to disappear.

Question is, where’d she go? Why’d she have to leave? Her departure comes across as a final farewell. If is wasn’t for that, I’d think that maybe Yozora returned to the Royal Garden. Maybe she used her power to make sure Hisui got the stone, but she returns to being a gold statue. I hope we find out.

Himegami Returns

While I know some folks called it, I’m kinda surprised that Himegami works for Hisui. Maybe I shouldn’t be, but I am. I suppose my feelings are based on there not being any indications that Hisui had a butler.

That aside, I’m again reminded of how Hata-sensei uses elements introduced in the non-canon anime and bring them into the canon manga. In this case, it is Himegami’s hooded robe and weird mask.

I note that when Himegami appeared, Isumi seemed frightened or worried. When your OP girl is worried, things may get really ugly for the good guys.

Hopefully, we’ll finally get more information about Himegami after all these years.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

If the story is going into its final part, I wonder when Hina and Shirozakura (Shiro-sakura) might show up. Also, how will Kurotsubaki come into play? I hope these don’t turn out to be Chekhov’s Guns.

In the end, Hayate the Combat Butler chapter 548 continues the full court press on the advancement of the plot.