ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Manga
Hayate the Combat Butler Chapter 463 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

It is night where Isumi and Ah-tan stand some distance from the Sanzenin Castle, wondering about Hayate’s progress in the treasure vault.

Meanwhile, because the traps inside the treasure vault are slowing Hayate down, he summons Father Radiostar by dropping a maid picture of Kotori-chan. Since the ghost has lighting via his hitodama (glowing, flaming orbs), Hayate wants to make use of them to light the way. Father Radiostar agrees to help with an offer of an image from Eli-chi.

They come to a large, locked door, where they find a frightened puppy tethered to a sign instructing those wanting the key to punch the puppy. Although it is unthinkable, Hayate says he has to harden his heart and punch the puppy for Nagi’s sake. Despite this, he finds it difficult to do this, but when the dog transforms into a giant dog beast, Hayate unleashes and gets the key with a tough battle.

Going through the door, they find a massive lava flow with numerous pillars going down the center to the exit on the other side. They find a door labeled Secret Bridge Control Room, which Hayate compares to how there are things in video games to allow one to overcome such obstacles. Despite knowing this is surely a trap, Hayate and Father Radiostar enter, only to find a cute, frightened teenage girl in a bikini with a sign says she’s hiding the button for the secret bridge.

She says her name is MAKISE Konoha, and since she comes from a poor family, she’s earning tuition money by doing this job part-time. With her mother being sick and her brother needing food, she can’t afford to have her pay docked if she gives Hayate the button. He won’t give up, so she says that if he does anything to her, she’ll sue.

Thoughts/Review:

Man oh man. Leave it to Hata-sensei to come up with outrageously unexpected dungeon traps. *lol*

First of all, there was the puppy trap. That was pretty amusing, but I wasn’t surprised that the dog transformed into a giant form on two legs to allow Hayate to pass.

I totally didn’t expect a cute, sweet, poor, scared teen girl to be the next dangerous trap for Hayate to encounter. Unless you are some kind of unfeeling psycho, how could you do anything to harm such a girl?

I laughed at Hata-sensei’s lampshading remark on the last page, conceding that Konoha-chan must be bored most of the time in such a job. To be honest, I can’t help but wonder if Sensei is setting us up by having Mikado actually having just set those traps up, fully expecting Nagi and Hayate to do what they are doing.

Along that line, it wouldn’t surprise me if Konoha-chan transforms into a yandere girl, complete with butcher’s knife. ^_~

I found it interesting that Ah-tan and Isumi are keeping tabs on things from a distance. No doubt if they’d come along, Mikado would have been on guard against them.  However, are there things there specifically to keep them out of the treasure vault? That’s the impression I got, but I could be reading too much into things.

I think the referenced Kotori-chan is from the series Working! and Eli-chi is from Love Live! Correct me if I’m wrong.

Finally, I’m glad Father Radiostar is part of this bit of the story. There’s a certain level of fun that he tends to add to stories.

It will be interesting to see what twists Hata-sensei has for us next chapter.