ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Manga
Hayate the Combat Butler Chapter 531 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Risa asks Hayate if he’s into small or large breasts. Hayate doesn’t want to go down this path, but Risa won’t stop. She goes off on his being a nice guy and pretty boy looks, so much so that she starts bleeding from the eyes. Risa remarks that all of the girls around him at present are all flat chested (Miki, Nagi, and Hina). After commenting on Hina’s flatness, Hayate defends himself, stating he doesn’t judge girls on their chest size. This causes Risa to have a massive headache.

Risa continues pressing her attack, joined by Miki. Miki cites how Hayate has seen Izumi and Nagi naked and wonders who is best. Hayate refuses to say, leading Miki and Risa to believe he has the girls ranked.

Miki turns to address Izumi, only to discover Izumi is missing. Hina thinks they left her in the tower, so Hayate volunteers to go find her. Hina is ready to get back to work with the others, but Miki and Risa are going to follow Hayate. Miki and Risa believe they can learn about Hayate’s fetish. Further, considering how Hayate and Izumi draw trouble, fun is sure to happen. As such, Nagi and Hina tag along with them after Miki calls her father to get help on their research.

In the tower, Hayate discovers Izumi’s discarded, wet clothing. He finds a closed door with a small dragon statue holding a crystal ball. Text appears inside the ball, instructing him to answer its questions in order to pass through the door. Hayate is not amused that the crystal ball is having a conversation with him. In addition, he is annoyed by the first question, asking him if he is an S or an M. Forced to answer, Hayate answers “S” in a threatening way. The second question asks what he’d do with a girlfriend, to which he answers “kissing.”

By this time, the four girls arrive to have heard his answers. Hearing Izumi from the other side of the door, Hayate prepares to answer the final question. The crystal ball asks how he’d rank the girl on the other side of the door. Hayate doesn’t want to answer, but the crystal ball tells him to rank on breast size. With that, Hayate answers he’d rank Izumi as a 4, causing her to burst through the door.

As Miki and Risa wonder who ranks in the top three for Hayate, Nagi gets a call from Sakuya.

Thoughts/Review:

Maybe it is just me, but it seems like it has been a long time since Hata-sensei did a gag chapter that was also part of the story arc. He has done gag chapters that featured other characters, but those had nothing to do with the main plot. He has also done stories with gag jokes in them as part of the main plot, but it seems like it has been a while since the main story chapter was also a gag chapter.

Because this is a gag chapter, there’s not a lot to comment about it. However, I do have a few things I’d like to note.

For starters, Nagi said nothing throughout the entire chapter until she gets the call from Sakuya. She didn’t go off on Hayate for his answers, either to Miki and Risa, or to the crystal ball. She didn’t even go off when she was basically insulted by being labeled as flat chested. Instead, Nagi just blushed alongside Hina throughout Risa’s and Miki’s diatribe on Hayate. I find this to be most interesting and a sign of Nagi’s becoming a bit more mature.

Next up, Miki and Risa. I’ve always loved how they stir up trouble wherever they go for their own amusement. There are characters in other series who do similar things and it irritates me (Rika from Genshiken Nidaime for starters), but Miki and Risa manage to always (or nearly always) make me smile with their mischief.

I note that Miki gets her father to provide folks to continue their research in the library. So Hata-sensei has an out to allow the plot continue while everyone goofs off. 😉

Finally, Sakuya calls, which suggests the next chapter might shift more toward the plot and less toward the gags. But then this is Hata-sensei we are talking about.

In the end, Hayate the Combat Butler chapter 531 was a fun, humorous gag chapter that managed to stay within the confines of the current arc’s story.