ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Manga
Hayate the Combat Butler Chapter 538 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Maria tells Hayate that because she’d been approaching Nagi as a mother, she’d been relying on Nagi and not seeing her road growth. She credits Hayate with Nagi’s growth. Hayate reminds Maria that Nagi sent them out to get chocolate for her. Maria counters that by stating that Nagi will still work on her manga even without chocolate. Maria sees her future with Nagi as being one of a simple maid. Since Maria wants to be special to Nagi, she’s going to quit.

At the mansion, Chiharu arrives with chocolate for Nagi, which turns out to be more Choco Monaka Jumbo. Chiharu takes a look at Nagi’s work and believes Nagi will be done in time.

At Yukaru-chan House, Hayate sits on the step outside and ponders everything Maria told him as well as how to provide Nagi with the Sanzenin inheritance.

Elsewhere, Yozora defeats Machina to take his King’s Jewel.

Thoughts/Review:

And so we get a chapter without any gags. You know what? It is fine without gags.

Despite her young age, Maria has been more of a mother to Nagi, even though age-wise, she should be an older sister to Nagi. I suppose Sakuya is the one Nagi considers for that “oneesan” role.

Regardless, Nagi is still a young teen girl, despite her genius. In my mind, despite her growth as a character, Nagi still needs a mother’s guiding hand. Nagi isn’t at the level of maturity that Maria was at the same age. I think Nagi still needs someone to get her to go to school on those days she doesn’t want to go. Yes, Nagi has mature friends like Hina and Chiharu. But Nagi is still younger than all her friends, as best as I can tell.

That said, I understand where Maria is coming from.  As a genius herself, the life of a mere maid isn’t one for her, even if she’s well paid. As Nagi’s mother figure, Maria’s life as a maid isn’t about being a maid. It is about guiding a young girl. So yeah, I completely understand Maria’s desire to move on, yet remain special to Nagi.

Thanks to Maria’s announcement, Hayate’s plans are now in ruins. Not that I thought Hayate’s plans for Maria would go anywhere. However, there’s still the problem of opening the path to the Royal Garden.

Finally, Yozora defeats Machina. We didn’t get to see that fight. I suspect that’s because Hata-sensei has to press on. He likely has a target end date and can’t take time showing a fight. (Now watch Hata-sensei waste time on a pure gag chapter.) We know how powerful Machina and Yozora are, based on their encounters with Hayate. As such, it is not surprising that Yozora defeated Machina. It appears he did break her visor. I’m not sure if she has other injuries or not. There does appear to be blood on the ground, but from whom, I couldn’t say.

Yozora’s remark about being a royal is interesting. I wonder what her connection is to Midas. Might she be the daughter of Midas?

In the end, Hayate the Combat Butler chapter 538 is a good chapter that pushes the plot on two fronts.