Hayate the Combat Butler, Vol. 1: v. 1 [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

On Christmas night nice, hard-working boy Hayate Ayasaki discovers that he is actually the unluckiest teenager in Japan. His irresponsible gambler parents not only ran away from home, leaving behind a massive amount of debt (about $ 1.5 million). Not only that; for fearful yakuza gangsters are after him, trying to "collect" his organs.

Desperate Hayate thinks of kidnapping a 13-year-old girl Nagi Sanzenin, whom he encountered in the park. What he didn't know was she was a spoiled girl of an incredibly rich family, and Nagi mistakes Hayate's "I want you" for confession of love and she falls in love with him!

In spite of the contrived and impossible opening chapters, "Combat the Butler Hayate" starts pretty well, as an amusing comedy (yes, it is a comedy) about Hayate, Nagi, Maria (17-year-old, Nagi's maid), Klaus, the head butler of the family and Tama, a tiger Nagi keeps in her room. There are several pop culture references (see p.132, for example, references to Batman, Thunderbirds, and Death Note), but most jokes and gags are easy to understand. And they are funny, well, most of them.

Kenjiro Hata's comic has been serialized in Shogakukan's "Shonen Sunday" since 2004. This is a manga for shonen magazine (boys' magazine), so though the manga contains romance (only on the side of Nagi, anyway), the comic is basically a comedy in the vein of Rumiko Takahashi's "Urusei Yatsura" (which was also serialized in "Shonen Sunday"). If you are looking for so-called moe or fan service, you will be disappointed.

VIZ Media's translation is excellent. English words are carefully chosen and faithful to the original phrases. All FX is translated and the content of the English edition is almost exactly the same as that of the original. The only difference is that the preface/postface manga (two bonus four-panel comic strips) are in color in Japanese edition.

"Combat the Butler Hayate" is nothing groundbreaking, but enjoyable nonetheless, with several interesting characters and above-average illustrations.

[TRIVIA] The boy's name "hayate" means "fast, storm-like wind" in Japanese. The heroine's name "nagi" means "a calm" or "a lull."

Intro: Hayate no Gotoku (The Combat Butler) is a story of Ayasaki Hayate who is in debt after his parents sold him off to a group of Yakuza. In order for him to pay off his debt, a young Ojo (Rich Young Girl) named Nagi comes to his rescue to pay off his debt and in return Hayate works as a butler at her place. Now that we have the basics down, unto the review!

Pro: The characters in Hayate are the main reason why you are reading this series, the plot (while a bit plain) is not it. While reading this book, you will understand the circumstances each character faces, Hayate with his huge debt, Nagi who is infatuated with Hayate, Maria who is trying to resolve the misunderstanding between the two and so on. The manga is filled with many humorous moments (my favorite happens to be the one where Hayate is dressed up as a cat girl and Tama goes crazy for him). Every character is interesting and refreshing, there are no 2 characters which are alike.

Con: This is a shonen so expect some things that are familiar with other shonen manga (such as tournaments, lame fights, etc...though none of these are present in this volume).

Conclusion: I highly recommend this to any fan of anime or manga as well as anyone who wants to read something funny. You will not be disappointed.

Hayate the Combat Butler is an awesome manga. The story is barely existent in the first two volumes but the humor makes up for the non-existent plot. Having read most of the series, I can honestly say that you will either love it or hate it. The polarizing is most likely because of the humor which at times is based on some obscure Japanese reference or the subtlety of some jokes.Thus, whether my review convinces you or not, I urge you to buy it.