Hayate the Combat Butler
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| Hayate the Combat Butler | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Comedy, Romance, Shōnen |
| Manga | |
| Authored by | Kenjiro Hata |
| Publisher | Shogakugan Productions Co., Ltd |
| Serialized in | Weekly Shonen Sunday |
| Original run | May 2004 – |
| No. of volumes | 10 (ongoing) |
| TV anime : Hayate the Combat Butler | |
| Directed by | Keiichiro Kawaguchi [1] |
| Studio | Synergy SP |
| Network | TV Tokyo |
| Original run | April 1, 2007 – |
| No. of episodes | not yet known |
Hayate the Combat Butler (ハヤテのごとく, Hayate no Gotoku) is a manga series by mangaka Kenjiro Hata. It is currently on its tenth volume in Japan. The English edition of the series has been licensed by VIZ Media for distribution in North America. It is a comedic gag and slightly harem manga which constantly breaks the 4th wall, it also includes references to other anime/manga and other popular culture. The story is about a boy who starts a new job as a butler and the events he experiences with his employer. An anime adaptation of the manga has been recently announced and has been set to begin in April 2007. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Story
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
16-year old Ayasaki Hayate was the industry's fastest delivery boy, till he was fired after his employer found out that he was underage. Forced to support his terrible parents, who are unemployed, since he was nine, he is shocked to learn that they got his monthly payment of 17,000 yen. Returning home on Christmas Eve, he finds that they lost all but twelve yen gambling away his salary and garnered a 156,804,000 yen debt to the yakuza, who they pay off by selling Hayate's organs. Escaping from the yakuza, Hayate decides to kidnap a young girl, Nagi Sanzenin, for ransom money, but fails miserably by giving away his own name. In addition to that, Nagi mistakes his asking for her to come with him to be a confession of love. Just as Hayate lies down and waits to freeze to death, a bike runs over him and he meets Maria, who is looking for Nagi. Hayate is stricken with her at first glance, though initially, he lies to Maria by saying that he didn't know anything about Nagi. But he does a turnabout when Maria gives Hayate her scarf, shocked by her kindness, he goes off to save Nagi when she is kidnapped by a pair of brothers (hired by the same Yakuza). After saving Nagi, she says that she is in Hayate's debt, and Hayate asks her to repay the debt by finding him a new job before collapsing from his injuries. This leads to him becoming Nagi's new butler, who must protect Nagi from all sorts of trouble while performing more normal duties alongside Maria, who is Nagi's maid.
See also: Plot of Hayate The Combat Butler
[edit] Characters
[edit] Protagonists
- Hayate Ayasaki
- Age: 16 Height: 168cm Weight: 57kg (Body fat ratio is under 10%) Blood type: A Date of Birth: 11/November
- Hayate has had to work to support his parent's bad habits since the age of nine, always moving from job to job as he is found out to be underage. Hayate's dad was unemployed and his mother was a compulsive gambler, which led to their bankruptcy. They abandon Hayate after selling his organs to the Yakuza to ease their financial burdens. He tried to make money in anyway, thought to kidnap someone to get ransom. He found a girl, Nagi Sanzenin, and told her that he would kidnap her. However, Nagi mistook his words for his confession of love, so later he was employed as Nagi Sanzenin's new butler. People are always remarking that he looks poor and seedy, and he has terrible luck. He believes that everyone hates him except children, though he doesn't think about children being any other than friends, including Nagi. He has a crush on Maria. Hayate can play the violin, and is essentially invincible. Despite his luck Hayate lives up to the title of "combat butler" as he is proficient in repelling attacks from almost anything (including other butlers). He once demonstrated a skilled use of fire-arms.
- Nagi Sanzenin
- Age: 13 Height: 138cm Weight: 29kg Blood type: AB Date of Birth: 3/December
- Nagi is the only heir to the Sanzenin fortune. She is a tomboy and has otaku hobby with a manga and anime, and draws her own manga. She is also good at finance and likes to learn. She has a crush on Hayate, and has misunderstood that Hayate loves her since they first met. Nagi is afraid of dark places and has absolutely no sense of direction, and her only surviving family is her grandfather, whom she doesn't like. She regards Maria as a mother or older sister figure, and warns Hayate not to touch Maria in any indecent way or she will never forgive him. She is totally incapable of cooking. She calls her tiger, Tama, a cat.
- Maria
- Age: 17 Height: 158cm Weight: 42kg Blood type: O Date of Birth: 24/December
- Maria is Nagi's butler and surrogate older sister/mother. She is the character with the most common sense in the manga, and is the only one who understands the problem between Hayate and Nagi. She appears to be the one in charge of everything in Nagi's manor, since everyone, from the head butler to the SP obey her and fear her. She's good at general housework and likes games of all kinds, though she is scared of "the dark life-form that exists in the kitchen and other places." She has no last name because she was an orphan who was found next to the statue of Mary at a church, which is where she got her name. Not knowing anything about herself, her birthday was decided as December 24, the day she was found. She is the unfortunate one who always has to clean up everyone's messes. She has seen Hayate naked several times, and she sees the effect he has on other girls, many of whom are attracted to him for his kind nature, though she herself is not.
[edit] People around Sanzenin Family
- Sakuya Aizawa
- A friend of Nagi's like Nagi, she is very rich. Personality wise, she is exactly like Nagi; loud, arrogant, abusive of servants, and unwilling to accept defeat in anything. Nagi seems to be the one of the only people who can stand up to her, once again showing their similar personalities. Her cousin Gilbert is one of the people who is constantly harassing Nagi for her fortune.
- Isumi Saginomiya
- A black-haired girl who is always wearing a kimono. Another one of Nagi's close friends, she and Nagi met at a party a long time ago. When all the other children (Sakuya included) laughed at Nagi's first attempt at writing her own manga, Isumi took interest in it and asked Nagi how it ends; Nagi then asked Isumi (in a childish sense) to marry her. Like Nagi, Isumi is very rich. Unlike Nagi, Isumi is soft-spoken, kind, and can cook well. She has an awful sense of direction and constantly gets lost, though she is able to disappear from people's eyes instantaneously. She also displays a high level of empathy for Nagi's feelings; however, she does not recognize Wataru's love for her, a fact that Nagi, Maria, and Hayate comment on. In volume 5 it is revealed she can perform exorcisms. She has feelings for Hayate and does not wish to see him sad.
- Wataru Tachibana
- Nagi's fiance. He is the same age as she is, but they have no feelings for each other; Wataru claims his parents arranged their future marriage entirely for the money. He is in love with Isumi. He lives and runs a video-rental store in the city. He first hates Hayate for accidentally stealing Isumi's affection. But later he looks up to Hayate and strives to be as good as he is.
- Saki Kijima
- Wataru's maid. She is significantly older than Wataru and lives with him in his video-rental store. Her biggest fear is that Wataru will start watching porn when he reaches puberty, which he denies. She also reacts strongly whenever Hayate touches her anywhere (such as tapping her on the shoulder or carrying her away from danger), worrying about whether or not their physical contact will affect her chances of getting a husband later in life.
- Klaus
- Age: 58 Blood type: A Date of Birth: 18/April
- Klaus is head butler of the Sanzenin Famiry, who is usually away on business. His real name is Seishirou Kurausu, so he is valid Japanese. He has a low alcohol tolerance, doesn't do well with tobacco or women, and likes cars and bikes. He initially distrusted and disliked Hayate when he was first hired.
- Tama
- A white tiger from Africa, he was rescued by Nagi as a cub, and was raised on Matsuzaka Beef and expensive tuna fish, making it incapable for him to go to the zoo or back to the wild. He can speak the human language, though he does not reveal this to Maria or Nagi because he doesn't want to shatter young girls dreams. He will lay his life down to protect Nagi, because his situation was a lot like Hayate's. To him, Maria is the highest power there is, followed by an impassable wall, Nagi, then himself, and everyone else is below him. Despite the fact he is a white tiger, he is depicted in the manga to have been found by Nagi while Nagi is exploring Africa.
- Eight
- A robot in love with his creator, he was created to be the ultimate nursing robot by the Sanzenin Technology Division. He is equipped with "nursing missiles" and rocket boosters.
- Below are the characters in the comics which are not currently published in US.
- Ayumu Nishizawa
- A girl from Hayate's school before he became a butler, she had always had feelings for Hayate and is happy when he pays his old school a visit. She violently lashes out at anyone who badmouths her and Hayate, including a teacher who called Hayate a dropout because his parents had refunded all his school fees the day Hayate was sold. She confesses her feelings to Hayate, but Hayate rejects them after getting a vision of Nagi. Undeterred, she tries to talk to Hayate when she sees him a week later, but she runs into Nagi and is shocked that in terms of metaphoric strength that Nagi is represented by a dragon while she is represented by a hamster. Nishizawa retreats, vowing next time to bring a stronger hamster.
- Yukiji Katsura
Image:Yukijiji.png
Yukiji
- Age 28, she is Hinagiku's sister. She is a teacher at Hakuou Academy and doubles as a 24-hour gate guard. She refuses to let Hayate enter the school when they first meet because she is afraid that letting unauthorized personnel on campus will result in a salary deduction for her. Her attitude softens after Hayate first saves her from falling off the clock tower, but she still almost causes Hayate to be rejected from Hakuou by unnecessarily making him anxious during his entrance exam. She repays Hayate by telling everyone in her class on Hayate's first day that he is a super cool person. She has a group of underachieving students who hang out with her a lot. She lives on the Hakuou campus; she tells Hayate that she does this so that she can save rent money and use that money to buy alcohol instead.
- Hinagiku Katsura
- The current student council president/kendo club president at Hakuou Academy, the school that Nagi, Isumi, and eventually Hayate attends. She is 15 and is an expert with swords (specifically kendo. She first meets Hayate when he gets lost on the huge Hakuou campus and invites him to the top of the clocktower, where only student council elites are allowed. She allows Hayate to call her by her first name and also seems to be infatuated by Hayate and his attractive personality. Her family does not show any signs of being rich. On the cover of volume 4 she is depicted with pink hair; however, on the color page cover of chapter 37 she has strawberry orange hair.
- Himegami
- Himegami was Nagi's butler before Hayate. He has yet to make an appearance in the manga, but judging from the way Nagi and Maria speak of him, he quit due to a problem related to Nagi's personality traits. Neither Nagi or Maria seem to want to elaborate on his departure. He wrote a book on how a butler can acquire a mortal blow. Maria also addresses him with the title "kun", which means he is probably around Hayate and Maria's age.
- Yakuza
- The Yakuza are represented by three katana-wielding men in suits. One of them sometimes carries a chihuahua around. They are first seen taking Hayate away to harvest his organs until a mysterious hero called "Mask the Money" (actually Nagi in disguise) stops them and buys Hayate's debt off them. Later, they run into Hayate after he saved Isumi and told him that they actually like him for some reason. They then get into a fight with Isumi's bodyguards, which then evolves into a free-for-all after Hayate tries to leave without helping them.
[edit] References to other anime, manga, and miscellaneous popular culture
The series contains many inside jokes that allude to other famous mangas, such as Rurouni Kenshin, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Genshiken. This is list is incomplete
