Hayate The Combat Butler Chapter 481: This Is What Happens When A Normal Person Tries -- Review And Synopsis

That looks like a rather painful pose.

Synopsis: When we last left our unlucky indebted butler, the hamster AKA Ayumu Nishizawa was apparently seducing him by inviting him to take a bath with her while they were alone in the violet mansion. 

Hah! Didn't see this one coming.

In this chapter, Ayumu takes off her towel completely only to reveal that she's actually fully clothed underneath with some very short, shorts and some kind of tube top.

Hayate's like "wtf did I get myself into now?"

Still, while taking her bath alone, Ayumu ponders Hayate's reaction and she is pleased that he does think of her as a girl and that he actually blushed when she made the offer.

You are, actually. Although your face looks more like Nagi.

She decides it's time to go on the offensive. Having finished her bath, she dons her middle-school and goes up to greet Hayate. Of course, this being Hayate, he immediately gets evasive and tells her that he'd prepare her iced latte.

Ayumu is perplexed at Hayate's reaction and thus, she decides that she needs to get even bolder. She changes clothes again and this time, she returns wearing her school swimsuit.

Hmm... seems hamster's been putting on a little bit of weight.

Hayate tries to keep his cool and offers Ayumu her iced latte. At this point, she starts thinking about why she's acting this way in the first place and she realizes that it was all because of that scene that she saw with Konoha kissing Hayate in the park.

Instead of beating around the bush, she just directly asks him why he kissed her in the first place. At this, Hayate explains that Konoha confessed to him at that time, but he turned her down.

She asks if he enjoyed the kiss and Hayate replies that not even he would want to do that with just anyone.

Ayumu then asks Hayate if he'd kiss her too.

Review: I have to admit that I didn't see Hamster's move coming wherein she takes off her towel and is actually fully-clothed underneath. With that aside, I really liked this chapter for two main reasons:

Good job, hamster!

First of all, it's great that Ayumu was actually quite straightforward in getting to the root of the problem and just directly asking Hayate about the kiss with Konoha. I like how this problem's resolution wasn't drawn out like the kind you'd expect from every other love comedy. It's also quite consistent with the hamster's personality since she's always been the one to ask directly rather than pussyfooting around the issue. For example, not too long ago, she just goes up to Ikusa and asks him if he owns a shirt (he owns two lol... and his own 5-star hotel) when the others start wondering if he even owns a shirt since he's walking around showing off his 8-pack abs all the time.

Hayate looks like he's almost about to cry here.

I like how Ayumu didn't actually emotionally break down and have her own version of "silky heart" like Nagi did because a plot idea does get old if you use it three times in a row in the same story.

Secondly, I really like Hayate's response to Ayumu when she asks him about the kiss. This is one of the few rare moments where the indebted butler actually gets some character development. It's also a rare moment wherein he's actually thinking of himself and not just being obliviously nice to everyone. (not to mention that this scene is great foreshadowing for kissing a certain someone voluntarily... even if it's not on the lips ;D)

Not gonna happen.

Anyway, both Hayate and Hamster won some points in my book with this chapter, although she did present him with a new problem now. I'm pretty sure it's time for a deus ex machina to save Hayate this time though. It looks like we're also nearing the final resolution of this mini-arc. Hopefully, we'll get back on track with the main plot as soon as Nagi's scheme with Ell-chan is finished.

Fanart Corner:  As promised in the previous chapter review, I'm going with a Nagi fanart this week. This time, it's Nagi with disheveled hair and not giving a **** about it. This piece was inspired by PinocchioP's Slow Motion featuring Hatsune Miku. This week's fanart also comes with a PS Vita wallpaper version.

Haters gonna hate~ and that's just the way it goes~

This is a PS Vita wallpaper. Feel free to use/rehost, but do give me credit for the art if you plan to rehost. The character belongs to Kenjiro Hata, of course.