Hayate The Combat Butler Chapter 486: Give Me An Apple Watch -- Review And Synopsis

She gets like one line in this chapter and she still gets the cover... oh well.

Synopsis: 54 People chose Level 5 according to Miki and Hina's discussion. Also, Hina lies by saying she plans to donate the 150 million to needy children... well, I suppose Hayate is a needy child in a way as well -- aaanyway, back at the Sanzen'in mansion, Nagi discusses how she's chosen Level 5 and of course, Hayate tags along with her. Maria is the first to notice that Hayate can pay off his debt if he wins the Level 5 challenge. She asks if Hayate would quit his job as a butler if he wins and Hayate hesitantly says he wouldn't quit right away and adds that no one really knows if it would go well.

Nagi is just a few pages away from being awesome here (again) wait for it...

Meanwhile, Athena interrogates Mikado as to why Kananiwa has a King's Jewel, Mikado tries to play dumb, but A-tan is too awesome to fall for that and takes his precious beard hostage.

Mikado explains that he gave one to Kananiwa since she seemed to specialize in that kind of stuff and that he's too much of a wuss to try and get it back now because she looks friggin scary. Anyway, Athena adds that the King's Jewel had regained its light and Mikado says that all the jewels regained their power because the curse was lifted when Athena and company defeated King Midas.

Significance of 9/18

We then skip forward to September 18, the start of the school trip. 

At school, Kananiwa explains what level 5 is all about. Everyone gets some bracelets called "Completers" that release a relaxing lavender smell at the push of a button... and another button that transmits the location to the school to announce that the participant has given up. 

I wonder if this school trip is going to end up like Btooom!?

It seems the last people standing who haven't pushed the button will win.

Review: There are many things to talk about in this chapter, but to get the most significant one out of the way, the school trip starts on September 18, which means that it comes in direct conflict with the timeline established in CTMEOY. I suppose that this is more solid evidence that the anime has now been de-canonized... although I wouldn't put it past Hata-sensei to reuse the elements of the TV series and just somehow integrate them better into the manga. As it stands, there are simply too many inconsistencies in CTMEOY anyway... although I will be a bit bitter about the loss of the lolz Hayate x Nagi lovey dovey developments... (I totally stole that term from Doughnut Gunso's blog) that doesn't mean the manga can't do it better!

Now Nagi is being awesome!

Still, if this means that this arc is the arc wherein Nagi finally and officially confesses to Hayate, then that'd be awesome.

I have to say, that Athena is really growing on me as a character as this series progresses. She's really a great character when she's interacting with other people whether it's Mikado, Hina, Nagi or anyone else, unlike in her own arc wherein she fails to shine because of said lack of interaction. 

Since Athena doesn't seem to remember defeating King Midas, we can safely assume that this mini-Athena/Alice probably does not have big A-tan's memories, but rather, that she was filled in by someone else, probably by Aika as to the over-all grand scheme of big A-tan.

Maria pointing out that Hayate can pay off his debt if he wins is a good thing as that seems to have taken Nagi out of her comfort zone and as shown in the comiket arc, Nagi's character can really shine if she's being pressured. So, once again, something is threatening to separate her from Hayate -- and this time, it's going to be of his own choice if the debt is finally paid off.

As usual, Hayate is being his indecisive self and tries to reassure her by saying "I won't quit right away," which is just him being Hayate, I suppose... and I really hate it when he's like that... why'd you fall for such a guy, Nagi? Oh well...

Lookit Nagi stealing the scene even before the school trip begins! @doughnutgunso

Anyway, it seems that Nagi's changed her mind about slacking off and is out to win level 5 now that she knows that Hayate can pay off his debt to her with the 150 million yen prize... even if it means that she loses him in the process. Ain't she so sweet? She says that it sounds like a "fun game" but we all know our cute little ojou-sama better than that, right? right? I mean, it even says so on the side of the final page! She's doing it for Hayate's sake! LOL!

Also, don't think that I didn't notice the subtle change in art style on Nagi thar... hoho! She looks a bit more mature here and I like it!

Don't have any fanart for this week because I chose to draw my female self anime style (which I'll post later in this blog) but... Nagi-chan has just arrived! I was planning to take pics of her with the beach ball accessory that she comes with, but the paint keeps coming off on her hand and I had to use a stain remover and gently wipe her hand for like 10 minutes before I could get those stains off. Anyway, I'm sure Tama doesn't mind being used that way.

I love this figure, by the way. It's so cute and Nagi-like, even if she's in a bikini, it doesn't seem lewd at all, but just cute and genki.

Nagi: I see a lolicon!

I had to replace that beach ball...

With Tama! He doesn't seem to mind.

Nagi from the side.

Well... at least she's not flat from this side.

Nagi from the other side.

 Anyway, that's all for now. See ya in the next chapter!