Hayate The Combat Butler Chapter 492: It's A Cold Night, So Let's Get Wild -- Review And Synopsis

I kinda like the way she's been drawn here.

Synopsis: Tsugumi and Nagi are on the snowmobile and they're almost at the finish line. Nagi asks Tsugumi why she's helping her, she says that "family is important, right?" but before she can finish, their snowmobile falls over coz.... it's Sister Sonia Shaflnarz Nagi recognizes her and then asks her why she's here. Well... she says that the reason doesn't matter but she's doing it with her life on the line and then attacks Nagi from out of nowhere, but before she can reach her, Tsugumi totally kicks her in the head coz she knows da martial arts. Anyway, Tsugumi declares that she'll protect her onee-san/big sister. Sonya says... fine... and then activates a trap that sets off a bomb, which causes the ground that Nagi and Tsugumi were standing on to collapse.

We go back to the prison hotel where the Hakuo baka-trio are talking. Izumi is thinking of giving up but then Risa feeds her and Miki a sob story from out of nowhere and almost convinces them not to retire, but Izumi points out how long the trip lasts and Risa immediately presses her completer.

All Nagi... all the time!

We then see a flashback with Aika and her butler, which undoubtedly become relevant in the future... but I don't care exactly how.

Back to Nagi... we're now at the point where she's on her face and then cursing some woman. She walks around a bit and it's really cold. She wonders where Tsugumi could have gone off to and thinks about how she saved her... of course, she might really die from the cold. She calls out to Hayate a few times but then decides that he won't come to help her since he's still up in that mountain cabin.

Nagi's expressions are the best!

She thinks about retiring and pressing her completer, but decides against it because it's all for Hayate! Hah!

Anyway, she walks around a bit more and is reunited with Tsugumi. The chapter ends here with Tsugumi reunited with her onee-san.

Lookit this reject from Tsukihime attacking Nagi.

Review: Loved this chapter! I actually read the Japanese raws in advance so the summary I used is the spoiler that I typed on facebook for the Japanese version... anyway, it's not too far detached from RHS' version.

Hata: THIS! Is what happens to people who try to harm Nagi in my manga! Also, loli pantyshot!

Good stuff here. I personally could have done without that little 1st page recap. Anyway, I like how Tsugumi is currently being portrayed because she seems to be the exact same character from Can't Take My Eyes Off You -- and I liked her there. It also puts aside most people's fears that she might turn violent on Nagi for some reason.

Anyway, I was actually expecting Elle-chan the android to come from out of nowhere to save Nagi, but it was Ruri who came instead. Actually, with Ruri's martial arts skills (we don't know if it's Systema just yet) and Nagi's brains, those two would actually make a formidable team and arguably a good match for Hayate and Hinagiku -- that is, if the plot does go this route, but I'm sure it's not going to be as straightforward as that since Hata does love his unexpected plot twists.

Nagi's going back to her old ways...

So far, what we do know is that Ruri seems to genuinely care for Nagi's safety, so that's good enough for me. We're not sure if she really thinks she's Nagi's little sister or not and what her ulterior motives might be -- but we can also be sure she probably has one and that somebody put her up to this. If it's going to be like Can't Take My Eyes Off You, then it's probably Kananiwa, who does sorta resemble Dolly,  who gave Ruri her motive, but I'm not too sure about that. 

NOT! You might not want to admit it, but she's clearly doing everything for Hayate.

I mean, Kananiwa hasn't shown herself to be "evil" just yet. Even if she is involved with the King's Jewels.

Yup, Tsugumi's a good kid after all.

Anyway, I liked how Nagi was portrayed here. For a while, Nagi haters might have been rejoicing at how she seemed to display "Aesop's Amnesia" and was going back to her old ways of whining for Hayate to help her when she'd actually left him behind herself -- but nope! This is the Nagi 360 elite we're talking about nowadays. As we finally get to her flash forward, we discover that it was Sister Sonia she was cursing and that while she does need to rely on other people physically, her resolve to help Hayate out in her own way is the real thing -- as misplaced as some people might deem it to be.

On the other hand, what has Hayate ever done for her in the 150 chapters, huh? Yeah, we need some reciprocity soon. 

To conclude, I like the way this new arc is developing.

Fanart Corner: Got tons of new fanart this week because of the one week break... one of them NSFW. Also, one for the Hamster since it was her birthday last May 15.