Thursday, December 3, 2015

Hayate The Combat Butler Chapter 513 (Japanese): The Nice Kid's Financial Burden is Heavy -- Review and Synopsis

Why is she posing like that? Not that I am one to
complain about a cute girl sticking her ass out at the audience.

Synopsis: Narration: Why is it that even though the debt was paid

We are still caught in gag manga space?

I am once again in danger of becoming a debt-ridden butler.

Hayate: Isn't that right? This is where it's leading into isn't it?

Nagi: Ah....

That may be so, but it's useless to worry about that now, isn't it?

Hayate: Eh?

Nagi: Common sense would tell you that most 16 year-old boys don't shoulder a debt of 150 million yen, do they?

Hayate: It might be unlikely, but this feeling is the same as what happened to me 11 years ago (breaking the 4th wall?)

Nagi: Well... that may be true.

Hayate: Anyway, the point is not to let our guard down.

Nagi: U-understood!

Hayate: Anywayz, I wonder what Kananiwa has in store for us this time, eh?

Nagi: (says something about debt and waste disposal. Can't make sense of it)

Nagi, y u so pretty?
Sign: To cross this bridge, deposit 10 million yen (I think)

Hayate: Ojou-sama! What do we do about the deposit?

Nagi: Just so you know, all good kids who go out into society are required to make a "deposit"

Hayate: What kind of service is this if you need to make a deposit as payment before you use it?

Nagi: After all, it's money that will be repaid

They talk a bit about the coin locker and how it takes 100 yen coins and stuff

But the problem is that the deposit won't come back

Hayate: Awright, fine let's deposit 10 million yen in this... where do we get 10 million yen...


ATM with sign: You can use this card with this ATM (has lots of those debt enhancing Cow Cow Cards)


Hayate: This smells strongly like gag manga space doesn't it?

Nagi: Yep, a very strong smell

Voice: Heh, when you use this, you should go for the gold, right?

Baka-trio appear and discuss the deposit thing

Narrator: At that moment, Nagi and Hayate finally understood the true essence of this game.

Kananiwa flashback san: This is a game of tactics

Narrator: This is surely a game of tactics

The monetary value comes with a corresponding risk (or something like that)

Izumi: hoookay~ I'mma doin this~ (Takes cow cow card)

Hayate: Ah...

Nagi: :') Wait, Hayate...

Nagi: Thinks about a quote about just stopping if you don't know what to do.

Hayate: But at this rate... Segawa san will...

Izumi: Yay! Here's the 10 million yen! Let's go!

Risa: Hayata! C'mon! Hurry up!

Hayate: Ahh...

Nagi: Let's go, Hayate!

Nagi: Teaching her first-hand about the horrors of the financial system is ok, right?

Hayate: Ojou-sama...

Baka: Huzzah! We made it across

Izumi: Now to take back the deposit...

Bridge explodes

Sign: If the bridge is broken, you can't get your deposit back.

Izumi: Bawwww... my 10 million yen!

Nagi: It's gone, fool! (just having fun with this... she basically said the same thing without the attitude)

Hayate: Or it's down there...

Nagi: Behold! Phear da finance system! This is why you don't part with money easily. Remember this well, everyone!

Risa: Dun worry, Izumi. That 10 million yen will be all worth it if we win this game, right?

Izumi: Right! Right! It's nothing, nothing at all!

Nagi: Observe, Hayate. This is a scam in action.

Hayate: Quite horrible, isn't it?

Risa: I've got good news for ya! Even if we don't win, we'll probably be able to pay back that debt.

Izumi: Good news?

Sign: Binary Option cash times game

Izumi: Suckers herself into another cash game.

 
Hayate: I've seen this thing on the net before.

Nagi: Me too. I've seen a good summary.

Izumi: Oh look! There's another ATM we can use to lose again! (lol)

Hayate: Why is this person so easily swayed by sweet words?

Nagi: Saa... gullible ain't she?

Narrator: Afterwards...

Izumi: Could this be the last straw for me?

Hayate: It's ok. At least this door was opened. Let's continue to those gold coins.

Izumi: Yeah, but I've already got a debt of 20 million yen. Even with a gold coin in hand, I've still got a debt of 10 million yen.

Risa: Dun worry, Izumi. Miracles can happen at any time, ya know.

We might be able to regain even 20 million yen with this next game!

Sign: Leverage roullete

Hayate and Nagi: Uwaa?

Hayate: No, no. This is dangerous, isn't it?

Risa: Wai?

Risa: We can win 10 million yen for just 100,000 yen with this game.

Hayate: That's why I'mma tellin you this game is dangerous.

Miki: I don't get it. What's this leverage roullete?

Nagi: Explains it. You start with 100 hundred thousand yen, but the bet is 10 million yen and with each complete revolution, the debt becomes greater. (something like that)

Miki: I see, that's horrible ain't it?

Nagi: it's horrible

Hayate: Also, unlike a while ago, this roulete isn't even related to the gold.

Izumi: Wait, with 1 million yen, we can win 1 billion in this game, right?

Hayate and Nagi: Ayup

Nagi: You be pinpointing one number out of 36 (explains more stuff about how roulete works)

Izumi: So with 10 million yen

Maria: There's a 50% probability of obtaining a 2 billion yen dividend, right?

Everyone: 0_0

Someone: Wa-wai?

Maria: I'm the last boss, right?

Review:
First of all, depending on your timezone, it might still be the birthday of mai waifu in your area: so go greet Nagi Sanzenin (December 3) a happy birthday right now, you!

Third time we've seen this panel so far.
So after all the excitement generated by the "bomb" imminently going off between Nagi and Hayate, the last few chapters seem to have been written specifically to de-escalate the serious implications of this scenario.

This chapter is no different with both Hayate and Nagi agreeing that the plot is steadily spiraling back towards "gag manga space." To add to that, this chapter was definitely geared primarily towards comedy with the inclusion of the Hakuo Baka-trio and a particular emphasis on Izumi's naivete.


Someone has noted this before (and it wasn't me), but unlike Risa and Miki, Izumi is never malicious and is often just a victim of circumstances when Hayate associates her with the cockamamie antics of the other two. In fact, this chapter even goes out of its way to show us just how innocent and gullible Izumi can be when she is easily conned by the allure of winning more money in the cash games in this chapter which ultimately results in her incurring a 20 million yen debt. 

I like how Hayate and Nagi interact in this chapter. There is an implicit trust in-between the two of them. It's almost as if they knew what the other would be thinking in a particular situation -- which is rather ironic considering the fact that both are rather oblivious to the truth concerning their feelings for one another. Before you throw a tantrum, I'm just stating the obvious that Nagi thinks (by no fault of hers at this point in time) that Hayate is head over heels in love with her while Hayate is still totally oblivious to Nagi's feelings. Now this misunderstanding "bomb" between the two of them will need to be resolved in the future and it WILL be resolved as Hata has already laid out all the foreshadowing necessary to address this problem.

It's also a bit hard to gauge how Hayate really sees Nagi at this point. At times, he treats her like a little kid, especially when she's lazing around at home, but he does treat her with a little more respect and actually listens to what she has to say when it comes to matters requiring intellect and knowledge such as in this chapter. Don't forget that he also seems to have some degree of blind faith in her hacking skills back when he infiltrated Mikado's mansion to steal his King's Jewel. Yes, Yes, I know, naysayer-kun... he's just giving her respect that he should as his mistress yada yada~

Of course, I need to admit my mistake because I definitely thought that the "bomb" would be going off soon, but given the pacing of the last few chapters -- it seems we're still quite a ways off from the impending "explosion of negative emotions."

Still, we can't get ahead of ourselves here because this is Hata we are dealing with after all. He throws red herrings around like a last day clearance sale. In fact, it's quite possible that the re-use of that particular panel between Nagi and Hayate is being done intentionally to reiterate the importance of that moment when he suddenly springs the "bomb" on us when we least expect it.

I like how Maria was drawn here. Sparkling!
Also, Hayate, Nagi and Izumi's expressions are awesome!
Now as to Maria's appearance here. It's a bit amusing because I do remember being in a discussion in Doughnut Gunso's blog just a few chapters ago wherein I jokingly stated that Maria might actually be a real assassin. Someone commented that she could be the final boss -- and lo and behold! She declares herself to be exactly that in this chapter and appears from out of nowhere to boot.

Still, to be fair, this is not a totally random development. If you remember how Wataru and Saki were called in to be the judges in that Photo Contest orientation, it's quite possible that Kananiwa is actually acquainted with Maria (since she is a former prominent student of Hakuo) and she simply enlisted her services for this particular orientation to act as the host of sorts for this Leverage Roulette game.

Also, don't place too much faith in my translation of the roulette game. Go wait for the RHS Mangaconda release if you're looking for details and pro-level accuracy.




Fanart Corner: Hey! Check it out! Senpai noticed me again! Thank you for the retweet, Hata-sensei.


17 comments:

  1. let me say this first that your fan art is really amazing. i am not sure what hata sensei said but am sure he liked it.
    this article was in detail and so i enjoyed it even more.

    i agree with you there that hayate's behavior towards nagi is not consistent. but he has a lot of trust in her and he is starting to see that she is becoming more and more independent.

    about the bomb well it will happen real soon . i feel it will happen after hayate's birthday but i think we will soon get a time skip because now story is near its end and after bomb does go off we will be quite near Christmas. i know there are various loose end and all but i am sure even after time skip there will be enough time to wrap it all up seeing as it took 11 years just to get this far. but i may be wrong because as amazing as the bond is between nagi and hayate there is no mutual love so time is needed to swiftly work that out. i am exited to see how hata gets them together after clearing all the confusion.

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    1. Thanks for the comment as always. I'm rather curious about your theory, actually. Why do you think that it will happen after Hayate's birthday (the bomb going off)? I feel like there's some logic to this as birthdays are very important within the manga. But... it could also go off sometime in October and then we'd have a month or so left until December during which lots of dramatic moments might occur.

      As for what Hata said... pretty simple. I'll give you a straight transliteration: oou! arigatou! (Ooh! Thank you!)

      The text on my fanart says: Happy Birthday! Nagi Ojou-sama. December 3. Your smile is very beautiful.




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    2. i dont have any thoery for this but if it happens before his bday then it will ruin the setting where nagi gives him watch as present and if all that drama happens now then it will take time to settle.

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    3. and i forgot thanks for translating the text for me i cant read Japanese but i am thinking about learning it.

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    4. I was just looking at Doughnut Gunso's blog and I saw that you were one of the ones who said Maria would be the final boss.

      For learning Japanese, try to get a basic idea of how their grammar works first and then memorize the katakana and hiragana (46 syllabications each). You can actually make do with just that if you plan to try picking up the Hayate manga. Can't give any advice on the kanji since I'm a bit iffy on that myself.

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    5. i would not say she will be the final boss but she will take the center stage in end because although is main character but never has her character development like hina and atan. well she does have a tragic story and we know bits and pieces but the part about her relation with atan is what i am really curious about.
      and about the final boss it may be hisui but that option seems pretty obvious so i may be wrong.
      and i loved maria's entrance she was in one panel but stole the show and left everyone in awe.

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  2. I think Hata-sensei is having fun with fans again. There's been this long running theory about Maria being the final boss.

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    1. yes and that's what i like about this manga its really very unusual. i remember when fans were saying that it will end soon hata sensei also made a gag about that in the manga. its having elements of all genre.
      but maria'a entry was not unexpected as she was not seen for a while and we saw a lot of her in covers so i felt she was going to make a appearance.

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    2. The funny thing is that we've actually mentioned that a few times before ourselves. Just as recently as ch. 511, I think.

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  3. I started reading this manga after cuties because that season made me dumbfounded. i have not read all chapters mostly summary.

    Only recently I read chapter 292 where nagi tells him that she wants to do things on her own without relying on him. So hayaye is giving her space[ as we see in chapters from then on].but still could not resist spying on her.what really shocked me in chapter 293 is him saying that he is fine with crossdressing for nagi, dammit that kotetsu taking something like that and making it public.
    He is realizing that he wont be needed as a butler to nagi for long as he says to ruka whenshe asks him if he will be nagi’s butler forever.
    The reason he gives to hina is not the whole truth behind him not accepting anyone’s feelings.he knows if he does that nagi will be sad[ayumu ‘s confession]. He does not understand her feelings but vaguely does realize that there is something he is doing wrong. The final nail in the coffin was when hayate says those stupid things in chapter 510. Nagi was not sure about his feelings[ his reason for not accepting ruka’s feeling was he is her butler, and then him saying he ll make ruka happy and his overall behavior] after this when nagi finds out the truth it will be a severe blow.
    i am happy hayate is not showing any romantic interest in nagi yet. She is much too young. Their relation is slowly evolving……

    This is my take on his changed behavior towards nagi. What do you think??

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    1. I agree.

      At this point, I think Hayate still has a lot of internal emotional problems to resolve before he should even be thinking of "falling in love" again. I've said this before, but IMO, he is much more naive than Nagi when it comes to matters of the heart. At least Nagi understands clearly what she feels and we are always shown what she is thinking. On the other hand, we can never tell what Hayate might be thinking because he tends to either lie about his own feelings outwardly or in many cases, I feel that he himself doesn't fully understand what he feels. He still doesn't have a clear concept of exactly "what is love?" to him personally.

      Like you said, he knows that he's doing something wrong, but because he doesn't actively try to figure out what it is exactly, he remains mostly oblivious to the feelings of those who care for him the most. He has a certain inward apathy that's not apparent immediately, but it's like he has trouble forming an actual, deep connection with someone and easily "falls in love" with any cute girl who shows some interest in him and who passes his criteria for a "romance-able partner."

      Nagi falls outside of his criteria for:
      1. Being too young.
      2. Being his mistress

      I believe that these are the mental blocks that Hayate himself has put up that currently prevent him from considering Nagi as a romantic prospect.

      Yet, Hayate himself can't fully understand exactly who Nagi is to him -- and this is what makes their relationship interesting for me. He's declared that she is his "life," but the real meaning of those words are known only to him -- and we can speculate for as long as we can about what he REALLY meant, but we'll never truly know for sure unless Hata chooses to tell us at some point.

      In any case, this is one reason I'm on the Nagi x Hayate ship. Many people would like him to end up with Athena because it's an ideal, romanticist version of "one true love." Personally, I think it would be even better to have him end up with Nagi because there are so many apparent impediments to them ending up together within the Hayate universe, but for them to end up together despite these impediments would lead the reader to question and redefine their concept of exactly "what is true love?"

      I don't subscribe to the idea that there needs to have been some mutual romantic tension in-between the two of them littered throughout the story for it to be justifiable that Hayate could fall fin love with her. Like I said, we don't really have that deep of an insight into Hayate's true feelings, so all that he would need to do is to use like a single chapter for self-reflection and look at everything that he and Nagi have been through throughout the manga -- that's when he might realize that perhaps, she could be a good romantic prospect for him -- if not now, then in the near future... like a year or two from the current timeline, really.

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    2. liked your reply.
      i agree the reason he is not considering nagi is because she is younger and he respects her so doesn't want to be rude. he also had confidence issues but after the confession from ruka he is starting to see that he is likable and he wants to fill the void in his life even more. he wants to fall in love and its a good start as a human he also has think about his happiness.
      and he does see nagi differently although he never reflects on it in silky heart he says atan is different from rest but in his thought nagi wasn't there and also in chapter 264 when he described nagi to atan it was funny yet showed that he adored her the way she is. when he says she is difficult even atan felt there is something more than what he is expressing.

      i have to be honest i like atan she is also quite similar to nagi. but there are things about atan like the punishment games and even her behavior in some chapters make her look like a sadist. but that is not really an issue she is still a nice ship. atan and quite capable. the thing about hina is that to some extend i feel she is not as serious about hayate she likes him[chapter 509 she did not have negative emotions] because he is kind and was also pushed a debt by his parent[ just like her] but neither she nor atan will be as affected by losing him as nagi.
      the reason i liked nagi and hayate ship was because the way they met. i loved the first episode .i like nagi's flaws and her desire to learn from past mistakes. she is improving.i feel she is normal although we give that title to ayumu but still.

      hayate will see his true feelings near the end when nagi matures a bit more until then their relationship will look unlikely. in the end the manga is about nagi and hayate.

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    3. It's true that Nagi is "normal." I'd say that apart from being a genius and an heiress to a fortune, she is actually a rather down-to-earth girl with very realistic flaws to her character, which she tries to get over admirably without being unrealistic in her reactions. For example, she tries to understand the value of money by getting a part-time job, but we don't see an overnight transformation wherein she is suddenly as competent as Hina or Hayate when it comes to working at a family restaurant. There's also the mangaka arc (which people unfairly hate on, I feel). Nagi's made to realize that her manga is really not very good when compared to that of a professional and not even very good when compared to a talented amateur like Ruka. There are times when she feels so down about this that she tries to give up -- but she doesn't. She somehow finds the strength to keep going and she doesn't do it alone. She does it with some encouragement from her friends and even her "victory" against Ruka was really just Ruka letting her win... some people think that this is wrong because the other characters are just covering up for her weaknesses, but I don't see it that way. The reason that the other characters (like Ruka) try to cover up for her weaknesses is because Nagi showed some real earnest effort in her attempt to win the mangaka contest and she made them want to help/let her win. In short, Nagi doesn't have the natural ability to make miraculous comebacks (like Hina and Athena who are already quite competent both physically and mentally for example), but her ability to make people want to root for her (at least in the Hayate universe) is her true miraculous ability. (That coupled with some degree of "good luck.")

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    4. So Nagi finds success in doing things the way you would expect a normal person without any talent to do find success. No matter how hard you work, your ability level won't just shoot up exponentially after all -- but that doesn't mean that you can't find some measure of success at your own level -- even just a moral victory, which is how I saw her "winning" the contest against Ruka. The contest was really just a tie, but for Ruka, it was Nagi's victory because (my interpretation) Nagi's desire to win was fueled purely by her feelings for Hayate while Ruka was really on two ways at that point. She did have feelings for Hayate, but she also didn't really want to give up her idol career (even though she said she was just doing it to repay her debt at some point). This is also another example of why we can't really trust what people say about themselves in this manga -- their characters are usually much deeper than what we are shown.

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    5. yup ruka saw that hayate was not serious about this. he would not quit being butler and so she cant have a stable relationship. hence she purposely lost.but she subtlety let hayate know this by telling him her sales collection.
      nagi definitely has talent. kayura who is good with mangas also saw this but the problem with nagi is she is stubborn the solution is there but she would not see it. its her nature.so she will face a lot of hardships before getting even close to her goal.

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  4. BTW, that's awesome that Hata-sensei took note of your artwork. ^_^

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    1. Haha! Thanks! That's the second time, actually. He also retweeted the fanart I made for the 10th anniversary chapter release.

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lordcloudx loves discussions, so comment away. No direct or indirect personal attacks, please.

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