Hayate the Combat Butler Volume 17 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Hayate Ayasaki, since the age of nine, has worked various part-time jobs to pay off the gambling debts of his degenerate parents.  Those parents even sold off their son’s organs to pay their debts before they disappeared.  Fate brings Hayate to teenaged heiress, Nagi Sanzenin, whom everyone calls “Ojô-sama.”  She is the frequent target of kidnapping plots and of various schemes by people trying to get her money.  Hayate becomes Ojô-sama’s butler, zealously protecting her, while she falls in love with him.

In Hayate the Combat Butler, Vol. 17, Hinagiku Katsura, chairman of the Student Council, takes an acting job that surprisingly gets her up close and personal with Hayate.  Isn’t that what she always wanted?

Plus, a surreal flashback to Hayate’s childhood reveals how the lovable butler came to master the disciplines of housekeeping and martial arts.  It involves an enigmatic girl in a magical castle.

THE LOWDOWN:  I must say that this 17th volume of Hayate the Combat Butler is my favorite.  In fact, I need to read Vol. 18 when it arrives sometime in September 2011 because it will have the rest of the Hayate back story.  Entitled “The End of the World,” this origin tale plays like a take on Beauty and the Beast.  Unlike most of this series, “The End of the World” is surprisingly poignant and romantic, with an air of magic and just a hint of the danger inherent in magical places.  Anyone who every wanted to read Hayate the Combat Butler should jump on with this enjoyable volume.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for comedy and Japanese pop culture references will like Hayate the Combat Butler.

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