Hayate the Combat Butler Graphic Novel Volume 30 cover image

Since the tender age of nine, Hayate Ayasaki has been working to pay off his degenerate parents' gambling debts.  Before they disappear, the parents sell their son’s organs to the yakuza to cover their debts.  Hayate is working various part-time jobs to pay off the debts when fate brings Hayate to teenage heiress, Nagi Sanzenin a/k/a “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.

Hayate the Combat Butler, Vol. 30 opens with a cute dog named “Armageddon” bringing two of Hayate's friends a suitcase containing 100 million yen in cash.  When the dog and the cash disappear, it's up to Hayate to find them both because Wataru and Saki and Video Rental Tachibana need it.  Also, it is time for Hayate to tell teen idol Ruka Suirenji that he is not really a girl.  When Ruka's health falters, however, Hayate becomes her personal assistant... and keeps dressing in drag!

THE LOWDOWN:  It has been almost a year since I last read the Hayate the Combat Butler manga, and I am happy to report that it continues to be as charming and as entertaining as ever.  My VIZ Media rep has been sending me copies of both Case Closed and Hayate the Combat Butler, two “Shonen Sunday” titles, for years, and I have found them to be reliably entertaining reads.

Hayate the Combat Butler Graphic Novel Volume 30 is filled some delightful comic scenarios.  Creator Kenjiro Hata seems to be grooming readers to accept Ruka Suirenji as a series regular or semi-regular.  Still, the best thing he does in Vol. 30 is give Armageddon time to shine.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Readers looking for comedy about manga and anime can find laughs in the Shonen Sunday manga, Hayate the Combat Butler.

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8.5 out of 10