Hayate the Combat Butler Graphic Novel Volume 32 cover image

Hayate Ayasaki begins working to pay off his degenerate parents' gambling debts when he is nine.  Before they disappear, his 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. 32 finds Nagi deciding to skip school because she is depressed about the depressing state of her attempt to be a manga artist.  Now, money or sweet words – one or the other – will get her out of bed and on to school.  Then, Nagi meets Kayura Tsurugino, a homeless girl living in a tent in the park.  Kayura turns out to have a hobby that may help Nagi's development as a manga artist.  The question is does she or does she not want to help?  Plus, meat buns, restaurants, birthdays, vegetable gardens, and a new ramen shop:  everyone seems hung-up on food.

[This volume includes a bonus manga and four-panel comics, a preview of Vol. 33, and more.]

THE LOWDOWN:  I have managed to read the Hayate the Combat Butler manga twice in the last half year.  There are usually several months or even a year-long gap in my readings of the series, but I am always happy to return.

Hayate the Combat Butler Graphic Novel Volume 32 is more of the same-old, same-old.  However, creator Kenjiro Hata does repetition with style and panache.  Hayate the Combat Butler is a cozy comedy that is like a cozy mystery because readers can relax and enjoy both genres.

In the case of Hayate, we have John Werry's sparkling translation so that we can read ourselves into contentment.  Letterer John Hunt's spry fonts keep us in the mood not to combat our rapture.  So, let's get to the next volume.

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

A
9 out of 10