[Anime] Hayate the Combat Butler

With the anime series drawing near, I figured now would be an excellent time to make a topic about one of the funniest series I've read in a long while. Series is airing now, why aren't you watching it yet?

Hayate's family was beyond dysfunctional. His father was unemployed and his mother had compulsive gambling problems, so in order to rid themselves of debt (158,804,000 yen's worth) they abandoned Hayate and sold him to the Yakuza. Due to Hayate always having to fend for himself, he manages to escape the Yakuza and intends to earn the money to pay the debt by kidnapping the first girl he sees. This girl, Nagi, happens to be a local millionaire (unknown to himself of course), and she interprets his plans to kidnap her as a love confession.

Through a series of debt-transferrals, Nagi is indebted to Hayate, who says he wante her to find him a job in order to pay back the monetary debt. Nagi offers him a job as her butler, and hilarity ensues.

The manga has a tendancy to break down the 4th wall, and as such doesn't take itself very seriously at times. However, this only adds to the humor.

Characters

Sanzinen Mansion Inhabitants

Hayate Ayasaki
The protagonist, Hayate serves as Nagi's butler until he's able to clear himself of debt. He has horrible luck, equally bad timing, and is typically looked down upon by others as "poor" or "seedy-looking." He's able to play the violin and is incredibly agile (and durable). He also has a huge unrequited crush on Maria.


Nagi Sanzinen
Hayate's employer. She's a spoiled rotten tomboy, and is the sole heir to the Sanzinen fortune. She's good with finances (although doesn't mind frivolous spending), is unable to cook and enjoys drawing manga. She often bases her romantic judgements off of manga as well. She has a crush on Hayate, and believes that he is deeply in love with her.


Maria
Nagi's personal maid and mother/older sister figure. She is the beacon of sanity and common sense in the series, and seems to be the only character that understands the misunderstanding between Nagi and Hayate. As such, she's usually left to clean the messes that the other characters leave by their antics. She is respected and feared by all in the mansion.


Tama
A tiger raised by Nagi since childhood, although Nagi believes he's just a "cat." He is able to speak, but only Hayate knows about his ability. Said speech is usually utilized to ridicule Hayate.

Other Characters

Sakuya Aizawa
An old friend of Nagi's who is almost identical to her in personality. She's a rich tomboy who hates to lose, and as such almost always ends up competing with Nagi in some way whenever she decides to invite herself over. She also has the dream of forming a comedy troupe with Nagi and Hayate.


Isumi Saginomiya
Another rich friend of Nagi's. Unlike Nagi, however, Isumi is polite, softspoken, a great cook, and conscientious of other's feelings. She has an awful sense of direction and can disappear if left unwatched for even one panel. She is completely oblivious to Wataru's fawning over her, and instead has a crush on Hayate.


Wataru Tachibana
Nagi's fiance, although neither of them have any feelings for each other. He runs a video store in the downtown area, and lives in it with his maid Saki. He constantly fawns over Isumi, and at first hates Hayate for her taking interest in him. However, he learns to look up to Hayate as a role model.


Saki Kijima
Wataru's maid who helps run the video rental store. She reacts strangely whenever she comes into contact with Hayate physically (through tapping on the shoulder, saving, etc.), fearing that the contact will affect her chances of getting a husband.

Here are links to download the manga. If my bandwidth runs out I'll throw them on Sendspace or something. The first four volumes were translated by AT-Translations, but after 6 months of inactivity the series was picked up again by Musashi Quality.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5: Chapter 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52
Volume 6: Chapter 53 54 55 56 57 58 59

Now that the anime series is starting to air, I'll be posting links to the subs of those. The fastest (and IMO best) right now is a joint effort between Static-Subs and Eclipse.

ANIME TORRENTS
Episode 1 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 2 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 3 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 4 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 5 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 6 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 7 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 8 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 9 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 10 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 11 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 12 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 13 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 14 - [XviD] [h264]
Episode 15 - [XviD] [h264]

UPDATES:

3/28 - Chapter 51 released, uploaded, and posted.
4/12 - Chapter 52 released, uploaded, and posted. This concluded volume 5, so I put all of volume 5 in one zip and uploaded that as well.
4/16 - Episode 3 subbed by SS-Eclipse, links to torrents added.
4/20 - Chapter 53 released, uploaded, and posted.
4/21 - Chapter 54 released, uploaded, and posted. MusashiQuality's on a roll.
4/23 - Episode 4 subbed by SS-Eclipse, links to torrents added.
5/10 - Chapter 56 released, uploaded, and posted. Also added a link to chapter 55 during the time GFF was down.
5/10 part 2 - Episode 6 released
5/15 - Episode 7 released
6/3 - Thread updated to all current releases
6/17 - Thread updated to all current releases
7/11 - Thread updated after my long period of being lazy

Most amazing jew boots

New chapter of the manga has been released by MusashiQuality, and again Hayate's job is in jeopardy.

Manga spoilers:

I'd personally like to see more developments between Hayate and Hinagiku. The chapter with the haunted school house was pretty amusing, and she's shown that she's looking out for Hayate by refraining from entering a final track event.

I've also been keeping track of the anime and I've been very pleased by the new jokes that were thrown in to keep it fresh. :gendoboss: and :gendoklaus: were amazing.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

The series seems to be taking some creative liberties, differing a bit from the manga. However, it almost makes things more awesome.

Spoiler:

The Metal Gear Solid references were amazing. It would've been perfect if they included a "!" sound effect. The other three girls introduced are also hilarious, always facing the screen.

Next episode will probably have the epic COMEDY TRIO bit, I can't wait.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

You must've missed Welcome to the NHK and the episodes where Satou was addicted to a MMO parodying FFXI.

Chapter 56 stuff:

As Hayate has another brush with getting fired, Klaus is then caught between a rock and a hard place. Maria is so awesome.

I wonder who the new girl is? The last thing Hayate needs is another moneymonger in his life, and it looks like that's what he's found.

How ya doing, buddy?

Indeed. Take note in the first episode towards the end where they state that they will "continue to battle against broadcasting regulations next week."

On an unrelated note I really need to update the first post.

Also new bits in the manga

Some chapter 57 stuff, some volume 10 stuff:

Chapter 57 throws a ton of Densha Otoko parodies in, as well as giving more page time(?) to the new character who appears to be a... combat nun? She's quickly becoming my favorite character in the series.

In volume 10 I read a few summaries and it seems the paper-thin romance aspect is finally starting to develop, namely Hinagiku realizing her feelings for Hayate (Yes, it took until volume 10 to do this). Looking forward to seeing it translated.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Yeah, this thread really hasn't seen much activity, my updates included. I'll get around to adding all the things I've missed tomorrow.

52 episodes though? That's great news. Now I'm not so worried about them throwing a rushed ending together, especially since they have plenty of source material to work off of (I think volume 11 of the manga is due out in Japan sometime soon, if not already?).

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

It's a shame, too. The first season was almost none of the manga, which was all fine and good. Then teh second season comes around and picks up somewhere around volume 8 or so for no particular reason.

Oh well, I'll just keep reading the manga, which has me щ(ﾟдﾟщ)ing at every chapter.

FELIPE NO