Genre Action/Comedy
Age Rating For Older Teen
Price $9.99

Publisher's summary of volume from the back cover:

For reasons of no major concern or importance, butler-in-debt Hayate has to leave the Sanzenin mansion for a three-day, two-night trip. Though he has no particular place to go or reason to be there, Hayate does have one thing that's rarely in his possession: money (one million yen from Maria, to be exact). Well, he thought he had some money. Steering clear of gambling should be easy enough, but will cash-strapped classmates and impromptu medical bills leave Hayate's billfold as bleak and barren as his future?

I think I've finally managed to pinpoint the niche of Hayate the Combat Butler. It's more along the lines of a post-modern series rather than your typical sit-com although it does contain elements of the latter. If there's anyone who doubts that, one need not look further than the first page where the one-page strip features Hayate being asked whether the series is turning into a harem-manga (and this was my first impression when I first read Hayate the Combat Butler).

Anyway, this volume features episodic chapters although they do build up on what was previously established. It's the usual comedy of our protagonist Hayate getting into embarrassing situations as well as earning the affections of more and more girls. The satire is decent enough although later on, I think the reader needs to brush up on their Japanese pop culture as there are lots of in-jokes and references to other series's. For example, there's a scene where the characters are spoofing food manga and until you reach the punchline, it's pretty subtle unless you're familiar with such conventions. There's also a spoof that didn't quite work out for me which is when animals and strangers were making commentaries on the characters. The titles of the various chapters are also a mine for in-jokes and can turn into a geekfest identifying all the references.

Even if you ignore the various allusions, Hayate still has a plot and has its moments. Overall it's light and funny, a nice break from anything serious that you're reading. The art is functional, relying more on cuteness and caricatures to reflect the tone of the series. Nothing too fancy with the backgrounds although they are present when necessary. Overall a decent volume, especially for aging geeks like me.

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