Hayate no Gotoku manga (raw discussion only)

[Mellhurst]

I don't know about cliche, but unlike what the majority here say he's shown a variety of romantic feelings for Nagi for a long time now. Yet even after 2 years he declares how he wants to spend the rest of his life with her and talk over their feelings slowly.
He's confused and it's no surprise.

First of all Hayate was less sexually attracted to Nagi than the other girls, especially because he prefers girls more mature than himself.
More importantly his feelings for Nagi conflicted with his ethos of platonic love towards her,an ethos he developed because of his self-hatred and feelings of not being worthy of love, something he declares to Hina.

What's certain is that he's been in limerence with Nagi since the first few books, and quite possibly from the moment she showed him love. But there have also been signs of deeply buried sexual attraction for her.

Regardless, I find it refreshing to see a story that doesn't put as much of an emphasis on pure sexual chemistry.

So many attempts to break their home, yet none succeeded.

[darkofficer]

Well that's another Manga to the dissapointing Manga list.

[alex_drian]

No excuse

Dropped!

[3000forever]

Just dropping in to add my thoughts on the manga.

It's rather disconcerting how many of the vocal fanbase who actively follow this manga have nothing but hateful comments to say about it. To each their own, I suppose.

Just like Mellhurst, I've always been privy to the subtle hints of an eventual romantic pairing between Hayate and Nagi. I believe the limerence for Hayate towards Nagi has always been there from the start. The fact that it took so long for this limerence to be realized into love just makes the eventual victory of Nagi's strong and patient love so much sweeter. The ending was better than I could have hoped for -- although there were plot points left unanswered that could have been handled better.

Paraphrasing Hata's blog a bit: In the end, I've always perceived this story as just between the two of them, with everything including the Royal Garden being created just so Hayate could make his final choice -- which he already did in chapter 566 when he chose "for whom would I die for?" Of course, the bond between him and Nagi saved him in the end -- and by Nagi's scream no less. Perhaps Yukariko's wish had something to do with that as well, but it's all water under the bridge now.

Hayate has always been the type of protagonist who would risk his life for his lady, but at the end of the story, he had to be asked the final question: would he give up his life one year after meeting the girl? When he said those words to her with a smile (in my signature not yet active at this point), then he has made his choice.


I also loved how every single point that people were complaining about regarding Nagi was addressed in the finale. Nagi really became her own person just as she said she would and even though she had to endure many lonely nights without the man she loved, she pushed on and her undying love for him was finally rewarded in the end.

There were many other girls who could have been compatible with Hayate, but most of us on Nagi's ship never actively attacked those girls as a method of advancing our own arguments. It's a bit painful (as someone who has firmly invested 100% emotionally into this series) to see that many of the other ships (I must mention doughnut gunso for being quite the exception and being quite the class act in the end) could only spout nothing but hateful comments, snide, unsubtle sarcasm and pure scorn towards Hata and towards Hayate x Nagi until the very end. Still, to each his/her own, I suppose.

[lucasdeis]

Originally Posted by Hamazura_Shiage

Spoiler:

>Make a story about a girl falling in love with a boy through a misunderstanding.
>make it clear that the boy has no romantic feelings for the girl.
>Focus your last arc in said misunderstanding, making it cristal clear, once again, that the boy does not have any romantic feelings for the girl.
>She ends up winning anyway.

Cause plot

dude it was more than obvious and I TOLD YOU SO literally i did tell you. it was too easy to known when Hata already loves Nagi

[3000forever]

Originally Posted by lucasdeis

dude it was more than obvious and I TOLD YOU SO literally i did tell you. it was too easy to known when Hata already loves Nagi

I believe where we shippers never see eye to eye is on the delineation between romantic love and the limerence that we Nagi shippers perceive that Hayate has for Nagi. Because there were never any overt sexual reactions from Hayate towards Nagi, people are quick to dismiss that this can never blossom into romantic love.

What is beautiful about the ending is that this is not Hayate suddenly falling head over heels in love with Nagi and wants her to bear his children (as so snidely and sarcastically put out by some of you here), but rather, the realization that he does love her and that this is just the start of their romantic love story. It's a romance that has just begun rather than something that was explicitly shown throughout the series -- and for us Nagi shippers, that's what it was always meant to be.

Of course, if you place certain standards on the story and expect/require there to be more explicit, overt hints rather than the subtle hints that Hata has left behind throughout the manga, you would end up disappointed because you didn't see what you wanted to see. You would also be quick to dismiss these subtle hints as nothing when in fact, the ending has already proven that they were "something." Saying that most people agree with you and see this manga as trash isn't an argument, by the way.

[frivolity]

It's finally over. The series saved the best for last. A hundred chapters ago I would read the first 3 pages, see nothing happening, read the last 3 pages, confirm nothing's happening, and then move on. The concluding arc had me looking up spoilers ahead of time. Thank you, Hata.

[zibi88]

Finnaly the suffering has ended... and it ended like everyone predicted "SHIT END" no sense...no clarification to what happened to everyone else (like maria)...

Yet I am glad it finnaly ended so I can flush this thing out of my system once for all. Still Hata just confirmed that he has no balls...no balls to end the story differently from the boring default ending that everyone could guess from chapter1 and how lik 90% of mangas end up like. I will be forever on A-tan boat...best girl from all (Hina is 2nd, Ruka 3rd)

[3000forever]

It's worth noting that predictability isn't always a negative and uniqueness is overrated. With that said, I believe this manga does stand out in how the love between the main pair was eventually realized. Whether you like it or not is entirely subjective as always, of course.

[AP24]

What I want to know is what happened to Maria after she left.

[dragon1412]

Originally Posted by AP24

What I want to know is what happened to Maria after she left.

COme to think of it , she was really never mentioned

[AstroNerdBoy]

Originally Posted by AP24

What I want to know is what happened to Maria after she left.

Originally Posted by dragon1412

COme to think of it , she was really never mentioned

You aren't supposed to be thinking about all of the plot threads not touched, nor anything else other than Hayate stays with Nagi 'cause reasons.

[AnimeFangirl]

At least it's over and we can move on with our lives. One thing I'm definitely not reading is that new manga Hata started. One round of suffering was enough.

[lucasdeis]

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

You aren't supposed to be thinking about all of the plot threads not touched, nor anything else other than Hayate stays with Nagi 'cause reasons.

thoughts in the ending?

[aldw]

Originally Posted by 3000forever

It's worth noting that predictability isn't always a negative and uniqueness is overrated. With that said, I believe this manga does stand out in how the love between the main pair was eventually realized. Whether you like it or not is entirely subjective as always, of course.

Hata will hang himself as much as Akamatsu will as a mangaka as authorial fiat =/= a properly presented story, regardless of shipping preferences.

[rladls2121]

So what happened to Hayate's parents at the end?
After showing themselves, there must be a conclusion.

[Mellhurst]

Oh, no, this isn't a properly presented story.
Hayata doesn't have serious psychological issues after all.

It's not like he declared Nagi was his life several times over, and upon hearing she had feelings for him suggested to Maria he should take a shotgun to said life and exile himself (because he felt he failed at protecting her as her Butler, from himself).

It's not like he desperately believed he wasn't worthy of anyone's love, or basically treated every romance other than Nagi as an inconvenience.

Let's also forget the sparkling clarity hundreds of chapters ago when Athena said she didn't see herself reflected in his eyes anymore, and made it clear it was his new mistress. Or the recent sad, melancholy of Hinagiku giving up as she realized he was filled to the brim with someone else, even after he was freed.

Yup, Hayata was just an underpants-gnome the entire series, crotch-sniffing every girl accidentally-on-purpose like your average horny shounen with a dozen potential open-ended potential pair-ups.

[aldw]

Originally Posted by Mellhurst

Oh, no, this isn't a properly presented story.
Hayata doesn't have serious psychological issues after all.

It's not like he declared Nagi was his life several times over, and upon hearing she had feelings for him suggested to Maria he should take a shotgun to said life and exile himself (because he felt he failed at protecting her as her Butler, from himself).

It's not like he desperately believed he wasn't worthy of anyone's love, or basically treated every romance other than Nagi as an inconvenience.

Let's also forget the sparkling clarity hundreds of chapters ago when Athena said she didn't see herself reflected in his eyes anymore, and made it clear it was his new mistress. Or the recent sad, melancholy of Hinagiku giving up as she realized he was filled to the brim with someone else, even after he was freed.

Yup, Hayata was just an underpants-gnome the entire series, crotch-sniffing every girl accidentally-on-purpose like your average horny shounen.

And all those points was more authorial fiat rather than properly integrated story, since it was a gag manga first and foremost than a plot driven story that Negima at least attempted to be despite the fanservice.

[Mellhurst]

HnG was about abandonment and being rescued and loved the way Ad Astra is about altruistic sacrifice. Hata's red threads have always gone deeper than the gags.

People will say the first chapter was more gag than drama and romance, but I've never seem Hayata be anything but bone dry serious about his parents, Nagi and politely turning down the affection of other girls. The gags were to keep things light-hearted and amusing.

It's literally a serious Princess/Knight story from Chapter 1 with a generous slathering of life on top and people are unwilling to see it.

I suppose one could accuse Hata of false advertisement if it wasn't so obvious, given the harem elements, but unlike most mangas one can see how the Butler with the body of a Gundam and a sweet and sincere personality would attract girls. And he did turn them down politely as soon as possible. Every time.

[3000forever]

Originally Posted by aldw

And all those points was more authorial fiat rather than properly integrated story, since it was a gag manga first and foremost than a plot driven story that Negima at least attempted to be despite the fanservice.

No need to defend Hata on this point IMO. People will see it the way they want. Gag manga? Romantic comedy? Plot driven story? These are just labels. At the end of the day, the story is what it is -- what you decide it to be is your personal opinion.

In my case, I loved it -- especially the ending. I don't care to put a label on what it was/shoehorn it into a particular genre. It's a story that I like with a fictional girl that I fell in love with, is all.