▪	RELEASED BY:		VIZ MEDIA
		▪	AUTHOR / ART:		KENJIRO HATA
		▪	FORMAT:		JAPANESE / BW
		▪	PAGES:		191
		▪	RATING:		OT
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		08/14/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		08/09/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		CHRISTOPER SEAMAN

Hayate, sold into servitude by gambling addicted parents to pay off their debts, survives as the personal butler to the heiress of the powerful Sanzenin fortune.  Fetching and carrying for Nagi, the 13 year old in question, is far from the only job he performs, though.  For this is Hayate, the Combat Butler we are talking about, and when he isn’t enduring a withering range of abuse from Nagi, he is fighting off talking tigers, nursing robots, obnoxious fiancés and a host of other terrors.  He endures, somehow, and as the fourth volume in HAYATE THE COMBAT BUTLER unfolds, he is fast becoming more than just butt end of many jokes.  Genuinely appreciated by Nagi, despite her bizarre ways, Hayate seems in less danger of having his organs sold to the yakuza if he doesn’t measure up than before.  But will he ever survive long enough just to see the debt paid off?

Volume Four of HAYATE THE COMBAT BUTLER, published by Viz from a manga printed in WEEKLY SHONEN SUNDAY, first ends the cliffhanger story from Volume Three where Nagi has ended up in mortal danger at the hands of Gilbert, a disgruntled family member seeking the massive Sanzenin fortune for himself.  Hayate, packing some serious heat and looking more like an adolescent James Bond in his formal wear than the family butler, comes to the rescue.  As usual, it ends chaotically, much to our absolute delight.  Then, Hayate is given a mission of going to Nagi’s school to deliver the lunch she forgot to take.   The school itself is massive, featuring a huge clock tower that resembles a supersized Big Ben.  Of course, getting there is half the fun, especially when Hayate must fight for his life against Yukiji Katsura, a history teacher who sometimes (well… always) gets a little carried away with the job of protecting the school.  Hayate also meets Hinagiku, Yukiji’s sister and president of the student body.  The latter befriends hayate and takes him up the tower to show him the campus- no easy feat for her considering her fear of heights.  Surveying the place from the tower, which is also the headquarters for the student council, Hayate reflects wistfully on the fact he is unable to attend school anymore, due to his commitments as a butler in the Sanzenin household.  This then sparks an idea from Nagi.  Let’s enroll Hayate in my school, too!  A great idea, if it wasn’t for the fact we’re talking about Hayate, and nothing ever turns out quite the way it should.

This volume takes a different tone from the previous two in developing a more sustained plot line around Hayate and the school.  However, as in earlier volumes, the pacing remains snappy and the action crackling with humor that’s both physical and verbal.  The constant references to famous anime or manga series throughout just add to the fun for the readers, as do talking cats, crazed history teachers and twisted entrance exams.  This is a screwball situation comedy, and neither the creator nor his characters will let you forget it, as there is little rest from the zaniness as the story progresses.  But when it does pause, Kenjiro Hata takes some valuable space to have Nagi reflect on her growing personal attachment to Hayate.  Is love in the air?  Watch this space…

Returning characters include Tama the talking tiger, who makes an appearance seemingly just for the sake of doing so.  Sakuya Aizawa, a ‘friend’ of Ojo’s, obsessed with manzai comedy, detesting of anyone who loves fermented soybeans (natto), and speaking with a heavy accent, and another variation of the giant nursing robot that terrorized Hayate in earlier volumes- now looking more like a Gundam gone beserk- also appear at the beginning in the resolution to the story that ended Volume 3.  All of them are welcome in the story, having been established so well in the first three volumes.  All one can say is “More!  More!!”

EXTRAS:
Extras include one to two page comic strips, one page character profiles on our new personalities in the story, and a short essay by the author reflecting on the story so far.

IN SUMMARY:
HAYATE THE COMBAT BUTLER Volume 4 takes the looniness to new heights- literally! New characters bring even more action and insanity to this fun filled comedy.  It’s insanity served fresh on a silver platter!