(I'll talk in extremely bold strokes, but I recommend reading the manga before reading this “review” (or any, really))

Hayate no Gotoku! is a romcom with an otaku demographic, it never stops being that, in that category, I'll say that it's in the upper echelons, the comedy it's nice and witty, with lots of references that the majority of people will probably not understand, nice art exemplary of the moe aesthetic of the 2000 that still manages to look nice today, over the top expressions, a lot of fanservice, misunderstanding and miscommunication, probably does all clichés that you can think of, but with a nice side of snark and self awareness that maintains everything fresh enough that at least it will never mix and sink with all the other similar mangas out there.
Its plot of magical artifacts and inheritance was nice, feeling more like an excuse to put the character in all sorts of wacky situations, and thematically, this manga about a lot of things: hopes, dreams, memories, trauma, disappointment, fears, regrets and the bonds of people, nothing particularly noteworthy, there's a million other stories about the same topics, after all they are some of the most basic experiences one can have in life.

So, what sets it apart from all the other million manga just like it?

It's his skill to communicate.

Expressing feelings is something extremely hard in any form of art, it's an extremely important skill that cannot be calculated; with no true scientific way to handle, It's something that boils down to taste, and personally, this manga managed that with flying colors.

The biggest strength of this work and the main part that allows it to succeed is its sincerity, This is a manga that hangs the emotions of their characters in their sleeves, tints of irony and detachment can naturally occur in romcom thanks to the comedy part, and although the playing between moments of soberness and goofiness is the bread and butter of the genre, very few series are as earnest in their execution as this manga, ill also like to highlight the pacing, that managed to perfectly and naturally control all of these moments.

All this is given to us with the character and their relationship, my favorite example being how they rub off each others, exemplified with how Nagi change as people are introduced to her life and how this gains weight the deeper the story goes.

It's way above my skill level of writing to fully convey something so personal as an experience with art, my entire thoughts on it and the specific what's, how's and why's, but I can't explain how special of a ride this manga was, their tears made me tear up, and their smiles made me smiles, their silly antics and classic romcom clichéd drama were both hilarious and worrying, it was a great and extremely fun time that made me feel sad just thinking that it would end.

Perhaps I just happened to be the type of person that was in tune with this work, but that doesn't matter, what matters is that now this manga is something special to me.
Its characters, their stories, their feelings, the way everything came together, their change, this little snippet of their lives, I loved it.

To me, this manga feels like a pocket of life itself. Thank you Hata-Sensei.