The "99th volume" of Kenjirou Hata's Hayate the Combat Butler manga announced on Saturday that production on a new anime has been green-lit. The manga volume is being distributed for free at the paired screenings of the Hayate the Combat Butler! Heaven is a Place on Earth film and the Mahō Sensei Negima! Anime Final film.

The original manga — and the two television anime series it inspired — follow a boy named Hayate who serves as a butler, bodyguard, confidante, and more to a girl named Nagi to pay off a 156,804,000-yen (about US$2-million) debt.

Takashi Kumagai, Shogakukan's editor in charge of the Hayate the Combat Butler! manga, had revealed in a January interview that the next step after the Hayate film was already being planned. Hata himself had posted on his Twitter account (in English) in April, "The third season : after the movie of the summer of this year. Please wait in expectancy!"

Viz Media will publish the 18th manga volume in North America next month. Bandai Entertainment released the first anime series, and Crunchyroll simulcasted the second anime series in several countries as it aired Japan in 2009.

The Taiwanese production and broadcasting company Gala TV aired a separate live-action television series based on the manga this year, and this series will also air in Japan.

[Via Moe Ota-News Sokuhō]

Update: More information added.