[AstroNerdBoy]

Originally Posted by S.Freedom

Exactly Overmaster.

I actually wanted them to interact with various negima characters. Like how would Setsuna and Motoko interact as of chapter 345 of Negima for example.

Like student and sensei I would guess, considering Setsuna's personality.

Or assuming the Mei from negima and the Mei from LH are the same person.* How would Naru react to knowing her sister was a mage.

*I forget if it was ever confirmed if they where the same person.

I think Akamatsu-sensei tried to say Mei in Negima! wasn't the same as the one from Love Hina. Technically, Mei is an anime creation, not an Akamatsu-sensei creation, though he did draw her at the wedding in the last chapter of Love Hina.

Still, Naru has seen strange and supernatural things, primarily through Motoko. So, assuming Mei was her half-sister (or step sister), I think Naru would be surprised by it initially, then accept it.

Originally Posted by jvcscasio

After re-reading it I think the Negima's ending wasn't so bad. If you think about it, even the problem with Negi's father was kinda of explained when Rakan says "If Negi didn't defeat the Mage of begining and released you...". So I changed my mind about how I view Negima's end.

Originally Posted by OverMaster

"And then the children were rescued by, oh, let's say Moe."

No, 'solving' the biggest conflict in the whole series with a throwaway line is NOT good storytelling at all.

Nope, but it is hurried storytelling.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Not to mention it still doesn't answer any of the other important questions. Like, say, who was the mage of the beginning? What did he do to Nagi to make him... whatever he was at the time he fought Negi? And arguably more important: what happened to Negi's mother?

And this is just the tip of the iceberg, there are dozens of unanswered questions like these.

Don't forget that the CE folks perfected illusion magic, which is how Shiori was able to become Asuna for a few days (or however long it was...so much happened, and it took so long in our time, it is difficult for me to remember exactly how many days passed from when Asuna was kidnapped until they rescued her).

As to Arika, she's always been the anomaly, much like Eva's time with Ala Rubra. Negi had no mother in the manga until they went to the Magic World (she was never even a thought of Negi's is what I mean), and then Arika was retconned in. Eva apparently never knew about Arika despite hanging with Ala Rubra long enough to become well acquainted with the entire group, even doing some sort of learning with Takahata.

Nagi appears to have wondered to and fro across the Earth (and Magic World) for ten years, disappearing in Istanbul. Where Arika was during that time is a mystery. Arika isn't around when Ala Rubra bring Asuna to Earth, nor when they are traveling the Magic World with Asuna.

Still, we are supposed to believe that Arika was always around somewhere, and then nine months before Nagi disappeared, he got freak nasty with Arika, impregnated her, then ran off again. She gave birth, then died or disappeared, and no one in the village would even say her name. They'd only speak of Nagi.

I've never been happy with the Arika stuff because though Akamatsu-sensei does get away with retconning her in to a degree with most fans, I'm not a fan of retconning. Were someone to PROPERLY do a new anime series from scratch, I'd want them to work with Akamatsu-sensei to work Arika in properly rather than as a retcon.

Originally Posted by OverMaster

As I've said before, the connections between series set in the same Akamatsu world are so tenuous they might as well not exist.

There's a reason for that, as I see it. Many authors may set their stories within the same world, but when they are telling a new story, they don't like to revisit old characters even though they may mention them. CLAMP would be an exception to that rule, as they seem to just love to revisit their old creations, but Akamatsu-sensei gives small nods to his previous creations. I think he stated that Nitta-sensei was the same character from A.I. Love You.

Originally Posted by OverMaster

However, I don't think that's much more than Akamatsu's excuse for it. No one else ever cut their manga short like he did, no law was passed at all, and he went back to Kodansha anyway.

Heh. There've been other manga that have been cut short. CLAMP has quite a few. ^_~

Still, the law aspects aside, Akamatsu-sensei got the copyrights to ALL of his manga creations back from Kodansha. No doubt, his wife, the former model, wanted more time with him. Plus, I'm guessing that he was burned out. I'm his age and I know those long hours aren't so easy to do any more. ^_^;

If Akamatsu-sensei's new manga picks Negima! back up, then it is all academic -- he needed a break, but he didn't want to leave fans hanging on for a year or longer, assuming he didn't get a new deal with Kodansha (with Akamatsu-sensei retaining copyrights but granting license to Kodansha to publish and distribute the manga). So, he gives a quick wrap up chapter.

If Akamatsu-sensei's new manga isn't Negima! and has nothing to do with it (other than the cursory nods), then I'd agree that Akamatsu-sensei just got tired of Negima! and wanted to move on.