[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Hata

since you conveniently ignore my statement, I would remind you again in quotation,

I did not ignore it, in fact I did reply to it. To repeat:

"We just believe that this ending is utter crap, even for a sequel hook. The sports arc is still a waste of chapters, Asuna's drama was still a mess of Deus Ex and the ending is still a load of "wait what?" Far better spots for the ending exist, but the current one is just a cheap attempt at covering for himself in case he doesn't start a sequel. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for a sequel (hell I was the first to throw out the theory in this thread), but that doesn't change that the current ending is just bad."

Now with that out of the way, let's dive into the details once more.

Originally Posted by Hata

now with a possibility of continuation, none of your "criticisms" are valid, the fact you and others keep harping on the "bad ending" making them frivolous complaints, guess what? Negima had NOT ended, says who? says the author, does that mean we will have a Negima 2? no, it is not guarantee, but who else is a more reliable source for thing like this than the author himself?

Just because there will be a continuation does not change that the sports arc was a wase of chapters that could have been used wrapping up this arc and ripped several characters largely out of character.

Just because there will be a continuation does not change that the Asuna sealing was one big pile of overblown drama destroyed by its Deus Ex Machina ending (as much as I like Chao).

You keep saying "there will be a sequel, your complaints are irrelevant" but you never explain how a sequel will magically fix all this mess we got. The only thing a continuation can do is build on what's already there, which means that the plotholes and badly written arcs are there to stay.

It will not fix the wasted chapters, the warped characters, the irrelevant drama or the Deus Ex solutions.

Here's the point: I agree that all this is a sequel hook. I agree that it is highly likely there will be a sequel. I will repeat that I have been saying this thing way back in februari.

I just think it's a crappy sequel hook. Just because you're making a sequel, even with a cliffhanger, doesn't mean you shouldn't provide closure for the first part, and said closure should not be raising more questions than answers. That defies the point of closure.

Originally Posted by Hata

and yes, I would still say this even if it is not popular here, Ken did not own anyone anything, this is a free capitalist society we are talking about, Ken has something to sell, we like it and buy it, does not mean Ken is obligated to keep on selling it just because we had giving him money, he can stop anytime he wants with any reasons or even no reason at all, that is his free right, and of course he will absorb damages to his reputation and future sales, that is the only way we buyer/readers can check and balance the system, but if he doesn't give a darn? there is absolutely nothing wrong with him or us, he won't get any of our future money, we won't get any of his future work, that is the way it works,

or the short version? get over it.

My issue with the "he can do whatever he wants" argument is that it adds nothing to the debate. The entire point of criticism is to debate the pro's and cons of a story, but saying "well he can do whatever he wants" doesn't add anything to that. Or change anything, really. Yes, Ken could have chosen to make earth explode for no good reason. That doesn't change that such an ending would have been even worse than the current one.