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Parts of the first season are generally liked (especially since they redid the first part because of animation failures). I generally sort of liked the series through episode 19. After that the series has an anime-only climactic arc that was either hated or enjoyed.
The problem was story-wise it would have made sense to finish out on the end of the Kyoto Arc but the animators decided to go on a very separate direction but they *used* some elements of the Kyoto Arc battle. This upset many fans but others were fine with it.
My recommendation is to simply watch it as an alternate storyline with the same characters and you'll probably do fine.
The second series "Negima!?" is substantially different than the manga from the get-go. I liked the art style and a lot of the gags and little moments, but was entirely unimpressed with the overall storyline. This series caused a lot of division in the Negima fanbase - and since the director Shinbo was involved it caused little flame wars over whether he'd wrecked Negima or whether it was a brilliant interpretation.
This probably didn't help... but frankly I'd say you ought to watch both. The voice actresses (the same in both series) are great and the artwork in the second series is really interesting (more angular -- some folks hated it). There are many moments from the manga animated (though they're often in different times or locations).
I *loved* the interpretation of the ghost girl student in episode 19 of the first season even though it was anime only.
I loved the early episodes of the second series -- hilarious moments.
If you're a Negima fan --- probably ought to watch both even if certain parts make you cringe (don't forget the OVAs).
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