Negima Episode 2 Discussion / Poll

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Starks

Chachamaru's sense of humor is a welcomed upgrade.

It was always there, not just for everyone to see.

[Jekyll]

Originally Posted by Jinsoo

As for the OP and ED, yeah, bad quality.

It's actually not just that. It is squished. The OP from the 4:3 broadcast was the original 16:9 OP, padded to 4:3 with those bars on the top and bottom (the OP from the 16:9 broadcast looks like this). This resulted in everything looking squished (like this). The same thing happened to the ED too (4:3, 16:9, squished).

Edit: In case anybody without the raw wants to look at the unsquished OP before Mahora releases their third episode: Hardsubbed XviD, softsubbed H.264; Li Jianliang, I hope you don't mind too much that I (ab)used your translation. (^^;; )

[Matt Soulblade]

Im still astonished by the quality of the animation.
Seriously. This thing ownz. It just pwnz everything, the fast fights, quick development, you blink and you lose some important scene. Its like that, this is way too great.
And I still think that Takamichi looks like Archer <3

[Runningkid]

Originally Posted by Matt Soulblade

Im still astonished by the quality of the animation.

i second that, the animation is good, altho not as funny as the 1st the art is great.

they amde the opening so much like u see in a film which is great!

[Darklightz]

Hmm,this serie also seems darker than the original,and they haven't even begun to get on the serious stuff.

It's a shame we couldn't see more of Chachamaru,she rocks!

[blitz1/2]

Episode 2 was good! Looking forward to more.

[ordnance11]

Time 19:48

Are those Nazca lines?

[ZODDGUTS]

By contrast I loved that scene. I thought it made a standard "talking head" scene into something dynamic and interesting while brilliantly capturing the confusion in Negi's head.

Same here I liked that scene I had no problems with it. Maybe it's because I'm already used to Shinbo's directing style.

Are those Nazca lines?

lol I also noticed that. Very clever using the racing track to do that.

Really liked ep 2 we got to see emotion from Eva as to what she's has to deal with being Immortal and not ever being able to grow up to an adults body but to stay in a kids body forever.

... Nodoka looked cute too.

BTW I liked the opening song better then the other Negima series OP. Also liked how they showed everybody in that way rather then a lame kissing scene for each one like the first Negima series did.

Edit: Also want to add the action scenes in this episode were great unlike the first Negima series which were really lame. My only worry is can Shaft continue having great animation for the entire season. There's a lot of things going on in each scene including in the background i.e. like the Dracula VS Chupacapra scene. Oh well even if the animation does go down they'll fix it in the DVD release like they did for MoonPhase.

[Guardian Enzo]

Well, this is really pretty wonderful, IMO. I was searching for one word that sums up why this is so much better than the Xebec version, and I found it - style. This series has it in spades, and the old version - though it had it's charms - was pedestrian.

I love the OP, I loved the frames when Negi and Asuna were talking, I adored the texting scene in homeroom... I even love the Baka Rangers. The quick cut style, the coloring, all of it - stylish to the max. And we haven't even gotten to the good stuff (Kyoto, Kotarou, etc.) yet. I'm hooked.

[myopius]

The OP is excellent. Definitely unique. Really cool, too.

More importantly, this episode was excellent. I really consider it an improvement over the previous episode. Like someone said, there were just a few too many boxes in Asuna's and Negi's playground conversation. However, the animation just gets better and better, generally, in any case.

Dislikes: the classroom scene was goofy, as usual. It's like this whole anime has matured in its remake, but the classroom conversations are the only thing left of the previous Negima's fluff. However, since they weren't trying to introduce every single student, the scene definitely came off better than the previous episode's. Oh, and the random overdramatic end narrations are still weird, though that's nothing compared to the Baka Rangers segments.

Anyway, I really like how they're handling the plots. They don't just kind of start one plot up halfway through the series like they did the previous Negima. Eva, Asuna, Konoka and Setsuna, and Nodoka are developing concurrently, although the former two are being focused on more than the latter two (notably, however, the latter two are being developed equally, which is very nice!).

And I'll just say clearly say the fact that the animation is very, very excellent improves my enjoyment of the anime considerably.

So yeah, I am definitely considering picking this up. Like somebody else said, it might just be able to take some attention away from Kanon.

[suguru]

I loved the second episode--the OP is stylish, although when I compare it to ShoujoQ or any of the Pani Poni Dash openings, it's just nowhere near as catchy. I can safely say Negima's OP is just not going to get stuck in my head the way some anime opening themes get. But maybe they'll change the OP as the series goes on, I think Paniponi had three completely different openings if I'm remembering right.

I like Shaft's version of the Eva arc so far though, the scene with her and Takamichi and the glance she gave Negi when she looked back at him in the hallway were just perfect. Just that glance did a better job of conveying emotion than most of the first Negima series did.

[cynicalicious]

This series is one million times better than the original horrible anime that Xebec ... made ... and I use that term loosely. I can understand that those with a very narrow view of the series won't like it, but I don't really care what they think. If they hate it so much, then they won't watch it. So I'm not interested in their opinions.

Considering how often animes will totally run away from their source material, and considering that Shaft has done a great job of keeping the 'feel' of the manga, if not following it too closely, I'm happy. Would I have loved an anime that followed the manga identically? Maybe, but then again, if it looked like crap in a bucket, maybe not.

I like the new take on the series. I'm looking forward to see where they take it after this arc. I'd *like* to see dog-boy come into the series, and I'd love to see a new take on Kyoto, but we'll have to wait and see.

Episode 2, like episode 1, was very entertaining. And that's all I really ask of a series like Negima. I'm not really looking for them to split the atom or create great works of literature. I'm just looking for something to entertain me for 24 minutes every week. Works for me.

[Kensuke]

I like the OP, watched it twice before watching the episode itself.

So far this new Negima hasn't done anything but impressed me, the whole series is very stylish, the kind of what I like. Too bad that Funi didn't wait for this instead of that first series. I wonder are they going to pick this up, they have that other similar Akiyuki Shinbo series, Tsukuyomi ~Moon Phase~.

It looks like that Eva is probably going to have a bigger role than in manga, or maybe Shinbo just have a thing for vampires.

Noticed the Nazca lines too.

[Vexx]

Someone was asking about Kotarou in the Generic Discussion thread... I found a character design for him in an early release pic that seems to indicate he'll at least make an appearance.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost...&postcount=380

Funimation is doing a pretty good job of marketing "Negima 1.0" --- their packaging is nice and their ads pretty well done. They also have the Moon Phase release (which I just got) and it is quite a nice package as well. Better quality paper, printing, bonuses, etc.

Both Geneon and Funimation seem to be upping the ante with R1 releases.

[hoon]

Although I'm happy that they're focusing more on action and story, I'm already starting to miss the comedy. There is a limit to how "dark" you can make Negima or any comedy series and I'm hoping they won't over do it; at the core, Negima is a (or originally was a) harem/ecchi comedy, after all.

I'll lower my expectation a little bit and expect to see serious episodes from now on, I suppose.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Someone was asking about Kotarou in the Generic Discussion thread... I found a character design for him in an early release pic that seems to indicate he'll at least make an appearance.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost...&postcount=380

Yeah, i remember seeing him in that image so long ago.. but i never clicked on when the actually show started. With the show going for a more action type of scene, you can already tell that they'll keep him in just like in the manga.

[Furudanuki]

Given the buzz surrounding this new incarnation of Negima I figured I should take a look. I'm up to volume 11 of the manga but I never watched the first anime version, so I can't make any comparisons. After watching this episode my reactions have been mixed. I like the way they are trying a different approach to the story material, and the PPD influences are fun. The "Baka Rangers" endings are also a big plus for me. But I can't shake a nagging worry that this version has the potential to wander too far into "shounen action" territory at the expense of the comedy and character relationships that attracted me to the manga in the first place. Action is fine, but I want to be given reasons why I should be interested in the characters and care about what happens to them before they start angsting or whacking on each other.

Two issues regarding this episode in particular. The music-video style rapid scene cuts give me a massive headache. There are times when I would like to take the "artist" who first popularized this technique and run them through a wood chipper feet first. Unfortunately this seems to used in every form of visual media now - I had to close my eyes during several of the action scenes in "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" because it was literally making me sick - so I can't fault Negima too much. And several people have praised the artwork and animation, so I have to assume there was a problem with the version that I watched. The colors were murky and the overall picture seemed slightly blurry at times. Might have been due to a sub-par raw or some encoding issues, since the animation/visual impact of the first episode was pretty good, even if it wasn't what I'd consider stellar. I'll probably wind up getting a raw for comparison just to be fair.

In any event, despite my complaints about some things the show does have promise. It's on my "watch 5" list, so we'll see how things proceed from here.

[iamandragon]

9 out of 10.
I started MSN with the manga, then I watched the first MSN anime. Honestly I don't think neither are bad(or perhaps I simply love negima so bad that any materials related to it would look good to me...)
The second anime, is sooo much darker...even the jokes are hidden in the dark...love that bit where Chizuru explain 'sabotage'...

[HeartNana]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

By contrast I loved that scene. I thought it made a standard "talking head" scene into something dynamic and interesting while brilliantly capturing the confusion in Negi's head.

The award for "worst OP of all time" goes to the unlicensed first season of Lupin III. Honestly this OP isn't even close to that level of badness, but it does rather suck.

That's just because it is funny to see vampires and chupacabras on the screen together. isn't it? Considering that the chupacabra story is bascially an alternate version of the vampire legend it is patently ridiculous to have them fighting.

Well to each their own. Personally, i dont watch like, a TON of anime, but im just saying that from the ones ive seen/heard, this is my least favorite, which is disappointing cause ive seen some bad series with pretty good OP's.

As for the talking head scene, it LITERALLY gave me a headache. In EP3, i was perfectly fine with everything in that episode, but anything that gives me a headache from just watching it makes me umm...not want to watch it?

The artwork and voices are still off tha hook though.

[ZODDGUTS]

The second anime, is sooo much darker...even the jokes are hidden in the dark...love that bit where Chizuru explain 'sabotage'...

Ah I forgot to mention that yeah I found that seen to be VERY funny... Love the angle camera shot they used for Chizuru too...