(L) Negima Manga Discussion

[Hata]

in the last? big Negima dojin meet, "The 10th day of Library Island Closure" at Kawasaki. one of the dojin put up by well known Negima blog catmania will have 10 Q&A with Akamatsu, questions including what is Negima trying to convey to the readers, what now is there for Negima, what is the theme of Negima, and who is the final partner of Negi?

while Ken give his permissions for this email exchanges to be published, the fanzine will hit the Negima event May 20th. Ken's assistant Max also contributes.

now remember, while Ken replied to the questions, that doesn't mean he will actually gives a real answer to the million dollar question is my guess, in any case, this will be the first Q&A we got from Ken since the end of Negima, it is going to be interesting.

----------edit
38 is out.
-- before anyone ask, total 102 "people" on the cover
-- while Arika is not in the cover, she is at the back cover.
-- in author's words, picture as detective Yue, Ken says:
-- with anime ending B Ken just felt it was time to TEMPORARY end it.
-- Temporary means Negima might be revived sometime in the future.
-- what Chao shown are just one of the many PARALLEL UNIVERSE ENDING,
-- there are many puzzles in the story, to fully explain it might take 100+books.
-- it will be good if you can read future Negima story IN YOUR HAND, it would certainly answer any of your questions.

my thoughts:
1. (future Negima series) told you so.
2. (not fixed ending pairing) told you so.
3. (possibility of future Negima going E-publish) told you so.

#2 certainly is my guess for Ken's answer in the 05/20 announcement,

[TnAdct1]

So, if I read this correctly, the last two chapters is just one of many different "parallel universe" endings for Negima, and that there's other possible endings for Negima, right?

Now if only the same can be said for the last two volumes completely.

[Cachalo]

Totally predictable.

Originally Posted by TnAdct1

So, if I read this correctly, the last two chapters is just one of many different "parallel universe" endings for Negima, and that there's other possible endings for Negima, right?

Now if only the same can be said for the last two volumes completely.

Coming up: Crisis On Infinite Negimas.

Arm your ships.

[Heavy Arms]

Oh god no, DC did bad enough on their version of Infinite Crisis. The last thing I want is for Negima to suffer a similar trainwreck.

btw Chachalo. Are you a member of aquastar by any chance?

[Cachalo]

Originally Posted by Heavy Arms

Oh god no, DC did bad enough on their version of Ifinite Crisis. The last thing I want is for Negima to suffer a similar trainwreck.

Crisis On Infinite Earths was incredible. Infinite Crisis was a trainwreck but with some good ideas.

As long as I can keep getting my Yue fix I'm game.

btw Chachalo. Are you a member of aquastar by any chance?

Nope.

[APNki]

The news of a possible future continuation was posted on Anime News Network: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/inte...-a-possibility

[OverMaster]

I don't think Akamatsu would want to do a Crisis crossover. This is just his escape way if he wants to do a reboot from a certain point, and avoid the mess that was the final part of the manga by skipping it altogether.

I'd be fine with that if it saves us from crap like the Sports Festival and the epilogue, and we can see all the juicy events in the 5 month gap mentioned in the class roster fleshed out. But it all will depend on many things, including the alleged problems with Kodansha, so I'm not optimistic.

[Von Himmel]

Wait...so there's still some hopes left for this manga to continue? ;_; Regardless of the slim chance or whatsoever, I'll still wait for it

[Keroko]

You know what? Even though this sounds from all angles like a cheap way out, if it gives even the slightest chance of a story centered around Chao's timeline, I can live with it.

[Valky]

So we'll have something other than that crappy ending? I'm in.

[ellifeedn]

So in theory, does this mean that even fanfics can be "canon" in this series?

[Von Himmel]

Dunno, but I'm more inclined to believe that the alternate universe should still contains the same root (where there are magister nagi fighting CE and stuffs). So all those alternate universe fanfic might not be included in this series...

...

no wait, seriously? o.o; Now that you've mentioned it...

[Hata]

nazinani negima 38

question: wasn't Negi born in 1994? (book 02)
Ken: this book is the correct one, consider all others typo or mistakes.
question: who did that?
Ken: ME!

Arika
what happen to Arika after giving birth to Negi is BY DESIGN not made public.

( it just means she might be featured in future Negima story, whether after death in flashback or alive in some capacity is anyone's guess.)

----------

the sports festival is one of the most important arc in determining Negi's future partner, it almost certainly will be included in the canon if you want to expand on it, in fact, a good story return point for future Negims series would be right after the sports festival, namely the Xmas arc. the divergence point for parallel Negima world time line is 100% Chao related, (Culture Festival, Graduation, Asuna's awakening, etc.) so what happen between culture festival and graduation is FIXED for the timeline IN THIS NEGIMA WORLD WE ARE READING, what is on the student roster by graduation had already happened and won't change. what might change is what Chao shown us in 355 of each person's future BECAUSE IT HAD NOT HAPPEN, YET.

in all honesty, the only things Ken might do in a return of Negima is to expand and explain what happen in the missing gap, and give us a final pairing, some minor changes in job description might happen to a few people, but mostly should stay the same is my guess,

[TnAdct1]

Originally Posted by Hata

the sports festival is one of the most important arc in determining Negi's future partner, it almost certainly will be included in the canon if you want to expand on it, in fact, a good story return point for future Negims series would be right after the sports festival, namely the Xmas arc.

Of course, while the storyline may play a role in the "who Negi ends up with" ordeal, the main reason why some people don't want this included in the canon can be summed up into two big points:

1. This is pretty much a major case of Character Derailment and "Idiot Ball Done Wrong", as this whole thing is initially over a character not realizing that most of the students kissed Negi because that's pretty much the quickest way to make a Pactio, with numerous students that should know better (i.e. Kaede and Setsuna) assisting the class in their torture of Negi.

2. The story itself ends up becoming a huge mess once the students plot to force Negi into revealing which girl he likes, as if Ken Akamatsu wanted to ensure that we get a time skip to graduation by the end of the milestone 350th chapter.

[OverMaster]

No offense, Hata, but it looks to me like you're pretending your word is law when in fact you're mostly extrapolating on your own guesses and estimations on the manga's ending.

The only important thing the Sports Festival did was revealing Negi liked someone, and even then that was something that never was followed on (technically, a sequel/reboot should do that). The rest was pure useless fluff (yes, even Akira's Pactio that never was used again) and character derailment. You might as well place the revelation elsewhere, if you're writing a parallel universe.

The 353 Chao divergence point is the only one THAT WE KNOW OF FOR SURE YET. For all we know, Akamatsu might reveal others, like what'd have happened if Negi hadn't traveled back in time at the end of Mahorafest.

in all honesty, the only things Ken might do in a return of Negima is to expand and explain what happen in the missing gap, and give us a final pairing, some minor changes in job description might happen to a few people, but mostly should stay the same is my guess

The final arc to beat Lifemaker should be a huge event by itself, not to mention all the class roster stuff and the unseen Pactios.

[Hata]

Originally Posted by TnAdct1

Of course, while the storyline may play a role in the "who Negi ends up with" ordeal, the main reason why some people don't want this included in the canon can be summed up into two big points:

ahem, you sure the only reason you don't like the Negima ending is not because Nodoka is not IT?

there are always "purpose" behind a story arc, for the festival it is Negi's partner and further define Negi's relationship with some of the girls, not a final solution, but rather a tease for Negima 2, in that regard, it did its job brilliantly, all the fandom can talk about is "who will end up with Negi?"

Originally Posted by TnAdct1

1. This is pretty much a major case of Character Derailment and "Idiot Ball Done Wrong", as this whole thing is initially over a character not realizing that most of the students kissed Negi because that's pretty much the quickest way to make a Pactio, with numerous students that should know better (i.e. Kaede and Setsuna) assisting the class in their torture of Negi.

ah, I don't see you complain when in the Kyoto arc in the inn the students were pretty much doing the same thing, could it be because Nodoka won that one?

Originally Posted by TnAdct1

2. The story itself ends up becoming a huge mess once the students plot to force Negi into revealing which girl he likes, as if Ken Akamatsu wanted to ensure that we get a time skip to graduation by the end of the milestone 350th chapter.

you yourself just explain why Ken did that, it had to be set as the BAIT for us to remain interest, remember, Ken knew he was ending Negima soon, so my argument is the sports festival is something that had to be done the way it is, and Ken did a very good job pulling it off, it serves all HIS PURPOSES, just to see how many people respond to a POSSIBLE RETURN of the manga is proof enough I think.

Originally Posted by OverMaster

No offense, Hata, but it looks to me like you're pretending your word is law when in fact you're mostly extrapolating on your own guesses and estimations on the manga's ending.

1. you have to face the fact not all the people agree with your views, in fact, you just told me so,
2. I made many predictions for Negima, more often wrong than right, but again, I think on average I can say "I told you so" more than most, here or anywhere. of course, even that is up to debate, but I put my words out there, you can of course come back and laugh at me later when it is wrong, I just don't see too many people come back and acknowledge it when my shots come true, if this my preemptive strike style bugs you, ignore me and move on. because I write by logic and disdain fandom emotional outburst, while my logic may falter my writing style is not gonna change, no matter where I post.

Originally Posted by OverMaster

The final arc to beat Lifemaker should be a huge event by itself, not to mention all the class roster stuff and the unseen Pactios.

nobody says the dealing with LM is unimportant, BUT THE FINAL OUTCOME IS NOT GONNA CHANGE, Negi will beat LM, I am talking what MIGHT change in a new Negima series. like I say, all those marked on the school rosters are facts already happened IN THE TIMELINE WE ARE READING, the only way Ken can change it is by creating another timeline with a time traveling backward, then it will no longer be THE timeline we are reading, etc.

[Tiresias]

Eh, If what happened in the so-called finale will not change I'm not really interested. The two F-you's-from-the-creators I've received this year from both Negima and Mass Effect kinda killed my enthusiasm.

I'll probably stay here so when any Arika spoilers pop up I'll know which chapter to get (and that chapter only) but the days of me waiting expectantly every week for Negima updates is long gone.

[AstroNerdBoy]

Originally Posted by Hata

nazinani negima 38

question: wasn't Negi born in 1994? (book 02)
Ken: this book is the correct one, consider all others typo or mistakes.
question: who did that?
Ken: ME!

Arika
what happen to Arika after giving birth to Negi is BY DESIGN not made public.

( it just means she might be featured in future Negima story, whether after death in flashback or alive in some capacity is anyone's guess.)

I'm way tired here, so someone remind me as to the updated year that Negi is born.

Thanks for the info, Hata. ^_^

[chaosprophet]

Originally Posted by Hata

nobody says the dealing with LM is unimportant, BUT THE FINAL OUTCOME IS NOT GONNA CHANGE, Negi will beat LM, I am talking what MIGHT change in a new Negima series. like I say, all those marked on the school rosters are facts already happened IN THE TIMELINE WE ARE READING, the only way Ken can change it is by creating another timeline with a time traveling backward, then it will no longer be THE timeline we are reading, etc.

The question here is, on the time skips we had after the festival, and after the time Asuna was back, there could been countless chances for someone to time travel and change something. And even if that isn't the case, one idea that comes with that multiple universes theory is that there is one branch for every different choice someone can made, and not just when someone time travel. So Akamatsu could just decide to show us a different branch after some point, and not necessary the same one that resulted in the manga end.

I do agree it would likely start from the end of the sport festival or later.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Hata

ahem, you sure the only reason you don't like the Negima ending is not because Nodoka is not IT?

I can't speak for others, but the main reason I don't like it is because it wasted almost 6 chapters that could have been used tying up plotthreads. Not even the main plot stuff like the Lifemaker arc or who does Negi love, but stuff like "what's up with Zazie?" "What's the story behind Ako's scar" "How did Misora and Cocone get together?" You know, questions readers have been wondering about for the past two dozen volumes.

Originally Posted by Hata

there are always "purpose" behind a story arc, for the festival it is Negi's partner and further define Negi's relationship with some of the girls, not a final solution, but rather a tease for Negima 2, in that regard, it did its job brilliantly, all the fandom can talk about is "who will end up with Negi?"

Yeah. No. That's just a generic "I'm not telling the final answer" harem ending. Nothing "brilliant" about it. It's the biggest cliche in the book.

Originally Posted by Hata

ah, I don't see you complain when in the Kyoto arc in the inn the students were pretty much doing the same thing, could it be because Nodoka won that one?

The Kyoto arc wasn't the final bloody arc in the manga. If this was just a side-step like the Kyoto arc, we would've just written it of as a time-waster and continued reading the manga. The problem is that the manga pretty much ended with that time-waster.

Originally Posted by Hata

you yourself just explain why Ken did that, it had to be set as the BAIT for us to remain interest, remember, Ken knew he was ending Negima soon, so my argument is the sports festival is something that had to be done the way it is, and Ken did a very good job pulling it off, it serves all HIS PURPOSES, just to see how many people respond to a POSSIBLE RETURN of the manga is proof enough I think.

You'll excuse me if I don't exactly agree with the business plan of giving your fans a crappy ending filled with plotholes just to see how many will be interested in a sequel. Mostly because it means that if not enough people (how many is "enough" anyway) raise a fuss, we're stuck with it. That's just raising a big middle finger to your fans, really.

Originally Posted by Hata

nobody says the dealing with LM is unimportant, BUT THE FINAL OUTCOME IS NOT GONNA CHANGE, Negi will beat LM, I am talking what MIGHT change in a new Negima series. like I say, all those marked on the school rosters are facts already happened IN THE TIMELINE WE ARE READING, the only way Ken can change it is by creating another timeline with a time traveling backward, then it will no longer be THE timeline we are reading, etc.

Do we need the outcome to change? There's still a dozen questions about the entire lifemaster deal left unanswered to make for an interesting plot without involving time traveling shenanigans. Not to mention all the previously mentioned sub-plots and, of course, the big "what the bloody hell happened to Arika" elephant in the room.

But if we really are getting time travel and alternate realities involved here... pretty much anything can happen. That's one of the fun things and at the same time the biggest annoyance about time-travel, really.