Negima!? Haru (Spring) OVA

[Rainnyday]

I will have to agree with Rin-sama here. the OVA ruins the manga yet again. the 2nd movie i might watch just to see what they do with Nodoka's love for Negi.

[Vexx]

Ah well... we're halfway through September.... only a month-ish to go...

and then all hell breaks loose with Nanoha, Kanon, Negima, and a truckload of kitchen sinks.

[eggplant]

I bought the Negima!? Spring OVA today.
Since I've already seen it and posted it here before, I'll just briefly mention my second impressions.

Spoiler for Haru OVA:

After seeing the SHAFT Negima!? TV series from October, the character designs don't look out of place anymore. Since this is an OVA which is set outdoors, the vivid colors are something yet seen in the TV anime, and the fanservice is noticeable (although not to the degree of the Summer OVA) .
I failed to notice it during the screening event, but one of the beachballs Asuna is blowing up is Mesousa from Pani Poni Dash!

Other than the fact that this is Negima!? by SHAFT, there aren't many similarities between the OVA and the TV series, therefore I think it would have been better for both OVAs to be released at an earlier date (the timing for the Spring OVA is definitely deliberate).

There isn't much of a story in this OVA (and for the Summer OVA for that matter), and I'll admit I purchased this for the other disk containing shots of the screening event with the Negima seiyuus.

At least the Ku Fei armor card was nice.

[Omniscient]

Spring OVA Screencaps and Summary

Spoiler:

I didn't think I would be impressed by SHAFT/GANSIS/Shinbou Akiyuki again like I was with the first episode of Negima!?, but boy I was wrong because this was great. I hadn't expected much of a plot, and indeed there really wasn't one (Asuna angry at Negi, Eva trying to find a chupacabra, other girls doing various things), but there's tons of humor to make up for it. I was laughing or smiling through pretty much the entire thing.

[Sonhex]

Loved the sky-diving scene. SHAFT sure know how to animate hair.

Spoiler for homages:

The sound Chachamaru makes when she's sky-diving is the sound of a Simoun engine.

Evangeline's kick on Chachamaru is Nono's onee-sama kick from Die Buster.

And I think Sasake did a Eureka 7 homage riding the piece of Hakase's broken mecha.

[shinobiknight0]

Is it out yet?

[Shiroth]

Just watched the OVA. I'd say upto now that was the best Negima to anime adaptation i've seen so far, in terms of pretty much everything. In terms of the SHAFT style, its helps that i've already seen four episode of the new series - at least that way i haven't got to spend a few minutes getting used to the style of it all. It was also nice to hear more of Haneoka Kei's music thats already doing wonders for the new series.

Probably the main factor of the OVA had to be the fanservice. Its been mentioned before how the new series doesn't involve it thanks to it being aimed at the younger audience (meaning more battles), though i believe SHAFT did a wonderful job with it. It had to be considering its a summer OAV. :3

[Conri]

Wow, some harsh comments in here..

I really enjoyed the Haru OVA...not for the unsurprising fanservice, but for the surprising amount of character personality that they were able to cram into such a short time. There are tons of humorous moments between all the members of the class. The animation and character designs are really pleasant. I'm sure I'll like it even more if/when a subbed version comes about, though I was able to follow most of it with my meager Japanese.

The sky diving scene wins. I could watch it over and over again. Damn, I love these characters!

[Deathkillz]

^ its already subbed just so you know ^_^
lol even in the ova the chupacabra is making its debute
i really loved the story of this...its like a series of mini plots featuring the minor charaters with the background plot to get asuna and negi to become friends again...
the fanservice is insane...lucky negi getting crushed by breasts tbh i think the animation style has grown on me so much that i dont really mind it anymore...or rather im beginning to lose the ability to recall the animation style of the original series...maybe a few rewatches might sort this out
highlight of the ova for me is setsuna's perverted thoughts so cute!

[ShadowVlican]

SHAFT did one hell of a job animating that!! it was a blast to watch and hear!!!

now if only [desu] can do it justice

KUDOS TO SHAFT!!

[ChronoReverse]

Excellent animation as expected from Shaft. I guess the OVAs is where they packed all the fanservice that can't be in the anime because of the time slot. What a fun fluffy show though.

[Guardian Enzo]

Really thought this was excellent, and disagree heartily with the "no plot" attacks. Simplicity is fine, if the point gets made - and there was a lot in 23 minutes, here. I thought the OVA did a beautiful job of illuminating the complex relationship between Negi and Asuna - which is in many ways the heart of the manga - without overplaying it, and crammed in a lot of humor and fanservice to boot. All done with the now evident SHAFT style and panache - though they're interpreting rather than copying the manga, clearly they "get" the material. What's not to like here?

[Wandering_Youth]

An interesting OVA this is.

The sky diving scene was very cool and animation quality was great. The fanservice didn't really bother me but some of the character's personalities did because they seem to be...hyped? For example, I know Secchan is fond of and friendly with Konoka, but she's like a total perv in this OVA. Is she like this in the manga as well because I never saw her act that way in the original anime. One interesting thing I saw in the OVA was the little breaks in the OVA where it showed each girl about their personalities. I would of never though Konoka was into the Occult Stuff and some of the girl's likes and dislikes were funny. I never read the manga so it was interesting for me to see each with different physical features. I like how the twins had different eye colors because it makes them more unique and easy for me to tell them apart.

[Vexx]

Early in the manga, Setsuna is very reserved but as Konoka encourages her to be more outgoing... it becomes clear that Setsuna is very deeply attached to Konoka by the way she blushes and freaks out when Konoka is on display.

There's one bit where Konoka takes an aging spell and turns 17ish.... Setsuna nearly loses her jaw doing a jawdrop.

I'm not going to completely dropkick the first anime because it did a few things rather well but it missed the boat on many many facets of the characters. Setsuna being one of them. We shall see whether the "spirit" of the characters is maintained in the "!?" series.

[Wandering_Youth]

Well since we're talking about Setsuna can anyone give me example of her dislikes? It said in the OVA she dislike bent things but that was rather vague. As funny as that already sounds I can't really grasp that because alot of things in the world are bent.

[Vexx]

Hmmm, I don't remember anything said about "bent" things in the manga ... wonder if that is a translation oddity. Setsuna understands her position and is very formal... so *casualness* makes her very uncomfortable. This evolves as the series progresses and her comrades discover things about her. Though Konoka is very dear to her, she also gets flustered a lot when Konoka treats her as an equal or "play buddie".

[Darklightz]

Hello curvacious babes!SHAFT did a great job on this one!It was fun seeing the girls form the class just having a good time.

I never thought Setsuna liked Konoka so much,the way she keeps checking her out!

Konoka : Secchan,why is your face all red?

Setsuna : Um,because it's hot..*staring at Konoka's body* It's hot...it's hot...

And of course the skydiving scene was awesome.

Note : When Zazie is juggling Kamo-kun,the balls are red from far away then become yellow on the close up,then red again then yellow again.Weird.

[Vexx]

Okay.. I finally sat down and watched the whole OVA special.

Basically a pared down version of the summer break beach trip in the manga.
It kind of played like a slideshow of the trip, short bits split by still shots of the girls and their attributes. Setsuna probably came off the worst as a smitten fangirl of Konoka, but I guess the viewing audience is already aware of their story. The animation of Negi in boob smothering didn't play as well animated as in the manga but no big deal.

They did cover the "plothole" of Eva with a quick cut of the dean pumping out excuse memos which will make absolutely no sense to anyone seeing Negima for the first time

Good lord, I've not seen so many risque shots of teenage behinds and upshots since... o ever. I guess they're getting it all out of their system before diving under the "dinnertime showtime" blanket.

Only complaint I've surfaced is that the episode just seemed kind of sugar shallow but what the hell, most of the time is spent hitting the pause/single frame button anyway

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Only complaint I've surfaced is that the episode just seemed kind of sugar shallow but what the hell, most of the time is spent hitting the pause/single frame button anyway

heck its just a fun ova tbh it doesnt need much of a plot to be stunning...just enjoy the mass fanservice lol...the series will take care of the rest
and i can say that my finger is sore from bashing the pause button LOL!

[BrokenWingz]

I agree, it was quite fun watching the OVA, even more so than Negima?!( maybe due to the fanservice xD). Which is also why i didn't notice Asuna's eyes were the same colour.