(L) Negima Manga Discussion

[Klashikari]

^ well, I think SEXtum fared quite well compared to quartum

[JapaneseTeeth]

^Yeah, I think the enormous amounts of awesome here override any problems.

Spoiler for comment:

It's just great to see Negi back and kicking ass again. It's a sign that we're finally getting close to the arc's final battle. And bonus Setsuna and Mana in the splash page, even!

[quigonkenny]

Merctrin, I think your biggest problem might be a misunderstanding best encapsulated in two of your lines:

Originally Posted by Merctrin

Then Negi loses control of Magia Erebea. Again. After specifically going through training to avoid this.

Originally Posted by Merctrin

Didn’t we already get proof of Negi being awesome after conquering Magia Erebea?

Negi never "conquered Magia Erebea". His "training to avoid this" was only partially successful at best. His conversation with Scroll Eva right before he left Teodora's Resort made that pretty clear, I thought, as did the fact that he was still—until quite recently, actually—wearing the arm coverings. I can see how getting the impression that control of Magia Erebea was no longer an issue may have made his later falterings more frustrating, but to me they were properly foreshadowed. Now, after his latest trip inside his own head, he might have finally resolved it, but I think that his solution to the Magic World problem is going to end up nerfing the hell out of him and rendering ther whole Magia Erebea thing moot, anyway.

[OverMaster]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

That's the biggest disadvantage of a multi-genre series, really. Some of us were drawn by the fluffy school moments, some for the harem shenanigans, and some for stuff blowing up, and Akamatsu must juggle between them all. And that's not our fault; the series did promise them all.

Take the latest arc for example. Many wished for it to end quickly and they have the right for it, since there's been less on the factor that drawn them to Negima. Me? I think it's the moment that the series started to actually move from great to awesome, since it's the action that appealed to me most. In fact, I almost gave up this series back during the Kyoto arc only to return when my favorite lil' vampire iced a big damn demon god...

When the arc is finally over and the obligatory breather volume followed, I'm pretty sure I'll be the one wishing for that to end...

Frankly, it's the publishers fault for not letting him do what he want from the first place. Genre shifts are very risky

My thoughts mirror Random Wanderer's. Disliking the current arc DOESN'T mean I want to go back to the so-so cliched comedy of the first two volumes. But Mundus Magicus is just pushing the envelope too far in the opposite direction.

[Merctrin]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

Merctrin, I think your biggest problem might be a misunderstanding best encapsulated in two of your lines:


Negi never "conquered Magia Erebea". His "training to avoid this" was only partially successful at best. His conversation with Scroll Eva right before he left Teodora's Resort made that pretty clear, I thought, as did the fact that he was still—until quite recently, actually—wearing the arm coverings. I can see how getting the impression that control of Magia Erebea was no longer an issue may have made his later falterings more frustrating, but to me they were properly foreshadowed. Now, after his latest trip inside his own head, he might have finally resolved it, but I think that his solution to the Magic World problem is going to end up nerfing the hell out of him and rendering ther whole Magia Erebea thing moot, anyway.

That's bad phrasing on my part. I sort of expected him to lose control at some point, because I agree there was foreshadowing, it's just the way that it was done that's getting on my nerves. For me, his latest faltering with it is frustrating more because it happens 15 chapters after the end of his training than because it felt resolved. ...It probably doesn't help that some of those chapters were spent in a dreamworld.

I suppose the way to put it would be that the sudden, very serious issue of having Negi incapacitated seemed really out of place. It's dramatic enough that it feels like it should have been put later in the final battle, not during the early parts of it.

Spoiler for 315:

Geez, I don't know. At 3am my reasons for bringing up Magia Erebea as a point against my interest in seeing Negi's fight with Quartum made all kind of sense.

On the plus side, it was nice to see Setsuna and Mana again, even if their fights weren't in detail. And my issues with the pointlessness of it aside, Negi does have a pretty awesome fight with Quartum.

All in all I'm probably not going to mind any of this much at all when the official volumes come out, but right now it feels like things could have been handled better.

ETA: And I guess I didn't get it across very well, but personally, I think my biggest problem is that Quartum feels like a pointless character to me. How that led to me ranting about everything I have the vaguest problem with... uh. I'm still not sure.

[Random Wanderer]

So... odds on Sextum joining the harem?

Disliking the current arc DOESN'T mean I want to go back to the so-so cliched comedy of the first two volumes. But Mundus Magicus is just pushing the envelope too far in the opposite direction.

I agree. The earliest stuff wasn't that enjoyable, and I don't think we should go back just to that, but there seemed to be a good balance during the summer vacation chapters, before everyone headed off to Wales. Taken together with the school festival storyline, I think it worked just about perfectly in balancing the intense drama and action with a breather period. The Magic World has pushed things much further and much longer, though, and I feel the balance has shifted too far in the wrong direction.

[Blank-Mage]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

So... odds on Sextum joining the harem?

I'm gonna say 3:1 against.

[shiroi mahotsukai]

Originally Posted by Blank-Mage

I'm gonna say 3:1 against.

This is manga we're talking about, the higher the odds the greater the chance of it happening. It's like a reversal of the laws of gambling.

[Random Wanderer]

Well he's already stripped her (and made her blush in the process) so she's following the track for it.

[GreatTeacherKen]

I'd be more surprised if Sextum doesn't join the harem. I don't think there's been a women who's totally immune to the Springfield charm. And more ridiculous things have happened in the manga like, for example, anything Jack Rakan does.

[JapaneseTeeth]

If we weren't so close to the final battle, I'd say it was certain, but as it is I don't know if we have enough time to get her develop feelings for him. If there's another arc after this one it's possible.

Although I'd kinda like to see her fall for somebody else (like maybe Kotaro) just to throw the readers for a loop. And probably confuse Chisame.

[Flower]

Originally Posted by GreatTeacherKen

....I personally enjoyed the series from the very beginning and I have never found it dull. However, I definitely got more interested once the series became more action oriented and plot driven. For me, the series moved from very good to something special after the poignant resolution of the Mahora tournament (the brief father-son reunion)

Same thing for me.

[AlphaDragoon]

OH MY EFFING GOD at the RAW of the chapter. Negi...holy crap Negi. And I thought he handed Tsukuyomi a real smackdown a while back, but clearly I hadn't seen anything yet.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by JapaneseTeeth

If we weren't so close to the final battle, I'd say it was certain, but as it is I don't know if we have enough time to get her develop feelings for him. If there's another arc after this one it's possible.

Although I'd kinda like to see her fall for somebody else (like maybe Kotaro) just to throw the readers for a loop. And probably confuse Chisame.

this is only the halfway mark for the story. The Author already it will be a entire school year and this is only half.

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

this is only the halfway mark for the story. The Author already it will be a entire school year and this is only half.

People have been saying this is only halfway since before I started reading this manga, two years ago. We've gone through nearly 100 chapters since then. I rather doubt any statements of "we're only halfway" can still be considered valid.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

People have been saying this is only halfway since before I started reading this manga, two years ago. We've gone through nearly 100 chapters since then. I rather doubt any statements of "we're only halfway" can still be considered valid.

that is because 2 yrs ago, we are still in the same arc.

[GreatTeacherKen]

Well whether it's halfway or not depends on how long Akamatsu wants the story to go. In any case, I doubt it'll be over any time soon because there are a lot of things unresolved. Plus, I think the series is popular enough to avoid the danger of being cut short.

[JapaneseTeeth]

From what I've heard Akamatsu's plan was to end at around chapter 400, so we have enough time for maybe one mid-sized arc after this one wraps up. Of course, he made that announcement a while back, so it's entirely possible that his plan changed.

And as for the "entire school year" thing, we're not exactly clear on how much time has passed since Ala Alba entered the Magic World, so we can't really know exactly how that will affect the story.

In short, we really don't know how long it's going to be. Any info concerning length is so old that we don't know if it still applies.

[Flower]

Hmm ... I hope the manga is not dragged out ad infinitum like the Naruto manga has been (at least for my tastes) ... I am thinking that returning to England would be a good after this huge arc would be a nice place to finish things....

[OverMaster]

Originally Posted by Mycanid

Hmm ... I hope the manga is not dragged out ad infinitum like the Naruto manga has been (at least for my tastes) ... I am thinking that returning to England would be a good after this huge arc would be a nice place to finish things....

Let's leave it at arriving to Mahora, a brief breather arc with assorted hinjinks, and then a final arc where the rest of the class gets freakin' something to do at long last. They deserve it after so much time in limbo.