(L) Negima Manga Discussion

[Xacual]

I wouldn't say it would be complicated, I mean Negi's class already has a robot, a vampire, a ghost, whatever zazie is, etc. I'm sure no one would notice at all.

[ZeroForever]

yeah Xacual is right on that part... class 3-A is already inhuman enough that it doesn't even matter at this point if he wanted to port them the race factor would the least effective counter argument.

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by ZeroForever

yeah Xacual is right on that part... class 3-A is already inhuman enough that it doesn't even matter at this point if he wanted to port them the race factor would the least effective counter argument.

Sure, but all of them can POSE as human, except Chachamaru, who can be passed off as a product of science. Assuming there's anyone left in the class at the end of this story arc who doesn't know Negi's "secret," disguising a pair of girls with animal ears is another issue entirely. I'm not saying they couldn't do it or anything like that, but it would just be another thing with the potential to make everyone's lives more interesting.

[Fandal]

How did Kotaro hide his ears?

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Fandal

How did Kotaro hide his ears?

Kotaru is a wolf youkai: a supernatural being. I believe it's possible for him to assume a completely human form if he wants to.

[chaosprophet]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

The level of Negi's current opposition is already INSANELY beyond that of normal mages, police, and armies in the magical world. Fate could almost certainly single-handedly wipe out all the armed forces who are here at the city showing off. He is just ludicrous. The idea of getting more and more powerful enemies beyond him? No. It's just dumb. It negates any point of having law-enforcement forces like the mage knights, it brings up the question of why these villains haven't just WISHED THE WORLD OUT OF EXISTENCE and replaced it with whatever ideal they have, and it turns the series into some stupid DragonBallZ clone.

Negi is already ridiculously powerful. He doesn't NEED to keep amping up. Only his stupid psychological issues make him think otherwise. He's a freaking ten-year-old who can out-fight adults who've spent their lives training. It's nuts. So no, no more power-ups. No stronger and stronger enemies. If Fate is defeated well before the manga ends (I'm still not confident that will happen), change the rules. Have the situation end up that, in order to find his father Negi has to confront problems that can't be solved with overwhelming power. Situations where all of his "gotta get strongerstrongerstrongerstrongerstronger" nonsense is meaningless.

While the normal individuals in the magic world are week theyr weapons and weapons are strong... like that anciente dragon... the strongest battleships... you can see that Rakan could still defeat some of these but not if they all came at him at the same time. That's why the bad guys created an war in the world because they couldn't defeat it all by themselves.

I agree with you on how bad is to have something like in DBZ where new enemies always stroger appeared out of nowhere to a point where they could destroy a planet with a wink. But I don't think Negima is anywhere that level and think that it would be okay if Negi gets to fight an enemy of the level of Life Maker that he would need to be at least around his level to be able to defeat.
Well what I want to say is that KA can still get the characters stronger before he starts to go to an DBZ path.

Negi end up fighting an enemy up to the power of Life Makes

[MidnightViper88]

Originally Posted by Riker

The most probable explanation would be that time in the magical world flows faster than the real world.[/SPOILER]

That wouldn't make sense...There aren't many constants to judge in comparison to the real world and the magical world, but I do know of one constant that could be used...During Rakan's flashback movie during the prime days of Ala Rubra, Nagi makes mention of a big bomb being built in the real world that would be used to end all wars, obviously a reference to the WWII Manhattan Project...

All things equal, the timeline is still confusing...Constants explicitly known relating age and year is that Negi was born in 1994, 25 years before the last one Nagi was 10 when he won the Mahora Martial Arts Tournament...The story of Negima starts in 2003 when Negi is 9 and about a year has passed according to the grade advancement of Negi's class putting the current story year at 2004 and Negi at 10, and all things equal and continuous with real world time, puts Nagi at 35...

But how would a man who's now 35 years old talk in real time when he was about ~15 years old about the Manhattan Project which was almost 5 decades ago real life time at Nagi's age? If we were to factor real life time with Nagi at 15 and the creation of the Manhattan project of 1942, that would make Nagi 77 years old real world time when he should be "35"...

Thus, the magic world's time moves way slower than real world time...At what ratio, who knows...

[ellifeedn]

Here's a theory I haven't seen: the last gate in the ruins of Ostia could double as a time portal.

[typhonsentra]

They could explain it that once the two worlds are cut off from each other they travel down different timeframes, kinda like in either Narnia or Digimon.

[OutPhase]

Originally Posted by Iromaru

Also I don't like his recent development. He became too strong too fast, get a far too OP artifact and turned SSJ. Not to mention he'll loose some of this power after his contract with Theo end, so his future fights will be on lover level than this one.

My prediction is that after chapter 249, Negi will try to avoid using ME and fight with the current strength he has when he fights Fate and Co. in the future. What's the point of victory if the powers you have gained to achieve your win consumes you and distracts you from your original goal or worse?

If Negi stops using his game-breaking powers later in the arc, it wouldn't faze me.

Originally Posted by Fandal

How did Kotaro hide his ears

In volume 5, he retracted them into his hair.

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

The level of Negi's current opposition is already INSANELY beyond that of normal mages, police, and armies in the magical world. Fate could almost certainly single-handedly wipe out all the armed forces who are here at the city showing off. He is just ludicrous. The idea of getting more and more powerful enemies beyond him? No. It's just dumb. It negates any point of having law-enforcement forces like the mage knights, it brings up the question of why these villains haven't just WISHED THE WORLD OUT OF EXISTENCE and replaced it with whatever ideal they have, and it turns the series into some stupid DragonBallZ clone.

Negi is already ridiculously powerful. He doesn't NEED to keep amping up. Only his stupid psychological issues make him think otherwise. He's a freaking ten-year-old who can out-fight adults who've spent their lives training. It's nuts. So no, no more power-ups. No stronger and stronger enemies. If Fate is defeated well before the manga ends (I'm still not confident that will happen), change the rules. Have the situation end up that, in order to find his father Negi has to confront problems that can't be solved with overwhelming power. Situations where all of his "gotta get strongerstrongerstrongerstrongerstronger" nonsense is meaningless.

This is my biggest concern about the series. If the "AAAAAAARGH I'M THE STRONGESTESTEST" big bad isn't someone new/a once thought of as friend turned foe, then it's going to be an old enemy looking for revenge or a reunion of antogonists coming together with the same goal in mind. To end the series after this arc would make the series feel incomplete (what with there being half a school year left and wanting to get to know some of the other characters in deeper detail), and to extend it into a "world' strongest man" contest would make it dull and tiring. Personally, I wouldn't be too bummed out if Negi became Peacy McPacifist for the second half of the school year if it meant that the manga doesn't go down the Dragonball Z route, but I want Akamatsu to avoid two things:

1. Becoming a fisticuffs series.

2. A time skip. I would crap hot lead bricks if I saw "X months later..." and it skipped to Negi finishing up his teaching job.

[Zetsuen_no_Myuu]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

The level of Negi's current opposition is already INSANELY beyond that of normal mages, police, and armies in the magical world. Fate could almost certainly single-handedly wipe out all the armed forces who are here at the city showing off. He is just ludicrous. The idea of getting more and more powerful enemies beyond him? No. It's just dumb. It negates any point of having law-enforcement forces like the mage knights, it brings up the question of why these villains haven't just WISHED THE WORLD OUT OF EXISTENCE and replaced it with whatever ideal they have, and it turns the series into some stupid DragonBallZ clone.

Negi is already ridiculously powerful. He doesn't NEED to keep amping up. Only his stupid psychological issues make him think otherwise. He's a freaking ten-year-old who can out-fight adults who've spent their lives training. It's nuts. So no, no more power-ups. No stronger and stronger enemies. If Fate is defeated well before the manga ends (I'm still not confident that will happen), change the rules. Have the situation end up that, in order to find his father Negi has to confront problems that can't be solved with overwhelming power. Situations where all of his "gotta get strongerstrongerstrongerstrongerstronger" nonsense is meaningless.

We hardly know much about Fate 3.0, and from what has been told, and from what we can gather through assumption, Fate 1.0 is stronger than the Fate Negi's knows. He is nearly on Nagi's level, and Nagi is incredibly powerful. Taking that into account, Nagi is still way above Negi even now. When Negi first came to MW, he was already above 90% of everyone in MW. No regular police, armies, or magic knights would have had been a match for him. Hell, even some of the girls are above the general forces of MW.

Though, with how things were handled, it was made believe since Negi is such a fast learner. Being Nagi's son helps too. Kaede, and Setsuna were already powerful to begin with. Asuna is catching up very quickly, which is probably due to her hidden talents that have yet to be fully awakened.

With all that, Fate (3.0) is not someone that's completely unstoppable, or someone who can simply take over the world... Logically, there exist some obstacles since if that wasn't true, there wouldn't be a need for an objective.

Power is what helped end the war, and power really is everything. But, as Nagi has shown, even the most powerful person can't handle everything by his own power. He's only one person, after all. And human... Give Negi more credit, he's really bright and smart, after all. It's not like he hasn't thought of it before. He knows his priorities, he always has.

You're not taking in his character developments... Negi only feels really frustrated when Fate is brought up, or when he thinks of him. Negi maybe be really strong for his age, and with such freakish talents, but getting hammered and beaten really shocked his way of thinking as he really can't do anything when Fate is around. His way of thinking is only logically, is it not? Essentially, it's power to protect, so he needs to be strong to prevent another incident like the gate port from occurring again.

Originally Posted by OutPhase

This is my biggest concern about the series. If the "AAAAAAARGH I'M THE STRONGESTESTEST" big bad isn't someone new/a once thought of as friend turned foe, then it's going to be an old enemy looking for revenge or a reunion of antogonists coming together with the same goal in mind. To end the series after this arc would make the series feel incomplete (what with there being half a school year left and wanting to get to know some of the other characters in deeper detail), and to extend it into a "world' strongest man" contest would make it dull and tiring. Personally, I wouldn't be too bummed out if Negi became Peacy McPacifist for the second half of the school year if it meant that the manga doesn't go down the Dragonball Z route, but I want Akamatsu to avoid two things:

1. Becoming a fisticuffs series.

2. A time skip. I would crap hot lead bricks if I saw "X months later..." and it skipped to Negi finishing up his teaching job.

You lost me...

1) The last 7 chapters can be called a cool or "manly" fight. It can be called a good ol' fisticuffs fight filled with recognition, joy, inspiration, and the burning soul just for the hell of it near the end of the match. It did focused on the details more, something which it hasn't done before. It had elements prevalent from distinct shounen genres. But I doubt it would start focusing on that now. It was done on purpose, and to test out new waters. But ken already said it will return to normal. But that doesn't mean he won't do it again. But that shouldn't really be a problem, having more focused action is only natural when faced with an important of deadly foe. If he did it again, I'd expect things to go back to normal shortly after the fights. It would please nearly everyone that way.

2) A time skip might be possible, but only after everything has concluded and wrapped up. The Negi deciding to continue life as a teacher, and time skip happens as an epilogue has been thought of before. Negi finally obtains enough power to free Eva, and he returns to fulfill the promise to his master. After completing it, it ends with Eva having one final test, a battle. In the end, either Eva wins or Negi wins, though, it is more appropriate with Negi winning as a coming of age series for boys... Regardless, Eva decides to stay around, or decides to travel, still determined to follow Nagi.


I don't know why some are thinking this. I mean... What does DBZ clone/route even mean? Seeing as how Negima is a series that have some classic elements of old and modern shounen, harem, moe, and some bishoujo, I can't even see it happening. And don't say because a stronger enemy is inevitable. If that was the case, then it would had been "DBZ" when Fate was first introduced. Or any series that have stronger enemies as the story/plot progressed, which basically means a boundless number of series.

[Wargumm1i]

I do think that Negi will decided in the end too continue on being a teacher for Mahora after his training is complete, but It also would not suprise me he would leave and help people and protect the world, from people like Fate.

[OutPhase]

Originally Posted by HailEmperor

You lost me...

Perhaps I was a bit vague on what I was trying to say.

What I meant was that I am a little worried that it might become a manga that is about the protagonist and the hero one-upping each other in power. Since Akamatsu originally wanted a shonen manga, the idea that it could turn into something like DBZ is very well possible in the future, but as for now he is trying to keep a good balance of fights and story/interaction with the characters. They even did this during the Rakan fight with a flashback recapping an event that occured between training and the day of the fight.

1) The last 7 chapters can be called a cool or "manly" fight.

Hell yeah it was.

It can be called a good ol' fisticuffs fight filled with recognition, joy, inspiration, and the burning soul just for the hell of it near the end of the match. It did focused on the details more, something which it hasn't done before. It had elements prevalent from distinct shounen genres.

Yeah. Instead of the protagonist having a strategy that can be summed up as "I'm going to go in there and kick some ass. The plan: just kick some ass". Most shonen manga heroes would be a little worried about letting the foe underestimate them, but then again, in most manga it's not a tournament fight but a case of life or death, meaning that trying to catching them off-guard like that wouldn't lead you to pushing up daisies.

But I doubt it would start focusing on that now. It was done on purpose, and to test out new waters.

I thought it was something that Akamatsu Ken wanted from day one more so than testing new waters.

But ken already said it will return to normal.But that doesn't mean he won't do it again. But that shouldn't really be a problem, having more focused action is only natural when faced with an important of deadly foe. If he did it again, I'd expect things to go back to normal shortly after the fights. It would please nearly everyone that way.

I would be immensly pleased in that case. Let's just hope executive meddling doesn't try to hi-jack his plans and pressure him to go the shonen-only route, but then again, he could always do what he did in the beginning and disguise it as what they want and suddenly shift to what he wants.

2) A time skip might be possible, but only after everything has concluded and wrapped up. The Negi deciding to continue life as a teacher, and time skip happens as an epilogue has been thought of before. Negi finally obtains enough power to free Eva, and he returns to fulfill the promise to his master. After completing it, it ends with Eva having one final test, a battle. In the end, either Eva wins or Negi wins, though, it is more appropriate with Negi winning as a coming of age series for boys... Regardless, Eva decides to stay around, or decides to travel, still determined to follow Nagi.

Well, if you put it that way, it could open up the final saga in the manga's run.The finding of Nagi is probably going to be one of the last things they take care of but the final arc will most likely be about Asuna and her realization of her forgotten past.

I don't know why some are thinking this. I mean... What does DBZ clone/route even mean?

Fight---> Become stronger---> Fight new big bad and win---> New stronger opponent shows up---> Fight---> Lose fight and become stronger.---> Fight new big bad and win---> New stronger opponent shows up---> Fight---> Lose fight and become stronger.---> Fight new big bad and win---> New stronger opponent shows up---> Fight---> Lose fight and become stronger.---> Fight new big bad and win---> New stronger opponent shows up---> Fight---> Lose fight and become stronger.---> Fight new big bad and win

And so on and so on. The only reason why i think Negima fans are becoming worried is because Negi became ten times more badass over the course of the three days before the Rakan fight and the changed estimates on Fate's power (3000 to 8000) coupled with their desire to see the manga to continue running, but since it's a shonen fighting manga with a crapload of characters they are going to need something to fight every now and then between periods of character growth, and if Negi is stronger than Fate and every other adversary at the moment, they might have to make a new opponent stronger than they are. I and many others like the fights because they are modest in length, the backgrounds are a marvel to behold, and we get to see more old languages being used. (I can't be the only one to have raised an eyebrow to see Chao using LXX/Greek, right?)

Negima has not been the most predictable manga on the face of the earth, so we are never quite sure what future stories or events Akamatsu Ken has planned out for us.

Seeing as how Negima is a series that have some classic elements of old and modern shounen, harem, moe, and some bishoujo, I can't even see it happening. And don't say because a stronger enemy is inevitable. If that was the case, then it would had been "DBZ" when Fate was first introduced.

He came out of the blue, and at the time I did worry about that, and the fact that he looked as young as Negi, I rolled by eyes and said "Oh boy, it's the obligatory rival character who is around the same age as the hero but it more skilled than him in every way possible. That hasn't been done countless times". To combat this pessimistic mentality, I made a guess that Fate is a lot older than he looks, and it appears I was dead on. Because of this, I can accept the huge gap in strength between them knowing that Fate has had more experience in combat over the decades. Now here are the million-dollar questions I want answered later on: Why does he take the form of that of a child, and why is he known as "the third"?

[Sian]

futhermore ... i think that you places to much credit to everyday man in MW (just think of the chart from way eariler where a mage from MW was charted 2 and a housecat ½) ... other than that they're aware of magic and might be able to toss around a few cantrips (with the help of items directly or indirectly) i don't think that they're any more schooled in magic than such ... just like fairly few (outside US) is schooled in firearms, but its still something pretty much anyone knows, and good a reasonable idea about how to shoot with it (how to aim or not screw up ... thats a whole other question)

I'd say that Yue's group even though they're clearly still students which have been thrown into a glorified police support (well ... more like bouncers/volenteers at festivals) i'd say that they're between the top 20 or even 15 in procent ... merely by attending magic classes

[chaosprophet]

Originally Posted by Wargumm1i

I do think that Negi will decided in the end too continue on being a teacher for Mahora after his training is complete, but It also would not suprise me he would leave and help people and protect the world, from people like Fate.

Well I could see he staying as a teacher for a little longer after he completes his training but at most until his currently class graduate.

[Zetsuen_no_Myuu]

Originally Posted by OutPhase

What I meant was that I am a little worried that it might become a manga that is about the protagonist and the hero one-upping each other in power. Since Akamatsu originally wanted a shonen manga, the idea that it could turn into something like DBZ is very well possible in the future, but as for now he is trying to keep a good balance of fights and story/interaction with the characters. They even did this during the Rakan fight with a flashback recapping an event that occured between training and the day of the fight.

It hasn't reached that trail or development. Not yet, at least. So be glad about that. Even early on, Negi did wanted to train with Eva and such, but his decision wasn't hinged on beating anyone. It was mostly to be someone like his father. Negi doesn't prefer to fight, unless necessary. During School Festivial, he was reluctant to join the tournament until he heard about his father as the previous winner. So, Negi was inspired, and for other reasons related to his father.

But recently, or rather ever since MW started, Negi's mindset hasn't morphed, but rather, progressed. His past mindset is still there, and he is still logical. What furthered him is the idea to protect. Protecting is one of the most prevalent theme/element there is in fiction, and of course, exist more in shounen in general when it comes to anime or manga. How it is executed and how it shapes the character is what matters most. You can read a hundred different stories of the same recurring theme and element, but what really matter most is how they are all executed differently that makes it better, and more interesting than the others. Sometimes, it can also be...different, without breaking outside of the concept.

Ken didn't want to do a shounen, it already was one. Some people are getting mixed up with what they have heard. Even though I said it before, some people are confusing shounen as a genre and what Ken wanted.

What Ken didn't want was to do a harem series as a shounen (boys, teens). And it isn't known if his editor wanted it to be a comedy or romance one...either way, Ken wanted to do a coming of age action adventure series, and that is what we always had. It can't be any more obvious if you look back at the setup of the story.

Originally Posted by OutPhase

And so on and so on. The only reason why i think Negima fans are becoming worried is because Negi became ten times more badass over the course of the three days before the Rakan fight and the changed estimates on Fate's power (3000 to 8000) coupled with their desire to see the manga to continue running, but since it's a shonen fighting manga with a crapload of characters they are going to need something to fight every now and then between periods of character growth, and if Negi is stronger than Fate and every other adversary at the moment, they might have to make a new opponent stronger than they are. I and many others like the fights because they are modest in length, the backgrounds are a marvel to behold, and we get to see more old languages being used. (I can't be the only one to have raised an eyebrow to see Chao using LXX/Greek, right?)

He did indeed got more...badass. And stronger. But I think you are overlooking the fact that Negi, even before the Rakan's meddling, was already above every known opposition, minus Fate. The last barrier was Fate. And Rakan only entered just to test Negi, despite what he says. Never trust Jack.

Besides, who do you think Fate's girls are there for? For the other girls to get some action, of course.

Yes, the Latin and Ancient Greek elements are alluring. All high ancient spells are spoken in Ancient Greek. The details, little and small, adds major bonuses to the series. Like the magic circles and real world architectural designs.

Originally Posted by OutPhase

He came out of the blue, and at the time I did worry about that, and the fact that he looked as young as Negi, I rolled by eyes and said "Oh boy, it's the obligatory rival character who is around the same age as the hero but it more skilled than him in every way possible. That hasn't been done countless times". To combat this pessimistic mentality, I made a guess that Fate is a lot older than he looks, and it appears I was dead on. Because of this, I can accept the huge gap in strength between them knowing that Fate has had more experience in combat over the decades. Now here are the million-dollar questions I want answered later on: Why does he take the form of that of a child, and why is he known as "the third"?

I meant to imply that something like that exist in nearly any adventure/action series. Stronger enemies are only natural as the plot unfolds, or mysterious allies, characters/enemies are foreshadowed, etc. If you think that way, then they all must be DBZ.

Setsuna, Takamichi, Mana, and so on were all stronger than Negi, and that became apparent as the story went on. He has fought with some of them, and they were stronger than him then. Why didn't anyone call it DBZ then? The same logic applies to all, so it must be so.

[Iromaru]

Originally Posted by HailEmperor

He did indeed got more...badass. And stronger. But I think you are overlooking the fact that Negi, even before the Rakan's meddling, was already above every known opposition, minus Fate. The last barrier was Fate. And Rakan only entered just to test Negi, despite what he says. Never trust Jack.

The thing is Negi wasn't really that strong when they entered MW. Setsuna, Kaede and Kotarou were still stronger than him. Even after he gained ME it was still fine since he jumped to 2000, which is not that much above Setsuna and Kaeda and around Takamichi's lv. The problem is that after those 3 days before Rakan fight he suddenly jumped to 5-6k (at least) and that's too much IMHO.

Originally Posted by HailEmperor

Besides, who do you think Fate's girls are there for? For the other girls to get some action, of course.

The problem here is: Fate's girls don't seem that strong (at least from what we seen up to now). I'm worried that Ala Alba girls vs Fate's girls fights will be reduced to comedy and fanservice (like Rakan vs time/space duo) while Negi and Kotarou will be doing the serious fighting. And that would suck tremendously.

[Wargumm1i]

Originally Posted by Iromaru

The thing is Negi wasn't really that strong when they entered MW. Setsuna, Kaede and Kotarou were still stronger than him. Even after he gained ME it was still fine since he jumped to 2000, which is not that much above Setsuna and Kaeda and around Takamichi's lv. The problem is that after those 3 days before Rakan fight he suddenly jumped to 5-6k (at least) and that's too much IMHO.

Indeed Negi´s strenght was below Setsuna, Kaede, and Kotarou, but lets face it its still awesome that his power boost put him on the top and almost on the same level as Rakan, the thing is Rakan is both speed and strenght as well as really really high level magic. While Negi is much faster than Rakan, but still lacks strenght which makes him at a very disadvantage towards Rakan but he does have decent amount of magic.

Also I dont see whats so wrong with Negi growing alot in short time, he would not be called A genius if he didint atleast do something few people can.

Originally Posted by Iromaru

The problem here is: Fate's girls don't seem that strong (at least from what we seen up to now). I'm worried that Ala Alba girls vs Fate's girls fights will be reduced to comedy and fanservice (like Rakan vs time/space duo) while Negi and Kotarou will be doing the serious fighting. And that would suck tremendously.

I can see why your worried about that, but I dont think Fate´s girls are his main platoon, I think the girls are more like cover up for the real one who have yet too be seen since if those girls are the main enemy then it would suck a bit, but also the girls might look stronger than they originally look.

[chaosprophet]

Originally Posted by Wargumm1i

I can see why your worried about that, but I dont think Fate´s girls are his main platoon, I think the girls are more like cover up for the real one who have yet too be seen since if those girls are the main enemy then it would suck a bit, but also the girls might look stronger than they originally look.

Hey let's not forget thar there is that shadow guy that was in the last war, that misterious mage and Tsukuyomi. They all seems to be pretty strong too.

[OutPhase]

Originally Posted by Wargumm1i

I can see why your worried about that, but I dont think Fate´s girls are his main platoon, I think the girls are more like cover up for the real one who have yet too be seen since if those girls are the main enemy then it would suck a bit, but also the girls might look stronger than they originally look.

Strong? Yes. Battle-hardened? Aside from one or two of them, not really.

Their strength means nothing if they are easily side-tracked by mind games and perverted antics (I'm looking at you too, Setsuna).