(L) Negima Manga Discussion

[AstroNerdBoy]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Al is the biggest thorn in the theory. After all, he was arguably one of the closest people to Nagi, and yet he referred to Negi as Nagi's son. What reason would he have for lying about that?

Who said he's lying? Al knows only one thing -- Nagi is alive. Beyond that, Al has no clue what happened to Nagi but he did know that despite the belief that Nagi was dead, Nagi is alive.

Now, we know that Al was not with Nagi 100% of the time. In fact Nagi was alone for some time it appears. So Al wouldn't know if Nagi has a son or not. If Nagi says he has one and records a message for said son, then he has one.

For that matter, why would Nagi himself lie about that? Or why would he become a kid in the first place? Is it because he has lots of enemies, and wants to escape them? In that case, calling his child-self Springfield in the first place only creates more danger for himself, he could have just become someone else entirely and remain hidden. Or is it because he's in hiding, but plans to come back? In that case his and Al's plan during the tournament make no sense, as that would have been a better time to reveal the secret rather then burry it even deeper.

Fate.

Nagi ran into an enemy he could not defeat. Nagi also is limited by the fact that as a mage, he's the most powerful mage in terms of raw power, but pure crap when it comes to actually knowing spells. Sorry, but if you have to rely on a spell book as a combat mage, you are normally going to be toast. Nagi compensated for years by (1) having partners and (2) being trained in physical combat. We've seen how powerful Rakan is and for Nagi to battle him to a draw, we know Nagi is indeed powerful.

However, go up against someone superior to you in abilities -- Fate. You battle him to a draw. You realize that you won't beat him as you are now and that if Fate is going to be stopped, drastic measures need to be taken, more so since your former comrades are being taken out in one way or another.

So, what to do? You need to overcome your own weakness of not learning spells while at the same time remaining perfectly hidden. What better way to do this than becoming your own son with a complete memory block and new personality.

As "Negi Springfield," he's a mere child. Nagi already knows how children are often overlooked as threats. After all, Takamichi and Mystery Kid proved that when they were able to uncover information for Ala Rubra. As a kid, he's an innocent and even Fate has not been about killing the innocent (I cite how he didn't kill anyone during the Kyoto arc when he could have).

So, as Nagi's "son" with a new personality and no memory of his past (all of which is possible based on the magic we've seen to date), Nagi now has time to (1) stay perfectly hidden as a completely new person (and should someone from Cosmo come by and check Negi out to see if he's the real thing or Nagi in disguise, they will discover an innocent child who worships his father) and (2) it allows him to truly learn spells. Negi has a drive that Nagi lacked -- to study and work hard. Nagi's sheer abilities made him lazy. As Negi, he has those same abilities, but with a drive to learn what he failed to learn before.

This leads to the attack on Negi's old village. Whether the summoned demons were after Negi (doubtful since no further attacks were made to target Negi), Nagi (possible if someone believed Nagi was actually alive and hiding in the village), or part of some other plan, the result was the same -- Negi meets Nagi, is given a staff, and then Nagi is gone again. We know this Nagi was not Al (who's already trapped in Mahora) and while it COULD be someone with a bookmark, I think it is Nagi from the future when everything is resolved. Nagi has to return to the past to complete a predestination loop (or whatever time paradox term is appropriate) in order to give his alter-ego his staff and set Negi on his path. Nagi can do no more than that lest he alter the timeline further.

To those who would scoff at this, Akamatsu-sensei has already shown he'll do something similar in the Mahora Festival arc. Remember when Negi and company ran into themselves? The first time, they were clueless as to what happened. The second time, they played things so that events transpired as they had before for the earlier versions of themselves.

So yeah, at some point, I expect Nagi to emerge after being Negi for so long, with the combined knowledge of Nagi and Negi while at the same time, I expect Asuna to emerge with her memories as well.

[Asrialys]

Excuse me while I rearrange your post to make the proper quotes.

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

Now, we know that Al was not with Nagi 100% of the time. In fact Nagi was alone for some time it appears. So Al wouldn't know if Nagi has a son or not. If Nagi says he has one and records a message for said son, then he has one.

However, the Mahoro Festival tournament championships seems to imply that Nagi knew he was eventually getting a child. Albireo's artifact's books record the memories of the subject.

Fate.

Nagi ran into an enemy he could not defeat. Nagi also is limited by the fact that as a mage, he's the most powerful mage in terms of raw power, but pure crap when it comes to actually knowing spells. Sorry, but if you have to rely on a spell book as a combat mage, you are normally going to be toast. Nagi compensated for years by (1) having partners and (2) being trained in physical combat. We've seen how powerful Rakan is and for Nagi to battle him to a draw, we know Nagi is indeed powerful.

However, go up against someone superior to you in abilities -- Fate. You battle him to a draw. You realize that you won't beat him as you are now and that if Fate is going to be stopped, drastic measures need to be taken, more so since your former comrades are being taken out in one way or another.

So, what to do? You need to overcome your own weakness of not learning spells while at the same time remaining perfectly hidden. What better way to do this than becoming your own son with a complete memory block and new personality.

As "Negi Springfield," he's a mere child. Nagi already knows how children are often overlooked as threats. After all, Takamichi and Mystery Kid proved that when they were able to uncover information for Ala Rubra. As a kid, he's an innocent and even Fate has not been about killing the innocent (I cite how he didn't kill anyone during the Kyoto arc when he could have).

So, as Nagi's "son" with a new personality and no memory of his past (all of which is possible based on the magic we've seen to date), Nagi now has time to (1) stay perfectly hidden as a completely new person (and should someone from Cosmo come by and check Negi out to see if he's the real thing or Nagi in disguise, they will discover an innocent child who worships his father) and (2) it allows him to truly learn spells. Negi has a drive that Nagi lacked -- to study and work hard. Nagi's sheer abilities made him lazy. As Negi, he has those same abilities, but with a drive to learn what he failed to learn before.

This leads to the attack on Negi's old village. Whether the summoned demons were after Negi (doubtful since no further attacks were made to target Negi), Nagi (possible if someone believed Nagi was actually alive and hiding in the village), or part of some other plan, the result was the same -- Negi meets Nagi, is given a staff, and then Nagi is gone again. We know this Nagi was not Al (who's already trapped in Mahora) and while it COULD be someone with a bookmark, I think it is Nagi from the future when everything is resolved. Nagi has to return to the past to complete a predestination loop (or whatever time paradox term is appropriate) in order to give his alter-ego his staff and set Negi on his path. Nagi can do no more than that lest he alter the timeline further.

So yeah, at some point, I expect Nagi to emerge after being Negi for so long, with the combined knowledge of Nagi and Negi while at the same time, I expect Asuna to emerge with her memories as well.

So what's going to happen to Negi? Do you think that it's at all possible for everyone to continue on living like this? The Negi they know and love is not quite Negi? You make it sound like Nagi will manifest himself and take over. It's not like his personality will mesh with Negi's and still be the same Negi. After over 20 volumes of nothing but Negi, the truth comes out that the whole story is about a rivalry that hardly even involves Negi? I can't believe that the students will accept Nagi as their school teacher and mentor. There's no way he'll be the same.

And just because time travel has been introduced in the manga doesn't make it an indicator that it'll appear again.

I don't think Akamatsu would go so far as to throw off an entire fanbase (think of the shippers :P). It isn't exactly what he's known for and I don't see a shift in style anytime soon.

To those who would scoff at this, Akamatsu-sensei has already shown he'll do something similar in the Mahora Festival arc. Remember when Negi and company ran into themselves? The first time, they were clueless as to what happened. The second time, they played things so that events transpired as they had before for the earlier versions of themselves.

This doesn't really imply anything related to your argument, except that they were smart enough not to screw up. Also, I repeat, just because Akamatsu has used it once before, doesn't mean he's likely to use it again. I think reusing plot devices should be kept to a minimum, if at all used more than once.

One more thing:

This whole "It's a magic manga" from the past posts is also an ridiculous excuse. You make it sound that magic will make anything possible. I think such an exception only applies to Rakan, and just for comedic purposes. Otherwise, there should be limits to how far you can push the convenience of magic.

[ShadowThingy]

The theory sounds nice, but ive gotta agree with the above, it just doesnt sound Akamatsu-like to put in a plot twist with THAT much drama

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

Who said he's lying? Al knows only one thing -- Nagi is alive. Beyond that, Al has no clue what happened to Nagi but he did know that despite the belief that Nagi was dead, Nagi is alive.

Now, we know that Al was not with Nagi 100% of the time. In fact Nagi was alone for some time it appears. So Al wouldn't know if Nagi has a son or not. If Nagi says he has one and records a message for said son, then he has one.

Fate.

Nagi ran into an enemy he could not defeat. Nagi also is limited by the fact that as a mage, he's the most powerful mage in terms of raw power, but pure crap when it comes to actually knowing spells. Sorry, but if you have to rely on a spell book as a combat mage, you are normally going to be toast. Nagi compensated for years by (1) having partners and (2) being trained in physical combat. We've seen how powerful Rakan is and for Nagi to battle him to a draw, we know Nagi is indeed powerful.

However, go up against someone superior to you in abilities -- Fate. You battle him to a draw. You realize that you won't beat him as you are now and that if Fate is going to be stopped, drastic measures need to be taken, more so since your former comrades are being taken out in one way or another.

So, what to do? You need to overcome your own weakness of not learning spells while at the same time remaining perfectly hidden. What better way to do this than becoming your own son with a complete memory block and new personality.

As "Negi Springfield," he's a mere child. Nagi already knows how children are often overlooked as threats. After all, Takamichi and Mystery Kid proved that when they were able to uncover information for Ala Rubra. As a kid, he's an innocent and even Fate has not been about killing the innocent (I cite how he didn't kill anyone during the Kyoto arc when he could have).

So, as Nagi's "son" with a new personality and no memory of his past (all of which is possible based on the magic we've seen to date), Nagi now has time to (1) stay perfectly hidden as a completely new person (and should someone from Cosmo come by and check Negi out to see if he's the real thing or Nagi in disguise, they will discover an innocent child who worships his father) and (2) it allows him to truly learn spells. Negi has a drive that Nagi lacked -- to study and work hard. Nagi's sheer abilities made him lazy. As Negi, he has those same abilities, but with a drive to learn what he failed to learn before.

Ahh, now these are the better theories.

A big problem I see with this theory though, is Nagi's message to Negi. If Nagi is Negi, and Nagi wants to defeat Fate, then why did Nagi give a message to himself that would steer him away from that path? If he really wanted Negi to grow more powerful and keep chasing after him, he should have said something like 'Grow stronger, I'll be waiting for you' rather then 'you're not me, so live your own life.'

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

This leads to the attack on Negi's old village. Whether the summoned demons were after Negi (doubtful since no further attacks were made to target Negi), Nagi (possible if someone believed Nagi was actually alive and hiding in the village), or part of some other plan, the result was the same -- Negi meets Nagi, is given a staff, and then Nagi is gone again. We know this Nagi was not Al (who's already trapped in Mahora) and while it COULD be someone with a bookmark, I think it is Nagi from the future when everything is resolved. Nagi has to return to the past to complete a predestination loop (or whatever time paradox term is appropriate) in order to give his alter-ego his staff and set Negi on his path. Nagi can do no more than that lest he alter the timeline further.

To those who would scoff at this, Akamatsu-sensei has already shown he'll do something similar in the Mahora Festival arc. Remember when Negi and company ran into themselves? The first time, they were clueless as to what happened. The second time, they played things so that events transpired as they had before for the earlier versions of themselves.

Yes, but as I pointed out earlier, time travel is a recent invention of Chao's period. Considering the colonization of Mars and the fact that she doesn't share Negi's name, Chao is several generations away from Negi. 'Nagi of the future' doesn't have access to time traveling.

[Sian]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

Nekane's a reasonable enough guess, although her personality seems somewhat different than what little we've seen of Arika's.

I'm kind of afraid that Arika is dead, which would suck because she really seems pretty cool from what little we've seen of her.

Oh, as for the Arika = Nekane theory, remember that Nekane saw Asuna in a letter from Negi and yet didn't show any reaction other than "that's nice, he has a friend." I'd think seeing her little sister that suddenly would provoke SOME response.

Thus, I submit to you that I think Arika and Nekane are different people.

remember which chapter that was that we saw Nekane recieve the letter ... can't remember it personally and i'd like to reread it before i come up with a counterresponce ... though my initial memory only says that we saw what she said to anya ... not what she thought ... and even though its a long shot with the similarity between young Asuna and teenager it could be that she didn't knew whom she was off the bat

[Asrialys]

Originally Posted by Keroko

A big problem I see with this theory though, is Nagi's message to Negi. If Nagi is Negi, and Nagi wants to defeat Fate, then why did Nagi give a message to himself that would steer him away from that path? If he really wanted Negi to grow more powerful and keep chasing after him, he should have said something like 'Grow stronger, I'll be waiting for you' rather then 'you're not me, so live your own life.'

Ah, he did say that. And Negi was never meant to get involved with Fate's plans in the first place. They just happened to come across each other in the Magic World. Then hell broke loose between the two.

[AstroNerdBoy]

The best way to get someone to do what you want (especially if you know they are obsessed with you) is to tell them the opposite. This has been done in many a story over time. Off the top of my head, that was certainly something done in the TV series Babylon 5 where a character was told at some point not to do something. He was told this several times in fact. Then much later in the series, he did just the thing he'd been warned repeatedly not to do. Ironically, that also involved a bit of time travel. *lol*

As to Nagi being able to time travel, considering time travel hadn't even been invented in Negi's time and yet Negi was able to time travel, do you guys really think it would be that difficult to do again (whether Chao returns to the past again to assist or whatever)?

Finally, the whole Negi thing. I understand the idea of Negi changing being one that's hard to accept. So I ask this -- is Negi the same person he was when we were introduced to him in volume 1?

Next, I cite the whole Negi making himself Nagi. Will his students accept him if "Negi" is "Nagi?"

Yes.

Why?

They already are in a sense. The battle harem does from the standpoint of knowing that Negi has an alter-ego for disguise purposes named Nagi and that "Nagi" is the one fighting in the arena (or has been). If they were to learn that Nagi became Negi, I have no doubt that they'd accept that. I can see Asuna (assuming she's her un-tampered self, and more if she has her own childhood memories back) going off on him in her usual way for being wreckless while the others laugh.

That leaves those not in the battle harem. I think they too would accept this. Akira already does to a degree (and Natsumi too) since they now accept that Negi isn't just some genius, 10-year old British kid sent to be their homeroom and English teacher. They now accept the massive change that he's a wizard as well.

We know Yuuna's father is a mage and Yuuna doesn't know that at present. Will she reject her father because "Daddy is a mage! He must be BURNED AT THE STAKE!" Of course not. She'll accept it (and I suspect her mother is/was a mage as well) and she'd accept the idea that Nagi became Negi.

Makie? She has a love for Negi she doesn't quite understand considering his age. She too has accepted that he's a wizard and stuff, so finding out that Negi is in fact an adult and that Nagi and Negi are the same all the way around wouldn't bother her. In fact, I think it would help her to understand what she sees in him (which I believe is similar to what Nodoka sees -- someone more mature than a 10-year old should be).

Ayala -- she won't care.

The cheerleaders -- ditto.

In fact, the whole class won't have a problem with it as I see it. Eva certainly won't.

The reason I state this is because when Chao's forced-recognition spell worked (before they traveled back in time to stop it), the entire class accepted Negi as being a wizard. Now, one could say, "well, that's the effect of the forced-recognition spell" but the fact is, such a spell caused problems, not love, joy, and happiness. Chao knew this but the pain this would cause the mages now would in fact be for the best in the long run. However, Negi's class went, "Hey! There's magic in the world and our cute little teacher is a wizard. Is that cool or what?" If they could accept that, they can accept finding out that Nagi is Negi.

Originally Posted by Asrialys

Ah, he did say that. And Negi was never meant to get involved with Fate's plans in the first place. They just happened to come across each other in the Magic World. Then hell broke loose between the two.

True, Negi was never supposed to be involved in ANY of Fate's plans going back to Kyoto. And yet Negi has been able to do something Nagi would not have been able to do -- thwart those plans. Nagi wouldn't have been able to do it because they'd have been ready for him. Nagi's 10-year old "son" doesn't even enter their equations. He will from here on I think since Negi's on MW.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

The best way to get someone to do what you want (especially if you know they are obsessed with you) is to tell them the opposite. This has been done in many a story over time. Off the top of my head, that was certainly something done in the TV series Babylon 5 where a character was told at some point not to do something. He was told this several times in fact. Then much later in the series, he did just the thing he'd been warned repeatedly not to do. Ironically, that also involved a bit of time travel. *lol*

Ah, but was the intent of the one telling him not to do that for him to actually do that?

The fact that it happens in stories does not make the plan a good one. If Nagi wants for Negi to fight Fate, he would have encouraged him to fight. Yet, he did exactly the oposite.

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

As to Nagi being able to time travel, considering time travel hadn't even been invented in Negi's time and yet Negi was able to time travel, do you guys really think it would be that difficult to do again (whether Chao returns to the past again to assist or whatever)?

While I would love to see Chao again, yes, I think her return for such a specific thing is rather unlikely. And concidering she is the only pass towards time travel...

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

Finally, the whole Negi thing. I understand the idea of Negi changing being one that's hard to accept. So I ask this -- is Negi the same person he was when we were introduced to him in volume 1?

Next, I cite the whole Negi making himself Nagi. Will his students accept him if "Negi" is "Nagi?"

Yes.

Why?

They already are in a sense. The battle harem does from the standpoint of knowing that Negi has an alter-ego for disguise purposes named Nagi and that "Nagi" is the one fighting in the arena (or has been). If they were to learn that Nagi became Negi, I have no doubt that they'd accept that. I can see Asuna (assuming she's her un-tampered self, and more if she has her own childhood memories back) going off on him in her usual way for being wreckless while the others laugh.

That leaves those not in the battle harem. I think they too would accept this. Akira already does to a degree (and Natsumi too) since they now accept that Negi isn't just some genius, 10-year old British kid sent to be their homeroom and English teacher. They now accept the massive change that he's a wizard as well.

We know Yuuna's father is a mage and Yuuna doesn't know that at present. Will she reject her father because "Daddy is a mage! He must be BURNED AT THE STAKE!" Of course not. She'll accept it (and I suspect her mother is/was a mage as well) and she'd accept the idea that Nagi became Negi.

Makie? She has a love for Negi she doesn't quite understand considering his age. She too has accepted that he's a wizard and stuff, so finding out that Negi is in fact an adult and that Nagi and Negi are the same all the way around wouldn't bother her. In fact, I think it would help her to understand what she sees in him (which I believe is similar to what Nodoka sees -- someone more mature than a 10-year old should be).

Ayala -- she won't care.

The cheerleaders -- ditto.

In fact, the whole class won't have a problem with it as I see it. Eva certainly won't.

You say this as if Nagi and Negi have the same personality, but the entire manga so far has been about everyone who has known Nagi pointing out the difference between the two. Should Negi turn into Nagi, he no longer will be Negi, he will be an entirely different person with an entirely different personallity. Will the people of his class accept that? I think not.

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

The reason I state this is because when Chao's forced-recognition spell worked (before they traveled back in time to stop it), the entire class accepted Negi as being a wizard. Now, one could say, "well, that's the effect of the forced-recognition spell" but the fact is, such a spell caused problems, not love, joy, and happiness. Chao knew this but the pain this would cause the mages now would in fact be for the best in the long run. However, Negi's class went, "Hey! There's magic in the world and our cute little teacher is a wizard. Is that cool or what?" If they could accept that, they can accept finding out that Nagi is Negi.

Finding out Negi was a mage didn't involve Negi turning into an entirely different person. Negi was still Negi, yes, they found out he had a few nifty skills they weren't told about, but he was still very much Negi.

[GuidoHunter_Toki]

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

Finally, the whole Negi thing. I understand the idea of Negi changing being one that's hard to accept. So I ask this -- is Negi the same person he was when we were introduced to him in volume 1?

No, but he still has the same genral personality and thats not changing at all. Also he isn't becoming anything like Nagi, infact people in the story keep pointing out how he is so unlike Nagi.

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

They already are in a sense. The battle harem does from the standpoint of knowing that Negi has an alter-ego for disguise purposes named Nagi and that "Nagi" is the one fighting in the arena (or has been). If they were to learn that Nagi became Negi, I have no doubt that they'd accept that. I can see Asuna (assuming she's her un-tampered self, and more if she has her own childhood memories back) going off on him in her usual way for being wreckless while the others laugh.

That would be very strange, make no sense, be completely out of character. No one in real life would just suddenly accept something such as that without feeling emotionally destraught about it. You're losing someone you loved and they're being replaced by someone completely different, which brings me back to the point that Negi is nothing like Nagi.

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

That leaves those not in the battle harem. I think they too would accept this. Akira already does to a degree (and Natsumi too) since they now accept that Negi isn't just some genius, 10-year old British kid sent to be their homeroom and English teacher. They now accept the massive change that he's a wizard as well.

Yes but even though they know he is a wizard, what does that even have to do with his personality. Its like finding out someone has a secret job that seems strange, but the person is still the same as he was before, its just they know he has a secret. It doesn't change who he is. Negi never hid his true personality from anyone, that includes people who didn't know he was a wizard, so I don't see how you can compare people coming to terms of him having a secret to coming to terms with him becoming a completely different person than whom they grew to love.

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

We know Yuuna's father is a mage and Yuuna doesn't know that at present. Will she reject her father because "Daddy is a mage! He must be BURNED AT THE STAKE!" Of course not. She'll accept it (and I suspect her mother is/was a mage as well) and she'd accept the idea that Nagi became Negi.

Again does her dad being wizard change his personality in any way? Again you keep comparing personality changes to occupational ones as if someones job/hobby warps their personality.

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

Makie? She has a love for Negi she doesn't quite understand considering his age. She too has accepted that he's a wizard and stuff, so finding out that Negi is in fact an adult and that Nagi and Negi are the same all the way around wouldn't bother her.

Again Negi is not even close to being like Nagi so she would be upset because Negi would be literally gone from her life. But you think she will suddenly accept some completely different personality type right off the bat just because it used to be Negi? Since when does Negi being a wizard affect the way he acts towards people. He has always been caring and wanting to strive hard and protect others. He has been that way towards people who don't even know he was a wizard, so people suddenly knowing he is a wizard, they won't find anything changed about his personality, just that he is a wizard. They still know what Negi is like.

Originally Posted by AstroNerdBoy

Is that cool or what?" If they could accept that, they can accept finding out that Nagi is Negi.[/qoute]

I'm just going to keepp driving this home. Finding out someone has a complete personality change is completely different than finding out someone has some weird job/hobby. For example lets say that some man is married to a wife and has a nice family. Now lets say that one day his personality suddenly switches from what he is usually like. Do you think the family won't be concerned that it seems like a complete stranger has suddenly become their husband/dad. DO you think they'll except it just because he's the husband/dad. Hell no, they'll be confused and upset.

True, Negi was never supposed to be involved in ANY of Fate's plans going back to Kyoto. And yet Negi has been able to do something Nagi would not have been able to do -- thwart those plans. Nagi wouldn't have been able to do it because they'd have been ready for him. Nagi's 10-year old "son" doesn't even enter their equations. He will from here on I think since Negi's on MW.

Well then why did Nagi basically say that he didn't wish for Negi to fight.

I think your just hoping for the bizzare right now. Most of your theories just seem to be based around the "it could happen/its always possible/you can't rule it out yet" instead of on hard evidence that will stand up well against other evidence. I find a lot of your theories seem to be centered around the fact that time travel was introduced in the the story so that suddenly means that Negi is Nagi.

[Julao]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

Nekane's a reasonable enough guess, although her personality seems somewhat different than what little we've seen of Arika's.

I'm kind of afraid that Arika is dead, which would suck because she really seems pretty cool from what little we've seen of her.

Oh, as for the Arika = Nekane theory, remember that Nekane saw Asuna in a letter from Negi and yet didn't show any reaction other than "that's nice, he has a friend." I'd think seeing her little sister that suddenly would provoke SOME response.

Thus, I submit to you that I think Arika and Nekane are different people.

EDIT: And Darknemo... Just for the record, just because we can't DISprove something, that isn't the same as actually having evidence FOR it.

what if Arika is Nekane's mother??

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Julao

what if Arika is Nekane's mother??

Wouldn't bother me in the least. Although I don't remember Nekane's age well enough to be sure the math works out for that.

Actually, I take that first part back a bit. I am somewhat more partial to Arika being Negi's mother instead. But still, they're both valid plot twists. I could go for them.

[Sian]

i'd shoot Nekane at early/mid 20's ... due to that she while she looks rather young doesn't look much younger in the flashbacks

Astronerdboy @ your so called theory sounds for me to much of a "its not impossable therefore it has to be" ... smells to me to much of an Epileptic Tree

[vaatei]

Spoiler for Chapter 232:

This is getting so interesting by each word and sorry about the small pictures could not find any better verson of those but enjoy

[X207]

i have a question regarding ch 231. asuna is probably nagi's daughter, so wat does that make negi and asuna? brother and sister or siblings from 2 different mothers.

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by X207

i have a question regarding ch 231. asuna is probably nagi's daughter, so wat does that make negi and asuna? brother and sister or siblings from 2 different mothers.

Already been debated. Evidence shows that Asuna is already alive at the time of the recent chapters. Mostly because they were already talking about "princess-chan" and saying that Arika was the older sister of another princess they already know. Thus, Asuna is probably not Nagi's daughter.

She may be his sister-in-law, though. That would make her Negi's aunt.

But there's no proof yet.

[AstroNerdBoy]

Originally Posted by vaatei

...sorry about the small pictures could not find any better verson of those but enjoy

That's all the Japanese uploaded this week. I was pretty disappointed by that since they normally have a whole lot more. So, the next images will come from blog postings in Japan when the magazine is officially released on Wednesday.

[Asrialys]

I wonder if the focus on that unnamed boy means anything...

[Sian]

wonder who it is piggybacking on rakan

[Asrialys]

Originally Posted by Sian

wonder who it is piggybacking on rakan

By the looks of the horns (?), she looks like the girl on the scan in the right, but much smaller (another sister character?). Also, there's a character with similar horns in Chapter 221. Makie says that that woman is the "3rd imperial princess of of the Hellas Empire..." Conveniently not mentioning the actual character's name?

I wonder if there's any connection, or they just happen to have the same horns. Although, it's interesting to note that in those Chapter 232 scans, one of the speech bubbles has "Hellas" written in katakana. So they could be related, but still might not be either of the same persons 20 years later.

Makes me think that Asuna and whoever is piggy-backing on Rakan (assuming that she's the sister of that other girl) might have been friends for a short time. Then they reunite 20 years later, except Asuna hadn't aged much.

*sigh* Darn scans and scanlations, making me think too far ahead...

[AstroNerdBoy]

Originally Posted by Sian

wonder who it is piggybacking on rakan

I couldn't help but think of Cocone riding on Misora's shoulders when I saw that image.