(L) Negima Manga Discussion

[Franckie]

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Unfortunately, I think she jinxed it by telling Negi not do to it in front of the Queen... now you know it'll happen several chapters later

It may very well happen. Imagine how many international incidents Negi could cause by "accidently" sneezing at the wrong time.

[Krono]

Originally Posted by Blank-Mage

Great, so half of 3-A is going to do everything in their power to ruin Negi's life at the worst possible moment. At least, that's the impression I get.

To be fair, due to Negi's attempts to keep them in the dark, most of them have no idea it's the worst possible moment.

[Hata]

Originally Posted by TnAdct1

Unless the issue that comes out on December 7 is a double issue as well.

no, 2/3 is the X'mas issue, 4/5 is the New Year one.

Spoiler for 346:

Negi with the physical body of a 10 years old, now he knows how Eva feels without magic.
Akeshi, Takahata, and Kotaro are helping, but they are also "spirited away" like Akira.
doesn't the chapter cover has the "final chapter" look? WW
Negi suspects it is a double AF combo of Natsumi+Kaede, use Natsumi to get close while invisible, then used Kaede's cloak to transport them away,
(works EXACTLY like Mana's teleport bullets during the festival, those helpers are effectively remove for this arc.)
Misa borrowing item "Negi's lips"
Madoka "pactio with Negi"
Sakurako....(busy writing)
Misa "ignoring the 3A generally accepted ero captain Misa and kiss with 18 other girls first?... PACTIO!"
Misa, seeing Negi's reaction, "Who do you like the MOST?" (chapter title)
after figures out Negi does have someone in mind, they end up cheering him on. (Chamo: darns!)
Ku Fei meat buns in mouth + borrowing item (husband) + confession triple play.
(yeah, she finally got it from watching Yue's confession + Kazumi(Ken) foreshadow, dum dum girl is getting smarter, you don't confess, you won't even get in the line.)
Ku Fei (I am going all out, with her AF and not knowing Negi is without magic.) vs Negi (I am going to die!?)

so my guess is

Spoiler:

Negi's answer would not be made to public, but Nodoka will know, (with her AF).

this arc is actually very necessary when combined with what just happened last mini arc, has a purpose and working toward a common goal - setting the harem order, and obviously taking care of loose ends,

and remember, all the BIG guns/characters/boss girls had not even appeared, and my guess is as long as the main group leads by Paru is not defeated or Negi not being captured by his "true choice" this mini arc will not end, (yeah, I am betting Asuna will save the day, but even if that is not the case it is almost guarantee someone from 3A will be the one captures Negi, remember the X100 points and the penalty for 3A if Negi got captured by someone not from 3A.)

now I am curious if Ken would even show the cheerleader pactio on pages? would the twins, Hakase, and Yotsuba even make appearances? Yotsuba might as a helper?

[Von Himmel]

Spoiler:

after figures out Negi does have someone in mind, they end up cheering him on. (Chamo: darns!)

I thought I read it wrong when I read the RAW, but....does that mean we're finally going to get a conclusion for Negi's harem?

[Hata]

partial post from translation thanks to Flamer
correction added on previous post

Spoiler for 346:

Sakurako: "Who is she? so is it really Asuna? no no, that would be too boring, and from the look of him it might be a bit complicated, ho ho ho."
..........
Sakurako: "kamo do you know anything?"
Kamo: "no, curious who she is."
Sakurako: "wanna bet who she is?"
Madoka: "no way, your bet is as good as anointing."
Misa: "looks like everyone's efforts could have change his thinking."
Sakurako: "true."
Kamo: "Aneki is only 10."

[TnAdct1]

Originally Posted by Hata

so my guess is

Spoiler:

Negi's answer would not be made to public, but Nodoka will know, (with her AF).

this arc is actually very necessary when combined with what just happened last mini arc, has a purpose and working toward a common goal - setting the harem order, and obviously taking care of loose ends,

and remember, all the BIG guns/characters/boss girls had not even appeared, and my guess is as long as the main group leads by Paru is not defeated or Negi not being captured by his "true choice" this mini arc will not end, (yeah, I am betting Asuna will save the day, but even if that is not the case it is almost guarantee someone from 3A will be the one captures Negi, remember the X100 points and the penalty for 3A if Negi got captured by someone not from 3A.)

Spoiler:

Unfortunately, there's still big problems that I have when it comes to this idea (besides the concern that it's going to be Asuna as BOTH partner in love and magic, thus resulting in Ken Akamatsu lying about who Negi ends up with being a surprise):

1. The most obvious problem of all: where's the heart? To a number of readers, this storyline comes off as the students of 3-A bullying Negi (with saner characters like Kaede and Natsumi getting involved in the act as well by preventing authority figures from getting involved). Whereas the Kiss Contest had someone to care about (Team Nodoka/Yue), it feels like everyone in this storyline is coming off as a jerk (resulting in Character Derailment for a few girls), making it come off as heartless to some people.

2. One key piece of information that was brought up in the Mahora Festival arc (and was repeated in chapter 344 when Yue regained her memories): Negi doesn't have to make a decision on who he loves until graduation (March 2004). This storyline is taking place in October 2003. In other words, it feels like it's rushing to do something that doesn't need to happen for another five months in the Negima universe.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Hata

partial post from translation thanks to Flamer
correction added on previous post

Spoiler for 346:

Kamo: "Aneki is only 10."

Y'know, I don't think this fact has been stressed as often as it should.

Spoiler for He's Ten!:

I find the whole "let's pry the answer soon" arc to be silly. He's not even old enough to appreciate romantic love, for God's sake. Yes, there are cases of children experiencing romance at young age, but over all these chapters there's no hint of him harboring such feelings to any special girl, no foreshadowing at all. There are many hints of the girls crushing over him, but not vice-versa. That he suddenly have an "answer" is just too abrupt, as if trying to clean up loose ends in a forced manner.

And even if he does have an "answer", how are we to know that it's not just on impulse?

[TnAdct1]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

Y'know, I don't think this fact has been stressed as often as it should.

Spoiler for He's Ten!:

I find the whole "let's pry the answer soon" arc to be silly. He's not even old enough to appreciate romantic love, for God's sake. Yes, there are cases of children experiencing romance at young age, but over all these chapters there's no hint of him harboring such feelings to any special girl, no foreshadowing at all. There are many hints of the girls crushing over him, but not vice-versa. That he suddenly have an "answer" is just too abrupt, as if trying to clean up loose ends in a forced manner.

And even if he does have an "answer", how are we to know that it's not just on impulse?

That also goes with one of the problems I pointed out in my post:

Spoiler:

The fact that Negi didn't have to make a decision (at least in the case of responding to Nodoka's love confession) until the day of the students' graduation (with said piece of information being brought up again two chapters earlier when Yue regained her memories). In other words, it feels as if Ken Akamatsu is trying to rush something that doesn't need to be resolved just yet.

As for Negi not harboring feelings for any special girl, I don't know about that, given her connection with Asuna and the fact that any conversation about him having someone that he loves usually results in him reacting whenever Nodoka is brought up.

[ellifeedn]

Spoiler for theory:

Maybe a reason why they're rushing Negi is because he's so busy and gets into trouble so easily that they may not get a chance to see or hear him at graduation.

[Kurush]

Originally Posted by ellifeedn

Spoiler for theory:

Maybe a reason why they're rushing Negi is because he's so busy and gets into trouble so easily that they may not get a chance to see or hear him at graduation.

Spoiler for *ahem*:

Considering he's going to spend his time working on finding a way to terraform Mars for the next thirty years or so (if not shorter or longer) and "too busy carrying on his father's work", I'm surprised this has only been brought up now.

[Hata]

just want to put the whole 346 thing under context...

1. simply from the chapter cover you can tell Ken is trolling us, or may be people are unable to comprehend, let me put it this way, there is no way Negima is ending without taking care of Negi's father. so the rumor of Negima ending soon is just that, a rumor.

2. don't ever believe something in the story just because some character said so,

Spoiler:

what happened to the man Eva supposedly killed is one good example, while Ken is not lying, he is only telling clues from the perspective of that character, there are story techniques called MISDIRECTION and MANIPULATION, so basically what Sakurako and company talking about is just that, because speaking AS FANS it is so OBVIOUS the final choice being Asuna, to keep the suspense going, Akamatsu sensei have to take Asuna out of the equation, ergo the sealing+memory lost, does that mean Asuna is out of it in the end? NO.

3, while people might bitch on what is happening in the story line right now, please, PLEASE, the last thing you want to do is to send an English wording post to Akamatsu sensei to complain about it on Facebook or Twitter, not because it is in bad form, (which it certainly is.) but because what you would be doing is the equivalent of a THIEF stolen something then complain back to the rightful owner for bad quality, THERE IS NO WAY A WESTERNER WHO DO NOT KNOW JAPANESE SUPPOSEDLY ABLE TO READ THE LATEST MANGA CHAPTER FROM JAPAN LEGALLY. you would be as asinine as those people who wrote on Akamatsu sensei's blog to talk about scanlation which forced him to close down the English forums. (yes, there used to be an English forum on his blog years ago.)

4. this had been said many times, but worth repeating, this is Akamatsu sensei's story, good or bad, it is his way of doing thing, don't like it? stop reading or write your own dojin story, nobody is taking a gun to your head to force you read a story you hate so much, and keep in mind story can have twist or turn before reaching the conclusion, don't start complaining about things which had not even happen, just sit back, relax, and let the story come to you, in good order and complete fashions, if a serial manga can keep readers follow the story from beginning to the end, then it done its job as a money maker for its creator, its job description is certainly not making the readers happy EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER.

[Nanaya]

Originally Posted by Hata

3, while people might bitch on what is happening in the story line right now, please, PLEASE, the last thing you want to do is to send an English wording post to Akamatsu sensei to complain about it on Facebook or Twitter, not because it is in bad form, (which it certainly is.) but because what you would be doing is the equivalent of a THIEF stolen something then complain back to the rightful owner for bad quality, THERE IS NO WAY A WESTERNER WHO DO NOT KNOW JAPANESE SUPPOSEDLY ABLE TO READ THE LATEST MANGA CHAPTER FROM JAPAN LEGALLY. you would be as asinine as those people who wrote on Akamatsu sensei's blog to talk about scanlation which forced him to close down the English forums. (yes, there used to be an English forum on his blog years ago.)

People actually have the gall to do that even now? I heard that Kubo felt depressed/angry when people did that to his twitter.

[zibi88]

well but man I kinda feel that current gag chapters will go on like for 3-4more... since like misa said there are 18 girls with pactio... all of them might want some revenge or say their feelings before graduation... in current chap we didnt even got 1 girl fnished (next will focus on ku and maybe 2-3more) but still its more than 10girls for confessions... so it will take some time

my guess current chapters are kinda a "feelings ease" before we return to serious stuff again.... now its all fun and happy... but after this the whole class might learn about asuna and it will become sad and gloomy (like they wont see her for 100years so mostly they will never see her again so a goodbye in their eyes)

there is still the nagi / lifemaker issue... stuff about Arika (where is she and what hapepend to her)... what happened to the master of gravekeeper palace (mostly amateru)... since she was guarding dynamis,the fate girls and 6th fate... but than with LM appeared dynamis and 6th fate were there so what happened to her...

the same where is shiori right now... soooo many things to look for... manga wont end soon


for now its kinda making negi realize that there are girls ready to follow him anywhere which have feelings for him.... so kinda its to make negi realize that he needs help and that with class 3-a his plan can come to fruits faster and he will feel happier to have everyone close... the same asuna might be glad that negi wont be alone...

so maybe next chapters will be some space adventure like negi and class go to space or to mars (via the space elevator).... or we will enter the "where is arika" arc. to make negi gain the ancient magic passed by vaspertia blood and possible gaining status of prince/king of ostia (for future harem posibility)

the same mars/magic world = meeting with shiori and rest...


but for now negi must get throught his skull that other girls exist and he should pay some attention to them too and not totaly focus on his father ^^

[OverMaster]

Originally Posted by Hata

3, while people might bitch on what is happening in the story line right now, please, PLEASE, the last thing you want to do is to send an English wording post to Akamatsu sensei to complain about it on Facebook or Twitter, not because it is in bad form, (which it certainly is.) but because what you would be doing is the equivalent of a THIEF stolen something then complain back to the rightful owner for bad quality, THERE IS NO WAY A WESTERNER WHO DO NOT KNOW JAPANESE SUPPOSEDLY ABLE TO READ THE LATEST MANGA CHAPTER FROM JAPAN LEGALLY. you would be as asinine as those people who wrote on Akamatsu sensei's blog to talk about scanlation which forced him to close down the English forums. (yes, there used to be an English forum on his blog years ago.)

I think mangaka in general should stop acting as if the elephant isn't in the same room as them and going "Ah! An elephant!" in surprise when the elephant makes a noise.

this had been said many times, but worth repeating, this is Akamatsu sensei's story, good or bad, it is his way of doing thing, don't like it? stop reading or write your own dojin story, nobody is taking a gun to your head to force you read a story you hate so much, and keep in mind story can have twist or turn before reaching the conclusion, don't start complaining about things which had not even happen, just sit back, relax, and let the story come to you, in good order and complete fashions, if a serial manga can keep readers follow the story from beginning to the end, then it done its job as a money maker for its creator, its job description is certainly not making the readers happy EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER.

I don't have enough faith left on Akamatsu to "sit back, relax and let the story come up to me" anymore, and the serial manga can't keep me "following the story from beginning to the end" now, so I think I'll take the "stop reading" part of your advice. True, it'll be hard to break the habit, but I really shouldn't continue following a story that only annoys me with each new major plot/characterization decision.

So long, Negima, despite everything, you gave me years of good times, and I prefer to leave you while I still have a good image of you. I guess I'll read everything once the end is reached (I hope it happens in my lifetime. And Akamatsu's), to reach an overall conclusion on the general outcome, ill or good. And if I hear the plot is going in a direction I can actually like again, I might come back before that, too.

But in the meanwhile, as much as it's Akamatsu's right to write the way he wants, it's mine to stop reading if I find that way unpleasant.

[Kurush]

Originally Posted by OverMaster

I think mangaka in general should stop acting as if the elephant isn't in the same room as them and going "Ah! An elephant!" in surprise when the elephant makes a noise.



I don't have enough faith left on Akamatsu to "sit back, relax and let the story come up to me" anymore, and the serial manga can't keep me "following the story from beginning to the end" now, so I think I'll take the "stop reading" part of your advice. True, it'll be hard to break the habit, but I really shouldn't continue following a story that only annoys me with each new major plot/characterization decision.

So long, Negima, despite everything, you gave me years of good times, and I prefer to leave you while I still have a good image of you. I guess I'll read everything once the end is reached (I hope it happens in my lifetime. And Akamatsu's), to reach an overall conclusion on the general outcome, ill or good. And if I hear the plot is going in a direction I can actually like again, I might come back before that, too.

But in the meanwhile, as much as it's Akamatsu's right to write the way he wants, it's mine to stop reading if I find that way unpleasant.

I'll be there to tell you if/when things are starting to go good again.

[Hata]

Originally Posted by OverMaster

I think mangaka in general should stop acting as if the elephant isn't in the same room as them and going "Ah! An elephant!" in surprise when the elephant makes a noise.

are you paying anything to Ken for Negima? including the latest chapters/story direction which seems to be your complains?

if not, you really have no right to complain at all,

Originally Posted by OverMaster

But in the meanwhile, as much as it's Akamatsu's right to write the way he wants, it's mine to stop reading if I find that way unpleasant.

so according to your post I won't see you again in this forum? I will bookmark your post just in case you come back to complain again after free reading the latest chapter.

(Didn't I just say Negima is one of the most trolled manga out there? all those people complain about how bad or how much they hate it, yet can not break the habbit of reading it while without paying a single dime so they can come back to argue about the same thing week after week, it has been 36 books and 9 years running! you would think people can stop the self inflicted torturing of reading something they don't like long before that, almost as bad as narcotic...)

[ellifeedn]

Can someone explain to me why everyone's hating (that's the impression I got) on the recent chapters?

[TnAdct1]

Originally Posted by ellifeedn

Can someone explain to me why everyone's hating (that's the impression I got) on the recent chapters?

As one of the complainers, the basic gist of it is that

Spoiler for recent chapters of Negima:

the current Sports Festival storyline, besides being more geared towards harem comedy purposes (and the fact that the current drive of this storyline is due to a minor character being jealous at how others have kissed Negi before her), has a few characters (so far, Natsumi and Kaede) receiving character derailment (or on the verge of having character derailment) for the sole purpose of a storyline that's basically Comedic Sociopathy at Negi's expense.

[zibi88]

Originally Posted by TnAdct1

As one of the complainers, the basic gist of it is that

Spoiler for recent chapters of Negima:

the current Sports Festival storyline, besides being more geared towards harem comedy purposes (and the fact that the current drive of this storyline is due to a minor character being jealous at how others have kissed Negi before her), has a few characters (so far, Natsumi and Kaede) receiving character derailment (or on the verge of having character derailment) for the sole purpose of a storyline that's basically Comedic Sociopathy at Negi's expense.

Spoiler for well...:

yes this is called...comedy relief....in past half-year like not whole year... we were constatnly in the fights...pressure and stuff... and current chapters are to make a felief before the serious stuff happens again.... LM, Arika, Asuna sealed for 100 years... grave master and such... maybe even space-adventures...shiori and ariadne girls coming to mahora... sooo lots of stuff

what I see is that first the thing was that for everyone to get a pactio becouse now few feel a left out before others.... and lets remind ourselfs that "how did haruna get her pactio? " she forced that info from nodoka and yue and kissed negi "only" to get the pactio (like yuna) without having serious feelings for him... it was only for the purpose of getting the pactio.... so why the haters dont flame her in the past too ?? becouse she saw her friends getting something amazing she was jelous and forced the pactio

cheerleders wanted to be equal with the rest of the class.... but did they forced their kiss on negi in the end ??? nope... they like most jelous ones thing that negi is dumping girls for no reason.... but they learned that he is rejecting incomers becouse he has some kind of interest in somone

the thing is a chance for everyone to express their feelings once for all and wait for the answer from negi...

so this small arc. is mostly used for setting the final party that will follow negi... and for the purpouse of making negi realize that he doesnt need to shoulder everything alone and he has friends to relly on too.... like asuna said to setsuna... there are lots of girls that might follow negi..... so its to finaly make negi realize everyones feelings and make everone finally be honest with themselfs (like ku fei)

right now negi thinks that he cant tell anyone about this plan becouse its his path he choose and gave everyone their own path to find... what they want to do in their lifes as they grow up...and well following him who is mostly an 10y old immortal now will be painfull for him and others so better to shoulder anything alone.... but this arc. will show him that without magic he is still a 10y old kid that might need help...

in the end negi might rething like kakizaki said his feelings a bit and see that he should pay some more attention to everyone at least a bit more ^^

I dont have anything against this arc. as its the last mahora festival... after that there is only graduation... they will go to high school... negi will continue his plan and wait for everyone to finish school (he has time ^^)

[osorito]

Originally Posted by zibi88

Spoiler for well...:

yes this is called...comedy relief....in past half-year like not whole year... we were constatnly in the fights...pressure and stuff... and current chapters are to make a felief before the serious stuff happens again.... LM, Arika, Asuna sealed for 100 years... grave master and such... maybe even space-adventures...shiori and ariadne girls coming to mahora... sooo lots of stuff

what I see is that first the thing was that for everyone to get a pactio becouse now few feel a left out before others.... and lets remind ourselfs that "how did haruna get her pactio? " she forced that info from nodoka and yue and kissed negi "only" to get the pactio (like yuna) without having serious feelings for him... it was only for the purpose of getting the pactio.... so why the haters dont flame her in the past too ?? becouse she saw her friends getting something amazing she was jelous and forced the pactio

cheerleders wanted to be equal with the rest of the class.... but did they forced their kiss on negi in the end ??? nope... they like most jelous ones thing that negi is dumping girls for no reason.... but they learned that he is rejecting incomers becouse he has some kind of interest in somone

the thing is a chance for everyone to express their feelings once for all and wait for the answer from negi...

so this small arc. is mostly used for setting the final party that will follow negi... and for the purpouse of making negi realize that he doesnt need to shoulder everything alone and he has friends to relly on too.... like asuna said to setsuna... there are lots of girls that might follow negi..... so its to finaly make negi realize everyones feelings and make everone finally be honest with themselfs (like ku fei)

right now negi thinks that he cant tell anyone about this plan becouse its his path he choose and gave everyone their own path to find... what they want to do in their lifes as they grow up...and well following him who is mostly an 10y old immortal now will be painfull for him and others so better to shoulder anything alone.... but this arc. will show him that without magic he is still a 10y old kid that might need help...

in the end negi might rething like kakizaki said his feelings a bit and see that he should pay some more attention to everyone at least a bit more ^^

I dont have anything against this arc. as its the last mahora festival... after that there is only graduation... they will go to high school... negi will continue his plan and wait for everyone to finish school (he has time ^^)

Doesn't Mahora Academy have a High School too? I got that impression at the beginning of the manga when they where competing dodge ball with the elder girls for who got to keep him. If i'm not mistaken the only difference is that Asuna wont be there anymore but Negi could still be they're english teacher of Fate in the worst case scenario for the girls.

It would be fun if the girls from MW do visit now that Yue regained her memories back, if would be a relief for her friend that accidentally erased her memories. Even if the Class rep came to visit, it would be a great visit to be close to Negi in her case maybe it would be another pactio card. With any luck she will have a nosebleed like the class rep from 3A.