Summary:
Fumiko and Fuuka are trying their hardest to become adults when Kaede comes by and suggests they go for a walk as part of the walking club. The problem is, compared to Kaede, the two Narutaki twins are like little kids, no matter how hard they try to be adults. Motsu even points out that the three of them together are like a parent and her children. Since Kaede advises the twins to refine themselves on the inside to become adults, the three go to the school’s library island to find out how. Meanwhile, Negi and company are also at the library island because of the red object that came from the fairy incident which they think is related to the Star Crystal. Earlier, Negi had sensed that they were being watched, but all he could see was the black rose petal that floated into his room. Now, as they are led through the library by Nodoka, Setsuna is warning Konoka not to touch the books. Actually, Setsuna is the one who touches a book after she finds some on the Shinmeiryuu, triggering an arrow trap that she has to deflect. The group then encounters an old man named Yamada who Nodoka says knows everything about the library, but Yamada proceeds to fall through a hole in the ground.
It is the twins and Kaede who next encounter Yamada, and he informs them that there is a book to allow them to grow up. The girls proceed to search through various rooms, but have no luck finding what they’re looking for. Kaede eventually runs off and gets separated from the twins in a desert room. Negi and company aren’t having much success either, though Asuna has managed to find a Chupacabra book. Kamo suggests that they use Nodoka’s artifact to figure things out, but Negi’s first try at pulling out a card results in a botched attempt. After feeding Nodoka and trying a second time, they manage to get the right outfit. But when Negi asks Nodoka to look up the red object, she’s unable to do so without a name. Nodoka’s powers eventually wear out and the group is back to square one. However, Negi then senses someone watching them again and this time notices a shadowy figure running across the tops of some bookshelves. Seeing the black rose petals again, Negi is once again reminded of his father, so he gives chase aboard his staff. He uses his magic to try to stop the person, but all that does is blow a hole in the distance.
From the dust emerge Fuuka and Fumika, who now realize that Negi is a mage. He has no choice but to tell them everything and to ask them to keep it a secret. As for them wanting to grow up, Negi thinks that they’ll definitely become attractive adults. The two girls then ask Negi to enact provisional contracts with them, and he consents. After the kisses, Fuuka and Fumika agree that there was an adult taste. Upon returning to the dorm, Asuna gives the twins Chupacabra t-shirts and declares them members of the Chupacabra Research Society. As they’re talking, a mystery person outside their window suddenly speaks up, remarking about how these people are Negi’s partners. This is the same person Negi had been trying to chase at the library, and he introduces himself as the Black Rose Baron before he disappears in a sea of black rose petals.

I guess this episode is the anime’s version of the Library Expedition Trip of the manga. Fortunately, Fuuka and Fumika weren’t nearly as bad as I had thought they would be, and the producers actually advanced the story a bit. This new Black Rose Baron definitely does not appear to be Negi’s father, nor any character I’ve seen from the manga, though there may be some connection yet. It’ll be interesting to see where they go with this. I guess I’m more disturbed by the fact that the twins were Negi’s next provisional contracts, instead of, say, Yue who had been fifth in the manga. Either way, it seems pretty clear that by the end of the series most of the characters will be Negi’s partners.
Interestingly enough, they went back to the first version of 1000%SPARKING! with Asuna, Negi, Setsuna, and Konoka. They also changed the ED a bit, but I didn’t really pay attention because I haven’t really liked that song.

48 Comments

  1. Yeah, I loved the Street Fighter reference at the end. And I see they’re making a reference to Dragonball Z and the Fusion technique with the Chupacabra shirts at the end there.

    By the way Omni, it’s not Fumiko it’s Fumika, just thought I’d point that out.

    DC
  2. Fascinating…. so in some way we’re may be going to all get bits of what we want told in topsy-turvy ways (Setsuna’s special features, a trip to the library, Nodoka goodness, Sayo’s situation and maybe back story later, etc).

    I have this vision of a huge whiteboard in the studio with every story segment ever done in Negima tacked to it with magnets and they’re combining them depending on the brainstorm silliness of the week. Along the top is the over-arc (whatever that is, since we’re 8 eps in and not much has been said about his search for his father or whatever 🙂 )
    Perhaps Omake *is* the overall theme …

    Vexx
  3. OHH!!! THE SWEET SMELL OF FANSERVICE WHICH IS NEGIMA!!!! but please folks help me out here!! one question… WHAT THE HELL DOES “DE GOZARU” AND “ARU” MEAN?????????? CUZ IM READING THE MANGA’S AND THIS PHRASE GETS TOSSED AROUND SO MUCH BY KU FEI AND THAT OTHER TALL ONE. IS IT A FOR THE CHINESE CHARECTERS?? PLEASE FILL ME IN

    brooklyn otaku
  4. “de-gozaru” I think is a term used by ninjas or something, and “aru” I believe is a typical common term used in anime to identify Chinese speaking people or something. I’m not really sure to be honest, I’m used to them using those terms already.

    DC
  5. Black Rose Baron? This is might turning on a “Sailor Moon” plot, more with the “star crystal” thing. I think Negima!? is good, but all the story is walking to Negi making provisional contracts with all girls of his class, like on previous series.

    dukemon
  6. This episode made me lol, though the Narutaki twins being the next choice was kinda odd. Ah well, it’s two for the price of one for this episode. Though it felt kinda empty without the complete library exploration club.

    Zanz
  7. Why are some people stupid enough to think that this is a spin-off? THIS IS NOT A SPIN-OFF!!! It is a total indepent story (massicare) that Shaft made up themselves. A rather poor, and shotty version at best.

    Hudson
  8. Anyone else think that if they do want the story to progress somewhat, that they do the pactio’s in groups? For instance, they did the Narutaki Twins in this ep, and the next ep is a Kaede episode it seems. So how about an episode for the rest of the Library Trio? Or for the 4 Sports Girls, etc.

    DC
  9. >Why are some people stupid enough to think that this is a spin-off? THIS IS NOT A SPIN-OFF!!! It is a total indepent story (massicare) that Shaft made up themselves. A rather poor, and shotty version at best.

    Lol. I kinda like it.

    Zanz
  10. A library expedition and a guy named Black Rose eh?

    Mahou Shoujo Biblion?

    Well they are giving us anime exclusive villains.

    What I’m afraid of when it’s Chao’s turn to Pactio. *Shudders* DNA2 like plot

    RedWolf
  11. Whoa, the twins made contracts with Negi? o_O Er… not sure how I feel about that since I never really liked the twins. I should have realized it when I saw the screencaps earlier (before you posted the summary), but I thought it was just a daydream from them or something. XD I guess this means that we’ll be seeing more of them in the future? Again, I don’t know how I feel about that…

    Neo Horizon
  12. It will be interesting to see the pactio cards for the twins and what there abilities are. Probably something having to do with ninjas if you look at the manga pactio card. Well we’ll see won’t we. By the way Hudson this is a spin-off of the manga whether you like it or not and also no one cares about your opinion anyway.

    Hyosuke
  13. OK i asked a it b4 last week and gotta ask now how big has his harem gotten 4, 5, 9 girls
    hmmm may b like the 26th episode of season his harem wil b the entire class
    and last who do u ladies and gents think wil b negi’s girlfriend??

    asian182
  14. @Hudson

    So it’s Negima “version 3″…

    But isn’t anime and manga suppose to differ in a few things. I really like it when I see different versions of a story with the same title. I read the manga and have seen the first anime of negima. I even have tons of doujin of it in my closet! I have no problem with this version which shows younger faces, a new adventure, while still retaining all the the fun. The only regret is (bit)less fan service, which in my opinion is not too much of a sacrifice… And they’re cuter than before!

    The game references is like still one of the fun things here. The op song is nice. So nice it became part of my friendster profile…

    Lighten up. people like Negima the way it is. Besides, what can you possibly do? We can’t stop them. So stop comparing this version to the old one. Treat it like a whole new anime and start from there…

    This episode’s cute and the caption with the twins and Negi is so cute too.
    That wraps me up for this episode then… till the next OtoBoku post then…
    Oyasumi nasai from the Philippines…

    moondoggiebuiscuit
  15. The director’s style is starting to grate on my nerves. It’s fine for Pani Poni, since the format of the manga is short, disjointed stories, but he’s way overdoing it for Negima.

    Eleutheria
  16. Hmm, i find it pretty disturbing too that the narutaki twins made their contract so fast into the series, rather than the next 3 in the manga (not gonna say for spoilerific reasons ;3), let alone the twins knowing about Negi being a mage… perhaps they have a need for their special abilities in the coming arc? I can’t really favour this move based on the fact that the original Negi’s specifically worried about getting his students involved, unless in critical situations, if not they will just be told to keep the secret but not invoking a contract. This Negi, this episode specifically however… just doesn’t seem to justify the provisional contract at all… :/ (Does Negi really need Narutaki bunshin no jutsu so badly? XD)
    Come to think of it, doesn’t Nodoka’s rare card ability render Yue’s ability in the manga useless? Both feels almost exactly the same to me… unless she’s not gonna…?! D; thats bad… Akiyuki Shinbo better come up with something good…
    We shall see where it goes from here. That apart, i still like the episode overall :3 references dropped everywhere… and “botched” version helmets for everyone (except Konoka aka i.j. Ichijou) so Setsuna’s a crane? lol.

    Oh btw, the “new” ver. of the ED is sung by the Library Expedition Trio namely, Nodoka, Yue and Haruna just in case you’re wondering ;3

    WaHa
  17. >My God, how much more can Shaft fuck up Negima! THEY MUST BE STOPED! Fuka and Fumika haven’t even made a contract with Negi in the manga! Damn this show to HELL!!

    Hudson, you’re pretty stupid, in a good way 😡 You’re just comparing it to the manga when you said yourself it’s a totally independant story lol

    Jin
  18. don/hudson/whoever you are at the moment,
    stop being such a goddamn attention whore. it’s been made quite clear you don’t like the series on a number of occaisions. so stop reading the bloody blog entries and being a whiny little bitch about it. you’re ruining the internet itself with your incessant trolling. so in conclusion,
    STFU
    STFU
    STFU
    STFU
    STFU
    STFU

    thank you.

    devilbunny
  19. Weird that the twins get pactios before other people(like Chisame). Looks like some ermine would be getting pretty rich soon, at the rate of passing out provisional contracts per episode.

    @Hudson
    Looks like you pass by every Negima!? entry just to point out that you like the old manga better. If this show is a total failure like you believe, wouldn’t more people back you up?

    quickbrownfox
  20. Hey, I just discovered this blog and wish to leave my two cents about it. I hope you don’t mind me replying here. Anyway…

    THE GOOD:

    -I think this was a pretty decent episode so far, though it wasn’t as nice as, say, episode 1 or episode 6. I guess it’s because I’m a pretty loyal follower of the original Negima manga, but unlike Hudson here I’m open-minded enough to check out this alternate retelling and see if it’s any good. The animation was good as the other episodes, though I thought it was strangely lacking…it’s probably just me.

    THE BAD:

    -I find it somewhat disconcerting that the Narutakis found out about magic AND form Pactios with Negi, but like I mentioned before I’m more used to the Akamatsu manga than this re-telling, so it may take a while. Otherwise, no complaints from me, though I was expecting a more…hyper…reaction from Fuuka and Fumika RE: Negi’s secret.

    THE OMGWTF?!

    -LOL at Asuna hitting all the booby traps instead of Negi this time around.

    https://randomc.net/image/Negima/Negima%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2009.jpg

    OMG Nodoka looks so hawt in that screencap. I think it induced a lot of “Nodokagasms” amongst her fans…

    -Negi just says “yes” to the Narutaki’s pactio, no questions asked…methinks the kid is addicted to virgin lips. (So much for his being a 10-year-old English gentleman.)

    -Black Rose Baron? I thought this was Negima!?, not Sailor Moon.

    -Major WTF at the hats the group was wearing while exploring the library. Were those TEDDY BEAR EARS on Negi’s hat?

    -Makie thought the frog was her father?! WTF?! I know she’s Baka Pink in the manga, but even SHE’S not that stupid, is she?

    -I just KNOW they got the “New York” thing (when the group first opens the doors to the library underground) from the Las Vegas Strip. It looks too similar to the New York, New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for it to be a coincidence.

    -The food Nodoka was given had little books in it…gives a whole new meaning to “eating your own words.”

    CONCLUSION:

    Though not as good as the other episodes IMO, this was fun to watch, and made things quite interesting. Makes me wonder what next now that the Narutakis are in the “inner circle,” so to speak. Next episode’s Kaede-centric, so I might come back to post once I watch that one, too…

    LaGelure
  21. Er, this is in response to asian182…

    (1) The harem count is at 6 now.

    (2) With the way this is progressing, I wouldn’t be too surprised if that is how it turns out. Personally, I wouldn’t mind watching Negi form a pactio with Makie or Ako.

    (3) Bet you 5 to 2 it’s Nodoka.

    LaGelure
  22. Wow, I didn’t even think this show was going to leave a bitter aftertaste until now. I know that Negi is trying to strive to become a great mage, but now I rarely see him cast any spells at the topnotch. Instead he’s relying more and more on contracts as time comes. I hope the Baron will change that. Otherwise, great show. I’ve always hated the twins, but the blog’s words seems to intrigue me. Can’t wait for the sub to come out! P.S. How many shirts did she buy, enough for the class?

    Readarmon
  23. In response to LaGelure’s post:

    -Negi’s hat indeed has teddy bear ears on it;
    -Asuna, Nodoka, and Setsuna’s hats are supposed to represent their “suka” card animal (notice the ball on Nodoka’s hat and the boar snout and tusks on Asuna’s hat)
    -Konoka’s Indiana Jones outfit is a seiyuu in-joke, as Ichijou (who is also voiced by Ai Nonaka) wore the same outfit in episodes 9 and 12 of Pani Poni Dash.

    TnAdct1

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