First Impressions / Negima!?

OP2 Sequence:

OP2: 「永遠のときを越えて」 (Eien no Toki wo Koete) by 皆川純子 (Minagawa Junko)
Watch the OP! Mirror 1 Mirror 2 (31.1MB, XviD)
New opening song this week sung by Minagawa Junko, who is the voice of class representative Ayaka. It’s not animated nearly as impressively as the first OP, but the song isn’t bad.

Summary:
Stuck in an old castle in Wales, Negi’s students find out why he’s now a Chupacabra and end up blaming themselves for it. Though Negi faults himself instead of them, their conversation is interrupted when Mana notices the presence of another fairy. It mind controls Ako, Sakurako, and Satsuki, transforming them into its fighters, so Negi tells the rest of his students to run away. He wants all the girls he contracted to run too, but they insist on fighting since they’re his partners. Unfortunately, because Negi has been deprived of his magic capabilities, he can’t invoke their contracts. This leaves them vulnerable to attack, but luckily Chachamaru flies in to save them in the nick of time. Also here is Evangeline, who brings out an ice rapier, but Negi’s group mistakes her for another mage. Chachamaru clarifies that Eva is actually a vampire, which makes everyone realize that she was the culprit of the vampire incident from a year ago. Eva is ready to fight the three students who were mind controlled, but Negi doesn’t want her to hurt them. The struggle between him and Eva for her sword causes her to fall back and into a black hole created by the fairy. Asuna has to save Negi from Ako’s blade, and Kaede uses smoke bombs to allow them to make their escape.
Eva and Chachamaru find themselves in a room with Takamichi, who is once again eating ramen. Although Eva wants to get out of here quickly, Takamichi claims that doing so would get him turned into an animal if the students saw his magic. Eva, however, calls him a liar because she doesn’t believe this would happen. Takamichi realizes that Eva knows something, but then says that he knows the fairy’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, Negi and his students have been split into three groups: two groups of non-contracted students who find themselves in a front of special doors and Negi’s own group that is hiding from Ako, Sakurako, and Satsuki. Negi is about to cry because of all that’s happened, but then he spots the figures of his cousin Nekane and friend Anya across the hall. He goes after them, and they lead them through some large red doors. By calling out to him, Asuna and the others alert Ako to their position, and the girls are forced on the run again. The other two groups of Negi’s students find themselves on adventures of their own after passing through the doors they found – Makie’s group ends up being attacked by a dinosaur in a jungle while Ku Fei’s group is caught in a space battle.
Behind the large red doors, Negi finds himself having snacks with Nekane and Anya. Although he doesn’t know that Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna are desperately trying to open those doors, Negi does realize that his cousin and childhood friend are really illusions. He knows that he was targeted, but he is no longer a mage – or rather, he wasn’t able to become a mage. As of right now, he’s only a strange animal, so he wants all of his students to be released from this. However, the Black Rose Baron suddenly appears and tells him that that is impossible. The Baron won’t answer why it’s impossible, and then a giant wind sweeps Negi away. By this time, Evangeline and Chachamaru have tracked down the fairy and have engaged it in battle. Takamichi suddenly appears and defeats the fairy from behind, turning it into a green token and reversing all of its magic effects. As result, Ako, Sakurako, and Satsuki change back to normal and the two other groups are freed from their adventures. Asuna then sees the large red doors open, and the Black Rose Baron emerges carrying an unconscious Negi. He hands Negi over to Asuna and then just as quickly disappears again.
As everything calms down, Negi’s students all regroup and are joined by Takamichi, Eva, and Chachamaru. Konoka and Setsuna realize that for Takamichi to be here and to have sealed off the fairy, he must also be a mage. Takamichi confirms this, which makes Negi afraid that Takamichi’s secret has now been exposed, but Eva claims that Takamichi won’t be turned into a Chupacabra, though she doesn’t say why. More importantly, they notice that although the fairy was sealed off, the illusionary world around them hasn’t disappeared like it’s supposed to. Asuna sees another door suddenly appear and opens it, inadvertently letting out a large cloud of spirits that surround the group.

As expected, Eva and Chachamaru came to the rescue since they still had their powers. So did Takamichi, but his overall role is still a bit of a mystery. The Black Rose Baron is also frustrating because he appears and disappears again without really doing anything. And Negi is still a Chupacabra, though they did defeat one more fairy this week. I assume he’ll get his powers back soon because they won’t be able to show the girls as their transformed selves in action unless he does. I guess the problem is that a lot of stuff is happening action-wise, but the plot isn’t moving as fast as I’d like it to be. The animation quality was a bit weird this week since it varied from pretty good (Ku Fei’s Space Invaders space battle) to really bad (the end of the episode).
Next week’s episode will be airing on Thursday. See this post for more information on the schedule.

41 Comments

  5. While the current storyline (Negi and his students are stuck in the same Wales castle from episode 6) is interested, a lot of potential for this episode (and future episodes) is wasted thanks to the “comedy bits” involving the non-Minstra Magi students.

    TnAdct1
    Reply

  9. I also noticed slight changes in the animation, which I thought was a “downgrade” based on the previous episodes. Might be due to the situation in the story with Negi being a Chupacabra however. It seems like for most of the episode however, the main story was with Negi and his currently contracted partners, while the rest of the class was still treated as the “comic relief” which didn’t really live up to the act, and was basically a waste of time.

    @Sasha: Akira was just being part of a comedy skit it seems, and Ako was under the control of the Fire Fairy, along with Sakurako, and Satsuki. Also, on another note, this episode was “by” 3 students, Chachamaru, Makie, and Ku Fei.

    DC
    Reply

  11. If you must know the reason why i hate this shit so much listen up!

    I had actually been looking forward to this “2nd season” ever since i heard about it almost a year ago. I was so excited when i heard that Shaft was going to do it. I have seen many of Shaft’s work and all were supurb. I knew there were going to be some differeances from the Xbeac version, that was expected, but i was shocked and angered to find out they had totally remade the whole thing into a totally different story and look from the manga. The story is nowhere near similar to the manga and the characters have been redesigned. This is a big turn off to many people. This is the same reason why so many people bitch about Hellsing, Fushigi Yugi, and Sailor Moon. I hate what Shaft has done with Negima!? The total premiss of it is bullshit! There is one rule to making a good anime from a manga and that is to stay with the basic manga paramiters that it lays down. It’s ok to add and subtract a few things but you should NEVER totally remake it into something that it’s not! And that is exactly what Shaft has done with Negima!? They have taken one too many liberties with this and it repulses me to no end! NOW do you see why i hate this show so much! I find it insulting to Akamatsu’s work!

    The 2 movies i don’t mind as much becasue they are continuences for the origanl anime. The new manga i don’t have much of a problem with either becasue, although it’s a new story, it at least kept the character designs intact from the origanl manga.

    Hudson
    Reply

  13. DC hits the point exactly of what I mean by “wasted potential”. Not only does the “comic relief” parts waste time that could have been used to give Negi his ability to use back (thus allowing for an exciting fight scene that can show off some new Pactio forms for the girls, as well as some coolness from Ako and Satsuki), but also the fact that Makie and Ku Fei were the “focus” girls in the comedy bits means that the series has wasted a good chance for them to have their own “solo” episode.

    BTW, about the OP: is anyone else wondering if this episode’s OP will be a hint to which girls will eventually have a Pactio in this series?

    TnAdct1
    Reply

  17. Hudson, I don’t know why you were shocked. They even announced it wasn’t going to have any connection to the manga at all. And Xebec’s version also altered the character designs more than Shaft did. And stop talking like you’re talking for every Akamatsu fan in existence. And I don’t know why you keep trying to post your opinion here. We already know you hate the show, and you’ve already posted your reasons why. I don’t know why you care sooo much about it either. And Shaft is just taking their creative license with Negima. In all honesty, I think I’d be bored to death watching Negima if it strictly followed the manga. To tell you the truth, that’s why I don’t like the Death Note anime, it’s like reading Death Note all over again. Adding and subtracting to the plot you say? That is a good thing but don’t you think that’ll just ruin the show since basically adding stuff’ll be like fillers. Plus I don’t think following the manga would be good for Negima just yet until the series is over :3 I’m glad Shaft actually took the liberty into making it a whole new series because it’s actually fun to watch and I have no idea what’s coming next ;D

    I’ve only seen the OP for this ep. It’s really catchy. I think Ayaka chasing Negi was cute xD; Mmm, I hope they use the song a bit more with a cooler animation. Arr, time to download ep 13~!

    Jin
    Reply

  22. @Nobunaga & -Z-

    That’s not Nodoka, or Konoka. That’s Akira, another girl from the class, part of the Sports Group with Makie, Yuuna, and Ako.

    @”Hudson”

    It was announced many months before the 2nd Series began to air that the show was going to be different, and that it wouldn’t follow the manga. Like I said before, this announcement was a good idea, because it gave the fans time to get over the fact it won’t follow the manga, and to give them a more open mind on the new series, which is what has happened thus far.

    Anyway, about today’s episode and now that Omni has the summary up, it seems that Negi being a Chupacabra might be some kind of test for him or something. I find it strange that Shichimi and Motsu just disappeared after only appearing for a few minutes at the beginning of the episode. It could also be that him being a Chupa might also be part of the enemy’s plan, since the last 2 times he went up against the fairies he was able to defeat them with the help of his partners. I guess the “enemy” might not have anticipated Takamichi, Eva, and Chachamaru being there, or the “enemy” might not see them as a threat.

    DC
    Reply

  23. Jin: Bullshit. They only announced a few changes. they NEVER said they were going to totally redo it. and Xbeac at the very least stayed with the character designs from the manga and story line from the manga alot better than Shaft does. The only thing Xbeac did different was change a few hait colors and the end of the anime into a different story. That i didn’t mind becasue they stuck wiht the manga relitivly well.

    Hudson
    Reply

  24. Bullshit, huh? I remember checking ANN and it said that it was going to be a remake, as well on Animesuki too. Not my fault you weren’t aware of it. And tell me, what character designs did they change specifically?

    Jin
    Reply

  25. I happen to think the Negima!? character designs are gorgeous. The previous series had this bargain-bin animation look to it. But this series? Beautiful. So really, you have to decide: Do you want more-accurate, yet fugly character designs? Or do you want something with a personality of it’s own, that’s really quite beautiful?

    TD
    Reply

  26. Thank you TD. Last series, the animation quality was pretty low and the colors were very simplistic. I think Negima deserved better than that. They did an okay job with following the manga, but they didn’t really do much to actually make me watch the whole series. Only favorite episode had to be Sayo’s.

    Jin
    Reply

  27. @Hudson
    A few changes comes under…
    a) new story
    b) new looks
    They said a few changes and they did stick to it…

    Yes, cute looks, for more moe…

    Anyway, Negi is a very cute chupacabra…
    https://randomc.net/image/Negima/Negima%20-%2013%20-%20Large%2026.jpg

    What’s this supposed to be???
    https://randomc.net/image/Negima/Negima%20-%2013%20-%20Large%2023.jpg

    KickAss chibi Shoutacon Ayaka!
    https://randomc.net/image/Negima/Negima%20-%2013%20-%20Large%2031.jpg

    This episode still dissapoints me since Negi is still a very cute chupacabra, but it made up for all the Negima!? craziness here in this episode… Can’t wait for next week…

    moondoggiebuiscuit
    Reply

  29. if it is announced that they weren’t going to follow the original manga story and its going to be a remake, you can’t actually blame them for making a few changes. those changes should also have akamatsu’s permission to go ahead since he created the series, so why complain that its an insult to his work?
    personally i find the character designs to be alright. do they really have to follow the manga to be considered beautiful? if they made it so it would not be a remake now, would it?
    if you, Hudson, hate the anime so much and want it to look like the manga, why don’t you go and read the manga,
    stop watching the anime just to say how sucky it is,
    and stop posting hateful comments just to make your point…
    we got it…
    you forced yourself to watch the anime that you hate so much in order to make a comment to other people just how bad it is?
    does that mean that you have nothing else better to do?

    MelW-v1
    Reply

  35. This show’s starting to feel a little more sidetracked now. Instead of becoming a great mage like he wants to, Negi ends up becoming a chupacabra. The widespread pactio isn’t really adding anything to most of the characters, and now, another meaningless fairy comes. If they don’t start leading up to something important like they did with the first 6 episodes, then the series is gonna bust. Like Omni said, they might be “having too much fun” making the episodes other than paying attention to the plot. The Baron appeared for 5 episodes now, and none of it had any point with his mysteries. Same thing with the fairies and the blobs.

    Readarmon
    Reply

  37. As amusing as the first part of the series was (I’ve been treating the whole series as a pile of omake, random comedy fun), this episode kind of crashed in multiple ways. If they’re going to do a parallel universe story… then don’t bury it under so much random comedy the viewer has trouble deciding if any plot progress happened or not 🙂
    That’s the lose here… Shinbo isn’t even playing his own game here… its just a mess of bouncing around like one of the lamer episodes of Pani Poni Dash (not every episode of that was brilliant). Perhaps he went out for ramen and got lost this week…

    I would rather see a Shinbo-ized Negima ala Tsukuyomi Moon Phase (if you read the manga you know what I mean)… rather than PPD (which is an injoke parody to begin with). Just making it different isn’t necessarily entertaining.

    TnAdct1 speaks to the same sort of thing so I’ll just point to his post.

    Vexx
    Reply

  38. . . . I found, I watched and I was not pleased.

    THE GOOD: The only thing good about this episode was that it was funny.

    THE BAD: My word, I am saddened at how badly SHAFT tried to make this episode. For one, Negi still remains a Chapacabra. Two, they traded out some excellent opportunities for character development just for . . . what, comedic skits with everyone else in the class? Three, the magic battle just looked SO horrible. And four, they ruined the characters personality-wise in this episode. I thought Makie was more confident than that…

    THE OMGWTF?!:

    -Another fairy? Good lord, how many of those are going to pop up in this series?

    -HOw curious, with that many suka forms in the new opening there’s going to be a lot of Pactios made (and all in the next episode, damn me for reading the summary before posting here. And Nodoka’s seal form in the end chasing Negi FTW.)

    -OMG Haruhi Suzumiya’s space battle got thrown into the Negima world!

    -Chachamaru with neko ears? WTF?!

    CONCLUSION: I am vastly disappointed with SHAFT and how they did on what I think would be the worst episode in this entire series. Not only did they not have any character development within this episode, but even with the fact there was three girls involved (as shown in the aftertitle sequence with Chachamaru, Makie and Ku Fei), there STILL remained hardly any screen time for the last two. They could’ve put in some development on those two at least, but they instead sacrificed that for what? Laughs? Comedy? This is becoming an alarmingly consistent error on SHAFT’s part: just because the class didn’t get enough screen time in the last series by Xebec, it doesn’t mean that you can’t develop the characters a little bit. (Thank God that the Kanon remake has done well in both screen time and character development, god bless them.) I think that Makie and Ku Fei should have gotten their own episodes instead of being crammed into this one, but I guess they’ve got better things to do, apparently. I can’t even say the animation was good; it was rather rough and somewhat grainy in some parts!

    As mentioned before, I am sorely disappointed in them for butchering what could have been a stellar episode. Thank God that the next episode redeems the series as a whole after this ugly blemish in the anime.

    Animation: 5.3/10
    Storyline: 3/10
    Direction: 4.7/10
    Music: 6/10
    Comedy: 10/10 (The ONLY perfect score they attained. I am disgusted.)
    Performance: 3/10

    Overall score: 5.3/10

    LaGelure
    Reply

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