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Ahhh, Negima. Before I start, a quick disclaimer: I’m going to focus on the ending as a whole, primarily from when Asuna goes to sleep in chapter 351 up to the final chapter, 355. I’m also going to try to remain objective. However, by the end I expect I’ll get subjective as hell. You see, this manga has special meaning to me. It’s one of the stories that first ignited my love for writing, so I can’t pass up the chance to wax poetic about it. I’ll try to confine the wistful junk to the final paragraph, though.
So, that ending. When it was revealed back in chapters 342 & 343 that Negi was no longer human, and that Asuna would have to go to sleep for a hundred years, it was a shock to me. Though the story had dipped into some dark and serious territory a few times before – Negi being impaled by Fate at the beginning of the Magical World arc, for instance – it had generally kept a lightness of tone that said, no matter how crazy things became, people weren’t going to start dying left and right. This revelation changed all that in a much more fundamental way than a simple character death would have. Now we had Negi potentially trapped in adolescence forever, and Asuna stuck in a coma for an entire century. The thought of Asuna waking up after a hundred years to find that everyone she knew was dead was a thing of nightmares. Only Evangeline and perhaps Negi could save her from that fate.
And then it happened. Asuna went to sleep, and woke up, and everyone was dead – including Negi. Ayaka had managed to live for over a hundred years waiting for Asuna’s return, but Asuna overslept and her best friend died before she awoke. For a manga that started off as Love Hina redux (starring a shouta), and evolved into a shounen series that still featured strip lasers, to have something so dramatic happen was powerful. Asuna had done her part to save both Earth and Mars, and now her reward was to start over from scratch, with the rest of her long life ahead of her and everyone she loved dead.
That was Akamatsu-sensei’s decision point right there. Two pages before the end of chapter 352, the story could have gone one of two ways. It could have gone the way it did, with Chao showing up with a deus ex machina that gives Asuna back her life with her friends–or it could have gone a different, far more powerful route, one that I feel would have been a more fitting end for such an epic series. Here’s how I see it: Asuna is still there, 130 years in the future, grieving for the friends that have passed and the life she didn’t have a chance to lead. Negi is dead…but then again, Nagi was once dead, was he not? Proclaimed dead, that is. Why not Negi too?
Whether it be through one last adventure all by herself, or by him simply walking up from behind her, I imagine Asuna reuniting with Negi. After all that time, with all their friends gone and over a hundred years worth of changes having come to pass, the two of them meet up as they promised they would. Then Negi finally confesses his love for Asuna…or maybe not. I’ve always been a fan of Asuna, so I would have loved that, but that part isn’t actually as important as the rest of it. What’s important is the sacrifice and the effort. A century of maintaining her sanity against all odds by Asuna; a century of reshaping the worlds of Earth and Mars by Negi. After all that pain and effort and sacrifice, they meet up again. Negi would share the life stories of their friends that have passed, and then they would move on into the future…together.
You see, sacrifice is cheapened when it is intended but not made. Asuna persevered for one hundred and thirty years, and in the click of a watch Chao reset it all. It was like her sacrifice was never made. That’s wonderful for Asuna, because she got to spend her life with her friends–sacrifice is never fun for the characters making it. Yet as Eva once said to Setsuna in the Mahora tournament, to be happy is to be boring. Legends are not made of happiness; they’re made of pain, and loss, and strife. By giving Asuna her life back, Akamatsu-sensei stopped his story from becoming something truly great.
There were other problems with the end of this manga. Negi didn’t pick anyone. We know Konoka and Setsuna got married in the same year, but was it to each other? Nagi just showed back up with no explanation. Natsumi and Kotarou getting married was cute, but just listing out all the girl’s fates wasn’t the best way to go about it when manga is a visual medium. Still, the biggest fault in my eyes was pulling the final punch and not going for the bittersweet ending.
But you know what? Negima was a damn good manga over all. Like the Toradora anime, even if the ending was a little suspect, I choose to remember the story for all that was good about it. This manga gave us 9 years of magic spells, flashing panties, ridiculous shounen punch-ups, and shouta-led harem antics. And here I admit to not being objective anymore – as I said before, Negima was one of the stories that kindled my love for writing fiction. In fact, the first fiction I ever wrote was a super crappy Negima fanfic. It took me about a week to realize that I hated writing other people’s characters, and then I chunked it and started working on something original, but still! Though the ending wasn’t the best, this was a good manga that provided years of enjoyment, and for that, I’m happy to have read it. Feel free to post your comments about the ending below…but maybe mention some of the stuff you loved about the story as a whole, eh?
“True magic results from courage of the heart.” Well said, Negi. Well said.
Good End = Harem End
Maybe now they can focus on redoing the anime the correct way.
And of COURSE Kanoka and Setsuna got married to each other. Or they both got married to Negi. Either would satisfy me.
Setsuna = Tengu Samurai Ace Space Pilot = Badass…
I think they failed the anime adaptations so many times that it’ll be hard to get approval for making another one. I’m sure most fans can’t keep track of the 2 or 3 different ones already. Also, since the last one was titled with FINAL in the name, I think they are done with that route.
Yeah, it was obviously hinting at Konoka and Setsuna marrying one another, but they didn’t have the balls to outright say it. That’s my main qualm there. If you’re going to do it, just say it!
It’s like Nanoha where Word of God refuses to confirm Fate and Nanoha are basically married and into a lesbian relationship.
Setsuna’s got her in a bridal hold, damnit! A beautiful, loving, sexy, pseudo-lesbian bridal hold!
But Nanoha and Fate never got married…at all. To anyone.
Here, it’s explicitly stated Kanoka and Setsuna got married. There’s nothing in Nanoha media to suggest either Fate or Nanoha got married in any way shape or form.
I was comparing how Word of God fails to confirm and end the sentence with an open hole.
BTW, Nanoha and Fate didn’t get married. But in Vivid, they and Vivio are collectively registered as the “Takamachi Family”, with Vivio saying she “has two Moms”.
Well .. Fate and Nanoha sleep in the same bed and share custody of a daughter. I don’t think you need to paste on their foreheads LESBIAN to get the picture there!
About Setsuna and Konoka, seems Akamatsu didn’t want a lesbian relationship in the end, you can see something interesting in 352, page 15.
When I read the final fight with the lifemaker and the proposal of Asuna to use her as a tool to save the magical world, I thought it could be awesome if there would be a final arc where Asuna awakened in a screwed time/dimension or even other planets where no one in old and magic world had a clue there was also civilizations and she had to go back to her original place, meeting old and new characters in some sort of dimensional journey. Probably too similar to the magic world arc maybe but like Stilts say, something darker where she hadn’t her friends.
Even if my “wish” wasn’t granted, I expected at least all plot holes would be explained. Even the type of ending is very Akamatsu style wich I even like it but we are talking about a series that have been out there for 9 years, 5-10 more chapters to close well all the hole plots.
It has been an awesome manga, Akamatsu is my favorite mangaka and it’s his best work, it has all. It’s a pity it received so little love from his bosses.
As for ch352, pg15…magic? Lesbian not-requiring-men-at-all-to-make-babies magic??
(Or they weren’t together in that parallel world, or they used surrogates or something. I just don’t want to admit that maybe they weren’t together. They were too perfect for one another!)
Yeah, that would be fine also xD But those 2 kids are clones from the originals? Magic to mix the dna? That would be interesting to know xD
Or how about they married to the same man?
I see that Konoka and Setsuna had children, and grandchildren.
And if Akamatsu wanted readers to think these were the result of cloning, or surrogates,
he’d put in something to suggest such. But that would be to far out.
I think that Konoka x Setsuna is about as likely as Negi x Asuna.
However; I think Konoka and Sutsuna both marrying Negi is highly plausible.
Unfortunately, I stopped following MSN religiously soon after the Chao arc. Everything just seemed to become over the top afterwards. And I for one, felt that MSN lost a lot of it’s initial charm that it had when it was just about a young magician teaching a class of girls. Admittedly, I knew the story was going to go somewhere, but I never thought it would become a semi-DBZ magic free for all with the fate of two worlds at stake. Imagine if Love Hina started out as it did then eventually became Tenchi Muyo-isque towards the end – granted, Love Hina got a little hectic.
MSN was a great experience for me, so long as I ignore everything after the Chao Arc.
Yea, WHO DID HE PICK!!?? Akamatsu even teased it with Negi whispering it to Asuna (which suggests its not her). Since Asuna was pretty surprised, Nodoka seemed too easy. I was thinking someone from left field like Akira Okochi (the swimmer with the ponytail). OR it could’ve been Setsuna for a love triangle or Eva-chan for some loli-ness.
Gah! WHY Akamatsu!?
A popular theory is that he married Fate and is having an affair with Kotaro.
I personally like mine better. Negi deserved AT LEAST two girls by the end of this.
Given some of the future vid feeds, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Ayaka and/or Chisame and/or even a further modified Chachamaru, lol. (Given he was still hanging around with them after he was older it looked like.)
And given the ending, for Ayaka, isn’t walking one step behind and to the side the way a traditional Japanese wife walks with her husband?
I was assuming Chisame or perhaps Yue, because they kind of feel like “the same type” as Negi. Chisame was my true guess, tbh. Still, the one I actually wanted it to be, Asuna, was apparently the only one marked out for sure (at least at that point in time), so geeeeeeh!
Still, I guess at this point we can imagine whoever we like is the victor. As long as it’s not Natsumi or the twins, lol.
I doubt it’s Yue. On Yue’s and Nodoka’s page, it states that both their first loves were broken. It’s pretty sad – I was rooting for Yue hard, and was confident that she would come out on top since she got the second to last chapter to herself.
Asuna was more of an older sister type to him, in my opinion. At least, as far as their early interactions are concerned.
I was rooting for Nadoka. Still am, but who knows.
Am I the only one that thinks that Anya should be the one that was destined for Negi? Since Akamatsu never mentioned what happenned to her and she is a pretty important character to miss out for a final chapter. Maybe its me because I always have warm fuzzy feelings towards childhood friends in mangas and animes….. your true destined one was always the one who was with you from the beginning sort of thing.
Hopefully there will be an extra chapter like love hina to wrap things up, though it may take couple of years befor we get oneΣ（ﾟдﾟlll）
And thanks for covering this chapter Stilts, having RC the site which got me watching anime cover the manga who got me reading manga means a lot to me (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))
Yeah, I doubt that it’s Yue now. That’s just what I was thinking after chapter 353.
And no problem oliviaven! I feel pretty much the same way, I was just in a position to do something about it ^^
I wanted to be Yue or Akira if she were closer to him. I think it’s Anya, Chao used fire magic (Anya uses it) and something close to magia erebea (Negi of course) in her fight with Negi, so maybe is possible magic affinities pass down to descendants.
My comrades at a certain H site that begins with the letter F says Makie ended up with Negi because she calls Nagi “Father” and her ending mentions Negi.
BTW I feel like Akamatsu’s final message reminds me of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU_EYzrvDkU#t=4m35
Negi x Fate OTP
I am all for Ako. Like Negi she does not think of herself as someone great. She is caring towards others. She is self-sacrificing. She has a goal to become like Negi just like Negi wants to be Nagi.
So she fulfills having “Negi’s character”.
I was actually expecting one final arc due to the Turkey thing that is now officially a Red Herring.
MSN was Ken Akamatsu-sensei’s attempt/gamble to write his own shounen action manga. We all know the story: Corrupt Execs, wanting to cash in more of the Love Hina fame, urged Ken-sensei to write up another similar series, but Ken-sensei had other ideas.
So he introduced Negima. Filled it with girls to fool his bosses, while filled it with magical battles that could rival Nanoha.
It went on for nine years as an excellent mix of harem and action that became my standard measure of any manga/anime with the same genre. Sadly it ended with a cute nice chapter… but somewhat weak as well.
But even then, my only qualm is that it didn’t go on for a bit more. It didn’t go on to explain what happened to Nagi and Arika. One more Big Bad, one more adventure is all that I ask.
This is actually my first manga. When I read this in AQS, the main scan team for Negima when I was in college, I went and DL everything. I eventually made it a habit and even started my own manga collection. It is a very important manga for me and I will miss it dearly now that it’s gone.
Series Score: 5/5
Now I can’t wait for Ken-sensei’s next epic adventure.
I’m a little sad that Negima’s over. I’ve been following since around chapter 230, however the fuck long ago that was, and I’ve been pretty devoted since. I’m a bit disappointed that Negi’s crush was never revealed, although at minimum, four of the girls (Nodoka, Yue, Setsuna, and Konoka) were excluded. Plus, I felt that the conclusion was extremely rushed, especially the ending of the Megalosembria/Fate arc.
While I am disappointed that the ending didn’t cover everything I wanted (and also completely failed to mention Fate and Anya!!!), I’m pretty satisfied with the conclusion. Sometimes leaving the ending open is the right thing to do, and while I am a bit disappointed, I don’t think it was a wrong move by Akamatsu. I’m pretty sad to see this go. It’s going to be weird not picking up the latest chapter every week.
Well, back to reading Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA 2wei! That shit’s hilarious.
What i understood from the translation was that Nodoka married Negi. Negi’s village petrification was one of his lifetime grievings. And since Nodoka was able to cure them, “she too this change to marry” Negi? Or so is my theory.
What? It was Konoka that healed Negi’s village and that it was already confirmed she married in 2017 (to who may or may not be someone named Setsuna).
Thanks for blogging this, Stilts.
Since Kyoto arc, I’ve been pretty determined to collect all the tankobons because the battle choreography is not half bad and Eva was pretty kick-ass too. But after saw the ending, I have pretty mixed feeling about it.
Oh well, I have collected 29 volumes already, 8 volumes to go…
And Akamatsu-sensei, please create another wonderful ecchi hit for us…
I’m not going to forget the rest of the story because of this ending, but I still wish we had more resolution that that. It seemed to me that Negi would get together with Chisame, since she was getting significantly closer to him as the story progressed.
I’m also pretty sure Konoka and Setsuna did marry. I see it as less about not saying it out loud and more about gently winking to the audience.
I’ve read Negima till the end of the Chao Ark. After that I kept visiting this blog to keep me in touch about the following arks. Many thanks to the reviewer for keeping my interest in the series.
Time/Dimension travel always fucking up storytellings!
It was a shock when I saw this post in my feeds. I thought the story was going to have at least one more ark before the grand finalle – well, an extra/side-story ark is always possible. The universe Akamatsu created has great potential, it would be such a waste to drop it now that Negima! ended.
Oh, come on, the ending wasn’t that bad – you guys are watching too much Madoka. I think I was able to tolerate the cheap-time-travel-hax-in-order-to-get-the-happy-ending because I already got used to these Akamatsu-type endings – he did something similar before. Of course, it would be interesting exploring Asuna’s despair, but in my opinion such tearjerkering drama wouldn’t fit the series overall.
What is over is over – till the release of a sequel/prequel/side-stories/etc. etc.
Time travel really does screw up most stories. I have an enduring hatred of it after reading the entire webcomic Bob & George, and it’s a testament to how much I loved this story that the time travel stuff didn’t bother me too much. Still, once you introduce time travel there’s too much potential for this kind of mischief. Ah well.
Well, good to see that randomc gave some attention to this brilliant series.
It was my first manga i bought (volume 7) and I think the ending is just too rushed, but, for a rushed ending, it’s pretty good.
Furthermore, it is speculated that Ken Akamatsu left the Weekly Shonen Magazine or is going to leave(I don’t really have a source for this, sorry) because he is unhapppy with his editors, and maybe make a continuation of an series of his.
If you look at it like that, this ending leaves an ending that leaves the possibility to work too. With all the loose end, it’s easy too fill them in, like who Negi chooses (It doesn’t seem to be Yue, Nodoka or Asuna from the last 3 chapters), how Nagi got there and more things. I do like how they went trough all the girls to tell their story.
But well, presuming this really is the ending, Negima has made my life a lot more fun and gave me the entry for the 300+ manga’s I have at home.
To commemorate this awesome series, I would like to know which spell is your favorite?
Mine would be “Blazing Heat in the Sky” just because casting it sounds cool.
Remember Titanoktonon? That was Negi’s original fourth “As Card” spell when he’s fighting against Rakan, it was shaped like Longinus Spear. That’s the most awesome spell in my opinion.
Titan Slayer huh? Yeah, that was a cool spell. He absorb it to gain speed and fire it point-blank to skewer his opponents. I just, LOLZ at me, can’t remember if it was Titan Slayer 1 or if it was Titan Slayer 2 that he used in his fight with Rakan.
Sorry. I could only remember them in translated form due to me following scans and NA releases of the manga.
Yeah, I get it, I was kind of lost of which spell is which when reading scanlation as well. Tankobons in my country leave the name of spell as it is. Kind of glad, though, since the origin of the spell is thoroughly explained anyway.
ETERNAL…NEGI FEVER!!
Nuff said.
Negi’s clothes stripping sneezes ^__________^
Either that or Thousand Thunderbolts. I’m always fan of Lina Inverse-style spells…maximum power, no holding back!
What? How could you guys forget this attack?
SUPREME RULER BURNING HEAT THUNDERING DRAGON ROAR ERUPTING FLASH DEMON TEMPEST RAKAN FIST!!!
Also, the renamed Zanmaken: Ni no Tachi.
IN CELEBRATION OF MY FIRST KISS WITH OJOU-SAMA SPECIAL!!!
Basically anything by Rakan is instantly made of awesome!
LOL. I definitely remember that one.
Negi Kiss Machine. The ultimate love weapon.
All of Evageline’s spells, especially her Magic Erebea Queen of Ice.
A lot of good characters wasted.
The Narutaki twins and Sakurako should have been used a lot more in the manga.
Watching the Narutaki twins getting married and having children with characters we don’t even know was like they never existed in the story!
And Sakurako receive from me the “Useless Character” award.
I really had high hopes for her. She was my favorite from all of the girls when the manga started…
Then again, it WAS the best manga I have ever read.
I seriously hope it will continue with one more “normal harem” arc. It started that way, it should finish that way.
Btw, Stilts, I’m still waiting for your blogging about Mahou Sensei Negima! Anime Final.
And if you would, give your insight about comparison to manga ending as well.
Don’t know if I’ll ever get to it. I want to cover movies pretty soon after they’re subbed (like I did with the Sora no Otoshimono movie), but I missed the Negima one when I was still getting settled into blogging. Plus, doing a movie post is like getting socked in the nads (it’s like doing 5 episode posts all at once!), and I’m already pretty swamped. Not all of us can be crazy like Divine, haha!
Plus, I’d probably have to watch it to blog about it. I’m still mourning the end of the manga, so I haven’t seen it yet. NO SPOILERS!!
The movie was subbed awhile ago by Unlimited Translation Works. Don’t watch it, it sucks and isn’t worth your time. It’s basically a slide show of the last 10 chapters in old movie format then they come up with an extremely crappy excuse plot like that of Negima!? that doesn’t answer any of the questions presented in the beginning of the movie or anything at all about Nagi with horrible animation ei, Negi’s SSJ3 form moves slower than me riding a bike and a whole lot of QUALITY shots and still frames. Also Mana somehow manages to fire her Desert Eagles with the sound and ROF of a minigun.
…so it’s like all other Negima anime adaptations?
I really wish that statement wasn’t so accurate >_<
Ah, I still remember my goosebumps as I stared in disbelief at the impaled Negi which would turn out to be the start to the epic Mundus Magicus arc.
It’s been a great ride and despite the abrupt ending, I’ll still remember it as one of my all time favourites, just like Love Hina.
Actually, I think there were clues throughout the last chapters about who Negi chose.
Remember Kotarou’s wedding scene? There was a panel showing Negi and Fate beside each other, and in front of them Asuna and Class Pres.
Aaaaandd, I think Chao had a future photo from way back, showing Fate, Asuna, Negi and Class Press….
I know it can’t be called evidence, but
Fate x Asuna, Negi x Class Press?
Its definately not Ayaka x Negi. Remeber Ayaka’s great great granddaughter refered to Negi as a friend of her great great grandmother not great great grandfather and in her future text it said she was just happy to stand on the side behind Negi. Ayaka x Negi is basically ruled out.
It could be the other way around though.
Ending looked rushed to me…
Negima was truly inspirating for me along the years since i started reading. Through that time i dived into drawing and writing stories for my own enjoyment, that`s why i love akamatsu`s work so much ^^
Although the crap ending of Negima, i`d rather think like Stilts says, all those years reading Negima were well worth it, a great experience to say the least.
Executive Meddling at its best…
So I’m not alone thinking this end is the result of some Executive Meddling…?
So another great manga has ended in a rush. Such a waste really, I wonder if there’s a personal reason for him to ended Negima prematurely. After To Love Ru, I hope this is not going to become a trend in manga industries.
Now patiently awaiting Akamatsu-sensei announces a sequel manga with more erotic content : Negima Darkness
C’mon you can do it sensei!! （ ﾟ ヮ ﾟ ）v
No idea what you’re talking about…that’s already a trend in manga 😛 It’s just a risk you take when long-running series can be ended with a few chapters (or less) notice, as opposed to TV shows which have set run-times, movies which need to be relatively self-contained, and books where the author can keep plugging on by themselves if they want to.
It’s sadly true that bad endings is the norm rather then the other way around. It’s a bit strange as anime series have a almost a fixation on making good endings for seasons, while for manga it seems none cares with bothering to make a good ending.
MSN was a great series, definitely one of my favourites. I remember watching one the animes first before actually reading the manga. I think I picked it up right the chapter where Yue looses her memories. My favourite bit was probably the Negi vs Rakan fight. Most epic and well-drawn battle scene ever.
I’m just rather frustrated that Akamatsu decided to compress ~2 arcs worth of material into 1 chapter. I feel like I’ve been cheated out of something.
My only hope is that Akamatsu decides to write up the side stories and release them in the future. I’m still reluctant to say goodbye to this series.
Thanks for covering this, Stilts. It was a nice treat.
That we’re all reluctant to let it go is just a sign that Akamatsu-sensei did something right. As a storyteller, sucking people in that much is pretty much the dream.
Meh… That was pretty much my take on the ending. It could have been a lot better but Akamatsu chickened out at the end. Well Negima is still a damn good manga though.
*WARNING: This post contains high amounts of speculation and words. If you like neither, please avoid reading this.*
Actually, I do believe there are enough hints to indicate who won in the final chapter and because of what Asuna said.
Makie.
I am not basing that off of her calling Nagi father. But more basing it off of what Asuna said and also things stated in the final epilogue.
Via the epilogue, we do know that Negi did indeed confess when Asuna told him to do so. How? Nodoka and Yue both were heartbroken. Negi had promised to give Nodoka an answer when the graduation occurred, and it was this thought given to him by Yue.
On panel 4 of page 7 last chapter. One of those girls would need to be his girlfriend, because he would definitely make an introduction of his girlfriend to his father. Now that his health is better, it probably hasn’t been that long since he’s been saved. Whoops, rambled there. Sorry. These girls also seem to suggest who had gotten the closest to Negi, as evidenced by who exactly ifs in that group.
This would leave Ku Fei, Chachamaru, Nodoka, Yue, Makie, Yuna, Konoka, Chisame, and Setsuna. We’ve already eliminated Nodoka & Yue due to their endings. Let’s eliminate the rest via the same method.
Konoka & Setsuna married each other. Its a shounen manga, so they aren’t going to say that outright. Chisame instead of embracing the world around her as she was doing with Negi, has gone back to being a shut in; definitely got rejected.
This leaves Ku Fei, Chachamaru, Makie, and Yuna. I’m going to eliminate Yuna because Asuna stated that there is in fact one thing the two have in common. And I never saw it with Yuna.
So we’re down to Ku Fei, Chachamaru, and Makie. Ku Fei is eliminated by something she stated, that if she lost to Negi, she would have to marry him. However, it specifically states that they have a New Year tradition of fighting. Them having something like that wouldn’t make sense if she won.
Now then, Chachamaru & Makie are left. Fun time. This is where I can’t show anything that would put Chachamaru out. Well, except that Asuna said that the girl wasn’t someone whom she thought would go together with Negi. That’s a really flimsy excuse, especially since her epilogue does suggest that she’s always getting wound up daily.
So I’ll actually show why its Makie instead. Makie is the only one, outside of Yuna, who is not a complimentary figure to Negi. In fact, they are probably direct opposites. The only thing they are the same is what they strive to set out to do.
Makie’s epilogue also suggests that she won. She is the only girl who didn’t join the ISSA or take a position that would allow her to meet Negi on a regular basis. Remember, he’s working at ISSA, not Mahora anymore. Yet, she’s still focused into Negi and on her days off visits with her friends and Negi.
…wait, why would she be the only girl that is still going after Negi and meeting him on her days off? Especially since Nodoka of all girls, was freaking heartbroken. Yes, we could play the “but she’s so into Negi” card, but even Ayeka decided to take a back seat. You can’t play that card. Doesn’t work. Being that she’s so in love with Negi, she would definitely be of the heartbroken type or “I’ll follow him in the background”. She does neither. She’s goes out of her way to meet him. The only reason I know of is because she’s his girlfriend.
Okay, I admit we could play the friends with benefits card. You know Makie would nev-ahem. I mean Negi would never let that fly, he’s a proper English gentleman and all.
The fact she says “father” and everyone’s telling her to stop panicking is just icing on the cake. Even better, is that because its Makie of all the girls, everyone will do what I originally did. “Oh, Makie.”
Before someone goes “Makie supporter”, I was (since its over, its okay to use past tense) actually a supporter of Nodoka. Which made me want to figure out who won so that I got some damn closure. T_T Poor Nodoka, at least you have Yue still.
I did a similar character by character analysis and this is what I thought. This will be in the order of the last chapter, not the class roster.
27+4. Nodoka and Yue. It said that both of them had their first love shattered, so not them.
13+15. Konoka and Setsuna. Those two are married, and nothing is going to sink that aircraft carrier sized ship.
12. Ku Fei. Not likely, since those two only hold a match once every New Year, meaning they do not see each other that often.
16. Makie. It said she is still looking at Negi, so her love is kind of one-sided.
6. Akira. Possible, since nothing says otherwise. She meets Negi at her job often too.
5. Ako. Unlikely, since she likes the adult version of Negi. Negi is also a bit hesitant around her because of what happened.
30. Satsuki. Very unlikely, if anything it would be one-sided on Negi’s part.
25. Chisame. Not likely. She is back to her old reclusive life, and her personality is nothing like Eva.
10. Chachamaru. Possible, since she works by his side all the time. And it would certainly be awkward to explain to someone else if he “winds her up” everyday.
26. Eva. She still likes Nagi, and it says the one Negi likes resembles her.
29. Ayaka. Not likely. She is content simply standing behind Negi, not being with him.
8. Asuna. Not likely, going by her reaction when Negi told her.
So going by process of elimination, the most likely candidates for Negi’s affection are Akira and Chachamaru. Of those two, Chachamaru is a little more likely. Chao would be proud. *cue more Chachamaru delusions*
I was guessing it might be Eva since like you said:
26. Eva. She still likes Nagi, and it says the one Negi likes resembles her.
It might end that Eva choose Negi over Nagi since Nagi already had Arika. And Negi did say “he likes his master”.
Sorry MDK have to disagree on number 12. Unless there was an unusual accident during one of those yearly matches that started Chao’s existences.
I always thought that Yue and Nodoka´s “first love shattered” sentence refers how their friendship ended after Yue´s memory loss, not their feelings for Negi. At least to me the paragraph makes more sense if interpreted that way.
Ayaka´s epilogue “simply being happy by always being one side behind Negi” could be interpreted as giving up a possible relationship or being with him always one step after him, opening the possibility of a relationship or at least she hasn´t given up yet.
Ku-Fei recognices strong people, in the epilogue she challenges Negi every year. She could still be interested in marrying him if she were to win once. Also there are hints Chao could be also Ku-Fei´s descendant.
Konoka marries in 2017 just like Setsuna. It could be Setsuna whom she marries, but it isn´t clear why curing the petrification of Negi´s village would be a special moment for her to make such a decision.
I think Ayaka, Ku-Fei, Makie, Konoka, Yue and Nodoka are the ones with the highest chance to marry Negi in the future. Makie would be taking the lead in that list because she was the only one whose epilogue explicitly says she is still being interested on Negi as more than a friend.
At least the possible candidates are less than half of the female cast, so I consider myself satisfied with the ending. And this is better than marching on the onset hoping to defeat the big bad.
I think Konoka marrying after she cured Negi’s village is special because if you think of where Negi’s village is and what that place has that Japan does not it actually becomes interesting.
We all know that Negi’s village is in Wales and at the moment, Civil Partnerships are allowed in Wales. Someone may want to correct me if I’m wrong about that though. So therefore, there’s a chance that Konoka and Setsuna did get “married” to each other or something like that.
It was during those traditional yearly fights, that Ku and Negi did the nasty to start Choa’s branch on the Negi family tree. And to the Victor the Spoils! You Go Negi !
I believe Makie hasn’t won him over yet… but after all this years she is still giving her best, whereas other characters have given up or moved on. What I do believe is that she is has a chance and that no one has won yet.
I’m actually surprised Akamatsu decided to cut some big routes like Nodoka… but I’m actually glad he did.
🙂
I’ve been reading negima almost from the beginning so it’s a bit nostalgic it ended…Hope akamatsu changes his mind and makes a sequel or something…
Very nice article, it hit my thoughts entirely regarding the ending. It didn’t quite reach the potential the series had.
Still, you make an interesting point regarding future world. That would have been indeed a sad but true ending.
I personally liked how most of the loose ends are tied up. Even though Nagi was rescued off-screen, it still gave a sense of closure on his part. However, there are two characters who really could have used more explanation, Arika and the Gravemaster.
Where is Arika now? Since Nagi is free, he should know. Negi deserves to meet his mother.
As for the Gravemaster, she disappeared without a trace after stopping Sextum. All we know is that she is related the Negi and Asuna, and nothing else.
Those are my questions exactly. The Gravemaster I can deal with not knowing, but Arika-sama… there was just as much evidence that she was alive as that she was dead. I assume that because she wasn’t brought-up/resolved in some way the reader is just supposed to assume she’s dead, cause that’s the only way I can see Nagi sitting there drinking tea seven years later like all’s good. Still though, they never REALLY said it, making it the most unresolved plot-point, so it bugs me. It really bugs me.
Glad to see some Negima love on this site, while I’m, not 100% satisfied with the ending I think there’s A LOT of room for Akamatsu to return in the future and that’s a good thing so yeah, and in my headcannon Setsuna and Konoka got married to each other KonoSetsu FTW! (Don’t worry I;m not one of the rabid fans that’ll rage if someone else thinks otherwise).
So after 9 years of shota action hero mage, harem fanservice hijinks, marvelous battles, unique characters and an amazing story, the series has come to an end. I’m gonna miss reading Negima every week.
Thank you Ken Akamtsu for creating one of the best mangas i ever read. Cheers!
I hope for success for his next work.
I will this manga one of the first that i ever read and the manga that got me hooked into reding manga. Goodbye Evangeline,Rakan,Negi…
This was my first manga that I ever read. I’m so sad to see it go, also with the fact it was supposed to go much longer. I really hope there’s a sequel, because I’m not ready to let it go <3
Negima will always be in my heart, and my bookshelf.
Honestly, I had to have a few drinks to get over the ending of the series. I’ve read it since the beginning, and man…this ending just felt too damn rushed. Although I knew back after the Magic World arc was ending that he was going to end it soon, but it feels as though it was just too fast. I really wish he would have fleshed out what happened to the rest of the characters, like his mother, and go into more detail about the residents of his hometown being healed at last by Konoka. There was still so much that could have been in the story for arcs, yet he just had to end it there….
Ugh.
Needless to say, while I love the series to death, the ending just ruined any hopes for a sequel to it, since he already pulled Nagi out of the hat and Negi aged to an extent before the dark magic halted his growth.
….
DAMNIT WHY?!?!?! T___T
The ending you envisioned is what I would have preferred, for certain, for all the reasons you’ve already listed. Thinking of it brought to mind memories of Chrono Crusade’s manga ending, which to this day remains one of the handful of manga able to make me cry tears of joy for its finale.
That said, like you, I’m still glad I read and stuck with Negima all this time. It’s been a unique, memorable manga, if nothing else. And I can let it rest while holding some wonderful moments and characters in my heart.
What’s more, as someone on Kurogane’s Anime Blog so keenly pointed out, this may not actually be the last we see of Negi and his friends, as Akamatsu is more than free to revisit this series down the road (ala Shaman king Kanzen Ban).
Some of my favorite things to come out of this series include:
* Kotaro and Natsumi’s relationship. Everything from their mutual issues with self-image (though the issues themselves were on vastly different levels), to the roles they played in compliment to the “main cast,” to their Good End (Natsumi’s solitary journey through the Magical World to find and beat some sense into her man is something I dearly want to see).
* Negi and Asuna’s relationship. Yes, I realize the love Love Dodecahedron wasn’t canonically put to bed, and some “red herrings” or sorts were tossed in at the end, but I nonetheless consider these two the canon couple for all they went through together.
* Nagi’s legacy and life with Arika (even if she got the short end of the proverbial writer’s stick).
* Konoka and Setsuna’s relationship and individual character growth. I would’ve liked Setsuna’s “white demon ostracization” to be fleshed out more, but overall I’m happy with how her and Konoka’s journeys intersected.
* Fate Averruncus – especially his character growth in the later Magical World arcs. He and Kotaro could’ve been forgettable lackies from the Kyoto arc, but they went on to become such amazing, complex characters.
* Jack Rakan. Such a ridiculous, unpredictable loon.
* The creativity displayed the more the series diverged from an unwanted harem school-life manga and championed into a mash-up of multi-layered magical/time-travel/political/ideologies and beliefs.
This is the first Negima-related post I’ve ever seen here o.O
Did this just pop out from nowhere or does RandomC suddenly have a filter that up until today made me unable to see Negima posts?
Just a one-time special from an old Negima fan to send off a favorite story : )
So ka, I didn’t know you could do that. By that I mean I didn’t know that you’re allowed to do that. I was wondering why the only manga titles that RandomC ever blogged about continuously were Naruto and Bleach; I always thought it was because Omni or Divine issued a blog-wide gag order banning the posting of other titles that might not be too popular, so as to conserve valuable space.
But then, Negima is by no means an obscure title, so this post would still be relevant even if said ban were imposed.
If that (the other-manga-ban) isn’t the case, then I might have given more thought to applying for writerhood. Or writerdom. Or writership. Whatever.
Good Manga overall but terrible terrible and I say TERRIBLE ENDING. Last few chapter negi say he does have a special person but not tell us who it was in the final chapter is bad, then what happen to his dad, what really happen? That was the whole point of this manga from start to find out what happen to his dad and where he was, but they totally skip that part and just have him pop up.
Once again good manga and good storyline but TERRIBLE ending.
This was going to be a reply to Shugima above about Akamatsu’s future plans, but I think it’s become fairly long and addresses something different after all, so this’ll be standalone.
——-
Any avid manga reader should read the official translation of the conversation last year between Akamatsu and Takekuma Kentaro, an editor and university professor. It covers the declining manga market and new ideas that both men put forth to save the manga publishers and maybe make the whole process electronic (or maybe not).
http://2chan.us/wordpress/2011/04/17/article-translation-the-exhaustive-debate-between-kentaro-takekuma-x-ken-akamatsu-%E2%80%9Cthe-role-manga-editors-should-take-in-the-e-publishing-era%E2%80%9D-part-1/
I may be jumping to conclusions, but I’ve seen the same view across a bunch of forums: I remember Akamatsu mentioned he is tired of drawing Negima and is ready to work on J-Comi, his potentially revolutionary idea for ad-suppported manga viewing, just like radio and television. So he may actually stop drawing serialized manga and start working on his company. He does, after all, approach manga like a businessman.
So let’s get into a little bit of the business plan for TV: it’s ad-supported, and is essentially a giant advertisement platform to sell merchandise, DVDs, and Blu-Rays. Hell, look at anime in Japan, it’s broadcast for nothing more than a fee for the cable connection (it’s not pay-per-view). Instead, it makes money mostly on DVDs/BD and merchandise.
Akamatsu wants to adopt that model for J-Comi, with ad-supported manga chapters/volumes. Even though it’s only out-of-print series right now, should he ever get permission from the likes of Kodansha or Shueisha to put up scans of weekly series like One Piece or Fairy Tail, the weekly issues would turn into an advertising outlet to sell tankobon (volumes) and merchandise.
Sounds a little like anime sales now, huh?
Final de mierda
Yeah I am highly disappointed with this ending as well. Nothing was revealed. Like WHY was Nagi the final villain dude in the first place? And defeating him apparently freed him but we didnt KNOW that till the last chapter? Wut?
And then Negi’s crush was never revealed. I guess it was intentional for a harem to not choose single girls but even so, if you’re gona tease us about it in the first place, you might as well reveal it to us, or leave some sort of hints for speculations.
I really hope this series gets a few extra omake or epilogue chapters to tie the lose ends.
this manga end like a boss . I love this story and even the end is rush i still wait for his new work and support his manga cuz it’s so good.
Lol I am not trying to be mean but its hilarious of some of the theories some fans come up with of who Negi ended up because they like that girl to end up with Negi. It is quite clear Negi was not dating anyone when he was introducing his class to his father which led his father to indirectly suggest Negi has a harem. Makie is also one of the obsessive characters who trys to push forward and starts panicking when others are getting attention and in this chapter she was told twice to stop it clearly indicates she is obsessing over Negi but is still one sided. Looks like Makie still obsessing over Negi hints Negi is still not with anyone yet but a few are still 100% ruled out.
Reminds me of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, another long-running manga that I picked up around the same time as Negima…………………..
The CRAPPY ENDINGS!!! Why, should such good stories end in such a lame manner? Is it because of deadlines? Mangakas losing interest? I mean shit, for all the buildup, it sure petered out in a whimper instead of a bang.
Ahh, it’s the end. Good 9 years of work, Akamatsu-sensei. :Db
(I actually followed this series in 2005 anyway)
Uhh, it’s more like of a Love Hina ending for me…those happy endings. And I want an anime version of all the arcs presented in the manga (starting from the Budokai).
A remake anime following the manga storyline would be a very awesome idea.
Best part of the ending is how Akamatsu shafted Nodoka 🙂
Honestly, I didn’t really see it that way. =w= But, regardless, if he hadn’t said in the previous chapters that he had someone he liked, then it’d just be an open ending. Though, if he does eventually age and die, it’s going to be a pain. =/
BUT, if he adapts well enough and becomes fully immortal like Eva, well, I can see a hell of a lot more stories that he could have said.
Really, Negima, one of my absolute favorite mangas, really has been one of the best one’s I’ve read so far..
Shame about the ending. 🙁
Favorite manga on favorite anime blog!?
Life complete.
so,, who’s Negi choose… Yue.?? dafuq..what kinda ending is this?
I’m so surprised that Negima is now over… I have been reading it for so long ever since it started and now to see it’s over… it’s just sad.
However what I’m always disappointed about Negima is what’s with the animations? The only exceptions was the Ala Alba OVAs but the rest were pretty horrible. I wish that if they ever try to animate it again, they do a proper job this time.
Dammit Akamatsu. You should have end it with 30+ page final chapter, not like this.I mean there should be an individual page for each student with full body shot of their future self IN COLOR! and a final 2 page picture of all the 3-A student, Negi and all the characters, so that fans can put it on their room! Thats how you finished this masterpiece of awesomeness!
On serious note: I will miss this manga T_T
You know, I didn’t really care for much of the ending. Heck I didn’t even care for most of the cast. Most of the thing I was hoping to see in the end were Fate Ministra, what happened to them? They were with the Gravemaster and suddenly disappeared off the face of the existence. The same with Shirabe, what happened to her? Did she get revived like the other characters in the end?
The only reaso why I picked up this series was because I got a glimpse of them. But suddenly offing them and not covering in what happened, I’m disappointed.
Dagnabbit, now I’m all teary eyed.
Love Hina was, in many ways, my first “real” manga. Sure, I’ve read Naruto and Dragonball and whatnot, but these days I don’t really divulge in most Shonen stuff, whereas Harem is pretty much my bread and butter. I remember finished it back when I was 12, reading the wedding epilogue in a bookstore (heheh, 12 year old manga cow). When I was done, all I could think was “what am I gonna do now?”. It was a phenomenon that I’ve coined “ending depression”, and it’s occurred quite a few times since then. Finishing Love Hina, I scrambled for anything to fill the void, which naturally led me to Negima.
Some of my fondest memories is showing the Negima manga to my friends. I remember one of my more prudish friends disapproving of the fanservice, who would usually be the first to read any new volumes I brought. I remember finishing volume 11 or so, and being upset that the translation was behind. Even online, I was unable to find any good translations, what with the most up to date scanlation group back then being NarutoFan (Ugh).
Now that’s it’s over, I’m reminded of that day in the bookstore. Of ending depression. Don’t retire, Mr. Akamatsu. I wanna see what you do next. I wanna see it more than anything.
This manga is definitely something you can’t easily forget. I’m 50/50 with this ending. It could have been worst, but we know we wanted better. I feel that this sort of ending can only bring about side story materials, as a sequel really needs something to push forward, but everything here seems to be explained in a “and this is what happened”.
A part of me congratulates Akamatsu sensei for his 9 years of work, and also writing a great manga that’s definitely caught many viewer’s eye. Another part of me, no matter how much I’d tried to fight it, is disappointed, not only because the ending feels/is rushed, but because this manga has ended, as well as a fans yearning for more.
This ending would have been perfect (okay not perfect, but just good enough) if this series had given one ‘final’ arc before closing, namely a “Saving Nagi” arc before this ending.
Still, despite all that, won’t stop me from being a fan of the magnificent manga. Makes me wonder if Akamatsu-sensei’s own courage wavered when he was ending this manga…Still, I’d like to hope despite the odds, that Akamatsu sensei will continue writing the Negima stories one day in the future.
And Kudos to Stilts for posting Negima manga related review on RC.
Well, Konoka and Setsuna married to each other, that’s enough to make me happy. I can live with everything else.
Yes, Akamatsu could have put it more blatanty… but, lets be sincere here, he could have drawing they having hot lesbian sex, with a marriage licence glued in their foreheads and people would still be arguing about they being lesbians or not. 😛
Anyways, its a good time to make a new anime. Isnt?
I’m not so sure that they got married. And really, do fifteen year old girls have a sex life? I don’t think so.
If Konoka & Setsuna did have a certain puppy love for one another I think they would outgrow it by 2015.
Seriously how many of us actually get married to our high school sweetheart?
How much less likely is it for a couple of pseudo lesbians?
Wow I actually wouldn’t have minded if the manga ended in the way you suggested, Stilts, with Negi, supposedly dead, walking up behind Asuna.
(although that would have left a Nagi plot hole).
It would have been better if the manga ended with a bang, but besides the ambiguous harem end, I can’t say I have many complaints.
Thanks for writing up a post on the finale. Much appreciated!
Somehow, the ending made me want for more instead of giving me the feeling that it finally ended. There were also too many moments of awesome that were only written off instead of actually being shown…
Still, I loved Negima and enjoyed its run! Hell it was fun!
I do hope there would be some specials though that would explain some bits and pieces of what happened towards the ending…
I think you may have summed up my exact feelings to this ending, props to you.
Long Live Negima. I love this series and will miss it. One thing that bothers me though is if the entire world knows Magic exist then is Mahora teaching Magic to their students? It’s been proven that a human can learn Magic due to Yue.
This is the best manga I’ve ever read and cherished ’til now,, thank you so much Akamatsu-sensei.. =)
I’m gonna miss this so much,, so I’m still hoping there’s more of Negima! in any form (sequel, prequel, OVA, Extra, and whatever form it is).. >.<
Well, the ending was definitely not the best, it left a lot of things unexplained.
For example how did Negi die? Or age for that matter, wasn’t he supposed to be immortal or something?
however, I think the person Negi liked was actually Evangeline. Because in that part where he was forced by all the girls to tell them who he prefers he became so nervous, and that would be explained since if Evangeline knew that Negi loves her then he would probaly be killed or something, besides Negi knew that she loves his father, that might explain why years later he never married or choose anyone from his harem, also in two parts from the manga Negi declared his love for his “master” -Evangeline, he also said once that he wouldn’t mind being the same as his master, never had he used love to describe any of the other girls, not even Asuna.
Anyhow I am all for Negi x Evangaline
I think the ending was perplexing. It left a lot of holes to be filled.
But, maybe thats a good thing. After all I’d never look upon another one
of Akamatsu’s works again if Konoka and Setsuna were simply revealed to
be lesbians. I thank him for at least leaving that undefined. But I hate
how he kept hinting at it!
Anyway, the ending is fair enough ( I guess. ).
But really, how did Negi die? I mean he apparently became something like
Evangeline, a immortal vampire or whatever ( another thing I dislike. ).
So, shouldn’t he still be alive when Asuna wakes up 130 years later?
The whole story got more bizarre the longer it went on.
Also I think the perfect ending would include Negi marring Konoka.
The son of Thousand Master with the daughter of the chief of the Kansai
Magic association. A perfect match don’t you think?
Think about it, healing Negi’s village sets up for a marriage with Negi,
not Setsuna. And if Chao Lingshen is one of Negi’s desendants I could
see some Konoka in her, can’t you?
Yeah, I’m convinced that Setsuna and Konoka didn’t get married to each other.
Anyway, I’m gonna go over everything again. I’m also planning to get the anime on DVD.
Because its that good.
I figured that Konoka and Setsuna would get together, in one form or another. The “ending” left much to be desired but looking at page 16 of the final chapter, I came to the conclusion that Negi married either Ayaka or Asuna, seeing as the both of them were shown in wedding attire along with Fate and Negi himself. I can’t see Asuna marrying Fate, especially after what he tried to do to her, therefore it has to be Negi. The phone call at the end of the chapter was probably just leading into that situation.
I have come to the same conclusion. It was Asuna, it was hinted all throughout the mangga. She was also Negi’s most important person, more important than his ‘crush’, Nekane, Anya and even his father base on his statement when asuna asked him who he likes. Sakurako also said the same and her intuition is perfect.
I just had a thought. If the Narutaki twins had a double wedding, why couldn’t Konoka and her best friend Setsuna have a double wedding? Its not uncommon for best friends to synchronize their weddings.