First Impressions / Negima!? / OVA/Movie

OP Sequence

OP: 「らぶ☆センセーション」 (Love*Sensation) by 佐藤利奈, 神田朱未, 野中藍 (Satou Rina, Kanda Akemi, and Nonoka Ai)

Summary:
Nodoka has wanted to know who her red string of fate connects to and has found a spell that can let her know. Yue convinces her that they try it, and Nodoka’s fills her mind with Negi thoughts as Yue casts the spell. The success of the spell is seen when the spot around Nodoka starts glowing and a red string forms on her left pinky finger. It flies out of the room and starts pulling on her, but Yue keeps her inside the window. The two get a brief moment of relief before they hear Negi, Asuna, and Kamo screaming because they’re being pulled towards this room. As it turns out, Nodoka is now indeed connected with Negi, but this spell isn’t for the red string of fate connection – it just connects two people with a red string. Since Asuna can’t cut it with scissors, Negi thinks that they should just wait until the string disappears on its own when the spell wears off. Konoka and Setsuna then come by and tell them that everyone else is going to the bath. But this isn’t just any bath; it’s the Yukihiro family’s Mahora Spa Resort.
Inside huge place, Nodoka and Negi run into Haruna, who sees them holding hands. Nodoka tries to explain that it’s because the red string is short, but Negi then reveals that people who can’t use magic can’t see the string. In any case, everyone in Negi’s class has formed into small groups and taken to different bathing environments. In one instance, Konoka wants Setsuna to wash her back, but Setsuna is too embarrassed to do it. In another instance, Asuna is insisting on washing Negi’s body, but then Hakase Satomi shows up with a new robot that can do the job. Unfortunately for Asuna, the robot targets her instead of Negi. A third area has a group of the girls watching a ping-pong match between Yuuna and Zazie, with the latter winning. Evangeline decides to send up Chachamaru as the next competitor, but Chachamaru responds to Zazie’s serve by vaporizing the ball. Negi and Nodoka meanwhile have been put in a sauna together thanks to Haruna.
At the end of the day, Yue is one sitting all alone while everyone else is playing happily together. She’s thinking about her own feelings towards Nodoka and Negi when suddenly her magic wand activates. Red strings expand out through the pool area and entangle everyone, pulling them underwater. Yue herself gets pulled down too, but Negi and Nodoka pull her out. To stop the magic from running wild, Negi instructs Yue to repeat the feelings she had when she used magic, but this time not to use fake feelings. As she holds on to Negi’s staff, Yue apologizes to Nodoka and then channels her true feelings to get rid of the magic. The red strings disappear, including the one that connected Nodoka and Negi. Negi tells Nodoka that it’s ok because the real red string of fate is still connected – even though they can’t see it, it’s connected somewhere to someone. Fireworks soon light up the night sky for everyone to enjoy. Seeing Yue standing alone, Nodoka smiles at her friend, and Yue smiles back.

ED Sequence

ED: 「マジカルハピネス☆」 (Magical Happiness*) by 能登麻美子 (Noto Mamiko)
I don’t really like the opening or ending to this OVA, the former of which is too cutesy and the latter of which has Noto Mamiko singing. Don’t get me wrong: I love her voice…but her singing’s only decent.

I loved this OVA as much as I loved the Spring one, if not more. In comparison, there was a ton more fanservice and just as hilarious. Each of the girls seemed to get a bit more screen time than the in the previous one, but those scenes were still fairly short. My favorite parts include Setsuna trying to wash Konoka’s back, Asuna getting violated by Hakase’s robot, and the ping-pong scene. Oh and there was the Kamo-being-tied-up scene too that was funny because it was directly followed by a shot of a pleased looking Kamo smoking a cigarette.
This had about as much a plot as the Spring OVA did, which is to say not that much, but it was all in good fun. They made this about Negi and Nodoka being connected by a red string of fate, but they also threw in a little bit of Yue. I felt bad for Yue at the end of this episode, but the one who really got shafted (pun intended) was Asuna. In any case, I had a lot of fun watching both these OVAs, and I think they do a good job showcasing how much humor, fanservice, and production quality the SHAFT/GANSIS team can bring.

47 Comments

  6. OH MY GOD….MY ” SPANK THE MONKEY ” OVA SHOW HAS CAME OUT!!!
    That´s what one of my friends here would say….NAaaHHHHHHHHHHH!!…let´s have a little respect for him ok….HE IS CRAZY ABOUT THIS NEW NEGIMA… 😀 😀

    NANTO NAKU WAKARU!!!!!! 😆

    tensai_otaku
    Reply

  10. you all are just a bunch of fucking retards…. Don’t get me wrong Ndooka is my favorite character, but this Shaft version of her is god awful!

    But i might watch this becasue it is supposed to be a movie from the 1st anime series. I JUST HATE SHAFTS VERSION THOUGH!

    Hudson
    Reply

  14. Holy crap. I guess this is what we get for lack of fanservice in Negima!? However this isn’t fanservice, its like everyone else said its hentai! I never said that bothered me though.

    Hyosuke
    Reply

  18. OK…OK…LET´S ” CUM “…..ER……I MEAN….. LET´S COME TOGETHER TO A CONCLUSION HERE PEOPLE!!!
    😀 😀 THIS IS VERY CLOSE TO A HENTAI STUFF….BUT HEY IT´S BETTER THAN I TOUGHT!! 😆

    PS: WHAT MY FRIEND SAID AFTER WATCHING THIS:
    ” OHHHH SHIT!!!…………..GREAT!!……………..NOW I HAVE TO WASH MY HANDS!!!”
    😀

    tensai_otaku
    Reply

  26. Oh my gosh. It’s like an ecchi overload or something. XD This doesn’t mean that I’m not looking forward to watching it myself though. It just means I shouldn’t let my siblings watch me watch it, lest I want them to thin I’m perverted or something. -_-

    Anyway, thanks a lot for blogging this Omni! I hadn’t even realized the Summer OVA was coming out so soon. The plot looks just as shallow as the last one, but that didn’t bother me then and I’m sure it won’t bother me now.

    Neo Horizon
    Reply

  32. Well, between both the Spring and Summer OVAs, we’ve got enough fanservice to last at the very least a 26 episode series. Guess that means Shaft is going to stick to its not-so-much-fanservice-if-any-at-all style for the TV series, lol.

    Of course, they could be just waiting to drop a nuke bombshell on us in the last episode and flood our brains with rampant fanservice in the finale.

    Personally, I’d like to see that. Just to see if and in what way the anime community blows up over it.

    Shinji103
    Reply

  35. Hudson every time you comment on Negima you always cuss it down. Please if you are gonna post then don’t act like a comic relief character because you are always the one who only cusses this shaft version down. It would also be nice if you could PLEASE stop swearing! It’s not nice!

    By the way I have seen this ova and its a pretty nice and all credit to shaft. I think Nodoka was amazinng in this ova.

    shh227
    Reply

  36. Nice OVA! XD abit overboard on the ecchi-ness, but its all good ;3
    And for those who have not watched it yet, look out for Kobayashi Yuu’s (Setsuna’s seiyuu) masterpiece drawing! lol XD

    WaHa
    Reply

  37. Okay after watching the ova I can say its nowhere near hentai. Even Golden Boy had more worst scenes than this. I’ll watch one more time. I think one of the bad scenes in this ova was when I thought at first that negi and nodoka where having sex in one scene but it turned out that they were in the sauna together trying to break free from the red string.

    Overall an excellent OVA

    shh227
    Reply

  39. >
    > […] because you are always the one who
    > only cusses this shaft version down.
    >

    Well, not that there is no reason to do it…

    Both the OAVs and the series are far, far too much fragmented. They want to pack as many scenes as possible, with all the girls being featured in each episode. The result is a fragmentation of the plot (because you do not have a global vision of what is happening -most scenes are not really connected to each other-, and because a lot of scenes have no connection to the plot), less interactions between the different groups of girls, highly stereotypical behaviours (if you want to feature all girls, you have to be quick, and the only way is to overuse stereotypes), a feeling of watching 25 minutes of short movies (with all the frustration it creates, because you never have the time to settle down with the current character(s), before it goes to the next scene, with other characters).

    The new design, though not bad, does not feel natural (and not only because it is not the original design). The edges are a bit rough, notably. And whatever happens, you should never change the design of the characters that much, moreover when the original design has already been featured in an animated series (though the drawing and coloring sure wasn’t perfect, notably the first episodes, on TV -but it didn’t mean they had to create a new design).

    The personality of the characters, are even more botched, than in the first series (and I still have nightmares about Yue…). Setsuna, notably. Another strict rule, is to *NEVER EVER* mess with the personality of existing characters. If you do this, you are absolutely, strictly sure, to annoy or anger most fans (and when it is mediocrely done, the general quality of the anime, even for new viewers, drops quite significantly…). And by the way, we are talking about Akamatsu work, here… he’s not a beginner mangaka… there are reasons and great thinking put into the personality of each and every characters, both as standalone individuals, and as part of the general environment, and plot. You cannot just throw away all this, because you want to “try something new” (and moreover when you have absolutely no competence in managing personalities -AND MOREOVER WHEN IT IS ABOUT MAKING THEM LOOK BAD).

    I have no problem with animation teams not following strictly, a previously published manga, but this is an heavy responsability, and you sure should not take it lightly, simplistically thinking readers of the manga, want something new, and would get bored, if they only strictly followed the manga (which is completely false, because animating the characters, with voices and music, is far, far enough novelty, to most people, and not least, to real fans -though we sure like new content). If you want to be recognize not only as having converted the manga to an anime (because *it is* what is pushing those mostly incompetent directors -and the whole team behind them, who accept it-, to push/accept changes and variations), then create a sequel, a prequel, or a side story. Generally, you have far enough material, to write a complete scenario, without that much work. You already have most of the artwork. For voices and music, it’s the same as any other animation project. If it’s correctly done, fans will love it, and it will push new viewers to the manga, even more, because you wouldn’t have tried to modify things, for the heck of it, which you most certainly would have gotten all wrong. NEVER *EVER* CREATE VARIATIONS. You are bound to get it all wrong, unless you are the original author, or an extremely competent scenarist (which is rare, as I understand, from having viewed -multiple times, for about a third of them- quite a few hundreds of different animes, in the past four years, in mostly all genres, and periods).

    To sum up, the golden rules of animation are:

    – Never change the design of existing characters, moreover when they already have been animated (or featured in colored official artwork, or full artbooks), except for *minor* details (changing hair/eye color/style *is not* a minor detail), or to “update” old designs (and you should always retain the very nature of the original design).

    – Never ever change the personality of existing characters (and moreover when it is to make the characters look bad).

    – Never create variations in the scenario, when you should create new, more independant content (sequel, prequel, or side story), unless you REALLY, *SERIOUSLY* know what you are doing.

    – Never ever change voice actors, or voice tones (Setsuna, again :/), who/which have already been used in previously published works (you have to seriously plan future works, and if you have to delay publishing, do not even hesitate… and in case of a really serious problem -the voice actor do not want to do it, there have been serious issues with him, he is in prison, or he is seriously sick or died-, always use an actor/actress with a similar voice, and request him/her to try his/her best to imitate the voice of the previous actor/actress -some actors/actresses might not like it, but it is not as negative as it might sound (anyway, it would always be better than what was done, for example, in School Rumble)).

    In conclusion, they got it all wrong, with Negima ^_^; (Well, not that most other animes, do not seriously violate these rules, and many others).

    The manga is absolutely awesome, and I’m completely fond of it, since the very first chapter. For the first animated season, the first episode is a bit blah, the following episodes are average (though the episode dedicated to Sayo, is above average -and a somewhat good example of proper new content), until the whole Asuna complete madness, which sees the quality drop to below zero (as with Mai HiME, I stopped watching for months, before deciding to watch it again, and to finish it -when your expectations are low enough, it is somewhat watchable, once). The OAVs and the second series are just plain trash, for little kids (if you remove the overdone ecchi, from the OAVs -though it seems better to me, to some extend (i.e., if taken seriously enough, and not lightly -ECCHI IS SERIOUS BUSINESS), than violence, but I’m not the one who created today society).

    Now, if you will excuse me, one of my numerous imaginary girlfriends (polyamory FTW), who is living with me since a few months, is requiring my attention, for the night.

    (BTW, I won’t read replies, since I must/need to/want to/will seriously get to work.)

    Your random madman... ka na...?
    Reply

  40. LOL!!! What the hell? You got many points here!!! But i still love this OVA!
    Don’t think too much over anime =) you’ll become crazy…

    and greatings to your imaginary girlfriend, the one of that night if you remember who was the one that night…

    Jairo
    Reply

  43. Gah! I downloaded this OVA (and spent ages doing so) and it was in Japanese with no subs! Thank you so much for the info above as it helped me understand this episode…until I learn Japanese (soon…soon…)

    Thx again!

    Seikon Vieria
    Reply

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