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In Japan it had only just been over a year since the first Negima anime
series was released. This first series was a mostly faithful translation
of the manga into an anime, it only had to add its own material at the end of
the series due to overtaking the point the manga was at the time. With
Negima?! being released such a short time after the original it makes you
wonder what the new series has to offer. The first most distinct feature
of it is that the series has had a complete art rework. This style is
quite detailed compared with the previous series. An example of this is
the very nice opening sequence which shows the whole class of 3A. |
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At first the anime follows the story of both the original manga and anime. That is Negi Springfield, a recently qualified magician travels to Japan to teach a class of junior high school students as part of his training. The first three episodes shows the Evangeline Arc, which is also shown in both the manga and first anime series. However, from this point onwards it leaves the storyline of the manga completely. It introduces the star crystal, an item which is so powerful that even the 1000 master (Negi's father) could not control it. When the crystal |
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disappears it is up to Negi to unravel the mystery and find it. Throughout the episodes the star crystal attacks Negi and his students, which forces Negi to create 'Pactios' with the other students. This is where he can create a temporary contract with someone in order to release their magical powers. The pactios in the new series are reinvented so that Negi can pick one of three possible cards. The first is the rare/armour card, with its designs based on the original manga's pactio designs. These are the most powerful of all the 3 cards available. The second is the Cosplay card, which generally puts the class in a themed outfit. They still have power but not the same as the rare card. Finally there is the dud card which if drawn transforms the girls into chibi animals such as seals or cows. The last card seems to be the most pulled in the series, which maybe comic in the beginning but it just becomes plain annoying after a while. One of the major annoyances of this
reinvention of the series is the changed personality of one of its main
characters, Asuna. In both the manga and the original series,
Asuna is a character who may not be the brightest button in the bunch
but is very streetwise. In the new series though she barely has
the intelligence of an amoeba. She constantly does stupid things
throughout the series such as opening doors when she is told that it is
dangerous. This change in personality transforms one of the best
characters in the series into one of the most annoying. Asuna also
brings another bad element to the series, the Chupacabra, which she is
obsessed with. It becomes the biggest filler element of the series
as it seems that every episode they are looking for these ugly
creatures, which have nothing to do with the main story. |
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There are however some small redeeming features to this anime, such as after the closing credits there is a small comedy sketch. These involve a mix of all the cast from the Baka Rangers adventures to Evangeline's ramen addiction. These were mostly funny and were a nice new touch compared with the original series. If you are a Negima fan and have a spare £35 to spend, I would recommend you pick up either some of the original manga (not Negima |
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Neo, which is the base for this series) or the original Negima! series. This series proves that all the pretty art in the world will not save an anime if the story is not good. It is a real shame as if the series had only been 12 episodes long it potentially could have had a better review as the story does improve in the final 4 episodes when the full plot is finally revealed. Unfortunately though the series overall seems quite disjointed and full of filler. This begs the question, if you have a manga which already has a good and interesting story, why mess with it? Extras: Clean openings and endings. Ratings Feature:
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