Negima!?

Negima!? is not to be confused with Mahou Sensei Negima!. They're part of the same universe, but are completely different stories. Negima!? is produced by SHAFT, and their crazy experimental presence is definitely noted in this show.

Story: Negima!? takes a completely different direction from its counterpart, deviating from the manga storyline. The first episode opens up with the final battle between the Thousand Master and Evangeline McDowell. Evangeline gets turned into a loli form and we then start the story with Negi Springfield. Negi starts his teaching career over at an all-girls school. The crazy mischief starts when it's revealed to his students that Negi is really a magician.

Note that this show is for comedic purposes, and should not be taken in serious comparison to the manga storyline. The plot paces itself fairly well and we get a lot of insight on the lesser known characters in each episode.

Art: SHAFT's strange art style is presented in the form of Negima!? The character designs are crisp, the art is fluid, and we get some colorful environments all around. Some of the characters look a tad bit different than their counterparts in Mahou Sensei Negima! but it still works in perfection.

Not to mention they make some excellent work of Asuna's hair.

Sound: The soundtrack of Negima!? is nothing too special. It has some nice quirky music during the episodes and transitions nicely when it gets to the 'dramatic' parts. What stands out the most is the OP of Negima!? The song is sung by the various voice actresses of all the students and has several different variations. Not to mention a full length song of the OP was in episode 19.

Character: Unlike the Mahou Sensei Negima! anime, Negima!? gives plenty of screen time to all the girls in the class. For such a large cast of characters, we get to see everyone participate in the anime. We also get introduced to some new characters in Shichimi and Motsu and a few others. From Shichimi's strange body contortions to Motsu's epic "...in a good way" line, this dynamic duo is probably the highlight of the characters.

Enjoyment/Overall: Some people hate this series because it's not part of the Mahou Sensei Negima! line or it's crap because SHAFT ruined everything, but I thoroughly enjoyed this series because it has its funny moments and because it's a different approach to an already on-going series.

Unfortunately, subs are nearly non-existant as Mahora Academy simply reduced subbing to one episode per 7 months after episode 20. Whatever the case, we're down to waiting for these slowpokes or for Funimation to release their DVDs. Hopefully they won't trash Negima!?'s dub... in a good way.

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If you liked Pani Poni Dash, you don't even have to bother reading the rest, you'll likely like the show. If your a fan of Negima the manga, your probably not gonna like this and you might want to delete any episodes you have on your harddrive (I mean return the dvd you bought, of course that's what I meant). I walk a middle ground here as a fan of both of those series, however, it did get boring for me as it continued on.

Now, if you think you knew the characters from the series, you'll only be half right (for the most part) the characters are altered to be more humorous. For example, Asuna's search for the chupacabra (which is probably the worst depiction of the creature I've ever seen and yes I know that's the whole point of the joke). A few new characters are also introduced, but we all know how filler characters are.

I suppose I should get this out here quickly, the story is altered. Instead of attempting to follow the plot of the manga then ending on a horrible filler ending (like its predecessor), it doesn't even try to the follow the manga and makes a whole new story revolving around a powerful magical artifact. This is kind of a double edged sword, atleast its not as bad as the filler ending in its predecessor, its not as good as the original story.

The focus of this series is comedy and action, which sounds good in theory. The comedy, however, sometimes gets cringe worthy or boring. The action doesn't meet up with the bar set up by other fighting animes that have done some crazy sh*t (its a little dull in comparison, but others might still find enjoyment in them).

Now, the English dub (all sub lovers can probably ignore this) tries to be authentic by giving all of the British characters accents (just the British ones). This would be ok, if Negi didn't sound so whiny and weak. Sure, he's ten years old, but he's ends up sounding whiny and like a wimp. In the manga, he had a little more balls.

Overall, its an ok show and half the reason of my middleish rating was being fan of the manga. If you like gag comedies and action and wondered what happened if they were merged together, you got this show. If you can't stand the weirder kind of Japanese humor and a few jokes you sometimes can't fully get, you might want to look elsewhere (quick little note: pacing could be better).

Go Baka-Rangers! (.....I hate myself for doing that).

P.S. I like to just add, I think another problem was the feeling it was not Ken Akamatsu's work, but more the work of Akiyuki Shinbo.

P.S.S Anyone else confused they made a new manga series to go along with this?

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Story:
The story is great and lots of comedy I guess. The story's plot is good and that I find it interesting. The action contained in this good as well though it could have been better if the battles are much tougher. There are drama parts of this anime that I find can move someone's feelings/emotions.
Even if this anime is great I observed that some segments of the story are very short and lacked of details. It also seems that there are confusing parts in the story but these are explained later on.
All in all, the story is great.

Art:
Generally, the art's well done I should say. Things are colorful in this and the art style is very creative. Everything is detailed down to the smallest object (well not always though). The chibis drawn are adorable in their own way and this also adds to the great art style.

Sound:
The opening and ending songs are quite catchy which I liked. The background musics are awesome especially during battle. The sounds make the battle scenes more tense and that's a good thing. Insert songs also add to the atmosphere. The voice acting surpassed my expectations well which made the whole anime better but there are few voices that doesn't fit the characters'.

Character:
The characters are well balanced despite the fact that the cast is very large to start with. The same characters from the original anime series though some new faces are introduced in this anime. Some changes are made in the relationship of the characters with each other though it's mild but I find it disturbing to me.
Every character is elaborated and detailed. Personally, I find the new look of the characters attractive.
Their roles vary from one another and they hold it well yet some are out of character at times.

Enjoyment:
The enjoyment in watching this anime is high in my opinion. The enjoyment increases when the comedic portions were added. I don't have anymore to say. This anime is totally enjoyable to watch.

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fans of the manga and the first animated release should watch this. i like the manga of negima so much so here is my review.

story: um i know some are skeptical about this new universe but i found its story very captivating. its battle oriented and a new version of pactio cards made me watch for more.

art: this time the animators got the hair right hahahahaha. unlike in the first anime this series has a darker touch of art and animation which is good for most people. but some fans may find it bleh.

sound: narration, in anime sounds, opening songs, and ending songs are powerful this time which is good. it fits this anime very much.

character: this time some of the characters's orientation are different. which for me is good. they changed nothing major anyways.fans of the manga will just love them all with this version. new characters also appear here in this version which some of them are very odd and funny.

enjoyment: i enjoyed this version much more than the first outing. this one was well planned and a new universe for the characters to play or battle upon is nice.

overall: i had fun to watch this version of the negima series. i loved that they made a battle orriented version of it. and the new pactio cards gave me excitement and fun. and as usual chamo-kun is the anime worlds coolest ermine hahaha.

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