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.

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.

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.

The Negima series is what I can safely call the benchmark of Harem anime. If you aren’t sure that you’re into the action harem anime sub-genre. I highly recommend that you would watch this series first. It sets the bar for what a good harem anime would be. Equal parts big cast of females with varying characteristics with a strong voice acting cast, sprinkled with a semi-serious plot, caked with large amounts of comedy and slapstick. Bring this together and you can pretty much name any harem anime around.

Why do I say this is a benchmark series? This is the only series I know of ... that can have one boy socially interact equally with over 30 high-school girls in an amazingly believable way. On top of that, each girl literally has their own unique kind of personality or some silly little ‘hook’ to make them different from each other. The funny thing above that is that all of them are hilarious as well. I could type forever talking about each girl and how each of them is good in their own way. But people who love moe anime, you will find at least 5 you will absolutely love. As a fan of these types of series I found all of them very enjoyable.

As harem anime rely heavily on character chemistry and comedic value, if you don’t like comedy you shouldn’t even bother trying to watch this as most of the Japanese-centric jokes will go well over your head. As a twelve episode series (and one prologe episode) story progression moves surprisingly slow. But to keep the viewer glued to the screen, the series carries a large amount of mini-episodes sprinkled in every series. You will see them make spoofs of Gundam, Power Ranger, and many other spoofs if your knowledge of Japanese pop culture is well versed.

The production value is pretty good considering this was produced by shaft. Their production values are generally done in high value, unfortunately its Shaft so their style of anime always transitions the same way from one anime series to another. Granted its a style that has been working for them for over 30 years so you really should fix what isn’t broken, although its a little old at times.

Overall I completely enjoyed the whole series and is best enjoyed in small bites. Chupacabras UNITE! If watch any anime that's tied with a manga with anything short of a wide open mind, then you will sadly be disappointed for the rest of your life.

Normally i wouldn't write a review for an anime, but as i did just finish this i felt i had to write something, and this is the 1st review i've written on MAL

This anime is an eclectic mix of brilliant art and some rather...odd storyline. As noted in other reviews, this series has almost nothing to do with the manga storyline what-so-ever. Sure the Series starts with the Nagi-Evangeline fight, and that has some of the best visual presentation i think i've ever seen in an anime, but after that it goes....to left field...in a good way. (Not really...just keep reading...)

One of the big differences ... a fan of the manga will notice right off the bat is the turning of 3 of the most minor characters in the series (though one is major in a few ways) into 3 of the characters that the story revolves around in one degree or another--those three are: Takamichi, Anya, and Nekane. And it also introduces 2 characters that are series exclusive- Shichimii and Matsuo...Character development in this series is a bit off as well, with Negi essentially making contracts with all of the students in his class, to avoid becoming a Chupacabra (Yes...i said Chupacabra) instead of the ermine that is mentioned in the manga.

Story- As far as the story goes, it was enjoyable to me because i'm a Negima fan, while the first 3 episodes had me hooked, i am a bit disappointed in the rest of the series. It starts off well with the Evangeline arc, but then it begins to shift to a filler style storyline that sort of fits with what they were trying to do with this series. Essentially Negi is the target of a mysterious "Darkness" and between that and a mysterious "Black Rose Baron" as well as Shichimi and Matsuo things get...for lack of a better term...stupid. Often times episodes don't really have a solid story to them and have to resort to brief fillers to get through the episode, while some are mildly entertaining, most are pretty bleh.

One thing i will say about this series is that it must be meant for younger viewers to help get them into the Negima universe, because as far as story plot goes, if you can guess about 2-3 possibilities, then there's a good shot that you're right--Case in point- the "Black Rose Baron's" identity- I figured out about 4-5 episodes earlier who that character's identity really was, and as it turned out- HEY! i was right...I really wondered for a while if it was meant to be a serious entry into the Negima world, because if it was, then the writers failed on an epic level with some of the plots and storylines and character developments. HOWEVER- I don't think this is the case, i think its just a playful series meant for entertainment as something different, not to be taken too seriously.

And it seems that the SHAFT writers have an extremely weird fixation on all things Chupacabra...as you'll see it ALOT in the series, enough that it gets to the point where you're going "Really? Move on already", however they actually do that with a couple of other things as well....But despite all of my complaining, if you can stand all of the little quirks of the story, its really not that bad.

Art- SHAFT did this...which is often times obvious with their unique way of doing things. I will say on the record right now though, as stated earlier the Nagi-Evangeline fight is possibly the best animation style that I've ever seen in an anime hands-down. It was impressive enough to hook me all the way through to the end hoping for more...As far as the characters go, SHAFT did a good job not going overboard with things, all of the colors and characters pop out at you, though there are certain students who kind of seem to blend together, but in all honesty they do that to me in the manga too, so it doesn't really matter. One thing i'm personally curious about is SHAFT not making Asuna's eyes multi-colored---in the first anime, as well as the manga, Asuna has Green in one eye and Blue in the other. My thought is that maybe since they wrote out Asuna's abilities and essentially all of her history that they didn't need to make her stand out too much.

Characters- well...i pretty much wrote about this earlier, but as stated above there are a lot of minor characters that play a bigger part in this anime. ALL of Negi's students become partners with him, so you have to see each and every student, sometimes that gets to be a little...overbearing. Sure to me its great watching Takamichi, but there are some students that are shown often that made me wonder why couldn't they fit another more recognizable character in this scene? Evangeline in this is actually rather tame compared to the other series and manga as well, which makes things kinda feel weird if you've read/seen those entires in the Negima! universe. Other than that, the only other point worth mentioning is Konoka and Setsuna's "relationship" the Konoka in this series is rather "puckish" in that she likes to play jokes on people at certain times, a lot of these times are at Setsuna's expense.

Overall- If this is the first Negima you've seen, then you'll probably like it, if you've read the manga or seen the other anime series, you'll immediately wonder "what the hell?" and probably either watch it, or immediately stop. The only reason i kept watching was because it was random enough that i kinda wanted to see how everything turned out. Even though before most of the major plot points i already knew what was going to happen within a few episodes of it happening, though around episode 10-12, there's a major plot point that made me laugh, even though it was kinda expected...in a good way.

DO NOT GO INTO THIS EXPECTING TO SEE NEGIMA ANIMATED

you WILL be very disappointed.

i suggest you go into this anime just expecting to see characters interact, and usually in way FAR stupider than the manga.

this is more or less pani poni dash with negima characters, but damnit you could do allot worse, IM LOOKING AT YOU NEGIMA ANIME 1.

to start off, the story is loosely based off the plot of negima neo. this is a good thing, because the neo plot has potential, just so far, it seams a little lacking. and this also doesn't have get a crappy end.

the characters are where you ... will probably what will break the anime for some. GRANTED for negima, the way they act isnt bad, its just almost every one is 50-100% dumber, in some cases up to 500%

but do you care?

i watched this dubbed, so i have no idea exactly what is missing but you know lines have been changed, or have they? i mean this is the thing that threw me off the most, because what they say fit what was happening for the most part, but i just cant imagine that being what they originally said. usually this bothers the hell out of me, but for some reason i could only lol.

over all, if you can take the negitives, this is a must watch for anyone who liked pani poni dash, and a definate check it out for anyone who likes negima.

PROS:
Beautiful animation
The spotlight is shared with lesser known characters
Top-notch humor
Amazing soundtrack
Some characters are more likable

CONS:
Fans of the previous series may not like the changes

... STORY:
The story seemed like it was going to retell the same story that the previous series did but it quickly develops it's own unique storyline. Personally I enjoyed the story in Negima!? more, due to the lack of fanservice and stronger focus on characters, action and drama.

ART:
I found the animation to be visually stunning, the characters looked much better this time around. It's very fluid overall

SOUND:
The voice acting in the english dub is just incredible, you can tell the all had a lot of fun.

The music was awesome overall, especially the opening

CHARACTERS:
Unlike Negima! Negima!? all the girls in the class get a chance to shine. Considering the large cast of characters they handled it very well. I liked the changes they made to some of the characters like Nodoka, who I found much more likable.

OVERALL:
Negima!? was a very enjoyable show for me and I hope others will enjoy it as much as I did.

This is Gansis' and Shaft's foray into Ken Akamatsu's Negima world, and my first real dive into the franchise. I've heard that fans weren't that into this series, which makes me a bit sad because despite its flaws (especially during broadcast), this is some of Shaft's best work.

I've actually seen an anime adaptation of Akamatsu's handiwork before, on recommendation from a friend: Love Hina. That was a ridiculous and yet sweetly sappy sort-of-harem romance that threw in as much fanservice it could without getting spanked by Japan's television networks. Oh, and the anime radically differed from the manga, I learned later. Oh well, the OVA ... finale tied up the story nicely and Hocchan was great in her early starring role. I avoided the first Negima! anime because a 31-girl harem involving a boy younger than them wasn't appealing to me.

When this series first popped up, I was like, "Oh, great, another season of Negima... wait, what's with the question mark?" Then I saw that Shaft was doing the animation, and by this time I knew they were a capable studio. I dive into the TV broadcast, and I discover that this is like an animated variety show, but way more fun than the ones on Japanese TV (which are basically reality shows, but with ridiculous dares given to washed-up comedians and actors... and this genre is handily beaten by big-time TV stars going to interesting places and eating, because Japan), and not lacking at all in the drama or character department.

As far as story goes, I'm usually not a huge fan of "we're winding up for a plot twist... but not this week" style of story writing, but because of the ample comedic scenes and great chemistry even among some of the lesser-known students, I was distracted enough to not care. The show is roughly split up into 4 arcs: the prologue (getting to know the girls, especially Asuna and Eva), the secret identity arc, the false school arc, and the epilogue. The way the story foreshadowed the final boss and yet made you fervently wish it wasn't that person lent a genuinely tragic tone to the overall drama.

The magic system is comprised of "temporary" Pactio contracts and whatever other magic that wizards use. The Pactio system, sealed by a kiss and providing one of 3 cards (armor/rare, cosplay, and "dud"), is the more interesting of the two, and naturally receives the most focus. While the armor or cosplay cards are generally desirable, the "dud" card serves multiple purposes beyond comic relief-- they are a fun expression of each girl (especially for the second opening credits song), and are a critical plot device just before the climactic episodes of the show.

When Shaft is able to wrangle the key animators needed to draw a shot, it's usually either a great expression of the story at that point, or the key animators goofing off (both are OK in my book). Being an early Shaft production, there are still frames substituting for more difficult animation cuts. Some of these filler frames they used are silly, spelling out "mambo" in the opening credits with various girls (or Suka ("Dud") with Motsu and Shichimi) when the final version shots are of girls doing a synchronized swimming dive, or twins doing a bumping dance. Some of the shot designs will look familiar to those who have seen the ef series, like dividing the screen into black and white halves with magical writing in one half.

While the final animation for the opening credits is fantastic, the disc release doesn't always use the same audio as the broadcast-- some episodes would have groups other than Negi/Asuna/Konoka/Setsuna singing, but the disc release used that group as the default, and the lyrics are actually different when the second verse (spoken dialogue over music) is used. I wish I could have the different opening songs/dialogue and the final animation, and I'm not 100% sure whose fault that is, Shaft's or Funimation's. This is probably because the intended final version is far more complicated than they could pull off-- I'm thinking they wanted to feature every single "team" in Negi's class plus Anya and Nekane like how massive idol groups like AKB48 splits up into groups or "units". And if you collect all the different versions of "1000% Sparking!" sung by each group of voice actresses, you can hear unique mini-dramas in the second verse. Awesome, to be sure, but a bit more than they could handle, and it relies too heavily on the otaku Japanese collector.

There are a few ending themes as well, the main one being "A-Li-Ya!" (which, like 1000% Sparking!, has versions sung by every team in the show) whose arrangements made it easy on the voice actresses singing it, and was accompanied by a fun mini-sketch involving 4 girls playing percussion instruments. The other ending theme played during the first arc of the show, and it was a nice relaxing number. The BGM is mostly fun to listen to, especially 2 "derp scene" tracks.

I'm rewatching the series now (lost count how many times this is), and I'm still unearthing new things. For instance, the explorer helmets are styled after each character's "dud" card in the library scene, except Konoka (but you can assume her getup is Australian). And yes, Negi has that "dud" card of sorts, but only for one still shot. The little extras like the (fake) sentai series Baka Rangers, or a little South Park parody featuring Nekane, or a reprise of the first Negima opening credits song at a pivotal scene in the show pack the show, all maximize replay value. This is quintessential Shaft animation, and I love it to bits.

So I went back and tried to watch series 1. While (allegedly) faithful to the original, it felt like dragging an anvil compared to Gansis/Shaft's production. I also watched the official sequel, UQ Holder. Same thing, the dialogue and the slow pace feel like the show never raised the anchor before setting sail. The way Gansis and Shaft made sure there was always "light" in the production, whether it's lighthearted moments or hope even in hopeless situations made this show, well, magical for me.

More or less directly copied from my review on Anime Planet

-----------------------------

When I first watched this back in April 2012, I was relatively new to watching anime, so I didn't have many standards. I just wanted to watch something where I could kick back and enjoy myself with a decent story, entertaining characters and a bit of humour.
The first time I watched Negima!?, it delivered. Sixteen months later... not so much.


Story

What's notable about Negima!? is that it actually starts off with the original manga's plot; namely, the Evangeline arc. However, it's made clear that Negima!? is a spin-off from the original as this gets cleared up ... in the first few episodes and fast-forwards a whole year after the incident.

What makes this show stand apart from its parent show Negima!, besides the extra question mark, is that it focuses more on comedy and action compared to the original's harem antics. However, even the comedy starts to lose its lustre as the show drags on, becoming just the same jokes repeated with some variety thrown in every now and then.


Animation

Being done by Studio SHAFT, the animation is one of the saving graces of the anime. Bright colours are often used with odd angles and flashes of title cards featuring the characters, especially in the later stages of the anime, used to show a scene break. The actions were done really well, particularly the battle with Evangeline in the opening episodes.


Sound

Not really that much to say about the sound this time around.

The opening song, "Sparking 1000%!", is one of my favourite songs, and would make it onto my top 50 anime openings list if I make one. There were various endings; "Hoshizora Letter" didn't really stick out for me, whereas the regular ending after it, "A-LY-YA!", was a lot more fun to listen to, and fit the light-hearted feel of the anime very well.

The background music was never really particularly memorable, except for one or two tracks used during action scenes, which were also used in the first Mou Hitotsu no Sekai OVA.

The voice actors were much the same as they were in the original Negima! anime. They brought the characters to life much more effectively than the original anime, but that may just be because of the series' more colourful presentation.


Characters

As with the original, the characters is where Negima!? truly shines. What with introducing a total of thirty-six characters in the first episodes alone, there are a lot to choose from.

One thing this anime does is stick with one attribute of each character and take it to the extreme; for example, Asuna, who in the original was often tired due to her paper routine and had poor grades as a result, was turned into an outright lazy character whose day started the moment class ended.

One thing I really liked about Negima!? was the fact that it brought several characters who were never really important in the original right into the forefront much earlier, particularly the Narutaki twins and Kaede.


Final thoughts

In the end, Negima!? is nothing more than a spin-off of the original work. The only things the two share is the setting and the characters. It's better not to think too much when watching this anime, so just sit back, relax, with a nice cup of tea and watch the characters go through their various advantures.


Story - 4.1
Animation - 8.7
Sound - 7.8
Characters - 8.1
Enjoyment - 9.0
FINAL SCORE - 7.54/10

(MILD SPOILERS)

Been waiting on this one for a long time.

Ah, Negima. Serving as the gateway to my interest in bizarre comedies, alongside my love for it going so far that I even made a fan forum for it many years ago, even though it inevitably fell apart and I had sadly not discovered that AnimeSuki was a thing. But, I digress.

The Shaft variation of the Negima series, this one follows the characters in a fully original story. Right off the bat for fans of the original, the characters are in a noticeably different area. The school setting looks far more unique than it did before ... and, despite the first episode beginning with a literal flood of students trampling into the building, you never see anyone beyond the cast they want you to see ever again. Besides that, hair colors feel more correct with the characters' personalities than ever before, especially Nodoka and Yue. And overall, you will see a refresh of designs as you watch it. I will assume you saw the original, as I wish to avoid repeating myself due to there being two different Negima anime out there.

Now, the plot is everything to go on about. By that, I mean it's about what you would expect from Shaft. If I tried to summarize everything, I would get lost. So, I will instead go over what they copy from the material, rather than the original content. Negi, as usual, is your kid mage that is assigned to teach a group of high school girls English. You know, for some reason. They all think he is adorable and all that. But, the most noticeable differences occur in the writing and personalities. Some personalities are more exaggerated than before, well others are mostly the same. One character I would like to bring up is Asuna, who is still a douche, but it is toned down just a little and she really has a deeper connection with Negi here than she did in the original. She is also thinner.

Oh, and if there is one thing they made sure to exaggerate, it's the kissing scenes. The most infamous thing about the anime is that Negi must invoke probationary contracts with his partners by kissing them, and Shaft made sure that a lot of the animation budget went towards every kissing scene. Granted, they kind of force all the other girls on him in this ridiculous falling scene, but a lot of them still get some passionate moments with Negi. And some surprise ones come later on.

That aside, the comedy aspect is really the best part of this version of Negima. As you would expect from Shaft, there are moments of randomness that can really rile up your funny bone and there is rarely a moment where you can take a break from the comedy. If you are somebody that decides to watch anime in the fashion where you look at something else and simply run it in the background, you should avoid doing that at all costs with anything made by Shaft. And their version of Negima is no exception, for the first episode alone has you looking around the classroom so much that it almost hurts at how much is going on. And if you watch it subbed, well, good luck.

My revisit, at first, seemed like I enjoyed this anime as much as I did years ago. However, approaching the second half, things actually got a bit bleak for me. And I can confidently say that I only love the first half as much as I did back then, but not so much the second. Maybe it's because they started to force the same running gags down my throat. Most notably, the Sasaki Makie one. There is just something about this joke that went from very funny to quite boring, up to the point where even the other girls started to get annoyed by it and would sometimes go "here we go again" before it began. Only props I have to give here are that they at least acknowledge it's a problem that Makie is treated so poorly.

And, as usual, I dislike how an innocent character is treated poorly. The case this time being Asuna and Negi. Well she is more respectful towards him here than in the original, she is still pretty rude to him at the most simplest of times. And Negi being nervous is a trait that is more befitting of a kid, so you feel more bad for him than this scenario being done with high school characters, where they usually have the reason as the man being perverted. Negi is very much a child, though the one credit I have to give them for is the scene where Negi accidentally crawls into Asuna's bed. She is about to smack him, but remembers how young he is and simply wakes up. There was just something about the subtlety of that scene that I admired and how she had the common sense to remember he was a kid, rather than punish him as though he was a pervert. Must have also implied that she is aware children sleepwalk.

And, a common complaint, they stray away from the source material. Not my own complaint, but one I figured should be mentioned. Many people scoff that this version of Negima is one that Shaft did purely to be the characters in a new story, so I don't know why people have to say it's a "drastic change" in a bad way when they clearly did it for fun. I believe they only improved upon it and simply gave us more material just for the heck of it. And the best part is that, if you are familiar with the Japanese, all of the same voice actors return to voice their respective characters and they do an amazing job with it as they did before, given their tones are much more polished.

Overall, I believe Negima!? deserves to be watched by any fan of the series since it's the same characters you grew to love starring in yet another adventure, giving the entire series a ton of episodes to go over. Of course, if you do not enjoy the abrupt change in style and humor, you may not like what Shaft did and that is fine. It is really for those that have finished all of what the original has to offer and want more fun adventures with the characters. If you see it that way, you may find something you love in Negima!? and I can guarantee you will laugh at least once.