Negima!?

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?

It's not the Negima that the fans of the manga know, it's Negima 2.0 the wacky version.

STORY: This is the result when the studio Shaft, that is known for silly and over the top comedy anime like Pani Poni Dash and Arakawa Under The Bridge, get to do a remake of a story that the fans had already known about and let their imagination go wild.
This is a second attempt at a Negima anime, but this time around things are sillier, more random, and has more action than the first anime with an original story.

The beginning jumps straight into the Evangeline arc of ... the original source material right off the bat and introduces alot of the story relevent characters early (Like Setsuna and Chamo) and follows the gist of the Evangeline arc from the original story.
After that the story goes off and basicly wonders around with random gag after gag within it's continuing original story arc that's filled with alot of almost non canon and almost pointless events with the inclusion of the most annoying mascots you'll ever see that are unfortunately relevent to the story and the very lame but relevent and somewhat interesting second antagionst after Evangeline.
Fortunately interesting characters who had no place in the first anime finally get their own spot in this one (I'm talking about the sword wielding character Setsuna).
Some characters get a few tweaks in their personality, Asuna is an idiot who's obsessed with finding a chubacabra, Takahata-Sensei apparently loves ramen, and even the most ignored characters get their own gags once in a while.
But in the end, this is not the Negima fans know and love, and said fans will feel a bit alienated.

ANIMATION: This is the biggest improvement compared to the first animes crappy animation. Very stylish, fiuld, and quite hyperactive.
While it does look just like every other Shaft anime, with random images every where and well... just plain random, it looks great but alot of the female characters have very similiar looks and it doesn't help that they wear school uniforms.

SOUND: Just like my review with the first Negima anime, I watched Funimations dub version and even the dub is better in this one. With the experience gained through the first dub, each voice actor does a better performance and they don't have that slow having to get used to it feel that alot of dubs suffer from.
The most notable voice actor is Cherami Leigh, who voices Setsuna, is new in this dub and can perform action scenes a great deal better than Dana Schultes, who was Setsuna's original voice actor, from the first anime.
Even though everyone else sounds better, Greg Ayres still sounds like Negi with cancer.
The theme music is quite catchy and Funimation even made a dub version of each theme song that, depending on your taste, may sound better than the japanese versions.

OVERALL:
The Good:
+ Better animation than the first anime.
+ Improved english dub.
+ Minor characters get more screen time than other adaptions.

The Bad:
- Just a reboot, not a continuation (This is especially disappointing to those who read the manga and watched the first anime).
- Way too random at times, and sometimes utterly pointless.
- Fans of the source material may become alienated.
- The gags are more miss than hit.
- Annoying mascots and villains.

Lots of disappointment is expected to anyone who is expecting a true to the manga adaptation, but this is still undoubtly better than the first anime with better animation, a better dub, more action, and a different way of story progression, but the gags can get annoying and the second half of this anime feels dragged out.
But there is more screen time for even the most ignored characters and the short little gags at the end of each episode are enjoyable.

Pretty much this is season 2 (Technically a remake actually) of the first but it starts out exactly where season 1 started, although much more dramatic. We get a tale about Negi’s father fighting a vampire and how rather epic that fight had been, only to cut into a little bit dramatization of when Negi is given the assignment to go teach in Japan. This is a rather large contrast where the beginning of Season 1 was him already on his way to the school and the rather funny time he would have there (not to mention the strange love spell Asuna was doing in ... the bathe). Even the little rodent that shows up partly through season 1 is in the first episode of season 2. I contribute the change to the fact that Shinbo was the director of this one. Yes, the guy that did Moon Phase, Dance in the Vampire Bund, Soultaker, Pani Poni Dash, and Madoka Magica.

We learn almost every 31 girls all at once, getting almost all of their personalities at once. It’s a bit of a mind blowing experience to have that happen, making me wonder just how we are supposed to remember their names. Konoka Konoe is played much the same way as how Hazuki was played in Moon Phase but slightly more strong. She does work hard to get what she wants. Many of the other characters feel one dimensional or just don’t stand out at all and I think it’s based on how many episodes are contributed to them. We see Asuna and Konoka all the time and so therefore we get more of a personalized look into how each other act were as many of the others we see only for a brief time or when we get to one of their episodes. Sometimes even with something that doesn’t even feel like its part of the story, sort of like Hetalia in that sense. Still, this show does get into more of them then the first series and makes them a little more loveable except for Asuna. I’m sorry but she comes off as way to stupid and off then in the first which makes me pull away from the show. If they had played her a little more straight, then she might have become a bit more loveable.

Another thing that makes this one different then the rest is that the first few episodes at least the first few episodes have a running plot that doesn’t really involve Asuna. It is all about the vampire girl and Negi. There are some side characters, but they don’t stand out as much as these two and the ‘epic fight’ that they are about to have. The thing with Asuna doesn’t happen until the third episode with a magical contract being created. I like how they didn’t wait until the very end for every girl to make a contract with Negi. And in the forth episode, he has another partner contract so it makes much more sense.

Lot of the jokes turned very old very fast and the story went really into a odd storylines that don’t seem to mesh all that well together, but it does come into a climax although how that climax actually works is kind of up in the air. Now, this has a way of doing something similar to what Persona did in that it gets to a point where the show ‘ends’ in the middle, then they have more character development and then the final ‘battle’ as it where. Unfortunately, this anime has more dinking around then character development and storyline.

The animation looks so much more like it was created as an OVA in the beginning with strange camera angles and high detailed lines. Even Negi who is just a young boy looks a little bit more adult and well defined then in season one. With a lot of the angles and such, it reminds me of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei in how dramatic they try to be and yet how funny they get. In fact, they even have the writing on the chalkboard changing every time we pan back to the board. I’m a bit surprised that they fixed Asuna’s eyes so they would have the same color. They do cop out of some times with just a single frame but it isn’t really that bad. It actually makes the dramatic parts even more dramatic. Unfortunately, it’s when the animation looks extremely poor and low budget that makes me feel sad that they had done such a thing. Characters end up losing their shape and seem to just become stretched out piles of wonky colors sometimes. They do tend to take different animation styles and have them done in rather interesting ways but it all feels flat when we get the poorer parts or doesn’t seem to fit. Just as any anime from Shinbo, they have naked women in the transformations. This doesn’t exactly bother me although in some places they do tend to go overboard in detail. It’s rather low detailed that it doesn’t become bothersome to me, I seen much worse…

The opening and ending remind me a lot like Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei so it’s really hard to look at the show differently then that show. Makes me wonder why this was dubbed and not Zetsubou. Many times though, the opening and ending seems to change at random. I give them a bit of props for this since it shows they had a lot of money for this, I just wish some of it would of gone for the main part of the show and the script.

I seriously think we don’t need the narrator voice, which makes things feel very cheesy (to the point I smack my head against the table at times). Something about trying to make this show overly dramatic just makes me want to hit my head against the wall. I watched the English dub of course so again, it was overly dramatic and bothersome. I’m not very sure if it would have been any better as the Japanese dub though.

In the end of watching it, it is rather interesting seeing a new take on a show that I watched. I would say watch it if you want a different kind of comedy then the first season. Even though the show is really strange and even more out of control then the first, it is a bit interesting.

Okay unfortunately unlike with most anime I watch I had read the manga to this and was very, VERY disappointed at what happened in this version of the story.
Story- It shared very few similarities with the manga at all other than the characters and a few episodes which is sad I mean if the series is supposed to be based off a manga shouldn't it at least be similar but no this series went along and tried to do it's own thing and in my opinion failed.
Art- The art was okay I preferred the original art-style used in mahou sensei but this was still good.
Sound- ... It was okay I guess.
Character- It's based off of negima which is made by the same person who made love hina so unless you try to mess it up there will be good character development.
Enjoyment- I actually did not enjoy this series at all it left a very bitter taste in my mouth compared to the sweetness brought to me by reading the manga and watching Mahou Sensei Negima.
Overall- I thought this version of the series was a complete joke and a waste of my time. I honestly do not suggest this anime to people who have read the manga or want an accurate description of what the story line should be like.

Negima had a fairly good start, with a stylistic retelling of the battle with Evangeline, then gradually declined. The art and characters are all quite good, but the plot falls apart after the first half and is clogged with filler.

In a nutshell,
Negima!? is definitely a feast for the eyes:

With amazing flashy colors to beautiful, fluidlike graphics and images, the art was well worth the watch - pure eye candy!
The story, however, got intriguing as it progressed, and the outcome makes you really think and wonder..
The characters were stereotypically unique in their own ways, and the chemistry and collaberations of different characters were fun and interesting to take note of.

It may not have been the most intricate anime I've ever watched, but its art and charm definatly dazzled!

Negima!? is an odd alternate version of Mahou Sensei Negima!

By itself, it's the story of a 10 year old Mage who wishes to make it in the world of magic, while also on the lookout for clues about his missing father. He gets an appointment at a girls academy, and (trigger harem flag) must keep being a Mage a secret. That's pretty much it. Each episode different things happen- usually focusing on or involving one of the girls in his class, and slowly reveal.... slowly change Negi into... hm...

'Stuff happens'?

If you are new and wonder if you should start here or with the other ... version- it depends on how much viewing you plan on doing.

If you just want 'a taste' to decide if you like it, or only want to watch the bare minimum- I recommend you ignore this and go to 'Mahou Sensei Negima!'
If you already plan on watching them all, then I think it would be better to start here.

I'll explain myself in a bit.

I think the idea of 'rebooting' the series was to improve the plot of the first story while keeping the character elements and other parts that worked in the first, and it does improve some of the plotting compared to the earlier version in the early episodes.

It also changes the overall tone of the anime, and makes a few changes I think work against it- so I'll get to that right now.

In this series, there are a few things I like less:
The art is generally lower quality. The multi-camera collages are neat, but don't offset the generally lower quality.
The sound is pretty flat, with minimal special effects.
Many character arcs are quite abbreviated.
The bg music is frequently intrusive, with it's level being too high, or the limited selection itself off-putting.
The Pactio cards (the items produced as a function of Negi making a pact with a partner) are changed drastically in Negima!?- going from a permanent representation of a useful contract, to a disposable reflection of the luck-based, (& frequently gag-like) manifestation
The largest story arc is pretty close to a waste of time.
A lot of episodes within that arc are pretty much filler.

You know how an anime gets cancelled, then the last 6 episodes or whatever are 'trying to wrap up'- where they force everything important in all the sudden? This doesn't do that. It's the opposite- as if they expected it to run for a season, and someone told them 'Hey- you can do another, that's ok, right?'...

Overall, the tone of Negima!? is much more random, nonsense and slapstick- (NOT 'in a good way'). In fact, any gag is probably fair game- so 4th wall breaking dialog, narrator/character conversations, and tons of transitions with quick comments/skits are wedged in. The plots are a lot more loose as well, with one episode being people following a person around most of it, and a bunch relating to the 'Black Rose Baron' mystery character, and the mystery behind them (spoiler- don't expect much, but they play it that way from the start)...

Wheras
Mahou Sensei Negima! was a Magic school faux-harem anime with occasional comedic exchanges. It feels like it was written for teens & maybe younger.
Negima!? on the other hand really tries to be funny a bit too hard- in that even when successful, it frequently lowers the 'magical feel' of the show. It feels like it was altered specifically to suit children- maybe even families. Negima!? is also very slow paced, despite stripping quite a bit out (since they replace it with a lot of nonsense).

Mahou Sensei Negima! -> Negima!?
This sequence is a 'step down' I think. Except for the plotting, most of the other strengths of Negima!? are atypical of the series (randomness, humor)

Negima!? -> Mahou Sensei Negima!
This sequence is a 'step up' in my opinion. Except for the plotting, you'll get improved character arcs, and more natural development. It's also more story focused, with less randomness and forced humor (mostly).

Negima!? isn't bad- it's just not as good as Mahou Sensei Negima!
There is little it adds- in fact it strips out quite a bit more- but even so, I can see people liking either one better (though I think more would like the original based on the character-building alone).

Okay, as always I want to preface my review with the three things I’m looking for in an anime: I want a really good story (+5), I want really good dialogue (characters/character development, etc.)(+3), and I want really good “technicals” (style, sound, etc.)(+2). Also, I’ll remind you my reviews generally encompass the whole series of an anime unless otherwise stated (That is to say that no more seasons are coming out). So let’s get to it!

Negima!?… I wanted to like this anime. I really did. In fact, I quite fancied the previous installment of Negima way back when. But, this time around, Negima just went ... full crazy. You should never go full crazy, just like you should never go full retard. We saw where that got Simple Jack after all. (And Excel Saga too) There is something akin to a story here, but the level of ridiculousness encountered as the plot “develops” really is too much. The story is diminished because there are simply no boundaries of insanity that are off limits. Some might like that, but I don’t.

Earning 2 points
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I don’t even know how I should grade this. I mean, when we’re dealing with full crazy, the dialogue synced up nicely. Is that a good thing? I don’t even know. The one thing I will mention is that this time around, Negima focused more on a few characters, developing them to some extent beyond their roles in the previous anime. Job well done for what it’s worth.

Earning 1.5 points
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Animation and style are fine. Luckily, for most anime this is a given 2 points. That holds true here as well. Speaking off the cuff, I’m pretty old school and don’t mind “substandard” animations/style/etc. as most people might. To make a game analogy, I remember one of my friends told me he couldn’t play FFIX because the graphics were too “bad”. That’s pretty sad. Hell, I still play games like Xenogears (which is a masterpiece) and I’ll be damned if I let the trivial mar what is by all other rights extraordinary!

Earning 2 points
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Bonus points goes to… That opening! I have to admit, this anime had the catchiest opening song I’ve heard in a while. In English too!

Earning 1 point (am I not merciful?)
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Add it all up and we have a dismal score of 6.5! Another fail for the anime universe. I recommend watching the first Negima! Unless of course you liked Excel Saga or something, then, go for it! To me, this is what happens when you do remakes. They come out like crap. What’s that say about the Final Fantasy VII remake on the horizon? For that matter, what’s with all the gaming references in this review? Frakkin Frak, GAH!!!

As always, since I’m a critic, I’ll round down my score to a 6 because that’s just the way it goes. That way it’ll be better than expected when you watch it! Till next time

I used to follow the lot of Negima stories. Up until the part where Negi and his crew visited Wales and the whole story turned into some Dragonball Z -esque bullcrap and everything went out of control. Last I heard from 4chan's /a/ section; our hero Negi Springfield was having his (finally superpowered) rear handed to him by Evangeline. ...and then I stopped.

There was a time, when I started reading the Negima manga despite my hatred for Ken Akamatsu and his Love Hina series, when I believed I can handle it. Several different cute girls, upskirt panty shots, the male lead (despite being 10 years ... old) started off with some power...

But at the end; I found it to be just another extension of Love Hina:

* Keitaro being shota-fied and Harry Potter-ed, yet still being a punching bag.
* Naru being separated into Asuna and Chisame.
* Ken and his crew pulling out all the stops on Negima's female characters yet still coming off as "what if's" of the Love Hina female characters.
* Still catering to the losers, NEETs, and school drop-outs who believe that "success is for suckers who will lose anyway."

Xebec's version of Negima, whilst not GODLY ANIMUTED, proved to be a good version of the story. SHAFT's version, whilst giving more spotlight to the characters herein, went for the "art house" approach and basically reverted the lot of secondary characters into "side gags."

I wished that Gonzo or Madhouse had handled the "original direction" of Negima instead so the series can be atleast "cool" like Marvel's anime and Chrono Crusade respectively. :(

Season 2 begins with heightened drama, continuing directly from where Season 1 left off. It explores Negi's father's intense battle with a vampire, injecting an epic quality into the storyline. The narrative then shifts to Negi receiving the assignment to teach in Japan, establishing a more serious tone compared to Season 1.

It introduces all 31 girls at once, creating a whirlwind of personalities. Remembering names becomes challenging, with some characters lacking depth. Asuna's character may seem less appealing due to perceived foolishness. It delves deeper into character backgrounds, enhancing lovability, with exceptions.

The initial focus on a vampire plot sidelines Asuna, leading to suspenseful episodes before ... exploring her magical contract. Character contracts' pacing is more distributed, contributing to a more coherent narrative.

Despite initial promise, repetitive humor and unexpected plot turns hinder the show. The climax is ambiguous, leaning more towards filler than substantial development.

The animation style shifts noticeably, resembling an OVA with detailed characters and unique camera angles. Opening and ending sequences indicate a substantial budget, though not improving the main storyline.

A narrator feels unnecessary, adding a cheesy element. In conclusion, Season 2 offers a different comedic tone, with an erratic and unconventional approach, providing an intriguing alternative for those seeking a different comedic experience.

This anime is simultaneously completely different from Negima and probably best for fans of Negima. For people unfamiliar with Negima, it is an all-around average shonen with traces from the harem source material and some strong 2000's vibes.

Before watching this show, you should be warned that the story is not at all like the Negima manga. Like many old adaptations, it starts similar but veers off in a completely different direction, resulting in the studio's completely new version of Negima. In the end, the only thing that is retained from Akamatsu's original are the characters. Note that the giant cast is crammed into a single ... season with less episodes than girls in the class. This is just an unfortunate issue of setting incompatibility, but it is handled quite well for what can be done, allowing the anime to stand on its own, albeit with a handful of unnecessary characters.

Regardless, Shaft manages to write a fun and compelling adventure story from the little source material they have, although a lot of it will be familiar if you have watched other anime from this time period. Although the season falters toward the end, it kicks off very strong, and manages to wrap up passably with a satisfying conclusion of its own (maybe even more so than the manga!).

Like all Negima anime, the soundtrack is very creative and really makes the universe feel expansive. The art, on the other hand, may need a little work. While it's certainly more lively and characteristic than that of the previous adaptation, the inconsistent artistic tone contributes to the weaker second half of the series, and like many 2000's anime, it is in desperate need of color-checking.

Shaft ups the bar on Xebec's original attempt at Negima, and it's clear that they care about this project, a trend that will continue to the same studio's anime final 5 year later. Yet, due to circumstances or otherwise, the end result is somewhat amateurish. While it's regrettable that Negima never got proper anime treatment, this series is quite fun to watch regardless, especially for dedicated fans of the Negima franchise.