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.
