*This review is a potenial spoiler of the manga series, cause the movie itself expects you to have knowledge of the manga series latest chapters.*
STORY: Mahou Sensei Negima Anime Final is the next long awaited, yet honestly unwanted, adaption of the original negima manga, yet as the title speaks for itself, this will be the final anime. Does it botch itself up? In a way yes, but there's a silver lining at least: This movie is actually just an alternate ending for the series, where it ends the manga from the 330th chapter mark (The manga ends at 355 chapters), and sets itself up for an ending where nothing more can continue forth with some problems of course.
The movie starts off with a huge recap spoiler for chapters 308 to 332 (If I got the chapter numbers wrong, please someone correct me), showing various chapters fly by with brief moments from each chapter sequence, from Kotaro's attack against Fate, the ending of Negi's fight with Fate, to the end of the fight against the mage of beginning (And his true idenity). So right from the get go, if you have yet to read the manga up to that point, checked out the manga, or have no knowledge of the manga, then you're wasting your time has this has nothing for the latter two while for the former, it offers nothing but spoilers.
Now right away a good percentage of potential viewers are reduced, but how does the beginning affect the overall movie? After very exciting spoiler-rific opening, featuring potential new enemies, and several fallen allies and a major antagionst, what can one but expect an exciting conclusion... Of who will Negi Springfield choose as his permament partner...
I'm not going to say I'm completely disappointed, this direction the movie takes is just as gripping as an all-out magical final battle with the world at stake...... Who am I kidding? This just gives you an empty promise, a shameless bait and switch that many shonen series movies do (Bleach Jigoku-Hen! What was the point of Ulquiorra in the beginning?). But anywho, the plot is centered around, after the magical world arc, Negi Springfield having to choose one of his 30 (31) students right before their graduation day no less, to become his true partner while the majority of them will lose not only their pactio card (Their proof of contact as a temperary partner with Negi and their source of magic powers via magical artifacts), but all of their memories of anything magic related as well, with Negi having to make that choice before the next day.
As you would expect, the movie spends the majority of it's time focusing on the 30 (31) students, from wondering one will get chosen, to making attempts to convince Negi to chose so and so, to simply giving up and excepting their fate and decide and have another meaningful moment with their teacher (By moment I mean big flashy battles) while the ones who will most likely not lose their memories ponder at the fact of how lonely that would make them become.
Most of these scenes are borderline depressing, and shows deep character maturity between the series most noteworthy friends like Ayaka and Asuna, Kotaro (Yay! He's in the movie!) and Natsumi, and Setsuna and Konoka (Which they continue to come across as so much more than just friends as any reader of the manga series can tell you) with Nodoka and Yue's being the best of the friendship development as they show how happy they are to be in love with the same person and will accept it if the other gets chosen instead over the other. And as the movie gradually moves on the promised day, the tension is sky high when Negi tries furiously to decide on a permanent partner, a world threatening situation arrives as Negi and his chosen partner are the only ones can stop it.
And the review will end here... Why? Because it's impossible to not spoil it, but let's just say Negi's decision is so cliched, so safe, and just ruins the build up from thirty-fourty minutes prior. Two promises, left broken by rather good build up that only ends up in disappointment, I just can't go further than there without giving major spoilers.
ANIMATION: Arguably a step down from the ovas Shaft released a few years ago, with even the big battles looking kinda sloppy. Character designs are very true to the source material, something any Negima fan can appreciate after watching the first two Negima anime adaptations. Though my major gripe is the random panty flashes... I know Negima is an ecchi series (It's one of the more creeper ones in fact), but even in the manga it irks me, and movie changes nothing (Especially the bath scene with many of the classmates washing two of own in a rush to see their teacher, though it isn't Negima without the obligatory inappropriate fan service so what can I do?).
SOUND: It's okay, nothing more, nothing less. The loud graduation song sung by the whole class towards the end of the movie does have a great emotional impact, telling you that it is indeed the end, but other than that nothing really sticks out as well as this. The ending theme that plays during the end so pretty decent too, it kinda sounds like another remix of Happy Material from the first Negima anime.
OVERALL:
The Good:
+ Decent music, the song at the end before the credits is pretty emotional towards long time fans of series.
The Mixed:
+/- Great build up, showing good character development and almost saddening conflicts / The pay off is only disappointment.
+/- Good animation / Sort of a step down from the ovas.
The Bad:
- Only readers of the manga can really get something out of this movie besides spoilers.
- The conclusion of Negi's decision, it down rights brings the whole movie down.
Sure there's a lot of material that will saddly never see the screens of TV sets (Like my personal favorite: the Rakan vs Negi fight, it is the single greatest fight of any shonen series, without a doubt), and the movie only raises your expectations to only drop them on the floor like an egg, but it isn't worst Negima adaptation at least, and plenty of the long time fans can still get something out of it. Though there is a something that bugs the shit out of me: Is Rakan Nagi's true partner? It's a pretty jarring issue if you take what the movie offers, by that I mean if you accept the movie's inconsistencies.
