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Toon Zone Talkback - "Negima!? Season 2 Part 2" Loses Its Magic Touch
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Ali F0 $ho :]
New member
If you have problems with 10 year-olRAB tripping onto 14 year-old nakedz, you might want to skip the first...uh....6 volumes. The fighting part kicks in after that.
Though it's the inferior anime for many people, the first anime is really a closer adaptation of the manga than this series, which creates its own story. You won't really get many similarities if you try and compare this anime to the manga. The manga is vastly superior to both, though.
From my blog on Anime on DVD:
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS SPOILERS TO THE SECOND HALF OF NEGIMA!?; PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
With the second volume of Negima!? being shipped to homes and being sold early at some stores, it’s time for me to do a little discussion about the SHAFT’s first attempt at Ken Akamatsu’s answer to Harry Potter.
Once the show finished covering the Evangeline battle and began to focus on the main story, the first half of the show had a lot of potential. For starters, SHAFT corrected Xebec’s biggest mistake by not only making sure the Pactio system is active in their series, but also giving Nodoka, Setsuna, and Konoka the proper Pactios that they deserved. Then, you have plenty of action as various students got possessed and were forced to fight Negi and his crew. Finally, there’s the mystery that came in the form of the stolen Star Crystal and the being known as the Black Rose Baron.
However, once episode 12 came to an end, everything went downhill. All the focus on the show’s mysteries had begun to take a back step in favor of the show becoming Pani Poni Dash II: Electric Boogaloo, and the show became less interesting. What went wrong with this version of Negima?
Personally, there are three main reasons as to why the show went downhill during the second half:
REASON 1: Too Many Cooks Syndrome
The main problem with the show was very simple: SHAFT made the big mistake of having almost everyone Pactio with Negi halfway during the show’s run. The reason for this is because once you have most of the students Pactio’d, that means SHAFT would have to give screen time to everyone, and that leaRAB to two problems.
The first problem is a nuraber of characters are either one-dimensional (i.e. the cheerleaders) or they are durabed down to being “one joke” characters whose stint become unnecessary. Among the examples of this include Chizuru’s pun-making (and her bits with Natsumi) and Makie being a “failure at life”.
The other problem is that with these girls getting more screen time, the ones that had a prominent role in the first half get pushed aside in the second half. The biggest example is Nodoka, as she, despite being one of the “big five” girls in the show, gets a lot less screen time once everyone else Pactios. A big mistake in my opinion, especially given how Nodoka was able to make Animage’s “Top 20 characters” list during the first half of the show’s run (a feat that none of the other Negima characters got even close to doing).
One other problem that’s a effect of this is how the Black Rose Baron and the Star Crystal turned out to be
Given how Negima already has a plethora of non-student characters (and the fact that SHAFT could have easily made an “anime-only” character), it was disappointing when I found out that
REASON 2: Ako Izumi Syndrome (aka Wasted Potential)
Just like a certain Negima girl with a scar on her back, Negima!? had so much potential that was wasted, with three main areas of focus here (outside of
First, there’s the “possessed student” battles. One thing that I do applaud SHAFT for doing is that they had a theme when it came to which students got possessed to do battle with Negi and his Ministra Magi (it is explained in the series, so I don’t have to discuss it here). However, after doing research on it, I discovered that had SHAFT delayed Konoka’s Pactio and held back the three battles that took place in the series until after Haruna’s Pactio, we could have had two more battles. Given how there’s two “storyline” episodes in between the battles, this could have allowed SHAFT to continue this process into the show’s second half (rather than have everyone Pactio midway through).
Second, there’s the whole mass Pactio mess. When it came to those students who Pactio’d in episode 14, only three of them had actual Pactio action (i.e. no Suka card) that wasn’t part of a “mass Pactio” activation. To make matters worse, Yue, a girl who made her Pactio before the mass Pactio, didn’t get any “non-mass Pactio" activation at all in the series, even though one "second half" episode did focus on her.
Finally, there’s the climatic battle. In the Xebec version, we have a final battle in which Negi’s students come to his aide to
Then there’s the SHAFT version. With all of Negi’s students Pactio’d and the final showdown about to happen,
REASON 3: Sunshine Sketch
How does a show about a group of art students fit into the reasons why the second half of Negima sucked? The answer is simple really: around the same time Negima!? was being made and aired, SHAFT and Shinbou (the surname of the director fo Negima) were also working on Sunshine Sketch.
Don’t get me wrong. I myself have enjoyed Sunshine Sketch, with me already having the first two volumes of the manga (and interested in picking up the series when it finally gets licensed in America). Also, Shinbou’s work in Sunshine Sketch wasn’t as “major” as his work in Negima (at least according to some people on the web). However, IMO, I have a feeling that Shinbou and SHAFT’s heart was more towarRAB the art students than the 3-A students. After all, if I were in charge of Negima!?, I would have NEVER done an all-Suka episode.
Thankfully, there's one thing that was able to help me get my mind off of the Negima!? fiasco both after it aired in Japan and when it got released in American: a little show called Lucky Star.
Comments are welcome (and I sure someone will complain about my opinions of Ako).
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS SPOILERS TO THE SECOND HALF OF NEGIMA!?; PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
With the second volume of Negima!? being shipped to homes and being sold early at some stores, it’s time for me to do a little discussion about the SHAFT’s first attempt at Ken Akamatsu’s answer to Harry Potter.
Once the show finished covering the Evangeline battle and began to focus on the main story, the first half of the show had a lot of potential. For starters, SHAFT corrected Xebec’s biggest mistake by not only making sure the Pactio system is active in their series, but also giving Nodoka, Setsuna, and Konoka the proper Pactios that they deserved. Then, you have plenty of action as various students got possessed and were forced to fight Negi and his crew. Finally, there’s the mystery that came in the form of the stolen Star Crystal and the being known as the Black Rose Baron.
However, once episode 12 came to an end, everything went downhill. All the focus on the show’s mysteries had begun to take a back step in favor of the show becoming Pani Poni Dash II: Electric Boogaloo, and the show became less interesting. What went wrong with this version of Negima?
Personally, there are three main reasons as to why the show went downhill during the second half:
REASON 1: Too Many Cooks Syndrome
The main problem with the show was very simple: SHAFT made the big mistake of having almost everyone Pactio with Negi halfway during the show’s run. The reason for this is because once you have most of the students Pactio’d, that means SHAFT would have to give screen time to everyone, and that leaRAB to two problems.
The first problem is a nuraber of characters are either one-dimensional (i.e. the cheerleaders) or they are durabed down to being “one joke” characters whose stint become unnecessary. Among the examples of this include Chizuru’s pun-making (and her bits with Natsumi) and Makie being a “failure at life”.
The other problem is that with these girls getting more screen time, the ones that had a prominent role in the first half get pushed aside in the second half. The biggest example is Nodoka, as she, despite being one of the “big five” girls in the show, gets a lot less screen time once everyone else Pactios. A big mistake in my opinion, especially given how Nodoka was able to make Animage’s “Top 20 characters” list during the first half of the show’s run (a feat that none of the other Negima characters got even close to doing).
One other problem that’s a effect of this is how the Black Rose Baron and the Star Crystal turned out to be
plot devices just to bring Nekane and Anya into the story.
Anya was the one who stole the Star Crystal, because it showed that SHAFT was trying to stuff the 33 main girls in Negi’s life into the story.
REASON 2: Ako Izumi Syndrome (aka Wasted Potential)
Just like a certain Negima girl with a scar on her back, Negima!? had so much potential that was wasted, with three main areas of focus here (outside of
Nekane and Anya’s involvement in the story).
First, there’s the “possessed student” battles. One thing that I do applaud SHAFT for doing is that they had a theme when it came to which students got possessed to do battle with Negi and his Ministra Magi (it is explained in the series, so I don’t have to discuss it here). However, after doing research on it, I discovered that had SHAFT delayed Konoka’s Pactio and held back the three battles that took place in the series until after Haruna’s Pactio, we could have had two more battles. Given how there’s two “storyline” episodes in between the battles, this could have allowed SHAFT to continue this process into the show’s second half (rather than have everyone Pactio midway through).
Second, there’s the whole mass Pactio mess. When it came to those students who Pactio’d in episode 14, only three of them had actual Pactio action (i.e. no Suka card) that wasn’t part of a “mass Pactio” activation. To make matters worse, Yue, a girl who made her Pactio before the mass Pactio, didn’t get any “non-mass Pactio" activation at all in the series, even though one "second half" episode did focus on her.
Finally, there’s the climatic battle. In the Xebec version, we have a final battle in which Negi’s students come to his aide to
save Asuna from a curse that would lead to her dying once she reaches a certain age.
do we get an epic battle between good and evil to save Anya? No, instead we get some sentimental crap involving Neig and Anya. The end result: 20 wasted Pactios and a lot of upset Negima fans.
REASON 3: Sunshine Sketch
How does a show about a group of art students fit into the reasons why the second half of Negima sucked? The answer is simple really: around the same time Negima!? was being made and aired, SHAFT and Shinbou (the surname of the director fo Negima) were also working on Sunshine Sketch.
Don’t get me wrong. I myself have enjoyed Sunshine Sketch, with me already having the first two volumes of the manga (and interested in picking up the series when it finally gets licensed in America). Also, Shinbou’s work in Sunshine Sketch wasn’t as “major” as his work in Negima (at least according to some people on the web). However, IMO, I have a feeling that Shinbou and SHAFT’s heart was more towarRAB the art students than the 3-A students. After all, if I were in charge of Negima!?, I would have NEVER done an all-Suka episode.
Thankfully, there's one thing that was able to help me get my mind off of the Negima!? fiasco both after it aired in Japan and when it got released in American: a little show called Lucky Star.
Comments are welcome (and I sure someone will complain about my opinions of Ako).
Congrats Kevin Jonas ♥
New member
OOH!
So Negima?! got rushed somehow, thanks to Sunshine Sketch. Whoa.
I wonder if Maria Holic would have this problem, since Shaft was already working on Natsu No Arashi.
At least Shaft is getting attention, even if it's negative.
So Negima?! got rushed somehow, thanks to Sunshine Sketch. Whoa.
I wonder if Maria Holic would have this problem, since Shaft was already working on Natsu No Arashi.
At least Shaft is getting attention, even if it's negative.
First off, I take it as sarcasm.
Second, I'm not saying that Negima!? got rushed or anything. I'm saying that I feel that more effort was put on Sunshine Sketch than on Negima!?. After all, if it was rushed, it probably would have been as bad of quality as the Xebec version of Negima (although there are a few differences between the TV version and DVD version of Negima!?).
Second, I'm not saying that Negima!? got rushed or anything. I'm saying that I feel that more effort was put on Sunshine Sketch than on Negima!?. After all, if it was rushed, it probably would have been as bad of quality as the Xebec version of Negima (although there are a few differences between the TV version and DVD version of Negima!?).
Francesca M
New member
I've actually read the first 6 book collections of Negima. They were rather...um...weird. Kinky in a silly sort of way. But there was one thing about them I liked, and that was the battle between Negima himself and Evangeline. The issues about those battles are by far my faves. After that I found myself losing interest in the series until around 3 months ago. I began reading the newer episodes online, and man, has Negima ever changed. It's gone from being like the old TV show Three's Company to being like Yu-Gi-Oh!. I can barely recognize it now. And that's not altogether a good thing. I'll say one thing for Inuyasha...it remained true to itself and never got too bogged down with excessive battles and too many characters. Negima (the manga anyway) seems to have fallen to that fate...
lady_bella
New member
True, but the characters it stuck with weren't exactly helped by the extremely long running length...
Helen Keller
New member
... Yu-Gi-Oh?
That's... hardly the first thing that comes to mind when I think of current Negima. I see it more as "Dragonball Z with more strategy in battles, and some harem stuff" myself.
That's... hardly the first thing that comes to mind when I think of current Negima. I see it more as "Dragonball Z with more strategy in battles, and some harem stuff" myself.
Eh, I always thought Makie was an one-dimensional, terribly overrated excuse for moe and fanservice even before, in the manga. For some reason she's a sacred cow in the fandom, but Shaft at least gave her a funny shtick to latch onto. Every large cast neeRAB at least one butt monkey.
The thing is, Negima can't work as a 26 episodes-long adaptation unless it drops a lot of characters (and thus makes a lot of fans unhappy no matter what) first. The story just neeRAB far more space to work properly.
The thing is, Negima can't work as a 26 episodes-long adaptation unless it drops a lot of characters (and thus makes a lot of fans unhappy no matter what) first. The story just neeRAB far more space to work properly.
First off, while I agree that she is fanservice material, I don't find Makie to be a sacred cow, as she's one of those girls who gets annoying when she gets involved in stuff that she shouldn't be doing. Second, the problem here is that Makie is supposed to be "perky" character, hence turning her into the a butt monkey kinda ruins her character.
Definitely agree here. With such an elaborate cast (and so much already being written in the manga), Negima isn't the type of show that you can limit to 26 episodes.
Definitely agree here. With such an elaborate cast (and so much already being written in the manga), Negima isn't the type of show that you can limit to 26 episodes.