February 13th, 2014 
AstroNerdBoy 魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 38
Negima! Manga Volume 38 Review
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For detailed chapter summaries of Negima! Volume 38 with chapter reviews, use this link to pull up the list of everything relating to volume 38. ^_^
It has been nearly two years since Negima! (March 14, 2012) came to an end in Japan. Although I’d written a final thoughts piece on the entire Negima! series, I kept putting off reviewing volume 38 of the manga, as released by Kodansha Comics. Although some have said that I shouldn’t do it at this late stage, I have decided to do it anyway as I have always intended to do so.
Negima! Volume 38 continues the lighthearted “get Negi” sports festival arc that so many people hated. I never hated it. I always saw it as just a lot of fun. At the time, I figured that Akamatsu-sensei was doing his normal non-serious work before going into the next major, serious arc. Little did I know that he’d be ending the series shortly after the arc ended.
Regardless, as I mentioned in my review of chapter 348, this arc allowed the girls to basically have a training exercise in a situation that isn’t life-or-death. Also, I felt that the girls were acting like young teenage girls act, only with magical, combat experience behind them. Now that they weren’t in a life-or-death situation, the fears of the past were in the past. So it was all good with me.
Asuna’s departure was sad, but the fact that the manga then jumps ahead in time to just end is frustrating. After all, we never learned anything more about Eva, how Negi found Nagi, etc. Although I appreciated the “here’s what became of the characters” part of the ending, the fact that things just shut down right when you are thinking there’s got to be a lot more volumes coming is frustrating. Even as I reread it now, in light of the spinoff UQ Holder now being publish (in which Eva is a character, though in a disguise), I still lament the fact that this is the last volume, though I’m no longer angry about it.
On the Kodansha side of things, the Twins do their usual good job of translations. The final note from Akamatsu-sensei is included, as is the cover art and notes (not to be confused with the dust cover art, which is in color). A few translator notes are included as well.
I had thought I’d say more in this volume review about the sports arc, but when I realized what all I’d said in chapter 348, there was no need to repeat myself. ^_~ Although the life of Negima! may have been aborted to the dismay of all us fans, I think we’ll remember the good times and go on from there.
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To be honest.
As a Hardcore Negima-fan , I was pretty disappointed with this Arc – Volume , Probably the main-reason why , Is because Akamatsu-sensei left Arika out , We really never knew what happened to her exactly , The Hella`s Princess probably knew , Judging her reaction from this panel.
http://goo.gl/KmRHBc
But anyways , I still hope that in UQ Holder , It`ll be answered somehow.
True. In the ending, Arika was still left out of the equation. I put that, along with the rescue of Nagi, Eva’s past, etc. into the general “the way this manga ended sucked” pile. ^_^;;;
I’m with you — I hope that UQ Holder provides some answers, but I’m afraid that it won’t. 🙁
I feel the same , I feel like UQ Holder won`t , Since it focuses more on the newer-characters and such , But you never know ! Haha.
With Eva being a crossover character, I’m hoping there’s a chance that not only will her past get explored, but things tied to her past like Nagi (and through him, Arika) get looked at more.
It possible he will touch on more negima in uq holder.
The Mage of beginning utilised a body hopping type immortality and members of Cosmo entelecheia has commented on negi magia erebea to resemble the mages power.
The Mage got a anti magic sword slash through him and nagi disappeared with him, it a big question on how they manage to revive nagi also arika is suitable host for the Mage since they are related unless I’m mistaken.
But yh negima ended to quickly also there fate to consider, he not really alive and we had real confirmation on negi immortality… From the sounds uq holder the immortal hunters are making a big deal out of magia erebea
Yeah, they are. Hopefully, more information will come because of it. ^_^
And here we go again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KVnRR5QIus
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=10281
And another TV series, probably more childish: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=10281
Yeah, that looks like a pass to me. *_*
Move on? OK. Forgive and forget? NO WAY. Mr. Akamatsu is past tense, but Motoko and especially Asuna will remain unforgettable.
Motoko was “her awesomeness” and then some. ^_^
Personally i would love to know Akatsuki plans for satsuki if Negima didn´t end so abruptaly, because in my opinion, she´s one of the most undervoleped character in Negima
P.s: Sorry for my English
She was for sure. 🙁
Your English was fine. ^_^
This arc really does start out reading like its all taking a breather while building up to something epic- Negi now knows where his father is, but has no idea how to free him without killing him and/or repeating the cycle (where the mage of the beginning just reencarnates in someone else’s body.)
To top it all his own plan to save the world is time sensitive and requires Asuna to spend well over a century in hibernation so a well as the emotional loss of losing her again, there’s also the tactical issue of Negi possibly facing a climactic final confrontation without his main partner…
… such a wonderful setup with so much potential…
Well put. ^_^
Doing a cache test…
About your post “Manga Sales Suck” from two years ago. The issues then were right-to-left format and general indifference of the new reader. My first manga was “Love Hina,” and it immediately engaged my attention! R-to- L made no difference. I especially loved the graphics, and the story about hapless Keitaro had me laughing out loud with no audience. I loved how the artist made me fill in the blanks. That’s one of the best features of manga: gaps in the action and the story itself that the reader must supply for himself. I think that’s the tripping point for many new readers. One’s mind must be in first gear all the time, and they’re too lazy and passive to engage themselves. It’s active pursuit, not passive trailing a theme park ride.
I agree about the big eyes. They’re grotesque. I just learned to ignore them in “Negima!” because I liked all the rest of the graphics so much.
For the new adult reader I strongly recommend the recent hardbound “Mobile Suit Gundam, The Origin.” Gorgeous graphics and intense, realistic actiion. Absolutely not comic -bookish.
How are sales of anime/manga now?
I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. I really should check into it.
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Re server switch: everything is go here! PC and cell apearances identical and excellent.
Cool. How’s the performance? Load times should be vastly improved.
PC 25% faster, cell 10%, but the cell was fast to start with, so now it’s pretty quick. I haven’t timed it, but it’s not more than a few seconds. My actual bit download speed hasn’t changed, so your signal must be much more efficient. My gear is not trick at all, just stock stuff, so I’ m happy, with one exception: on my Android cell phone I now must always tap “View Full Site” to get your full black screen every time I call up any of your entries. Otherwise, it’s the usual white, cell phone background with some minor info elided. Prolly my machine, but it would be good to have that “Full Site” feature enabled as a default, like just before the switch. Can’t find it on any of my settings. Very minor whine, but getting the full black ANB instantly on the cell phone is cool.
And hey, I miss my red and black Godizra.
Ah good. There he is.
Oh yeah now I must always reenter my email address below the offered comment, also unlike before. Is that for security? :o)
I haven’t changed any options. The e-mail is always required. Since I’m logged in as me, it automatically knows.
I could add you as a subscriber, so if you are logged in, you wouldn’t need to re-add your e-mail.
Performance tests show big improvements on load times, even without caching and the like. That being said, I now score lower for site efficiency, but I can always put caching in place if needed.
As to the cell phone option, I could turn off mobile optimization that’s currently running.
*lol* I’m guessing that’s a remark on the site’s color scheme?
No, it’s my eyesight and attention span. Think it’s always been flourescent pink and deep purple.
Automatc black and auto email now. Great! Now I can see that my Godizra is actually bright pink and dark purple.
Loading. Cell phone 4 sec. to appear and immediately usable, scrolling etc. 8 sec. to load fully. My perception says it’s much faster.
Than before the switch.
Your color is just right.
Whew! Good to know. ^_^
Okay, as of now everything (color, speed, options etc) perform great at this end — on my PC and especially on my cell, which contains a plethora of options. Some things did change after your switch, like having to re-enter the email address after each submitted comment. That didn’t change until yesterday, 3-11-14. Don’t have to now, which is like before and very conveient. Maybe my recievers, PC and cell, only change after some rumination. Total conjecture. Anyway, as an average techno quasi with no hot equipment, I am very satsfied with what I see on ths site. Hope all this blather helps.
It does. Thanks. ^_^
Uh, oh. Just tried a “Reply” on my PC and, unlike before the switch, ran into a mess. I had to enter my email address and name, which I DO NOT have to do on my Android cell phone every time I tap “Reply.” They’re already there after I tap. Maybe that’s a feature of my phone. But.
I’m looking at my PC screen, and I only get a very faint version of my message overwritten by “Enter your comment here. . . ” Unreadable. The red and purple icon only appeared after I entered the email address. Hence my prior plaint about missiing him. I suspect the antivirus on my PC, but there’s no notice of anything amiss on the AV screens. That could mean nothing, of course.
Cell phone works great. None of the above glitches appear at all.
I’ll try typing my response on my PC, which was “Good.” It’s now buried under the “Enter your comment here . . .”
Oh good. The “Good” appeared on your site on the PC, but what a pain, not being able to read one’s text as it’s typed. It shows as VERY faint and overwritten. [?]
Speed on the PC noticably faster. Almost instantaneous loading, and the colors are great.
This messge generated on my cellphone.
Good.
The other browser on my PC is worse. I can call up your site and switch around, but can’t write because the word processor is so screwed up. Therefore, I deduce that my problems mentioned above are all generated within my PC. So never mind. Sorry for the intrusion.
Cellphone works great, so f I want to write, I’ll just use it.
If you have script blocking or the like installed on the PC, it can interfere with the site. Just a possible thing that could be causing the problem.
It was my server, Cox@net. Had to set, reset and rest some new settings. Har. Let’s see if this works. Don’t mind retyping email address. This word processor working well.
Ah Good! This text and the one above at 6:10 PM from my PC Yay. Alles ist in Ordnung.
Cox and Google’s signal scramble was timed luckily with your switch. That I could fix the mess, and it was a pretty good mess, independently with zero action from ANB suggests their timing was indeed fortuitous.
Your patience is extraordinary. Thanks a million.
Your site looks good. Rollin, rollin, keep them dogies rollin. :o)
Glad everything is working. ^_^
You understand, I hope, that my use of the word “fortuitous” was ironic, suggesting the opposite. :o\
Yeah, I figured. But, as long as things are working now, all’s well, right? ^_^
Oh, yeah. I so seldom run into literate respondents I felt the need to explain. Unecessarily, I’m happy to see.
“All’s well that ends well.”
Woot! ^_^
Sounds Elizabethan. Shakspearean? Is there a translation? Like, “Zoot!”
Something like. ^_~
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=woot
Thanks. It’s good to know somebody that’s hep to the jive. (Cab Calloway) As you can see, I eschew netspeak on purpose, so I’m deliberately ignorant of a lot of it. My take is that it’s exclusivity is painting it’s devotees into a corner. Nobody else listens! Or cares to. How do I know? My grad school experience, majoring in math logic (undecidabilty and optimization of algorithms) fully opened my eyes to social isolation. We knew the best way to stop a conversation in the real world was proudly to announce our major was mathematics. At a coffee table with half the mutts in the group glued to their laptops or cellphones any attempt to speak gets astonished stares. Same thing.
It’s just another myth that everyone has become a net freak. Ask any six-year-old. Furthermore, except for this site and a few others, the internet contains so much garbage it’s an enormous waste of our culture. Eg, anonymity. On the net it’s an illusion. ANYTHING, and anybody, can be hacked, so why use it? To be able to libel or infringe safely? Good luck. If the bad guys or their lawyers want you they can find you. And for the record, I’m not one of ’em. Way out of my interest range.
Hutsut ralston on the rillaraw, and the brawley, brawley suet — one of my favorite infringements.
Thanks for the steer to “urbandictionary.” I’ll start using it. Selectively.
I don’t remember where I picked up “woot” from. No doubt, a life of working in the IT field. ^_^;
Zoot. Like your style. As an innovator and manager.
Six-year-olds? Yes. Most of them know a lot about the internet, but few of them have reached freakdom.