Negima!? 17

Note: I’ll be picking this up from FUNimation. If I can score some advanced copy of the DVD release from them, I’ll make sure to get a review of that up. ^_^

SPOILER Summary:

The Black Rose Baron tries to wake Motsu and Shichimi, wondering if this is enough. But they are out cold.

Asuna and Konoka head to the bath to discover a strange woman there. Turns out, it is Nekane, Negi’s “oneechan.” Turns out she was transported there.

Motsu is making a statement and is in disguise, this time as the Black Lily Baron Potato. Shichimi isn’t interested and Makie sees him and addresses him as “Dad.” However, he still doesn’t understand why she’s doing that and when he blows her off, she gets offended and leaves all upset, saying she hates her dad.

Elsewhere, Asuna and group are out hunting. Zazie is exploring and sees that Nekane has Negi sleeping on her knee and when some Darkness starts to form. Nekane quickly destroys it without Negi even knowing. Zazie reports this to her team, who agree there’s something strange here. Asuna is all interested in catching the Bonge-Bonge (whatever that is), so that leave Setsuna and Konoka to do some investigating of Nekane. They tail her for a while and see her do odd, silly things, but nothing evil.

Kaede, Fuku, Fumika, and Ku Fei let slip what Zazie saw Nekane do. Negi thinks Nekane didn’t tell him about the Darkness because she didn’t want him to worry.

Elsewhere, Motsu attempts to make up for upsetting Makie and brings a pastry. She rejects it because she’s on a diet. He gets upset and says he hates his daughter. Makie asks the narrator if she went to far and is a failure, which he says she isn’t. Ayaka arrives and tells Makie she is a failure, which naturally leads to her distress.

Setsuna and Konoka have tailed Nekane to the kitchen. Konoka briefly gets distracted by smelling Konoka’s shampoo. They see Nekane summon a rapier and it appears she’s about to attack Satsuki but before Setsuna can counter, Nekane has simply speared some food with her sword.

At the tea ceremony, Motsu is filling in for Chachamaru in preparing and serving tea for Eva and Takahata. The tea is very salty and Eva is not happy to learn the salt is coming from Motsu’s tears (at failing with Makie). Chachamaru is out feeding the birds and one dark bird she observes until it leaves and then turns into Darkness as it hits a window where Ako, Chizuru, and Chao are. They notify Negi and others of the Darkness attack and they along with Nekane come running.

Negi arrives with several of the girls as Chao and Chizuru are keeping Ako from being swallowed up. Ku Fei is up to provide power with her card, but unfortunately, it is the worthless comedy Suka card. Black Rose Baron arrives and aids Negi in defeating the Darkness. Black Rose Baron leaves a black rose behind and Konoka reveals to him that Nekane is the Black Rose Baron.

Thoughts:

I was just noticing how this episode had moments of just plain awful animation. There may have been bad moments before, but I really noticed them this time.

As to the episode, the moment Nekane showed up, I said, “We have our Black Rose Baron.” Well, its not like this anime is geared toward high HQ types. Motsu as the Black Lily Baron Potato was mildly humorous. The ongoing gag of Makie calling him “dad” wasn’t funny until Motsu did the tea ceremony for Eva and Takahata. That was the only point in the episode where I laughed. But the ongoing gag of Makie being a worthless nobody hasn’t made me laugh yet.

Nekane Springfield
Black Lily Baron Potato (Motsu)

(12-Apr-2023: Not sure why the above is here, unless I left old notes in, which is possible.)