Negima!? 22
ネギま!? Episode 22

SPOILER Summary:

Members of the class working the garden discover the carrots and radishes are strange in that they are large and almost resemble hands with five fingers. In the lab, the destroyed Mechacabra comes together and to life thanks to the Darkness and begins Chao and Hakase. As Negi, Chamo, and others examine the mutated vegetables, Chao and Hakase enter, pursued by Mechacabra. Negi activates Chao’s Armor Card and she dispatches the metal beast, breaking it into pieces and sending it flying out the window. Outside, Asuna and company have built a pit to capture the Bonge Bonge when the fragments of Mechacabra fall into said pit. However, it emerges whole again and after realizing Negi isn’t inside, the group runs.

Chizuru has information for Negi based on having finally determined the pattern of the possessions of members of the class. She discovers that the possessor is using the Lunar Zodiac as a basis for who gets possessed. Chamo has never heard of this but Negi has and goes to see Nekane. For her part, Nekane changes into her Black Rose Baron costume and goes to confront Mostu and Shichimi, who’ve just been making contact with some mysterious party. Nekane figures they are Star Crystal fragments come to life, but she is proven wrong. Negi arrives and is soon joined by Takamichi and Chachamaru, who’ve learned the identity of the Master of Darkness. It is Anya.

Nekane takes off her Black Rose Baron mask and hat and confirms that indeed, Anya was the one who stole the Star Crystal. She didn’t report this officially because she didn’t want Anya punished. She felt that if the Star Crystal fragments came back together, she could talk with Anya. Takamichi tells her that he’s not even powerful enough to get through to Anya. Nekane further reveals that Anya was lonely and hadn’t done well in her fortune telling work. She didn’t want to lose to Negi, but Nekane kept telling her how well Negi was doing. As such, Anya felt that the only way she wouldn’t lose was to take the powerful Star Crystal. Nekane feels bad for not realizing the impact her words had on Anya.

As they talk, they are attacked by another fairy, which Negi quickly dispatches. However, this causes all of the Star Crystal fragments to come together to form the Shriek of the Soul. Eva approaches, possessed by the Darkness, and gathers all of the Darkness into herself, causing all of the weirdness experienced by the class to disappear. However when she speaks, she does so not with the voice of Eva, but that of Anya.

Thoughts:

No laughs for me here beyond a mild amusement when Motsu ticked off Shichimi with his joke communications.

Story wise, I really haven’t cared about it. I guess the writers feel some sort of obligation to wrap up the plot elements just because they established them, and certainly there’s nothing wrong with that. However, the story has never been that interesting to me, especially once I realized the writers didn’t have much of one. The one thing of interest to me has always been those amusing moments that mainly deal with Motsu.