January 22nd, 2009 
AstroNerdBoy Negima! Manga Vol 26 (Ch 239) *SPOILERS*
魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 26 Chapter 239 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 239
Summary/Synopsis:
After reuniting with Yuuna and Makie (who witnessed Negi’s Thousand Bolt’s spell), the two are amazed that Negi’s father is the infamous Nagi whom they’ve heard so much about since arriving in the Magic World. Negi is then introduced to Princess Theodora, who asks to be addressed as Theo. After learning that Jack had already shown Negi something about her (via the movie), she apologizes for not being able to do anything for Nagi and Arika in the end. He is confused by this and realizing that Negi knows nothing, Theodora will say no more.
Ricardo and Seras arrive to help train Negi, though shadow-Eva considers them small fry and not worth Negi’s time. Ricardo will train both Negi and Kotaro in martial arts, Seres will train Negi with combat magic so that he can perfect the Thousand Bolts spell, and Theo will do what she can. Using a Diorama Magic Sphere, every day that passes in the Magic World will be ten in the sphere, thus they can get 30 days of training. Negi starts to believe that maybe he can beat Jack now, which shadow-Eva chastises him for as Negi’s situation really hasn’t changed. At the end of the day, Negi has to find the power to defeat Jack.
Negi begins training under all four teachers and after 16 days of training, he and Kotaro emerge to do one of their matches. Returning to training, Negi and Theodora talk with Negi asking the obvious question — is Arika his mother. Theodora cannot say because the members of Ala Rubra decided not to tell Negi of the Magic World affairs until Negi reached full manhood. That said, she doesn’t know anymore than anyone else as to what happened with Arika after the war. Negi asks if Jack would acknowledge Negi as having reached full manhood should Negi win. Theodora cannot answer.
Chamo prompts Theodora, who states that what she’s about to do is problematic considering her position, but if restricted to the tournament, it should be OK. Negi is confused, so Theodora explains that it is a victory charm, at which point she kissed Negi as the magic circle appears around them and a pactio card appears. Theodora states this is their first trump card.
Thoughts/Review:
Yeah. Wow. Let me get started here so some of you can agree or disagree with me. ^_~
I find it interesting that the three rulers of the major powers in the magic world would be so interested in beating Jack. I suppose they wouldn’t mind seeing him taken down a peg or two, but I can’t help but wonder what other motives they may have. It is amusing that shadow-Eva is so disdainful of those three. Unfortunately, an explanation of how Theodora obtained an Eva artifact (the scroll) is missing.
I’ve never had the sense that Eva was part of the war (and it hasn’t been mentioned), but I have had the strong sense that Eva interacted with the Ala Rubra group when they were still intact, to include Jack. Why Jack as well? Well for starters, he had an Eva scroll and knew a great deal about her. Secondly, Takahata mentioned going to school with Eva, and since Takahata was a boy when he joined Ala Rubra, he was training then and may well have been learning magic then at the same time as Eva. Just a possibility. Still, why would Eva leave artifacts with shadow-copies of herself behind? Despite herself, Eva has shown herself to be willing to help others who truly want to advance themselves, likely due to her own past. So I suppose that’s as good an answer as to the “why leave artifacts” as any.
Arika. Again, Akamatsu-sensei teases fans and for the FIRST time that I can remember, Negi mentions that he has a mother. Before this chapter, it was 100% his father and no thought was given to the woman who bore him. Now, he’s suddenly wondering about having a mother. However, I have a theory (heh!heh!) that in addition to Negi being Nagi (and having recently re-read some of the manga wherein I note that Nagi made two people promise to do things for his son who hadn’t even been born yet — Al and Stan), I begin to strongly think that Nekane is in fact the daughter of Nagi and Arika.
I keep remembering Negi’s remarks on how Asuna (who is kin to Arika somehow) resembles and smells like Nekane. Even Anya acknowledges Asuna resembling Nekane. That suggests to me that Nekane may very well be related to Asuna. Considering the Japanese use of family titles for people who are not in their actual family, Nekane addressing the man who took care of herself and Negi as “Otousan” (Dad) doesn’t mean much. Negi addresses the same man as “Ojichan” (Uncle) when that man is not his uncle (even if Negi is in fact the child of Nagi and not Nagi in disguise). Add to this that while Nekane would tell Negi stories that his father Nagi was like Superman (using the original Japanese term) but other things she would not, saying they were a secret (like if Nagi had ever rescued her).
If Arika died after giving birth to Nekane, Nagi may well have given her over to the gentleman to adopt Nekane, keeping his relationship to her a secret so that he could do his work against the evil organization without worrying that his daughter would become a target. Since that English village was populated with people because of Nagi (which likely means they migrated from the Magic World, thus that would explain their culture complete with Japanese honorific usage since they are used in the MW), some infant female child brought over by Nagi wouldn’t raise any suspicions. Then if my theory about Negi being Nagi is correct, the same man gets Nagi’s “son” to raise as well. Just my theory. 😛
Moving on, lets discuss Theodora. My initial reaction to seeing the first spoiler image was that Negi scored a pactio. Indeed, he may have done this because whatever Theodora and Chamo came up with might require her to use a pactio card with its artifact. This may still be the case as Theodora may have had a pactio in the past, knows what artifact she’ll get, and though making a pactio with Negi would place her as a subservient ministra role to him (which would explain her remarks about this pactio being problematic due to her being a princess and leader of her people), her artifact would help bring down Jack somehow.
On the other hand, it seems like it would be more probable that if Theodora is a mage, then her making Negi her minister. She would then be able to give Negi a magical boost, which would certainly compensate for the draw from Negi’s own ministra’s. However, having Negi as a subserviant partner doesn’t seem like it would be a problem (beyond Negi being a wanted person, but that didn’t seem to be Theodora’s concern). Also, I’m not a fan of a magister being a minister/ministra at the same time for various reasons, but obviously if that’s where Akamatsu-sensei takes things, then that’s where we’ll go.
One more thing — since Theodora brought out the Diorama Magic Sphere, could Theodora be from whom Eva learned to construct her resorts? That might explain why Theodora had an Eva scroll.
I laugh at how folks were all worried about a lengthy training arc. Already, sixteen days of the thirty have passed, so training isn’t going to be a major focus. Since my thoughts of Negi learning more about Nagi and such through the training arc has proven false, I hope that Negi is smart enough to realize that Seras is Yue’s “boss” and as such is able to let her know that Yue is one of his Ministra Magi (rather I hope Akamatsu-sensei doesn’t get them out of the training without Negi and Seras having that discussion).
One final comment — Sayo. *lol* She’s such a scene stealer but it looks like the scout team has fought and defeated three dragons. Impressive. Most impressive. ^_^
Guess what gang? Negima! 240 won’t be out this week due to it being the normal “4+1” break. I’ll put out a reminder on Saturday along with a nifty Negima! image I’d never seen before and I’m not sure how I scored it. ^_^; It’s cool though.
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just so you know, the name is Arika…. not Akira. Sounded as if though you’re referring to one of the sports girls…
Thanks. Sheeze. *lol* Not sure what I was thinking ’cause I’m pretty sure I wasn’t thinking of Akira from “Negima!”. I’ll blame having just watched the latest “White Album” episode before reading the “Negima!” chapter. That does have an Akira character as well. Yeah, that’s the ticket. ^_~
Regardless, thanks for the correction, sir. ^_^
wow, such amazing theories you have. I am still against negi= nagi but i think you are about to win me over to it. But why would Nagi become Negi? Why doesn’t Negi remember any of this and act like a baby?
I really do need to write my complete theory on Negi=Nagi (and keeping in mind it may end up being totally wrong). That said, the perfect disguise is to change who you are. Thus if my theory is correct, Nagi turns himself into an infant (magic which has been performed in the manga) and has his memories sealed (magic which has also been performed in the manga). Thus as the son of Nagi, Kosmo (Cosmo)Entelecheia aren’t really interested in Negi. Nagi was their main target. Negi didn’t get attention until the Kyoto arc.
As to the why, well I’ve felt that despite his great power, Nagi had one massive weakness — he didn’t have spells memorized and had to use a book. That’s not good. Nagi must have known that his life was in grave danger and made plans as such. So, what better way to get your enemies off your case than to officially die? As such, Nagi gets with Al to record a message for the son that’s not born (and interestingly enough, about the time Nagi dies and Negi is born, Al is trapped at Mahora Academy). Nagi then heads to Wales and arranges for the village to take in the unborn son — one man to raise the boy as the son of Nagi and one man (Stan) to help keep him safe. Indeed, I think the whole village was there to help protect Negi. After all, this is a mage village, not a British one.
Regardless, once Nagi was officially declared dead, then with a drive to follow Nagi’s footsteps (and markers to make sure that journey continued), Nagi in perfect disguise becomes an even better mage so that when the time is right, the Negi and Nagi personalities merge (and I think that the Asuna story will show that to be possible) and Nagi 2.0 emerges to kick serious tail!
@AstroNerdBoy
Well, that makes sense… but then who gave Negi the staff in the snow?
interesting but what about Chao’s family tree. Wouldnt she know that negi is Nagi?
@Anon — I’ve always found it interesting that the face of the person giving the staff to Negi was hidden, but I’ve long thought that this is Nagi, but time-traveling. That was the first marker — give Negi the staff to set him on his journey and thus insure things happen as they are intended.
@mastermack0 — Yep, assuming that Chao did have a real family registry, then she should know. Oddly enough, despite knowing the history before jumping back in time, her history books did not record that the World Tree would peak a year early. So I’d say that her knowledge from the future is not complete for some reason, and the only thing that can account for that is that the timeline she knows was altered somehow. That’s the tricky part of time travel — bloody paradoxes!
if all that speculating is true: i dont know if Ken is a genius or is making his story overly complex (but still understandable). I am ok with a simple resolution: Nagi is being held captive by a jealous horde of women or just hiding for the hell of it 😉
Hmm… Interesting what are your theories and why fate looks older in the past or how Asuna has the body and memories of a fifteen year old when shes actually 25.
Fate is easy — I look to the “A.I. Love You” manga for the answer. Fate’s character design is exactly the same as the character Zero in that manga. Zero is an AI program that was given physical form and infected with the Spider virus, thus making him evil. Zero is so named because he was the first attempt at making an AI program (if I recall correctly — I no longer have the manga).
The developer Hitoshi eventually perfected his AI programing to create the perfect girl — Program 30. A freak lightning strike causes her to literally emerge from the computer with a physical form. Later, technology is developed to give any AI construct physical form and that’s how Zero came about.
Now, assuming that Zero is the basis for Fate, I would surmise that the Fate that Nagi faced is a version of the program with a physical form. The current Fate, having the name “3rd,” suggests strongly that he is the 3rd such construct. So if Zero was first and Older Fate is 2nd, then that would make the current Fate version 3. As with any major software upgrade, improvements are made.
With that in mind, I figure that since Ala Rubra had success with Zect (who looks like a kid) and Takahata (as a kid) doing infiltration, Cosmo decided that the new version of Fate should be a kid as well. After all, who would suspect a kid?
As to Asuna, that’s an interesting question. I’m re-reading the manga now, but to be honest, I’m not sure what might have caused her to not age. This concept is not something I haven’t seen before. It may be possible that her aging was magically restricted due to her powers and a need to control her. Remember, she was being held captive as a weapon when Ala Rubra rescued her.
Mr.Astro, Asuna wasn’t held captive against her will as a weapon rather she was a princess used as weapon. Still used as a weapon though. Chapter 169 if I remember should clear that up. Why do I get this strange feeling Konoka is going to be involved with Fate’s “plan.” The way he refer’s to Asuna as princess of the old world and Konoka as princess of the new world just doesn’t sit well with me.
@Anon — I was thinking about how she was chained to the floor. I call that being held against her will.
Now, your Konoka idea holds weight with me because (1) she’s well-known to Fate and (2) Konoka was kidnapped early on to effect some sort of change on Earth. Fate’s involvement in that suggests Cosmo’s interest in Earth.
Some lovely speculation going on here; what a treat to read!
I’ve heard a lot of discussion about AI Love You’s Zero in relation to Fate due to their similar appearance, but it should be noted that Fate is a character who was not designed by Ken Akamatsu. His appearance was designed by assistant and Read or Dream illustrator Ran Ayanaga. Perusing the latter title also provides us with some characters with similar designs to Fate (in the hairstyle and sometimes in the eyes.) Though Ms. Ayanaga could have been instructed by Akamatsu to tailor her design to match Zero, I don’t know if even he was aware of how important a character Fate would eventually become. (He has noted that the Kyoto Arc and the Magic World Arc seem rather disjointed due to lack of planning.) Thus, I’m not quite sure.
I do agree, though, that Big!Fate is probably an earlier Fate, perhaps a “Secundum” or a “Primum”, with Little!Fate/”Tertium” being a replacement after his death.
@Theru — I need to pick up “A.I. Love You” again, specifically volume 8. That said, I do agree with you that Akamatsu-sensei may not have known just how much of a role he would have eventually give Fate when Fate was introduced. Indeed, my first reaction to seeing Fate was to classify him as the same thing as Nitta-sensei — a possible crossover character from “A.I. Love You.” When Eva fought Fate and mentioned Fate seemed artificial, that’s when I began to think that maybe Akamatsu-sensei would have Fate be like Zero — an artificial construct.
Me, I like the idea of Fate being an AI program given physical form and that the core programming came from Hitoshi’s work.
good post