August 9th, 2009 
AstroNerdBoy 魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 29 Chapter 260 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 260
Negima! Manga Vol 29 Ch 260 Review
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Despite using everything they have, it only takes Jack Rakan five minutes to defeat the four attacking members of Fate’s “Lovely Girl’s Squad.” Only Homura remains conscious and Jack asks her again why she and the other girls are helping Fate. Homura recalls being a child and lone survivor in a destroyed village when Fate and another young girl arrive. Fate offers her the chance to come with them after she mourns the loss of her parents. Jack is somehow able to understand this in Homura’s mind and asks Fate if he turned these girls into his soldiers. Fate says they followed him of their own accord and that he rescued 57 other war orphans and sent them to school. Jack realizes that this Fate is much more “human” than the previous two versions, meaning a fight will be tougher. Fate wonders why this would seem to make Jack happy. Jack responds by telling Fate that fighting a human is more fun. Fate understands and states that he too thought a fight with Jack would be fun as he summons black pillars from beyond the barrier.
At the ball, Negi wonders why Jack is in the bathroom so long as he and Kotaro find a lot of guy wanting to talk to them. Negi assesses the situation in case this is a trap but soon discovers another “problem” when Chisame points out all of the love-struck women who want “Nagi-sama” and “Kojirou-sama” to dance with them. Because of their status, Negi and Kotaro have to pick the right first partners. Negi chooses Shiori-Asuna and Kotaro chooses Natsumi, who is flustered by this as she doesn’t feel she fits into a scene like this. Kotaro tells her she is beautiful, but before Natsumi can pursue that line of thought, Kotaro asks Kaede for the next dance.
While this is going on, Shiori-Asuna asks Negi why he is showing off, something he denies doing. Chamo remarks on how a “Prince and Princess” dancing together made the most sense. Chisame takes the opportunity to ask about Asuna being a princess, something that catches Chamo off guard. However, Chisame already knows some things and wants answers to the rest.
Nodoka and Paru are watching Negi and Shiori-Asuna dance when Craig comes up asking Nodoka to dance. With him are the rest of Nodoka’s treasure hunting crew. This is observed by Yuuna while Makie, Akira, and Ako also watch the dance. Ako is observed by Tosaka, who’s working as a waiter along with “Mama.” Mama encourages him to say something to Ako, but he does not. He also does not want to see Negi.
Elsewhere at the ball, a mysterious couple stand and observe. Takane and Mei are also observing the ball while Misora and Cocone (Kokone) head to the all you can eat buffet table. With this, Godel observes that all the players have been assembled.
Thoughts/Review: If Fate’s girls all have a secondary form, then it stands to reason that Shiori does as well. I wonder what her’s is.
Fate’s rescuing of orphans comes off right to me. He has a “holy quest” of sorts and saving certain people would fit with such a quest. Further, it allowed him to gain five assistants (that we know about) though even at their best, they are no match for Jack.
The fight between Jack and Fate is something I feel will end in both characters getting taken out. Fate could end up being destroyed and version 4.0 has to be released or Fate could be taken off stage for a time. We’ll see though. As to Jack, I’ve said he’ll die but others have said he’ll get petrified and that may well be what happens. Either way, he’s taken off stage as well.
I really do wonder when the group will find Anya and Asuna. I think that has been the one weakness of the storyline thus far — when are they going to rescue Anya? I’m guessing it will play out better when read in book form as we won’t have weeks and weeks to cover a couple of days (or so) on the Magic World. I guess I would like it if there had been another indication to show Negi is concerned about his childhood companion.
The common theory is that thy mystery couple is actually Takahata and Mana in disguise. I can accept that theory since Godel seems keen on assembling all of the people associated with Negi and company. The other train of thought is that they are new characters that will play a role in the story to come. There’s not enough information to say either way, but my money is on Takahata and Mana since we’ve not seen them in ages.
The cameo by Takane, Mei, Misora, and Cocone made me smile. I remember how they were used in the Mahora Festival arc and since it seems there would have to be some climactic battle to get out of the Magic World arc, I guess we’ll see a bit more of them. I wish we had an extra chapter where we could get a story of some of the things they’ve been doing on the Magic World.
Next chapter seems to hold the promise of being packed with a lot of goodies. I’m looking forward to it. For now, it is back to vacation mode for me. ^_^
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Man three pages of girl power-ups and Rakan owns them in five minutes. XD Anyone else get the vibe that this Fate isn’t gonna be evil for much longer. I mean by the end of this chapter it seemed like Godel was the real mastermind behind the stuff going on in the Magic World.
About those in suit…
They could also be simply those bodyguards hired by rakan that negi is talking about.
The man really looks like a bodyguard, afterall.
Great review Mr.Astro. I wonder if Fate has a “One Winged Angel” form just like his girls. I wonder if Tsukuyomi has one as well but that’s just scary to think about. By the way I do go to tvtropes to much.
Yes, when you say “hired bodyguard” Mana is the first thing that comes to mind. And of course Takamichi is there with her. And since they’re disguised and Takamichi can’t use magic, an artefact might be involved. Sincee stealth and disguises would fit Tatsumia more, she could have renewed her artefact. Or Takamichi also has an artefact, possibly with Albireo Imma.
One thing I could guess is that part of the governor’s trap could be retaining the “Wanted” status of Negi and co.
I’m not surprised that Fate did something nice in the past, Ken likes to make his villains at least somewhat likable.
Also I don’t think Fate will get taken out. Negi cant leave MW without at least one more battle with Fate and this arc would become to long if Fate was to recover first.
BTW literally as I was writing the last sentence something came to m head: Negi won’t leave MW. He will have occasion but he will decide that he has to stay and save the world. I think this manga wont go back to school adventures. We are way beyond point of no return.
About the ball, well i was funny. I got a laugh at Kent putting a small hint in Chisame line f whom Negi was going to choose as his partner. Obviously she meant dance partner but it was a double entandre for “partner for life” as well. Not that she meant it.
Prince and princess indeed.
But I found it little weird that Nodoka didn’t seem to mind that she wasn’t chosen especially since she is aware that Negi and Asuna are very close to each other as it is. Does Ken wants her to give up on Negi and hook up with Craig?
Also Kotaro was funny. Especially as he ditched Natsumi for Kaede… not that I can blame him.
Again, when the story is getting hot… a BREAK ! Man, these breaks are such a pain… Oh well.
About that couple… yeah, Takahata and Mana sounds like a good theory… and how about Ricardo and Seras? Its good too, eh?
Ricardo, Seras and Theo have simply… vanished? i think they’ll appear in the ball too, but, oh well, only TIME ( damn… and what a waste of time ! naruto and bleach’s mangakas do not have breaks this often ) can tell us.
Well, excuse me for my english. Or don’t, i really don’t care 🙂
Couldn’t help but go “LOL” + “WTF” after seeing Fate’s ministra’s going serious but only taking Rakan 5 minutes. (It’s like that Halloween ep of Simpsons when the dolphins and Springfield were charging towards each other to fight, only for the Springfielders to be in the sea the next scene). Then again, this is Rakan, and I should have seen this coming XD
Finally got Kiyomi’s artifacts full name (Horaria Vortix) was also left dissapointed every time Akamatsu-sensei interupts Kiyomi’s name summoning. And out of the transformeds, Shirabe/Bridgette’s is my fave, though I liked Kiyomi’s cat glare. We only know one ministra’s real name (and I prefer it too over Shirabe), wonder when he’ll mention the rest.
Without a doubt, the main highlight for me was the ball. Asuna and Negi dancing was expected, too bad Shiori is still maintaining her transformations feelings (dammit).
I agree with Kotarou, Natsumi was gorgeous here ^^. Here dress and head piece really makes her stand out a lot more. Even got more funnier when Kotarou asked Kaede next (Kotarou, you go dude XD)
Chris summed it up “Sorry for the dramatic parting”. Not that they weren’t a sight for sore eyes. But I liked Haruna’s bored/disspointed expression of “aren’t you upset?”. But I did honestly wish for Nodoka to also to dance with Negi (heck I was thinking it’d be in turns XD)
The only downside to it all was not all the other girls were in the spotlight (come on Akamatsu! come on! XD) but one of the nicest touch was Tosaka eying Ako. LOL the mothers suggestion, I’d definately like to see this. Makes me wonder, what does Tosaka look like with his hair down? Misora going for the ‘dig in’ was awesome (I’d do that too XD)
But interesting, forgot about Mana and Takamichi, that’d explain the new characters. And a reincarnation to a fourth fate? Doubt it. The thing is, all these reincarnation Fate’s, Jack treats em like a bit more seperate. And Fate/Tertium (imo) treats his memories or past life as if, it runs in the family sort of feel. There’s still the TertiumNegi rivalry, and that shouldn’t end quickly. Reincarnating the Fourth would be a bit dissapointing.
Still, looks like its another long, but promising break. The actors have assembled, now open the curtain!
It’s not horaria vortix but horaria porticus.
Be carefull with this chapter, this isn’t the same translator as usual.
vortix doesn’t even exist in latin…
beside, it’s a 門, so it’s a porticus, obviously.
Same thing with the name where the little homura lived before: it’s syrtis(and not Silchis), which is a well-know place of mars and (probably) parthia (and not Paltia).
And there are severall other errors in this, ImO.
But what I’m sure everyone want’s to see is Kotarou dancing with Kaede (since she’s wearing a suit). That would be hilarious! Gues she couldn’t find a dress her size… hehe, who can blame her!?
Well, maybe Jack really is toast. Some of us thought that at the end of ch. 258, then last chapter’s tone and content seemed to suggest otherwise. Now Fate and Jack actually going to fight each other for real now. While Jack rated his power at 12,000 and Fate’s at 8000, IIRC he said Fate’s was like a lower limit or something, and could be stronger. So, this could either be a close fight, or Fate could end up easily thrashing Jack. In any case, I agree that Jack might be out of commission after this one.
As for Fate’s battle harem, it didn’t surprise me that they lost. I wasn’t expecting them to pull out those crazy monster henshin moves, though (Shirabe looked kinda like Chise from Saikano). I also didn’t expect them to be have been orphans “adopted” by Fate. I guess he isn’t totally evil, though he does admit he is working for someone else. Maybe that guy that Nagi supposedly killed is still alive?
Now for the ball and Godel’s plan. There’s no way of telling how this’ll play out, but it’ll be good. Once this current mini-arc is settled, there’s the issue of Anya and the real Asuna, who we haven’t seen since ch. 234, and that was back in November. Like ANB said, the utter lack of attention they’ve received is the one weakness of the current arc; indeed, Negi seems to be in a rush to leave MW, I can’t recall him mentioning picking up Anya (the only one he’s aware of that’s missing) before then. I know there’s a lot going on, but it’d be nice to know what’s going on with the female lead. If it’s been this long, I think it’s going to be something big when she finally shows back up.
About the unknown couple… I wouldn’t be surprised if Ken just put a random couple in there to throw people off. He has that sense of humor, with the whole anticlimatic “Yeah, Arika’s your mum” thing.
Also, I’m looking for Negi again (unintentionally?) creating a ridiculously romantic moment that causes Shiori to lose her disguise in front of everybody. Any other predictions for the next chapter?
Also, w00t for Natsumi!
also, @ShadowOfTheVoid:
There’s a difference between being evil and being a villain. Although Fate isn’t evil with his taking in war orphans and such, he is considered the villain because his actions oppose or conflict with the hero’s. (I think we did this with Evangeline)
Also, Anya was the only primary capture by Fate’s group. (Asuna was caught a while later)
Yeah, about Anya, I think we need a chapter that shows us HOW she was caught. Was it right after the forced-transportation, or later.
Hey AstroNerdBoy, it seems new spoiler pics are out which confirms that Ku Fei is going to make the pactio in ch 261. Check MH’s spoiler thread.
The spoilers are out.
http://p.pita.st/?m=agh9mylw
Go Ku Fei !