November 21st, 2009 
AstroNerdBoy 魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 30 Chapter 271 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 271
Negima! Manga Vol 30 Ch 271 Review
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Fate’s and Jack Rakan’s fight appears to be coming to an end with Jack on top when Fate summons a staff in the shape of a key with a world globe at one end. The two wage an all-out war as Shirabe, Homura, Koyomi and Tamaki watch. Rakan breaks the key and with incredible power appears to obliterate Fate much to the girl’s dismay.
Before Jack can enjoy his win too much, the scene of the pocket dimension where their fight took place changes to a large field. To Jack’s shock, Fate is completely uninjured in a nearby gazebo and is drinking coffee, his staff again unbroken and behind him. Fate’s girls are also stunned by this as Jack now has an uneasy feeling. Fate says this place hasn’t been around for forty years, going back to when Jack first became a gladiator. Jack grabs Fate but suddenly finds himself seated with a hot beverage in hand and dressed in nice clothing.
As Jack tries to comprehend what is going on (as do Fate’s girls), Fate tells Jack that he can’t allow Jack to get in the way of his mission. Since Fate needs Jack’s power to end the world, he tells Rakan that like himself, Jack is also a puppet and cannot defy the puppet master as one who looks like the Mage of the Beginning appears.
Thoughts/Review: I’ve long believed that Fate is a spinoff of the Spider-Zero character from A.I. Love You. Spider-Zero is the combination of Program Zero, an early A.I. program, and the Spider virus which then becomes an artificial construct who’s able to have physical form and power in the real world. His mission is to destroy all data, computers, and networks. He excels when it comes to the Cyber World where he turns some of the other program characters into stone.
Whether Fate is a direct descendant of Spider-Zero or not, I believe Fate is an artificial construct of an A.I. program that has been advanced greatly with each new version. Based on what was said in this chapter, I wonder if Fate pulled himself and Jack into a cyberspace realm. That would account for the change of scenery and the key-staff seems insures that Fate cannot be destroyed (because it recreates him based on his core A.I. program, which runs undamaged). Fate then is a combination of technology and magic.
What made this chapter interesting is Jack’s reactions to everything that happened. Further, Fate states that Jack is also a puppet like he is, suggesting that Jack may also be an artificial construct. Even if they were in cyberspace, there should be no way that Jack could be “reset” as he was. That also suggests Jack is an artificial construct who did not know he was such. Even if Jack is not an artificial construct, everything here suggests that Jack is a pawn of the Lifemaker.
This leads me to question the strategy of Cosmo Entelecheia. If Jack was theirs to control (no matter how), then why did they allow Jack to stay with Ala Rubra and defeat Cosmo Entelecheia? Why not have him destroy Ala Rubra and then lend his power to the destruction of the Magic World? Of course, this may all be moot as Jack may not be an artificial being but Fate’s “puppet” remarks may simply mean that Jack is a slave to an ideal. That still doesn’t explain how Jack was “reset” though.
And speaking of puppets and the Puppet Master (Lifemaker), I wonder if there is a connection to Eva, who is the Doll Master. That may be a big stretch but since the real Eva has been brought into the story on Earth, there could be a connection. Eva certainly did something to warrant that large bounty on her head and I don’t think just being a shinso vampire and the “High Daylight Walker” would qualify.
So for now, things don’t make a great deal of sense but I’m hoping that we get some answers soon.
As to the Lifemaker’s appearance at the end of the chapter, there has been speculation both in and out of Japan that this will turn out to be Asuna in disguise. It is an interesting idea but then I remember people thinking that Arika might be the Lifemaker at some point. Heck, wouldn’t that be a hoot if it were Arika? Better yet, why not Anya? *lol*
It may be the real Lifemaker and Asuna may not be around. If it is Asuna, then I’d say that Asuna was possessed, but Asuna may have been used to unseal the Lifemaker, who apparently wasn’t killed when Nagi fought this Mage of the Beginning.
No Negima! next week (which is why there are no spoiler images yet), so Negima! 272 will come out in Japan on December 2. If December is like last year, it will be a dry month for us fans. ^_^;;;
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isn’t that when the new Negima episode comes out?!
isn’t that when the new negima episode is due out?!
p.s. when are the following episodes out?
Where does it state that Fate needs Jack’s power to end the world?
I tend to lean to the theory that Asuna is actually the key, coming back from what Fate said some 50 chapters ago.
I dont know why the life maker has to be anyone in disguise. To be honest at the moment I dont even think the life maker is human and think he/it may be a construct made during the creation of the magic world.
As for what is going on, this is one of those chapters were we dont have enough to go on to be certain.
My current guess is that the Key Staff may be some sort of template for the Magic World and Jack was drawn inside it during the battle with Fate (something seems to happen to it on Page 6 IIRC). This could explain how Fate is able to mess him around so easily and why the Life Maker appears
Am really looking forward to 272 to hopefully explain some of which is going on
@Bert — I think so.
@Anon — I don’t know when the following episodes are out. Likely three months later since “Negima!” has four tankoubons released a year.
@proscientia — a slight misinterpretation on my part.
@Anon — I need to reread 50-chapters back then. ^_^;
@Mister Random — That’s in interesting possibility regarding the Key Staff.
Hi Astronerdboy, this may be a bit off topic, but can you answer these questions for me:
1) I’m an American , so I buy the Del Rey Negima volumes and I heard that Del Rey has not censored them (which is a relief because I’m a little perv), but that they shrink wrap them. What the heck is shrink wrapping?
2) Would it hurt the manga industry if I read scanlations (like on onemanga.com) sometimes, because the American Del Rey volumes are taking too long and I want to see Negi kick Fate’s ass after he nearly killed Negi and teleported everyone into separate places in the Magical World?
3) The manga is Shonen, so is it only for guys because I’ve never seen a girl read this manga?
Well but no that’s not it, ANB… it said it already quite a long time ago >_< This world was CREATED(confirmed). And when humans arrived on this artificial world, there were already here. Who? those life form half human and half beast from the hellas empire (confirmed). Then, where did they came from?
The most logical and simple answer is “from nowhere. They were also CREATED with this world by the mage of the beginning”.
And that’s why Fate was taking about “puppet” when he was talking to himself about people of this world, just before he met rakan at the ball.
And thats why rakan, who is also not human and from hellas, is also an ARTIFICIAL life form.
He is, in fact, “nothing more than an illusion”. Just like the isekai, that weird world which is at the same place as Mars, but at the same time is not there.
Just like every single lifeform of that hellas empire.
Their ancestors are ALL natives from a world that doesn’t exist and never existed. Just like them.
And that staff-key, obviously, is related to that illusion. It is a key that can command that illusion.
And since rakan is part of this illusion, rakan is nothing more than a defenseless puppet in front of someone wielding it.
That’s why, neither rakan, nor anyone born from the mage of the beginning illusion can beat Fate right now.
so yes, rakan is a puppet, just like fate… But in a different kind of way.
Fate is a construct, and probably real.
Rakan is a illusion who looks and think like a life form, but has no reality.
And that’s why, only someone real like negi can defeat fate. Exit rakan.
1) Shrink Wrap is the plastic wrapping use to cover items. Generally, food items like meats come in containers that are then shrink wrapped. In this case, the early manga volumes were just wrapped in this special plastic wrapping that is shrunk to that is snugly covers the book. I believe Del Rey has stopped the practice though.
2) My opinion on the subject of scanlations is that one should support the titles one likes. If you read a scanlation and stop purchasing the official release, then you are hurting the industry. If you are buying the official releases, you can’t be hurting the industry. If you are like me and buying both the Japanese and English releases, well…*lol*
3) The term “shounen” simply indicates that the manga’s core (target) audience are young teen males. That’s not to say there aren’t female [b]Negima![/b] fans because there are some. The manga is not written specifically to cater to them as it would be for a “shoujo” title or a “josei” title.
Zefyris — The only problem I have with them all being illusions (and I’m not saying you are wrong) is that there are other non-humans who are not illusions. For example, Setsuna and Kotaro are half-human, half-anime tribe members (Setsuna of the Raven Tribe and Kotaro of the Dog Tribe) and they aren’t illusions. All of the mazoku/youkai that have been summoned to date are not illusions either, or at least so it would appear to me.
Still, if Jack is an illusion (or better yet, a hologram created from the combination of technology and magic), that might explain why we never saw him come to Earth.
If the rest of the people of Hellas are also illusions, then why create such a race at all? Indeed, why create the Magic World that human mages would later migrate to?
Thanks for sharing this new perspective. ^_^
This was a pretty trippy chapter. I can’t wait to find out exactly what’s going on with Jack and how Fate is able to do what he’s doing to him.
As for the cloaked figure, I doubt it’s Asuna. There’s been similar cloaked figure accompanying Fate on and off since the beginning of the Magic World arc. Remember the guy Kaede fought against back in 187, or the other cloaked person in the party that never got involved in the fight?
Oh, BTW, I had a reply to the “Answerfans” segment published in the most recent Answerman column over at ANN. It’s the one by “Deadwing” (my username over at the ANN forums).
Setsuna and Kotaro are part *demon* though, nither of them have anything to do with Hellas.
I finally had to read your published reply, Shadow. ^_^ Cool. ^_^
Setsuna and Kotaro are part *demon* though, nither of them have anything to do with Hellas.
If everyone from Hellas is a hologram, that would be most disappointing.
Thanks for the great article! You are awesome! Keep up the good work.