January 29th, 2010 
AstroNerdBoy Negima! 278 SPOILER Images
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 278 (Images)
Here’s what I know many of you have been waiting for — the original-sized, sneak-peek images for Mahou Sensei Negima! Chapter 278 SPOILER Images as brought to you buy anonymous Japanese fans (click pic to make bigger, y’all).
Goodbye for now, Jack Rakan.
Here are a couple of shots for the ad inside.
Update: Jesús reports the following regarding the above ad.
According to the latest issue of Weekly Shounen Magazine, the Ariadne (Yue) Arc will receive an anime adaptation. It will be released this Fall as a bonus episode to the ~Mô Hitotsu no Sekai~ OAD series.
Thanks Jesús. ^_^
You can find a couple of actual scans of the ad here.
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What i want to know is whether Raken managed to say about Asuna (being held captive & used by Fate) to Negi.
Seems like this time the japanese posters where fast at releasing the spoiler.
Well, could have seen that one coming…
Anyway, at least Negi now knows the final secret of the Mundus Magicus. Which reminds me: If anyone understands what he says there, post a brief translation, will ya? pls
The top of the last page begs the question “Having been hit with Big O’s fist by Jack is Fate fading away too or is that dust?”.
@SL — I couldn’t help but wonder if Nodoka learned something about Asuna based on Chisame’s reaction to reading it. It seems a great strain on her to pass the book to Negi, knowing the knowledge it contained.
As to Jack, maybe he got to say something.
And yeah, the Japanese poster went out and posted something this time. Yay!
@fgdragon — Maybe one of the translating folks will pop by. ^_^
@scorpiowolf — I too wondered if Fate 3.0 has been “deleted” by Jack. It is hard to predict where Akamatsu-sensei is going at the moment (which is fine, though we all suspected Jack would be gone several weeks ago) but IF Fate has been removed by Jack, then that would allow Akamatsu-sensei to resolve the MW arc without a final confrontation between Negi and Fate. That would be a way for Akamatsu-sensei to get everyone back to Earth and still have a story thread to resolve (because I would suspect that Fate 4.0 would soon emerge).
yaeh … while some might feel that it would be cheap and stealing the faceoff between Negi and Fate, it would proberly be the best way to continue without it feeling somewhat like a long epilouge since Negi then allready have beated the endboss
While i’m in no way would bet cookies on it i’m think its most likely that we have to wait till version 4 before Negi and Fate takes the final clash … and honestly … Negi likely aren’t strong enough yet (or rather … he’s to worn out)
I do not think Fate is gone he just looks like he got beaten into the ground and covered in sand some. also i liked the big O fist always liked that show
@Devilen — I’ve been trying to think of how Akamatsu-sensei could wrap the Magic World arc and not really end the series. Other than continuing to search for Nagi (and possibly Arika), having Fate out there would be a way to do that.
We’ll see though.
@Anon — Big O. Hadn’t thought about that series in a while.
That is Rakan. Badass as ever T_T
Rakan’s disappearance was nicely done and in the right time.
I don’t think the final Fate VS Negi will be here, because of one reason: the hooded figure (possibly Asuna). If that hooded figure is the most important one in Cosmo whatshername Negi will fight against him/her (specially if it’s Asuna). This can also be subtly hinted by the fact there’s a ‘ki’ user in here (Ku Fei).
Honestly, they can delay Negi’s fight as much as they want if they show the hooded figure. I am more concerned about Yue and Setsuna’s situation, even more concerned about Nodoka and the Sports Girls situation and the thing that’s bugging me the most are the non shown pactios, specially Chachamaru’s. I can’t wait to see her Pactio, and it will be very important, due to the circumstances where the contract was done.
What’s happening in this chapter is quite simple actually.
Rakan was hit by the same kind of “rewrite” spell by the code of the lifemaker. Simply, by sheer willpower, he slowed down the process, and use his artifact as hands and feet while his remaining body is slowly disappearing.
Rakan doesn’t say anything about the “truth of this world” to negi.
At the begining, kuu is talking about the path they have to take to escape.
They notice that chisame has a weird look on her face, negi ask her what is written on nodoka’s book; chisame tell him to ready his heart and read himself.
Then rakan appear. Says he’s glad to meet negi one last time.
Negi is surprised by his choice of words…
Fate appear, rakan, noticing how negi is beaten up, ask negi to stay still.
Then the fight continue.
Basically, Fate ask him over and over why, even though he knows very well the truth of this world, he can still fight with this kind of face. Why, even though he knew this reality for around 20 years, he was able to walk around, to fight with this kind of face. That everyone else who happened to know that truth were cursing god and their fate, in total despair.
He’s saying that the result is clear, that every move Rakan is making, everything is useless, that he should just resign himself.
Rakan says to him that he just doesn’t care about the truth or the reality, because it has nothing to do with his own life.
In the end, there’s hints that he’s simply enjoying to fight someone as strong as Fate. Even if the result is clear from the start: Rakan can’t win.
When finally disappearing, Rakan apologies to negi, saying that he wanted to wipe out his own ass, but that in the end, he couldn’t do it at all, and that negi will have to bear th burden of it.
And that if it’s negi, then he can surely do it.
Fate, probably mostly unhurt (he call rakan an illusion btw) and negi look at rakan finally disappearing (negi is screaming rakan’s name).
Btw, as a yue fan, I’m quite happy about that OAD bonus with yue training to be an Ariadne knight <3.
great…. Rakan is the latest casualty in this arc.
I think Negi and Fate’s conclusion will be in Istanbul: nagi’s last appearance and from where Fate came from.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO Rakan!!! Dammit… I guess the speculation of Rakan’s death was correct… although he’ll probably be back with all the others after when all’s said and done. I guess it’s all up to Negi and his battle harem now.
Now that it’s quite obvious that Fate and his gang can simply “rewrite” all the citizens of the magic world, does that mean Takamichi and Kurt can be erased too? I think they were war orphans, so chances are they are of magic world descendants. And is Nagi from the old world or the magic world? i think he’s from the old world since he talked about Japan and all, but I never really quite figured that out.
Sigh.. I wish all the questions would be answered soon. It will be very refreshing.
@Al103 — going on ’till the end. ^_^
@Alex — I think Akamatsu-sensei is busting up Ala Alba again and so we may well get to see Chachamaru’s pactio artifact come into play. I’m also interested in seeing Natsumi’s artifact.
As to the others, there are a lot of interesting possibilities for Akamatsu-sensei to follow, should he wish it.
@Zefyris — thanks for the summary. ^_^
Looks like we are teased again about the final secret of the world. I wonder if it has something to do with Arika.
As to the OAD bonus episode, I’m VERY glad about that. The “Another World” OAD series was advertised as only being four episodes long and frankly, it is impossible to cover that much ground in the remaining two episodes. BUT, this way, we can get the Yue story added and I like that.
@Philip — Yep. Not unexpected, but it seems that all the groups need to experience a tragedy of some sort.
@Masktermack0 — I keep forgetting about Istanbul. That has come up visually in Asuna’s flashbacks as well IIRC.
@5yewy5r — I don’t think Takahata or Kurt can be affected by the Rewrite any more than Yue was when she took a hit. As I understand it, there are the human migrants from Earth and then the illusion-puppets who were created for that population for some reason.
As to Nagi, I think you are right that he’s likely from Earth, though he’s not Japanese. Considering that the MW is a mix of various Western and Japanese cultures combined with the fact that Japan has a large mage population, it isn’t surprising that Nagi lived in Japan for a time and came to love the place.
Well, it’s canon, now : Yue is a main character. \o/
Really nice building of events from Akamatsu-sensei.
And I’m pleased we didn’t had any pantyshot since a long time. Did he finaly grow tired of underwears? ^^
Currently, I’m wondering about Natsumi and Kotaro.
Is Kotaro from the Magic World?
If it’s the case, he might end up as casualties too. And Natsumi will be devastated.
He’s stated as half demon person in wikipedia, but I can’t remember if his origins have been stated.
And what’s about Setsuna?
Are Tengus Old world’s “ordinary” monsters, or are they magical constructs too?
Let’s hope that on chapter 279 we’ll be finally able to know MM’s final secret. Despite we all know that’s -almost- for sure that all the “rewritten” characters will be back, their loss was necessary, in order to get AA’s members emotionally involved ; all the girls will be really interested in finding (and helping) in a solution to MM’s disappearance. I’m willing to see the development of everyone’s training under the tutoring of Eva (and Eishun, Takamichi & Al, maybe?) in order to return and avoid MM’s destiny.
And my question is: even if they’re able to return safely back to the real world now, won’t they be followed -and attacked there- afterwards, by Fate, Tsukoyomi & co? And out of this, when will Ayaka finally get involved in magic?? She will make a strong partner.
Btw, Yue’s OAD is welcomed,indeed.
Sometimes, these chinese RAWs here (http://comic.sky-fire.com/HTML/Magical-Teacher/)
are updated before the scans..
Im going to check them out.
I can’t really tell, but do we have a break or not after 278?
“I can’t really tell, but do we have a break or not after 278?”
6> no, we don’t have one, their will be a chapter next week.
@ANB about nagi , kurt and takamichi : agreed, they are probably all humans and not illusions.
Christ on a pogostick. Will they stop doing OAD’s already and just start another full-blown negima series? There’s obviously demand for it and this announcing OAD’s in drips and drops is just cheesing me off.
I want a 300-episode series!
I want the mahora festival animated!
I want to be reborn as Negi Springfield and wallow in Marshmallow Hell!
@AstroNerdBoy
Yeah, I know their pactios will be shown eventually (I hope they don’t use Natsumi’s to unmask Shiori though), but I believe Chachamaru’s pactio will have a very important role, because of the circumstances it was made (you know, Negi defying the gods and all).
@Anon — “…I’m pleased we didn’t had any pantyshot since a long time. Did he finaly grow tired of underwears? ^^”
*lol* They’ll be back. ^_^;;;
As to Kotaro and Setsuna, they are “hanyou” — half-human, half-youkai with Kotaro being from the “dog tribe” and Setsuna being from the “raven tribe.”
I suspect that traditional youkai, mazoku, etc. from Japanese mythology are in fact real creatures and not illusions. Eva, a vampire, is also real. It is just that any people or creatures created on Mars for the purposes of populating a magical world are illusions.
@Matcity — Let’s hope 279 has those answers, though Akamatsu-sensei might drag things out for a bit. ^_^;
As to whether Fate and company would follow Negi and company should the flee to Earth, I’m going to say “No.” That’s because Fate has maintained that each of his encounters with Negi have been coincidence and that his business has nothing to do with Negi. So if Negi retreated, Fate could do as he wished on Mars and wouldn’t bother Negi unless Negi was deemed as something they needed.
As to Ayaka, I like to think that she was initially planned to be involved and have a pactio card, but now there’s no telling if that would happen.
@Henwy — Just a request not to use the Lord’s name in vain like that for me. Thanks. ^_^
As to the OAD’s, I’m with you. I think a complete reboot as we saw with Fullmetal Alchemist is the way to go. Unfortunately, it seems that SHAFT is only interested in the limited edition OAD format, which is a bummer..
@Alex — Chachamaru’s pactio artifact may well be used to counter what has been done but we’ll see. No telling how long it will take her to use it though.
I just wish CNET would get 277 translated for us.
Speaking of Ayaka, I am pretty sure she will learn the truth as soon as Ala Alba comes back. She might even have learned it all through Nekane already. I personally believe Ayaka is already too deep in this to not know about Magic.
Also, I think she should be the next to join Ala Alba in an “Istambul Arc”, which I personally believe it will be THE kickass arc, because her information network is a pretty strong one in the real world.
Chizuru is another one who should join the party because I think she must have some sort of Magic Cancel when she slapped Herman and totally ignored his barrier.
Hakase and Satsuki are two others who already know about magic, but really only Hakase would be useful to the group, and I think her ‘bystander’ position is already good.
The Narutaki Twins and the Cheerleaders are as good as they are, although Sakurako’s proposed pactio seems to be interesting (I still bet on a ‘lucky chant’ pactio). The twins’ pactio is completely indifferent to me.
I just hope Ken doesn’t do the ‘let’s give the whole 3-A pactios’ thing like the animes did. It just completely takes the individuality of almost all characters.
I have to say Negima is the manga that’s catching me the most right now, along with Fullmetal Alchemist and Claymore. These are definitely in my top now.
Also, on another note, the OVA. I think they should keep the OVA deals, because their quality is pretty formidable, and I think doing a full anime would drop it somehow. The OVA’s are perfect as they are and the Aridiane one will be badass for sure.
@ANB: We had a panty-shot in ch 276 (of Mana), then some minor ones in ch 274 & 275 & even in ch 277. So saying that they are not present recently would be wrong though.
It seems that “Cnet” is giving MSN the least importance in translation since he is releasing it at last of all the translation he is doing.
Maybe the reason is because MSN has the most amount of script to be translated than any other weekly manga i know off that he is keeping it for the last to work on (he also recently said that MSN is the most difficult for him to translate because of the amount of work it has, but since MSN is one of his favorite manga’s he is doing it or else he would have dropped it till now like he has recently done to some of the other series he translates).
Also the people of “Enigma!” (who scanlated & translated the last few chapters after there break) who do work on MSN is having exams this week because of which they are late at releasing ch 277 (it was said during there release of ch 276 in there forums).
@Henwy: I too would love a complete reboot in animated form, and I’m sure we’ll get one eventually, but would you prefer it at this point or after the manga ended (to prevent unneeded filler)?
Also a curious question directed to anyone who knows: does SHAFT’s contract on the Negima! franchise have a set duration of years? I know that all agreements are supposed to expire soon, but I sure hope (and I know many others do too) that another production company can make the faithful adaptations happen, but that can only work if SHAFT decides to sell the production to another company.
@Anon — I’m sure CNET is busy. It is times like these that I do wish I had higher Japanese skills.
@Alex — I think Chizuru’s purity of spirit is what surprised Herman. However, in the end, she was put down.
As to the entire class getting pactios, who can say? I was surprised that Natsumi ended up forming a pactio with Kotaro. Making Kotaro a mage is somewhat of a retcon as far as I’m concerned, but since it could lead to a Kotaro-Natsumi romance, I let it slide. ^_^
“Negima!” is certainly my favorite manga story-wise, but there’s something to be said for the comedy of “Hayate the Combat Butler,” and the pure joy of “Yotsuba&!” ^_^
Also, on another note, the OVA. I think they should keep the OVA deals, because their quality is pretty formidable, and I think doing a full anime would drop it somehow. The OVA’s are perfect as they are and the Aridiane one will be badass for sure.
Its actually an OAD deal and not and OVA one. I have to make the distinction because were these normal OVA’s, I think FUNimation would have licensed them already. Since they are OAD’s and thus limited edition collectors items, there’s a good chance they’ll never be licensed in the U.S. (hope I’m wrong, but if I am, it will be after a lengthy delay).
@SL — I stand corrected. ^_^;
As to the translations, I believe that the official translators have mentioned that “Negima!” does take more than a week to translate the entire volume, which I believe is longer than it takes for volumes of other series they currently work on.
@Kirbstar — don’t count on SHAFT losing the “Negima!” franchise. Xebec likely lost it due to failing to meet their contractual obligations (there were lots of animation problems with the “Negima!” anime series which they had to correct for the DVD release). As long as SHAFT is making money and meeting their contractual obligations, there’s no reason for the rights to be pulled from them, nor for them to drop the franchise.
thats honestly assuming shaft manages to keep up their animation rate
they do some great work to be sure but their habit of taking on more projects than they have animators really hurts (as seen in bakemonogatari crazy animation cuts edition which just got cleaned up in blu ray)
so i agree now with the whole OAD style thing since I don’t think they could handle a 52 episode negima series
strangely there are hints that such a series is in planning/development if you look at wikipedia and rumors of a movie on top of things
also i was under the impression the life maker created EVERYONE from the magical world – since Rakan of all people is susceptible I don’t see how Nagi and the others mentioned aren’t the same… or was it ever stated Nagi was human and crossed over to the magical world somehow?
The question for me is if Nagi/Arika were are constructs (as hinted in the dialogue during the nagi/creator fight) doesn’t that make Negi the son of them more or less a construct by proxy? Could the lifemaker revoke our main lead?
The way I read things, it was humans who created the Magic World. So, somehow or other, humans managed to travel from Mars to Earth, establish the illusionary world over Mars while keeping it hidden from normal eyes (the Viking missions, Mars Rover, etc.). During that process, they created peoples and creatures to populate this world, but just like the world, those creations were mere illusions.
Humans on the Magic World kept in touch with Earth, as we’ve seen through the establishment of multiple gateways. However, it is my understanding that just because a human is born on the Magic World does not mean they are an illusion. I would say that they are not and that all true humans on MW are just that — true humans (though mages).
If Nagi and Arika were illusions/constructs, then yes, Negi would be too.
However, I don’t believe they were constructs. I think that Arika is a human (Ostia) born from the MW and I think that Nagi is born from Earth (though that hasn’t been expressly stated, but considering his knowledge of Earth and desire to take Arika and Asuna to Japan makes me think he is from Earth). So, if Negi is their son (and I’m still not 100% convinced of this), then he would be a child of both worlds.
@AstroNerdBoy
I don’t buy it either. I believe that Negi is indeed Nagi, and that Nekane is Arika. That’s why they are so similar to other characters(Negi-Nagi, Nekane-Asuna)
So something in my head just clicked. Has anyone ever wondered about the gate port at the ruins, and where its other gate is on earth. I believe that the other gate is in Istanbul. I have a feeling that when Negi’s group finally come back to earth Nagi will be waiting there. For me I think the gate ports serve as Anchors to mars. And when all the Anchors are destroyed MW will be lost. one of the final battles for this arc will take place at the gate room. But during the battle it gets destroyed. Breaking the MW and sending the entire group back to Earth. Where Nagi will be waiting to finish “The final boss.” Since Nagi knew the secret of the Magic world he knew that when it finally collapse, the remaining people would be sent to Istanbul.
What do you think?
In my opinion, the gate on Mars should be able to connect to any gate on Earth providing the timing is just right. So if there’s a gate in Istanbul, then I could only see it being used if it happened to be the one currently aligned with Earth.
To be honest, if Akamatsu-sensei has the group return to Earth before the manga is over, I would guess they’d return to Japan. In fact, I think the ruins under the Mahora campus contains a gate and I think we’ve seen that gate.
@AstroNerdBoy Yes I believe there is a gate. I think it’s located in Albireo Imma’s place under Mahora Gakuen…I think…? I think we saw it a little after the Mahora Festival arc wher Negi and co. are talking to Al and Evangeline about finding his father etc. But I’m not sure…
I wonder how long it had been already since the break ended in Earth. I think it may have been months now since their “supposed-to-be” return back to Earth.
RAKAN!! NOO! 🙁 This is so EPIC! 🙂
Yet another “casualty” this chapter, huh? I really hope they are coming back, this just doesn’t seem like Akamatsu’s stuff at all.
The Yue OAD announcement makes my frothing desire for them to be licensed grow, even though it’s a slim chance. But there is a rumor circulating that FUNimation has the Tsubasa OADs, so maybe it’ll happen? Maybe? ^^;;
Also, the Negima Ultimate Guidebook is coming out in Japan…I would LOVE to see Del Rey get it.
@Renzo — There’s speculation that Akamatsu-sensei might get around the whole time issue because a Martian day isn’t the same amount of time as an Earth day.
There’s also the possibility of time travel as well.
@Zeether — Yeah, I’ve heard that Tsubasa rumor as well. I’ll believe it when I see it though. ^_~
As to the Guidebook, Del Rey has licensed those kinds of books before, so it is possible. I’m told these kinds of books are much more difficult to translate (certainly involve more work).
@ Masktermack0 –
Istanbul happens to be a VERY important city after all. The origins of the Byzantium (Byzantine Empire/Eastern Roman Empire) come from there and that this was the last Christian Stronghold of Asia Minor, and that’s what also propelled the exploration of spices (the New World), because spices (from the Old World) were the main thing that Istanbul/Constantinople had. Spices cover up the bad food, as well as add flavor to food, and cured food as well.
Anyways, back to the Subject… The historic Name for Istanbul was the most important, perhaps because that may have been the last port to Earth. If that port hasn’t been used for ages, that means that the Turks had a problem using the portals and at the time, the Christians spoke Greek and Latin fluently (from the Roman Empire), which could have explained why the spells were in Greek and Latin, and that the more powerful spells were in Greek.
If History seems to be the most important element, it seems that lots of Negima will be based on history in Magicus Mundus [MM].
On to what I was going to put in…
The problem that Negi faces now is that he has 2 enemies and the enemies are more powerful than the allies that he has. his allies have very unexpected surprises and that may contribute some new more-powerful weapons to fight the mage of the beginning. The most dangerous thing that the Mage of the beginning is fighting after all is Negi, and anyone else that holds the secret to the knowledge because they can run to the “old/real” world or Earth.
*the quotes were not to confuse the passages that I have written – the “real world” represents our world, and the “old world” had 3 continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa (because people did not know any better prior to the siege of Constantinople/Istanbul)).