March 20th, 2010 
AstroNerdBoy 魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 31 Chapter 283 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 283
Negima! Manga Vol 31 Ch 283 Review
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Negi invites Shiori-Asuna into the Diorama Sphere to talk with her, but she gets the drop on him by forcing him to a body of water to bathe him since he stinks. She tells him she knows of Jack Rakan’s death and more, realizing that Negi is trying to protect her and that she’s not going to try to stop or change that, but she does ask to be allowed to bother him about the little things like bathing, which is one of his only weaknesses. Negi finds it hard to believe that this Asuna is a fake. His staring causes Shiori-Asuna to be embarrassed and Negi to apologize.
Hidden a short distance away, Mana, Chisame, and Nodoka observe this with Mana finding it hard to believe that this Asuna is a fake good enough to fool her. Meanwhile, the Magia Erebea starts to consume Negi again, but he struggles to ask Shiori-Asuna who she really is before passing out on her. Mana, Chisame, and Nodoka rush in and Shiori-Asuna is in custody as Negi wakes up. Nodoka’s artifacts cannot unmask the fake, so a discussion of what to do emerges before Negi interrupts, not happy to see Asuna in chains. Mana has another solution — a bullet designed to unmask non-humans masquerading as humans. If it is Asuna, her magic cancel ability will nullify the bullet. If not, Konoka can heal her.
Negi opposes this and takes the bullet for Asuna. Despite his injury, he’s able to briefly able to fend off Mana in hand-to-hand combat (to her surprise). Mana knocks Negi aside, but he doesn’t give up, again stopping Mana and revealing his own plan. With a snap of his finger, Asuna’s bonds are broken and with Chamo at the ready, Negi kisses Shiori-Asuna in a pactio mandala. A pactio card emerges with Shiori’s image on it, which comes into Mana’s hand. Negi asks the dazed and blushing Shiori who she is, and she simply responds “Negi…san.”
Thoughts/Review: At last, Shiori-Asuna is unmasked.
Akamatsu-sensei has always kept just a little something fake about Shiori-Asuna the whole time, then drives the point home with the failed magic cancel moments. Here, with her giving Negi a bath and her words, one can understand why Negi would doubt Rakan. After all, how could someone be such a perfect illusion? In this scene, Shiori-Asuna played Asuna perfectly.
The fact that Nodoka’s artifacts proved useless against Shiori-Asuna doesn’t surprise me. After all, the perfect illusion is one that even under mind probes would reveal nothing but the false persona. Look at the real Asuna. Her pactio card has her false name, not her true name. Nodoka’s diary has always read Asuna as she was prior to the trip, not the girl of Asuna’s youth. No doubt, this was done to keep Asuna hidden from those, like Fate, who’d attempt to use her. That’s why Graf Herrman’s mission was in part to test Asuna’s magic cancel ability. Her mind did not reveal the child inside — the real Asuna. Thus, she had to be tested until Fate’s people could be sure.
Frankly, I tend to suspect that the pactio worked NOT because of the pactio event itself, but Negi’s power combined with Shiori’s growing feelings for Negi mixed in with Asuna’s feelings for Negi overwhelmed the magical clone and caused not only Shiori’s real pactio card to emerge (and give the otaku in Japan something else unexpected to collect), but cause the illusion to dispel. Had those conditions not existed, I tend to suspect that a pactio card would have emerged, but quite possibly without an artifact or something to that effect. I could be way off base though. I base this off how Asuna’s pactio card went. Asuna scored the artifact she did because of her magic cancel abilities. Shiori-Asuna has no such ability and thus the pactio system likely would have picked that up.
As to Mana, her solution is the practical one, like it or not. They are in a dangerous situation and can ill afford to have a spy in their midst. Mana’s method would work quickly, one assumes, and as she said, Konoka could heal her. Mana will no doubt give credit where credit is due in this case, but she’ll still have her same attitude about the situation, as we saw during the Mahora Festival arc when she and Negi went on patrol.
While this was just a job for Mana, her having been fooled makes me wonder what her position will be since Asuna never hired her to help save the people. She’s not a charity case worker. That said, it is possible that Negi could hire her. Back in volume three, his extensive collection of magical artifacts (weapons mostly) was noted by Eva and the indications were that this was an expensive collection. As such, Negi may have access to a nice stash of funds and he might hire Mana to stick with them. Thus, I think she may end up scoring a pactio in the bargain as well.
When I was looking through my Negima art, I noted the image of what would become Ala Alba (save for Mana) seated on the dragon. At that time (chapter 44), only Asuna and Nodoka had a pactio with Negi. Indeed, save for Mana, those are the members of Ala Alba (with Sayo and Kotaro missing). Only two people in that image have not formed a pactio with Negi — Eva (not going to happen any time soon) and Mana. Thus, I do believe that Mana may score a pactio before they leave the Magic World and become a member of Ala Alba, like Jack Rakan did with Ala Rubra. ^_^
Then, there’s Shiori and what to do with her. She’s developed feelings for “Negi-san” for sure, but I bet she still addresses Fate as “Fate-sama.” She may go some way into showing Negi that Fate isn’t evil since she was one of the war orphans he saved. Now unmasked, I believe she will provide all the information they require through Nodoka, thus sparing her from actually telling it, though likely she’ll still feel shame at having her thoughts plundered.
Finally, I couldn’t help but notice that Mana’s bullet smoldered for a long time when it hit Negi and indeed may still be smoldering. In the black-and-white, it is hard to know if the effect is the same as Shiori’s, but I can’t help but wonder if Mana’s magic bullet is reacting to all of that magic flowing within Negi at the moment. Of course it could be something else, or it may be just dramatic effect. I suppose we’ll find out next chapter.
One more thing, and this is looking WAY down the road. I figure that once everyone returns to Japan, Negi and company may end up taking a trip back to Nagi’s Japanese residence to look for more clues. They did so little with the house in volume six except show that one photo of Ala Rubra. Thus, it seems that Akamatsu-sensei will return there before all is said and done. Call me silly, but I’d like to see them return.
So, an interesting chapter here. ^_^
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Like i said in last post interesting on where it will go from here, this was a great chapter. ME is getting over powered on Negi and its starting to resemble Chaos spell patterns i think since it is no longer just his arms, but could expand to his whole body. Really have no idea how they plan to cure this unless Konoka can do something about it with her healing power. As for Shori what to do with her what to do, of course Negi is not going to beat her up and stuff to get info but next chapter sould be very interesting.
First I just want to say I did guess pretty well about Nodoka not being able to read Shori-Asuna the way I thought. Also I do see Mana getting a
pactio before this arc ends and mabye even Sayo. As for Shori I cannot see Negi allowing any physical harm being allowed to happen to her and with the spell broken Nodoka can read her mind just fine now.
As for Shori’s relationship to Fate I see it as a parent child relationship. Fate did save all of them and took care of them after they were orphaned and let all of them chose there own lives. I bet Fate would not punish Shori (much) if she decided to change sides.
I judge this off of his personality. He respects people that hold true to there decisions and will openly attack them if he has a conflict of interest with them. He tried to trick Negi because Negi was not 100% sure what Fate was doing and if he was truly an enemy that needed to be fought back when Asuna was captured. Now after that when Negi had made his choice he did not waste time trying to trick him again and just attacked him and Ala Alba out right. Also with Ranken he knew Ranken was someone that when he chose to do something he did it and it was pointless to try to talk his way out of it so they fought. I bet Fate will still try to shake Shori up a bit but if she side with Negi. But if she is firm about her decision he will then see her as an enemy from that point. As to weather Shori can become a trusted ally quickly I don’t know but it may be possiable.
About Mana making a Pactio. I feel it could go either way still. There are many factors to consider.
After her old master’s death Mana would have issues about making a Pactio with just anybody, of course Negi isn’t just anybody.
Mana might do it if only for the sake of necessity given the situation they are in and she and Negi agree it will be canceld later.(Though she might change her mind afterwards…)
If Mana does get a Pactio with Negi this Arc she won’t be “next” (as in after Shiori). Most likely she will be after Sayo and the Sports Girls. Once they have Pactios Mana will be the only 3-A student left without one.
From there I can see Haruna trying at least to convince Mana (and Negi) into making a Pactio.
Haruna’s persuasive skills are quite formidable can they crack even Mana’s will?
What I am interested in is why didn’t the Comptina Daemonia work with Shiori. The impression from the chapter is that it was not a case of giving Asuna’s name but rather no name at all. This is made more suspicious by the lack of any name on Shiori’s Pactio card as well. Could it be for some reason she has no true name?
As for a Pactio with Mana for some reason I cant see it happening except in an emergency unless Haruna uses the unmasking of Shiori to insist Negi makes one with everyone else to prove they are not spies
Wat website do you use to read this manga? email me at retaliation@comcast.net plz
(no need to post this in comments)
Shiori said that falling in love would be the worst case (Chapter 255, page 16) but we still have to know what she meant to say when she said she had one more day left.
Did she last long enough? And if so what is going to happen? Time will tell. This is also why I fell that a chapter, about what’s going on at the opposite side, is about to come…
Hm, looking closely at the translated scans, I see Shori’s pactio card as the number XXXII or 32. If I am not mistaken, the ministel of Negi, which of Class 3-A, have their pactio number corresponding to their number in the “class roll” book. What I mean is that Asuna’s pactio is number 7, like her number in the “class roll” and so is Yue and the rest of them. So if Shori is 32, I’m suspecting the whole of class 3-A having a Pactio(+Chao?) since the number 32 leaves space for the class!
I’m a right ^^? *wink*
Personally, I’m curious why Nodoka didn’t pick up “D@mmit, when’s Negi going to come rescue me? I’m sick of this prison, etc”. Maybe real Asuna’s out of range? Regardless, I’m glad Akamatsu-sensei explained some of the “rules” for Nodoka’s Diarium, even if he did deliberately leave himself a lot of room by saying “it gets complicated”.
@Anonymous 1: Good points. Mana’s practically an adult (like Sousuke from FMP), has never relied on Negi, and as you said, she’s still carrying a torch/card for someone else. Like Mister Random said, I don’t see it except in an emergency. (But Mana wouldn’t be the only 3-A student without a pactio, unless you meant just the ones in MM. I don’t think anyone in the old world has one.)
@Mister Random: Interesting point about Shiori, and that would be a genius move on Haruna’s part. It would probably convince Negi and Akira (AFAIK none of the rest need convincing)… but I suspect Mana would still tell her to go to hell. Ditto Kotaro, if it came up.
@ Mister_Random’s question to Shori’s name not showing up from the Comptina Daemonia I have a theory. We know she is a war orphan. We know that at least one of the other girls fate works with was using a alas that was reveled by Nodoka’s Comptina Daemonia. So what if she knows Shori is not her real name and at the same time does not know what here real name is? So that is why Comptina Daemonia comes up blank. That would also explain the no name on the Pactio thing maybe. Or maybe I am over thinking things and Akamatsu just made a typo again.
As to the question about Shori needing one more day you need to remember that in the manga this is the last day she needed to keep her cover so I am guessing this is the day Fate’s endgame goes into effect.
Actually, this is just a strange guess for the future, kind of unrelated to the storyline now, but what if ME overpowering Negi, is responsible for those spell patterns od Chao and her being unable to use magic in the future? (Chao being Negi’s descendant)
@arimareiji
Nodoka explains that her artifact is has a fair range at best when she attempts and partially successfully uses it on Tertium. (Telling it to Kota)
As for the name, the target is subconsciously forced to recall their real name, (even Fate reveals his true name that he hates and has supposedly not used) however if the target does not KNOW their real name, then they cannot think about what they don’t know. So this seems to be almost entirely a Shiori/Asuna exclusive issue.
@Wendy: That’s not strange at all. In fact, it’s a really interesting idea. Someone else who plays with the notion of magic having nasty side effects on the wielder is Terry Brooks, in the Shannara series – forcing more magic through your body than it can handle can “change” or “break” something inside you, and it’s likely to be passed down through generations.
IIRC, Negi was horrified and asked Chao something like, “Who did this to you?” It’d be a devilish twist if her answer should have been “Actually… you.”
@RakkaKaze: Thank you. (^_^) I’d forgotten that, which is shameful considering it’s one of my favorite badass Nodoka moments.
@ animareji
when i first saw the marks on negi’s arms during the time he was training under rakan, i had already suspected that this may explain the magical markings that chao displayed during the festival arc. remember when negi asked her about who did this to her? chao never gave a definite answer.
and to think that negi was ranting about the dangers of such a magical technique during their fight, only to turn out that he was the source of it. it’s quite possible that at the back of negi’s mind, he had also realized just where chao got this power. also, recall the previous battle of negi against rakan, didn’t evangeline say that negi had succeeded where she failed? negi was able to ‘perfect’ magia erebea. and her compliments after the fight indicates that negi’s talent lies in ‘development’ and it may mean that negi had developed her techniques in such a way that they have changed and improved beyond her expectations.
it’s possible that negi had altered magia erebea in such a way that it is no longer a learned spell but is now rather an inherited ability. maybe that would explain chao’s incomplete reply. she really can’t tell negi who gave her the marks or she might not be able to learn/acquire it anymore.
as for nodoka’s failure to discover shiori’s true identity, it’s possible that the latter is what you might consider as a piece of clay. she had already mentioned that her true power lies not just in copying a person, but in everything about that person as well. once shiori had copied the person, her previous form and personality will no longer be active. that, and coupled with fate’s spell that took him ten years to develop, might really create a perfect clone. that point is important since they need to make sure that rakan will not discover the deception, since he of all people would be most interested in asuna not using her powers again.
The idea that Chao’s spell patterns are inherited from Negi is a good idea but I do not believe that is the case.
The patterns on Chao force an incredible amount of magical power into the user at the expense of the user feeling pain most likely equivalent to the amount of power drawn in. IE. the more powerful the spell the more pain the user experiences (I think).
While Magia Erebea does much the same it takes the magic even farther by taking it into the soul as well as the body and with no pain involved if one has grasped true essence of Magia Erebea. Thou pain is felt later as a side effect of the corruption of the body. The spell pattern is both a sign of ones mastery of Magia Erebea and shows the level of the corruption that Magia Erebea has as a side effect. Negi’s arms have been put under a seal to try to contain the corruption of the rest of his body as his arms are were the spell pattern started. My guess is that if the pattern consumes his whole body he will either die, fall into a coma or be rendered unable to use magic again (either sealed away or lost).
The last reason one being a good idea of why Chao had to use the spell pattern in the first place to use magic. As Negi no longer having magic in his blood or all the magic of his blood being sealed would most likely pass to his children.
Negi doesn’t need to hire Mana. Since they confirmed the fake Asuna, Mana never completed her original contract with Rakan (notice she asked about the timing of when Asuna was switched). She’ll stay on to rescue Asuna for that reason alone (her contract with fake-Asuna/Shiori is probably nullified).
Its interesting to note that hiring Mana is probably why Rakan wanted so much money.
I look forward to seeing what the ties are (if any) between ME and Chao’s magical patterns.
As to Rakan, he was already quite wealthy from what it seems. His high prices I believe are just a result of his normal mercenary attitude. ^_^
“Frankly, I tend to suspect that the pactio worked NOT because of the pactio event itself, but Negi’s power combined with Shiori’s growing feelings for Negi mixed in with Asuna’s feelings for Negi overwhelmed the magical clone and caused not only Shiori’s real pactio card to emerge (and give the otaku in Japan something else unexpected to collect), but cause the illusion to dispel. Had those conditions not existed, I tend to suspect that a pactio card would have emerged, but quite possibly without an artifact or something to that effect. I could be way off base though. I base this off how Asuna’s pactio card went. Asuna scored the artifact she did because of her magic cancel abilities. Shiori-Asuna has no such ability and thus the pactio system likely would have picked that up.”
I agree with that impression but I think the illusion must be dispelled first. 2 reason: 1st is that earlier (before go to party) Shiori even said that it can no longer be kept up, and at most two more days. So the limit has been defined that “soon”. some hours later she broke down is no surprise. 2nd is pactio form with the identity that the person hold as true name, so Asuna’s pactio card show Asuna and not the old name. SO obviously the card of fake Asuna will show Asuna too. I suspect she even got her own artifact. BUT, since Mana show no surprise seeing the card, it mean the card didnt say Asuna but say Shiori.
Fooew! A long wait till the next chapter.
Here’s another guess for the future:
1) Negi-tachi rescue Asuna.
2) First thing Negi does is kiss Asuna.
3) To make sure, he puts his full Thousand Pimpster power into it, and the result looks like a cross between Chachamaru’s pactio and the Kiss Terminator incident.
4) Asuna punts him into next week. (^_~)
Interesting point indeed. After all, Asuna has not been herself, as there was too much going on. It gives everyone a reason to just wait for the next chapter…
After all, there should be some suspense for the following chapters to come. Speaking of the following chapters, I would like to predict that Negi-tachi will do something unexpected, with Nodoka reading Shiori’s mind on what will become Fate’s Downfall, or at the least, Shiori’s awkwardly love-struck situation.