March 15th, 2011 
AstroNerdBoy 魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 35 Chapter 320 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 320
Negima! Manga Vol 35 Ch 320 Review
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Shirabe, finding her path to the altar blocked by Nodoka and Natsumi, summons her artifact in order to attack and remove them. Nodoka sees the danger and knocks Natsumi down to avoid getting hit. Shirabe continues to attack, breaching Anya’s defense barrier and taking her down. Shirabe then goes for a wide scale attack, though Ku Fei is able to defend the other girls against it, though not without considerable cost to herself. Shirabe admires Ku Fei being able to do that without being a mage and goes to attack again only to have her artifact stolen by Misora.
Misora is smug about it for a few seconds until Shirabe simply banishes her artifact. Before she can resummon it, Shirabe is attacked by Takane. Even while she is pinned down, Shirabe summons massive roots which take Asuna to the altar. Mei and Collet fly in to try to stop this but Shirabe simply ups the ante and more roots prevent them from reaching Asuna. The injured Ku Fei gets back into the fight with Takane increasing her attacks, begging Shirabe to surrender. Shirabe recalls being a frightened child attempting to hide from slavers when she’s rescued by Fate. As such, Shirabe finds anger and unleashes her full Dryad abilities to seal Asuna within roots within the altar.
Meanwhile, Fate notes Shirabe’s accomplishment and tells Negi that had the ritual completed without Asuna there, all of the humans would have found themselves on the surface of Mars and it would be Negi’s fault. Negi states he is simply going to stop the ritual altogether, something that Fate says can only be done by killing him. Negi says he has no intention of killing Fate to get this done, something Fate finds naive. As they resume battle, Fate asks Negi if he plans to go on being naive, something that Negi confirms.
Back on Earth at Mahora, crowds are gathering as above the massively glowing World Tree, a projection of the Gravekeeper’s Palace (from underneath) appears. Eva and Zazie observe this with Eva being amused and Zazie being impressed that that although still a mirage, the connection to the Magic World in this form exists. Despite being very far away from the action, Eva is able to use her superior eyesight to see Negi engaged in a massive attack on Fate.
Thoughts/Review:
The fact that Shirabe is a Dryad really hasn’t been played up that much until this chapter. I’m not even sure the term has been used to describe her or not. Regardless, Akamatsu-sensei found a way to have her put down her crutch of an artifact and simply draw on her Dryad powers to get Asuna back into the “altar” sphere and then seal her within. I know Asuna is knocked out and the like but I keep thinking, “If she was nullifying magic earlier, why isn’t she nullifying Shirabe’s magic?” I’ve read a theory that this might not be Asuna up there but Shiori in disguise. I like the theory and it would explain why Shirabe’s magic isn’t nullified.
That aside, Akamatsu-sensei went out of his way to make Shirabe sympathetic by having that little flashback. Her rage at remembering that certainly got her eyes to open up, eh? ^_^;
While still on the subject of Shirabe, last chapter, I’d not considered the possibility of more folks entering the fray. I liked it that Takane, Mei, Collet, and even Misora got involved. Misora made me chuckle when she snatched Shirabe’s artifact but then that chuckle continues with the “D’OH!” moment when Shirabe simply recalled it. One would think that Misora would remember that aspect of artifact cards. ^_^
Anya didn’t fare too well as she took the brunt of Shirabe’s attack. Ku Fei impressed by blocking said attack.
Speaking of battles, Negi and Fate appear pretty evenly matched. Both destroyed each other’s spell blades and both take poundings but instantly recover.
I loved how Eva spotted Negi when the Gravekeeper’s Palace showed up over Mahora. I’d love it even more if Akamatsu-sensei took a moment to have Eva experience a flashback to her time with Nagi and some fight Nagi was in. I doubt that happens because it might be to disruptive to the flow of the climax here but it would still be nice.
I do wonder if the Gravekeeper’s Palace showing up means that Negi and company will get to Mahora by simply falling down. *lol*
So, a good chapter with the surviving girls getting involved in the fight and a nice bonus with Eva showing up at the end. ^_^
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a somewhat far fetch theory:
it could also be because it’s a tree..
if a stone is summoned then it’s a magical stone, asuna can easily erased it.. but if a tree is grown it’s not a summoned things anymore.. then where is the magic? is it on the growing barks or is it on the base of the tree itself?
another theory is that the magical erasing mechanism isn’t actually started yet (i kind of like this one better)
eva look stunned watching negi.. ^^
The girls fighting Shirabe is like a bunch of padawans and one Jedi Knight fighting a very adept Sith warrior…
Maybe I was just seeing it wrong, but I got the impression the palace was being seen upside down over the world tree.
I find scenes like this incredibly frustrating. The very minute Shirabe’s determination/willpower dialogue stream I started chanting kill her! Kill her! in my head. My eyes roamed from panel to panel, hoping upon hope that one of the battle harem or company would take that advice. i couldn’t help cringing at every attempt they made to ‘talk her down’, knowing that once the determination speech started it was doomed to failure and that was even before the manipulative flashback.
I know I shouldn’t complain about this sort of thing in shonen. It woudln’t be shonen if the protagonists actually did the smart thing and off’ed the villains before they could put their world destroying plans into motion. They’re supposed to let the bad guys get the ball rolling, only make a token effort to stop them, and then defeat the plan at the last minute using nothing but guts and the power of friendship.
Sometimes, I just wish there were a genre-savy character in one of these who knew when to take a short-cut.
Wow. Actually, I think you might have hit the nail on the head, ivanov_2020.
With Asuna being unconscious, all Shirabe has to do is physically transport her into place with the branches. The outer barrier wouldn’t be directly affected by Asuna’s power since it’s not being cast on her.
@Henwy: I wouldn’t say that they’re not genre-savvy, just lacking in sheer firepower. I mean, I get what you’re saying about how the conflict could be resolved a lot easier if the good guys didn’t take prisoners, I just don’t think the situation applies.
Shirabe is a dryad, so it’s not unreasonable to assume that she has greater physical capabilities than the average human, like most of the human-hybrids they’ve come accross. With Ku limited to her staff and Mei and Collete trying to stop the vines, Takane alone doesn’t have the power needed to KO her.
Sure, she could’ve tried close combat, but her full-power shadow technique just isn’t doing much damage. Less of the characters being stupid, than Shirabe just being amazingly badass.
In other news, I found the look Eva’s giving Negi to be delightfully similar to the one Arika gives Nagi in a flashback. Anyone betting on that ending other than me?
I was truly hoping Eva would have brought up something with the ME Negi was using but she still seems surprised at Negis power i really hope next chapter is more Eva talking with Zazie about stuff than the battle to be honest
Takane, not Nakane.
And it would be hillarious if that was how they got to return, but I think it’s just a projection at the world tree.
Well… it’s possible that the next chapter might be a bit late. After all, there’s been just a bit of a to-do over in Japan the last few days…
But we’ll see.
On a significantly less understated and more serious note, it would appear that the last couple of chapters have put a nail into the coffin of the ‘Anya as spy for CE’ theory.
I would just like to point something out that I remembered reading this chapter.
When Ako got sick, she required a ‘miracle’ cure that was very rare and cost 1 million Drachmas.
Cut to this chapter, where it is revealed that Dryad horns are hunted and their horns cut off as it can be used to make a ‘miracle’ cure. The cost of this medicine? A million Drachmas.
Just think about that for a moment.
Sheeze. Just discovered I misspelled altar again. *_* That’s one of my greatest challenges in writing — catching stupid mistakes like that, especially since I tend to “auto-correct” in my mind. *_* Anyway…
another theory is that the magical erasing mechanism isn’t actually started yet (i kind of like this one better)
I think it has, based on Yue’s sprite probe which found the outer limit of the field. Granted, Asuna was plugged in then so maybe it switched off.
The girls fighting Shirabe is like a bunch of padawans and one Jedi Knight fighting a very adept Sith warrior…
Heh! Yeah, that’s about right.
Maybe I was just seeing it wrong, but I got the impression the palace was being seen upside down over the world tree.
I think that’s right.
i couldn’t help cringing at every attempt they made to ‘talk her down’, knowing that once the determination speech started it was doomed to failure and that was even before the manipulative flashback.
Well, Takane did back up her speech by giving Shirabe a pounding. ^_^;
Wow. Actually, I think you might have hit the nail on the head, ivanov_2020.
With Asuna being unconscious, all Shirabe has to do is physically transport her into place with the branches. The outer barrier wouldn’t be directly affected by Asuna’s power since it’s not being cast on her.
Well, there is the ice shell that Eva cast on Asuna just before they went to Wales. It took Asuna a few minutes but she broke free. Granted, in that case, Asuna was conscious and so trying to free herself whereas now, unless her mind is active and knows what’s going on, she can’t do the needful.
Sure, she could’ve tried close combat, but her full-power shadow technique just isn’t doing much damage. Less of the characters being stupid, than Shirabe just being amazingly badass.
I tend to agree here. Takane did put a pounding on Shirabe and Shirabe was physically pinned down although she was able to take the beating. She just had an ace up her sleeve with her vine/root control.
In other news, I found the look Eva’s giving Negi to be delightfully similar to the one Arika gives Nagi in a flashback. Anyone betting on that ending other than me?
Heh! It will be interesting to see if that happens or not.
I was truly hoping Eva would have brought up something with the ME Negi was using but she still seems surprised at Negis power i really hope next chapter is more Eva talking with Zazie about stuff than the battle to be honest
I think you’ll be getting your wish and more based on what I saw. ^_~
And it would be hillarious if that was how they got to return, but I think it’s just a projection at the world tree.
At the moment…
On a significantly less understated and more serious note, it would appear that the last couple of chapters have put a nail into the coffin of the ‘Anya as spy for CE’ theory.
Yeah, I think so but I’m still suspicious. ^_~
I would just like to point something out that I remembered reading this chapter.
When Ako got sick, she required a ‘miracle’ cure that was very rare and cost 1 million Drachmas.
Cut to this chapter, where it is revealed that Dryad horns are hunted and their horns cut off as it can be used to make a ‘miracle’ cure. The cost of this medicine? A million Drachmas.
Just think about that for a moment.
Yeah, I did think about that when I read the chapter. I forgot to comment on it (lack of sleep). ^_^; Thanks for reminding me.
If the good guys took shortcuts then they wouldn’t be all that “good” now would they.
And Fates crew aren’t evil just misguided.
Nice catch on the similarity… but wrt Ako’s miracle cure, my money is on “stupid hateful rednecks are stupid and hateful”.
I.e. the real miracle cure requires a pound of pollen grains scraped off the legs of bees that landed on an herb grown on the top of Mount Ursoscrewed, a hundred hours of distillation by a skilled alchemist, and a non-reusable filter of platinum dust. Or somesuch.
The stupid hateful redneck Federation soldiers have no idea what goes into the miracle cure, they’re just coming up with excuses for what they wanted to do anyway.
Let me see if I get this right, we have a gaint tree, that has magical powers, that has a giant habitat underneath it, that can create subspace links between planets, and maybe doing all these thing on it own accord?
What next,Light Hawk Wings? Heros in pink jumpsuits with hugh energy sword? Or maybe a laughing redheaded goddess with some very weird daughters.
You got to admit Sensei Akamatsu getting pretty close to a JRT here.
On the positive side, with a link establish to Mahora, there will be a lot more characters that he been missing available to add to the harem.
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