June 30th, 2011 
AstroNerdBoy 魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 36 Chapter 330 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 330
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Fate and Negi are down, but Negi is amazed to see the cloaked figure approaching and reviving all of the previously “killed” members of Kosmo Entelecheia, including the Lifemaker. Despite Fate having switched sides, his fight with Negi bought them enough time to come back in full force. Despite his injury, Negi rises to face his opponents, telling them with his plan, they need not follow the course they’d laid out. They aren’t impressed by this nor the fact that Negi is the son of the Thousand Master. As a result, KE blasts him with multiple, massive spells but Negi is defended by Fate.
As the two fend off the attacks from KE, Shiori and Konoka gather the girls to try to save Asuna as her waking up is their only hope with only five minutes left on the clock. However, Primum and Nii stand in their way and with the blink of an eye, Primum takes Mei out with a massive bolt of lightning. Nii attacks with a massive inferno attack and it is all that Ku Fei can do to protect the girls. Chamo realizes the desperate situation as does Negi, who is distracted by the attacks on the girls. Fate gets taken down by the brawn member of KE while three others all cast 1000 Thunderbolts on Fate and Negi.
Fate and Negi down, Secundum taunts Fate, who had previously slain him, telling him he could go join his girlfriend for an eternity of coffee while he tells Negi that he can go to the world where his mother and father await. However, before Secundum can cast his final spell, his arm is grabbed by Eva, who is shadow-gating in. Secundum is surprised as Eva tells Negi that she had to help her weak and troublesome disciple.
Thoughts/Review:
If you’ll pardon the cliched, Japanese response to the end of this chapter — KYAAAAAA!!!! ^_^
It may be my own tire eyeballs, but I’m still not 100% sure on the the first resurrected figure. I’m calling him the Lifemaker because one translator ID’d him as such. However, the Lifemaker and Mage of the Beginning were always the same person, or so I’d thought. Well, I’m sure you guys will help me as well as a good night’s sleep. ^_^
Where’s Chibi-Mage?
The setup for Eva’s arrival kinda mirrors her arrival to save Negi’s bacon in volume 6, but I don’t mind at all. Negi is again in an impossible situation where he has fought well but now is outmatched. It makes sense that the MotB would bring back to life all of the former constructs now that there’s so much magical energy there to do so.
I feel sorry for Mei. I’d like for her to get stronger and kick some arse but she often gets the short end of the stick, and fairly quickly. As Mei got taken out in this chapter, I couldn’t help but recall how in the Mahora Budokai, Kotaro wondered if she should even be there considering how weak she was.
Still, lets get onto the real deal — the last page of the manga. ^_^
When I saw this page, I felt the same way I did when I read volume 6 and Eva arrived there — totally excited and squealing like a schoolkid. ^_^ Back then, we’d seen Eva toying around with Negi in volume 3 but there were always hints that she was extraordinarily powerful — a final boss-type character. While her shadow-gating in to save Negi’s keester in volume 6 was very nifty (combined with how she laid the smack-down on Fate, forcing him to beat a hasty retreat rather than fight a shinso vampire), she never got to show us much. Sure, she defeated Ryoumen Sukuna no Kami, but that wasn’t so impressive because it wasn’t able to fight back (best way to defeat your opponent is to make sure your opponent can’t fight).
In the end, we only got a taste of Eva then. Akamatsu-sensei has wisely kept her out of Negi’s battles, though she does observe, as she did during his battle with Graf Herrman and during the Mahora Festival. During Negi’s training with Eva, Chachamaru, and Chachazero, we again get a taste of Eva’s power and awesomeness. Negi’s fight with faux-Eva during his training on the Magic World doesn’t mean much either other than to tease.
So, when it came to Eva, there were two things I wanted to see. First, I wanted more on her backstory, including the circumstances behind her being turned into a vampire, what she did to score a high bounty on the magic world, and how she met up with Nagi and the rest of Ala Rubra. Second, I wanted to see Eva unleashed and in a real fight where she’s trying to slaughter her opponents.
Thanks to how Akamatsu-sensei has crafted the ending of the Magic World arc, he tied Eva nicely in with the Mage of the Beginning and thus we start to learn a bit more about Eva’s past with hopefully more to come. Then, thanks to the Gravekeeper’s Palace appearing in the skies above Mahora (and apparently within Mahora’s barrier) combined with the fact that the amount of magic at Mahora has allowed Eva to go back to full power, Akamatsu-sensei makes me giddy by having Eva shadow-gate in and stop Secundum the same way she stopped Fate back in volume 6.
Now, all that remains is for Eva to open up a serious can of whoop-arse on everyone, fighting alongside Chachazero. Oh, how sweet that would be if Akamatsu-sensei allows her and Chachazero to really go off. He could because all of the KE opponents are apparently constructs, thus as he’s shown when Secundum brutally executed Shiori’s sister, Akamatsu-sensei could allow Eva and Chachamaru to execute some KE fools.
Still, does Eva’s appearance mean a deus ex machina ploy? I really can’t see it as such. I have long thought that one day, Akamatsu-sensei would find a way to get Eva back into the thick of things and here it is. I don’t think that Eva would be able to defeat the entire KE force with Chachazero at her side, but say Negi gets back on his feet and joins the fight alongside his master, then yeah. Plus, Akamatsu-sensei might take this opportunity to have the student surpass the master. ^_^
So, I eagerly await the arrival of chapter 331, though I understand it will be a shorter chapter.
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+1 to “KYAAAAAAH!”
I was equally giddy when I reached that last page and saw Eva gate in.
Can’t wait for the next few chapters.
Oh, you’re not the only one who made a fan boy scream of happiness after the last page. Honestly, it’s scenes like this one and the great story that makes Negima my all time favorite even to this day, and I will probably never find another manga to top it. It’s always nice reading your blogs on the chapters, nice to see some with similar opinions too ^_^. Know if only we get a NegiXEva ending, I can die happy.
I’m confused; I thought the Lifemaker was sealed under Mahora (at least that was what was implied, my memory is foggy). Did he/she/it break out? Also, if the Gravekeeper was keeping Water Fate in place, something must’ve happened.
And most importantly: WOOH! Eva is finally back in action!!!
Didn’t Dynamis say that he went and unsealed the Lifermaker while everyone else was busy? That’s what it looked like in the scan I saw.
Eva will job down. Mark my words on that.
Because things are STILL not bleak looking enough for Akamatsu, I’d bet.
I agree. Eva rocks! and I agree how she is able to help is the palace is now technically part of Mahora. Top floor, if you will.
Im nearly possitive the chibi-mage really is chao based on 2 hints so far =p pyo saying that chao awates and b4 that when it said go my decedent (i think) but i cant wait to see Eva woop some butt.Eishun, Al, and hopefully the dean will step in too =)
Heh heh
*smirk*
Last we saw, Chibi-mage had decided to let her descendent, Negi, have a shot at cleaning things up. Given that there was no coercion involved in that decision, I think it’s safe to say that she(?) is going to sit this fight out. She probably knows that she’s not capable of going toe to toe with all of CE (and so isn’t going to actively help Negi), but she’d also rather see what Negi wants to try.
Back in volume 6, I think I’d say that it wasn’t so much that Eva beat Tertium as it was that he realized who she was and ran away like a scared little girl.
😛
Eva probably wants the opportunity to cut loose for a number of reasons. She’s been tied down to the school, and doesn’t normally have access to her full power. She very rarely gets the opportunity to really use even a fraction of her magical ability. She’s apparently learned that MotB has a link to the events that made her a vampire. She kind of likes Negi – though she’d never admit it. She probably wants to see just how much Negi’s improved since he left, which is going to require him to survive this whole mess. And she’s so amazingly powerful that she’s probably convinced that the most of the group she’s facing (even as powerful as they are) can’t do any serious damage to her. I’ll add that she’s probably right about that, too. The Fates are supposed to be the powerhouses of CE, but numbers 4-6 were complete pushovers when they were awakened. And there’s little reason to believe that #2 is all that much better. I suspect that she could blow through a good chunk of the group in front of her with minimal effort.
And don’t forget her nickname. For all we now, she’s about to summon a small army of automatons.
In any event, she doesn’t actually have to beat CE. She just needs to distract them long enough for the girls to free Asuna. A freed Asuna means that the ceremony is disrupted. An angry Asuna has a tendency to hit first and ask questions later. And a very angry Asuna is going to be quite difficult for this group to stop, given that she’s immune to magical attacks that go after her directly (and this group appears to rely much more on magic than on raw physical strength).
Even worse, since Asuna’s amnesia has apparently been removed, she might even remember all of the techniques that she had before she left with Nagi and company. And if she could single-handedly hold off invasions at the physical age of four, I shudder to think what she might be capable of now…
Of course, we also know that Negi’s not unconscious yet, which means that he’s probably only going to need to catch his breath for a short bit before he’s back in action.
i’m really hoping the new “MoB” is Asuna!!!
That’d be awesome; Negi and co. fighting the person they were trying to save.
“cloaked figure approaching and reviving all of the previously “killed” members of Kosmo Entelecheia, including the Lifemaker.”
The Lifemaker is the one who resurrected them, or someone who has the same choice in clothes.
Al and Eishun might show up with Eva too. That would be cool to see them in the fight.
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i’m really hoping the new “MoB” is Asuna!!!
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Asuna’s confirmed to still be on the altar. The girls were going to attempt to free her before a couple of members of CE got in the way.
likewise, I too will put up the cliché… KYAAAAAAHHHHH~~~~! XD
Eva Fans are in for a nice return of the vampire. If there were any more power from the party, it would have to come from Al and Eishun. Now that “Tertium-Fate” has been rendered powerless, a sickly evil, not unlike Shishiho of Rurouni Kenshin (seems like some of the story elements were taken from there), comes in the form of “Secundum-Fate”.
The story seems to seem more and more fun as the climax reaches a critical point =]
I think this fight will be:
Evangeline,Asuna,Albireo,Negi and Fate(Konoka’s power,remember?Full Heal!XD)VS KE.
Sure,Evangeline is powerfull,but alone,I doubt she can destroy the entire force of KE.
Primum is almost lvl Nagi.¬¬’
Not to mention,LifeMaker is there.
The problem is until the MOTB is dealt with, Negi and co. can’t win.
It’s like an rpg where every time you eliminate a minion the boss cast “max revive”
@Anonymous The problem is until the MOTB is dealt with, Negi and co. can’t win. It’s like an rpg where every time you eliminate a minion the boss cast “max revive”
Apt comparison, and funny. (^_~)
But yeah, don’t you hate it when they do that? The only thing worse is when they repeatedly use their special attack that’s as likely as not to TPK you… and to add insult to injury, takes two frickin’ minutes of CG you can’t skip (I’m looking at you, FF7 Supernova(>_<)). Or as my friend Keith called it, the “Think I’ll go take a piss now” attack.
Fortunately, Akamatsu-sensei has been keeping the equivalent of that to a minimum. (^_^)
According to rumors, other protagonists will make their appearance. I wouldn’t mind a derby since we didn’t get one for a long time (15 volumes).
they don’t need to beat the MOTB & co, just stop the ceremony and ensure this is no longer possible and get out of here (with the Master of the Grave if possible)
Otherwise, I saw three interesting points in this chapter.
1- There’s a common memory among all Averruncus (and not just between tertium and Primum). Secundum is aware that negi saw a little of Fate’s past among others things.
2- Primum, casting a lightning spell, is not limited to earth magic. Since he and secundum have never been associated with an element (unlike the next four), it continues to make sense.
Does it has to do with their height? we’ll see…
3 – Neither Fate nor Dunamis seems to have anticipated the path between Mahora and the grave keeper palace. If it doesn’t come from a side effect of the ceremony, what is the cause?
The story seems to seem more and more fun as the climax reaches a critical point =]
“Seems” is the operative word. Akamatsu-sensei can still turn this south once more before all is said and done. ^_~
Evangeline,Asuna,Albireo,Negi and Fate(Konoka’s power,remember?Full Heal!XD)VS KE.
I guess the text-spoilers confirm Al is coming and he’s bringing others. ^_^
The problem is until the MOTB is dealt with, Negi and co. can’t win.
It’s like an rpg where every time you eliminate a minion the boss cast “max revive”
*lol* Pesky, those boss fights. ^_^
Fortunately, Akamatsu-sensei has been keeping the equivalent of that to a minimum. (^_^)
True and hopefully it stays that way.
There’s a common memory among all Averruncus (and not just between tertium and Primum). Secundum is aware that negi saw a little of Fate’s past among others things.
That didn’t surprise me because I’ve long thought that each “version” of Fate was an upgrade of some kind. So, in my mind, each new version would know what the previous version knew and experienced. Since there would be a single, master database to handle this, the resurrected Averruncus version would have tapped that database before emerging.
Primum, casting a lightning spell, is not limited to earth magic. Since he and secundum have never been associated with an element (unlike the next four), it continues to make sense.
Well, there’s that and they may have access to upgrades as well.
Neither Fate nor Dunamis seems to have anticipated the path between Mahora and the grave keeper palace. If it doesn’t come from a side effect of the ceremony, what is the cause?
Good question. Hopefully, we’ll get an answer soon.