February 1st, 2012 
AstroNerdBoy 魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 38 Chapter 351 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 351
Negima! Manga Vol 38 Ch 351
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Asuna wakes to find a hand copping a feel on her breast and she smacks he person, thinking it is Negi sneaking into her bed. However, it turns out to be a formerly sleeping Setsuna, who’s now been knocked out. Further to that, she finds a sleeping Negi asking Setsuna to help him, as he’s pulled down her PJ’s, while a sleeping Ayaka is licking Negi’s leg while having pulled his PJ’s down.
Konoka is awake, and after putting on a smiling face, presents a special breakfast for her, telling Asuna to savor it since it will be her last meal.
Asuna stops by Misa’s room to return a CD, as Misa trims her toenails. After leaving the CD, Asuna runs into Natsumi, Fuka, and Fumika, all of whom are talking about the upcoming graduation trip to India. After Asuna says she’ll be going on the trip, she leaves them.
Asuna walks on the sidewalk that runs above and parallel to the river, when she encounters Negi sitting on the embankment, looking at his roster. They makes some small talk, when Asuna asks what he’ll do without her. He says he’ll look for his dad, no matter how long it takes. She wonders about this since he had previously said that he wouldn’t be able to save him without her and that his ninth spell could only destroy. He tells her he’ll manage.
As they continue to talk, Asuna is sure that sleeping for 100-years won’t be difficult while Negi’s job will be. Negi mentions Asuna waiting for him in 100-years. She kisses him on the lips as a final goodbye from his “oneesan” and asks him to work hard. She says that her condition for waiting for him 100-years from now is that he has to confess to the girl he likes, so he agrees.
On top of the roof of one of the school buildings, a giant mandala is active, with Theo, Jack, and Kurt ready to escort Asuna to the Magic World. Seeing Asuna off are Negi, Chamo, Ayaka, Chachamaru, Eva, Setsuna, Konoka, Al, Takahata, the headmaster, and Eishun (?). Konoka wants assurance that they’ll meet Asuna again, but Eva shoots it down since 100-years is a long time. Konoka grasps at straw, citing Eva still being alive and the slim possibility that the others might be as well. Eva shoots that down, reminding Konoka that “KAGURAZAKA Asuna” is a faux personality of the Twilight Princess, thus when she awakes, she’ll be a different person. As such, if Konoka lives another hundred years, they’ll simply meet someone with Asuna’s face.
Asuna smiles and tells Konoka that she’s sure they’ll meet again. A tearful Ayaka asks if Asuna means this. Asuna grins and gives a chuckle before she and her escorts rise up to the Gravekeeper’s Palace. She yells down to Negi that she’ll be waiting for him to come visit her as a Magister Magi. She’s sure that things will be OK as long as Negi and the others are here. After saying “bye-bye,” the spell is complete and the gate to the Magic World shuts.
Thoughts/Review:
Well, that’s TWO chapters in a row that Akamatsu-sensei has managed to provoke tears. Asuna is gone, and likely for a long while.
That being said, I found Asuna’s telling Natsumi, Fuka, and Fumika that she’d be going on the trip as a possible flag for Shiori to come to Mahora as Asuna. After all, even among the members of Ala Alba, only a select few actually know the truth of Asuna’s departure. So, in order to keep the class “in the dark,” I can see Shiori gaining a body like Cocone and returning to her role from the Magic World arc, only from a different angle. We’ll see.
Everyone’s looking for a way to get around Asuna being sealed for one-hundred years, so in that vein, I could see a potential ambush for Asuna’s party, or after she’s sealed, a KE (CE) attack. Of course, even if none of that happens, I do believe that Negi will be doing what he can to get Asuna free as soon as possible.
I find it interesting that Negi tells Asuna his plans are to go find Nagi. That would suggest that Nagi is not sealed under the World Tree as some have surmised, though the mention of the powerful, demon-destroying spell (Dios Chucos) might suggest that Nagi is somehow possessed (and I’m not sure I buy that as it has been sold to us so far), with the only way to free him is to kill him.
(As an aside, I was recently asked by a reader regarding this spell. I’d assumed it had been used and modified, but I could be wrong.)
Going back to the farewell, I’m actually a bit surprised that Eva attended, but then, she often protests a bit too much about not caring when she in fact does to a degree.
Some items of interest on the updated class roster.
- Ayaka — What is it about her uncle?
- Chisame — The Valentine’s mention is likely a tag for a girl giving Negi chocolate. I say this because of the “done” remark after all the Valentine’s statements (White Day response). Also in this would be Nodoka, Akira, and Makie.
- Chizuru — Yeah, she is the manipulative type. ^_^;
- Sakurako — She either did something for Negi or got him a gift.
- Fuka — The twin boys? *lol*
- Mana — Negi hiring her as his personal bodyguard makes sense and provides a means to keep her in the story without violating her established character.
- Zazie — So, she’s a princess of the Mazoku realm, eh? I like the idea of Venus being this “demon” realm. I’d love to have Zazie explored more.
- Chao — The “Parallel World” remark is one possible theory to allow Akamatsu-sensei to change the future BUT still have Chao come back to the past to set Negi on the path. The other is to have all of Negi’s activities actually cause the future Chao came back to stop, thus a completed circle. IF it is a parallel world involved, that really muddies up the water regarding Nagi as well (IMO).
- Natsumi — I loved how Negi’s remarks on her being Kotaro’s girlfriend were crossed out, likely by Natsumi herself (or Kotaro).
- Hakase — Her computer mastery, and awareness of the A.I. work done in A.I. Love You, would be a reason for Kurt to be interested in her, especially if the Magic World is based on some sort of computer technology.
- Kaede — I wonder what happened with her family home. One suspects it might have been damaged or destroyed. Negi’s remarks on wanting to learn ninjutsu suggests that he will be adding ninja techniques to his battle skills as well as Chinese martial arts.
- Ako — The note linking her back with Megalo is interesting. I really hope we learn more about that.
- Sayo — So, something happened during World War II, and she had been in love with the headmaster. I find that sweet. I’d love it if her backstory were tied to KE/CE somehow.
- Paru — “Wanted in the Magic World.” *LOL*
- Setsuna — The mention of Tsukuyomi as a stalker suggests that she’s still around to harass Setsuna.
- Misa — “Attention required?” Interesting, especially since this chapter made a point to have Asuna visit her.
- Makie — I wonder what’s up with Makie’s younger brother.
- Ku — Interesting that Negi says he can’t beat her yet, and that they have a yearly match.
- Yue — I think the various notes here pretty well states that Yue is going to Ariadne for high school.
So, a lot of good stuff here.
And so, the hated arc is over. While most of us, myself included, suspect the next major arc will be the final one, I have to say that it is possible that Akamatsu-sensei could fool us and have a few more arcs up his sleeve, though they may not be as monstrous as the Magic World arc was. We’ll see. The next chapter could provide some clues on how Akamatsu-sensei plans to go.
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*sigh* This wasn’t supposed to post until NOON, but oh well.
Nah… There must be more arcs. It is not possible to answere all questions, save Nagi, find Arika, save the magic world take Asuna back, … in just one arc.
Even Akamatsu-Sensei cannot do sth. like this in just one arc without to killing his own story.
And in addition: I don´t want him to end Negima ;-P
Well, I would have agreed with you until the bad news hit. 🙁
Ako: “Probably shouldn’t turn into adult form”
WTF??? Is something similar as Eva’s curse?
Negi’s adult form, the one with which Ako fell in love. Or at least that’s how I understand it.
Yeah, I agree with Rhonin here. That’s the likely reason for the “adult” note.
Has that ninth spell even been mentioned since Hermann ’cause if not that one hell of a chekhovs gun?Also, i hope this demon princess thing in the register isnt the only explanation we get for Zazie.
I don’t think so. For some reason, I was thinking that Negi had used it, then modified it, but I guess I’m wrong.
Why is Negi And Konoka so emotional about Asuna leaving that huge tears are coming out? It’s not like Asuna will die once she is sealed.
(1) Konoka will almost certainly never see Asuna again.
(2) The odds are that Asuna’s current personality will be gone once she emerged in 100-years.
I personally like the “Need to answer” Comment in regards to Zazie. I find myself jokingly leaning towards she’s a princess and asked him to marry her ala Kaolla Suu style. But i don’t really expect that to be it.
Heh! Maybe we’ll get that answer…maybe.
I hope we get some flashbacks of these events mentioned in the roster, it would be a shame not to see them.
Yes, it would.
Is Ken Akamatsu still doing the time skip?
He is now (at least in some form).
first- whats KE/CE?
second- when do you think the next chapter will be out?(predict)
🙂
1) Kosmo Entelecheia/Cosmo Entelecheia (depending on who’s spelling it).
2) Wednesday. ^_~ (Well, 252 will be out in Japan on Wednesday.)
Last chapter gave me a lump in my throat. This one had tears falling T_T Bravo Akamatsu.
I had the same Asuna/Shiori thought, but I think having a fake Asuna around would be a painful experience for everyone who knows where she really is. It’d also be unfair to Shiori. She likes Negi but she would never be seen as herself.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Nagi’s possessed by the Mage. With Zecht helping Nagi defeat the Mage then becoming hostile and leaving then reviving Fate, and with Al’s words, “he’s ceaseless” and “through the sacrifice of a hero was sealed away.” Maybe Negi still doesn’t know. When Albireo was telling Eva about the Mage and Nagi, Negi was still fighting Fate on the other side. Maybe they decided to keep it from him until after his project is done or at least until things had calmed down more. We already saw how insanely busy Negi’s been lately. They probably figured that knowing about his dad’s whereabouts would be a huge distraction from his current work.
Good point on Shiori. I wonder how Asuna’s disappearance was explained.
As to the Zecht thing, I have written extensively about that and how I’ve seen it completely different, so I won’t restate those points. However, it seems odd that no one would tell Negi about his father and allow him to waste time “looking for him.” Negi is ten, but immortal (to a degree) and carrying more responsibilities than any other human alive. As such, he’s earned the right to know the truth. Al said he didn’t know where Negi was, earlier when he talked to Eva during the Mahora Festival.
Adult form and Ako – probably a reference to Negi’s time as “Nagi”, Negi’s “cousin” from out of town that Ako fell in love with.
There’s one other item that I think is worth noting in the class roster. Zazie’s got an odd symbol up at the top of her portrait. That symbol appears again at the top of the other page of the roster, along with the comment, “Think about my answer.” This appears to be a note from Zazie to Negi directing him to think about something as yet unseen that Zazie told Negi.
That symbol is just a special notation symbol of some kind. I’ve seen it before, years and years ago.
I find it hard to believe that Negi (who is roughly 10) can master the spells that would amaze the Magic Avademy that Yue’s academic headmaster (er… i forget her name atm). But the story must go on…
As a side note:
Seeing that 100 years will pass, I wonder if many of the other characters will really live to see Asuna as the Twilight Princess.I believe that by the time Negi becomes older, he would helluva lot more similar to Nagi than many would expect… if heis able to change physical form like Eva. ^_^
….whaaa? Where have you been? After mastering a forbidden dark magic, completing a technique that not even the 500 year old Eva could, creating his own series of synthesized spells, gaining supreme power capable of killing legions of demons single handedly, becoming immortal, the kid who is saving the world, constantly amazing anyone who has ever trained him, you don’t think he can ‘wow’ some magic academy headmaster?? The same headmaster that was impressed when 4 mage trainees barely managed to temporarily disable a mid-level monster?
>I find it hard to believe that Negi (who is roughly 10) can master the spells that would amaze the Magic Avademy that Yue’s academic headmaster (er… i forget her name atm). But the story must go on…
Also remember, Negi is a prodigy when it comes to magic and battle techniques.
Here’s hoping this story still has a few more arcs in it although the way in which Akamatsu presented Negi in this arc makes it seem like he’s now one of those ‘Last Boss’ characters who’s actions – not just actions, but also reasons – are always shrouded in mystery which makes things look very end-timey.
While I didn’t mind the playfulness of this last arc I definitely have several reservations. I mean what IS up with that sudden exclusion of the audience (us) from the actual goings-on? It’s like now we’re being told “Yeah, lots of exiting things going on here, but, sorry chaps, just for members and YOU clearly don’t qualify!”
Also, the magic world arc left us with so many more open questions, that demanded some kind of follow up, than this arc gave us, the treatment (ours) again feals very disappointing and frustrating. Presumably Akamatsu-sensei is building towards some kind of future payoff but I’m really not sure that whatever it is will make this radical change (remember, Negi used to be our hero/identification figure/focalizer) any more palateable. Especially not with absolutely crucial things going on (like Asuna’s decision) but a complete lack of any kind of reasoning chain that might make the audience buy in to big and tragic decisions like that, or at least make us buy into Asuna and Negi buying into it.
Thouroughly frustrated fan here!
Well, I think 352 both answers and adds to your frustrations. ^_^;;;;;
After Asuna kissed Negi, she said this is a goodbye kiss from your big sister. Could it be a hint that Negi and Asuna are related?
Well, Asuna has always cared for Negi like a younger brother she never had.
We already know that Negi and Asuna are blood relations. We just don’t know how close or how distant the relationship is. Asuna and Negi’s mother are both from the same royal family. But Asuna’s age was frozen when she was very young, and she remained that way for a long time. But we don’t even have a rough idea of how long she was like that. So Asuna might be Negi’s aunt. Or she might be the sister of one of Negi’s distant ancestors. We have no way of really knowing at this point.
And may never. *_*
you still didnt hear the news it is anounced that the manga is ending in 3 more chapters, so this manga was a freaking waste of time
in the end we didn know fucking nothing.
This is a bad comment.
I have now. ^_^;;;;;
Negima ending in 3 chapters