October 3rd, 2012 
AstroNerdBoy Long time Negima! fan Hata brings this interesting bit of news on what Akamatsu-sensei is up to of late.
Ken creates a new BBS system GANMO for mangaka who are looking to hire assistants and for manga assistants looking for work. the trick is you do not have to sign up, your twitter account is your login name.
http://ganmo.j-comi.jpKen did a couple of posts to test the system. one has Ken looking for background assistants for a title “Love Hina 40”. the other is a cooperation with Kōji Kumeta for a title that including thousands of bishoujo.
http://kenakamatsu.tumblr.com/post/32667823645/ganmoKen continue to upgrade J-Comi, “J-Comi FANding” now selling digital e-manga bundle with author signature, previous unreleased works, etc.
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_ja…AJ201210020072==========
via twitter. Ken disclosed that he is meeting SHONEN MAGAZINE editors to discuss his next work.
https://twitter.com/KenAkamatsu/stat…77885742530560
Hata later goes to clarify that Akamatsu-sensei doesn’t specifically cite Shounen Magazine, but he is meeting with editors.
As to what could be Akamatsu-sensei’s next work, that’s really hard to speculate. If he is meeting with the editors at Shounen Magazine, then clearly, he’s planning a new, weekly manga title that would be published in the magazine. That surprises me somewhat, since I’d figured that he’d do something on J-Comi instead, specifically a continuation of the Negima! manga. He could still do this, going the print route but maintaining control over his work, but if he is talking with Shounen Magazine editors, that gives the vibe that Akamatsu-sensei may be planning something new.
As to the other stuff Akamatsu-sensei is working on, I have to say that I like what I’m reading. While not abandoning the print medium, Akamatsu-sensei is clearly pushing forward a new manga business model that has an eye on giving fans what they want while at the same time making sure manga-ka get paid. Since Japanese businesses are loathe to change what works, Akamatsu-sensei’s digital pushes are radical to say the least, but awesome in that so far, they appear to be working quite well. It is a shame he couldn’t shake up the anime market as well.
Thanks again to Hata for this info. Hopefully, we’ll hear something by year’s end on what new manga project Akamatsu-sensei has in store.
Posted in 
Tags: 
Coolness!
Even if his next project isn’t the continuation of Negima (‘a title that includes thousands of bishoujo’ does have a certain Negima-likeness to it tho’ – who knows) it seems like he is working to keep the door open for the possibility of doing his own thing, generally. That’s good news for manga- and Akamatsu-fans everywhere!
Whatever his new project is, I’ll give it a gander.
What do you think the likelyhood is that Ken will do a revamp of Negima’s ending?
Revamp? I’m not so sure. I figure he’d do things to fill in the gaps to get to that ending.
Actually from info from older posts of Hata on AS and http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-05-17/ken-akamatsu/future-negima-revival-a-possibility , maybe if he does a new Negima it will diverge from the one that ended, likely a few chapters before the end.
I could see that, sure.
I really hope that Negima is continued. Astro as cheesy as it sounds. I’d rather Ken make chapters 352-355 a dream sequence for Asuna and then have the battle with MOTB begin after she truly wakes up. Ken could even really make something out of the Negima universe. He could bring new villains and introduce new stories into the franchise. Negima should really be his thing. I really don’t want to see another Love Hina or romantic harem nonsense.
Akamatsu-sensei loves his harems, so no matter what he does, I expect romantic harem nonsense, as you call it. ^_^;;;
But yeah, I’d like to see Negima! return.
If he’s making up with Kodansha but not continuing Negima, I won’t be following his next work.
I could forgive the awful rushed and ill thought ending if legal conflicts tied his hands from fixing it with followups, but if the only reason why he and Kodansha don’t give the series the end it deserves is because they don’t want to, what’s the point on following the next series? So they can screw it up again next time they have a fallout? So years of followship are betrayed again?
Besides, he’s proved he just can’t keep a weekly schedule, and it’s only going to get worse with age. He’s going to keep failing to meet a regular schedule and take unending annoying breaks if he doesn’t already learn he’s better suited for another output format.
Regarding a weekly work schedule, he is in his 40s, and believe me, doing long hours in your 40s isn’t as easy as it is in your 20s. A weekly manga series takes a lot of effort and long hours with very few days off and little sleep. Hata-sensei jokes about this some in Hayate the Combat Butler. So Akamatsu-sensei doing a 3-on, 1-off schedule was understandable to me, especially since the “week off” was not for him to kick back and relax, but to get ahead of the game again.
Still, I will check out whatever title Akamatsu-sensei comes out with.
Wouldn’t switching to a fortnightly schedule help in that case then? Maintaining a regular output rate, but gaining more time per chapter to alleviate the workload… OR is that not done in the Manga world?
I’m not sure there is a bi-weekly publishing schedule. Manga are either weekly, monthly, or quarterly. I’m not sure how one-shots get worked in, and some popular manga-ka do extra, side stuff from time to time. Regardless, Akamatsu-sensei’s 3-1 Negima! work schedule was highly unusual. He was basically given special treatment due to whom he is. On the weeks he took off, Kodansha had to fill that hole in the Shounen Magazine publication.
I was actually JUST about to post this to your FB wall to let you know about it when I saw it on ANN, but of course you’ve already heard. 😛
Ah. Didn’t know it was on ANN. I got lucky and heard about it from someone else, but I do appreciate people looking to ping me on info like this. ^_^
I really do hope he continues Negima. If he creates a new series, I’m sure it’ll be good and I’ll definitely read it, but if he leaves Negima unfinished (what we got barely qualifies as an “ending”), I’ll be severely disappointed in him. For such a great fictional universe with an excellent cast of a characters to simply get cut short and not get a proper ending would be a shame, plus it wouldn’t be fair to the fans who spent the last 8 years being invested in the series.
Yeah, I hear ya.
Hear,Hear!
Shadow pretty much nailed it. A new Akamatsu project is nice but, I really would love Negima to be continued in some manner. My statement may sound repetitive and whiny, but that’s how honest I want to be with a series I’ve grown to love and be fond of.
An update about the meeting with his editors: http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=4384108&postcount=8529
copypaste from the post by Hata:
1. yes, it is Kodansha.
2. out before “Spring” (next year) ?
3. a non denial denial of moving to Betsu Shonen Magazine, a monthly. apparently, everything is still possible. (including back to the weekly.)
Thanks for the info. ^_^
Ah good, Akamatsu-sama. I appreciated, in detail, your terrific work on LH and MNM, and it’s great to hear that you haven’t disappeared into a South Pacific island, like maybe old Kwajalein, that appears to be Ayaka’s now. And since your early volumes of “Magister Negima Magi” took manga to a new high, I anticipate your new work to raise the bar again. For me it doesn’t have to be about Negi, because I’ve gotten over fretting about the story after Shiori zap-kisses Asuna. I realize she had to disappear for a while, but still . . .
I presume to advise: more realism and less magic will yield a more magical story — as in “Love Hina” and the exquisite first 100 periods of “Negima!” I think ultimately adults will be your main audience, especially after your current teenage audience grows up. This adult thanks you for all your great effort, and please accept my encouragement for your continued work. (William M. Carhart)
In “Ah good, Akamatsu-sama . . .” above replace “exquisite first 100 periods” with “magnificent first 100 periods.” I know. Peenchi. But it’s an important difference. Those first chapters (periods) are more than exquisite; they’re magnificent. (WMC)
More Negima: Just got the paperback vol. 36, whioh I like much better than downprinting stuff off the net. For one thing, it’s MUCH easier to find things. As we all know, in period 334 the magnificent Asuna, daughter of Amaterasu, who is the mother of Japan, finally blossoms fully. As daughter of Amaterasu that makes Asuna a sister of Japan. Her words “I really, truly am the legendary princess of a magicl kingdom” I take to mean that she is a sister-princess of Japan! Also she says, “I heard your voices.” [of the girls of 3-A] Our voices? Yes. The sister-princess of Japan heard our voices — a stretch probably, but I like this take. Also, that cloud of cherry blossoms accompanying Asuna’s resurrection ritual this time indicates rebirth insead of transience and death. The panels in which Asuna and Negi wield the white wing sword together are out-there-terrific.
If the author had stopped here at the end of volume 36, all would be good with me. Unfinished as it would have been it would still be better than a schizophrenic meander among alternate time-spaces. Like Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, it would nonetheless have been complete. With Negi and Asuna partners forever. Forget his father. He’s barely relevant.
Of course, put Yue as noir detective in another story. Maybe with Motoko and the gang at Hinata Inn. I presume that’s how Mei Sakura from “Negima!” got to attend the wedding at the very end of “Love Hina.” (WMC)
I’ve got to take some time to see what I need to order, manga-wise. ^_^;;;
>Of course, put Yue as noir detective in another story.
I’d read that story from Akamatsu-sensei. ^_^
Yeah. So would I. Or anything even remotely like it. (WMC)
On complaints about fan-service in Akamatsu-sensei’s work: Grow up guys and girls. As a fully hetero adult male, I think it’s great. It’s NOT criminally exploitive. It’s titillating and fun. Though differing from American, the almost-casual Japanese appreciation of R and X-rated graphics should be accepted as a cultural gift. (WMC)
Again,not about Negima, but I couldn’t find a better place to put it. Finally found a tolerable manga about psychics. I picked up “A Certain Scientific Railgun,” and couldn’t put it down. Plot is the usual: Psy-powered junior high girls confronting evil cabals of business and government. (See, these guys are going to use the psy powers for nerdy, nefarious schemes) But the early action is so well integrated into daily life of the characters that I had no trouble suspending disbelief. The theme is science with a few, believable embellishments.
Human brains do have a faint magnetic field, and if you exaggerate it enough in fiction you can get all kinds of neat effects — like with one of the heroines, Mikoto “Railgun” Misaka, who can control electromagnetic energy. She can throw lightning containing a billion volts, and she can thumb-fire tokens, like Mana Tatsumia from “Negima!,” at three times the speed of sound! Hence “railgun.” But she laments that they melt after 50 meters. Imagine the sonic boom when she flips one. PING. Shows up in a large panel when she takes down a bad guy. Moreover, there’s a nice, clueless boy schoolmate who can nullify her strikes. Sehr interessant.
When thunderstorms belch lightning strikes that are close, the FLASH and the BANG occur simultaneously — sun-bright and ear shatteringly loud. I’ve been there when a two-feet-thick bolt of superheated plasme hit the ground only 50 feet away. Pretty spectacular. In addition, moderate strikes have at least 10,000 amps. That’s incomprehensible. Household appliances use curent measured in thousandTHs of an amp.
So the thirteen-year-old girl Railgun Misaka can manipulate (1 billion)(10,000) = 1 trillion watts of power! Waay cool. Presumably Negi Springfield uses his dios tukos with the same zap. It’s lots of fun in the hands of the cute, “energetic” middle schooler, Mikoto Misaka.
Character graphics are excellent, and the evildoers are realistically nasty and murderous.
Did yall read the cover article in the latest “Wired?” (WMC)
I don’t think I’ve ever read “Wired.”
“Wired” is an IT mag. easily accessible at newstands or bookstores. I sneak a peek there sometimes. Published by very knowledgable, no BS people. Good cover article about the futitlity of passwords. (WMC)
Yeah, I know of the magazine, but I’ve just never read it. Coming from the IT field, I do know of the futility of passwords, but sadly, too many companies are password-mad, making things more difficult than they need to be.
MUST fix a typing error from November 27th. (1 billion)(10,000) = 10 trillion (not 1) watts of power! Still hard to fathom. (WMC)
About a nanosecond after I sent my infobulletin of Nov. 29 it came to me: “He’s gotta know about IT and Wired. Why did I send that?” Sorry. Hard to stop teaching — even pointlessly. (WMC)
After much thought about and detailed reading of “Negima!,” I have to stay with this position: The story is not about Nagi, Arika, the Life Maker, magic power battles, time travel, vampires, etc. Those are just the usual plot fillers in manga. The main theme is not even about Negi, except for his obsession as a plot driver. It’s about “Asuna and the 30-A girls at Mahora Academy and mundus magicus.
There are so many anomalies in this work due to magic and time-travel that nothing obtains when we try to force consistency on the story. But it doesn’t matter. I like Akamatsu-sama’s deliberate disconnects, starting with small ones in “Love Hina.” Then he casually puts them in “Negima!” to move the plot along a circuitous and fascinating line. A major one, the appearance of his father Nagi six years ago when he apparently died ten years ago, starts the party. I suspect that might have been a mistake. I don’t recall any serious attempt by KA to justify it. Time travel? Our assumption.
Asuna’s paradoxes are certainly a main plot line — and a tour de force by the author. Her whole character is based on selectively portrayed inconsistencies, starting in period 1 with her ability to lift Negi by his head with one hand at arms length. Otherwise, she’s just a regular girl with a little attitude. Later, in period 170 Setsuna presides over “The Nine Great Secrets of Asuna Kagurazaka,” which include that Asuna learns and retains information very well. So why the bad grades in school? In fact, most of those secrets are inconsistent with Asuna’s portrayal as a regular girl — a great plot machine.
There are others. She disappears into the bastion of the all-powerful Life Maker, and the other girls have a chance to shine. But in period 334, with ONLY help from their thoughts, Asuna escapes and returns triumphantly in a panel that takes up and entire two-page spread. A double, but wonderful inconsistency.
Asuna’a magic-canceling ablility contains many inconsistencies. It’s supposed to be uniformly powerful, but it doesn’t work against black market chocolates or a forgetfulness drug given to her by Negi in period 215. So to defeat her power just feed her? Why don’t bad guys like the Fates try that? Finally, Shiori’s capture-kiss is the ultimate insult. Asuna had NO resistance to that, but she escapes the dungeon of the Whatchacallit with only the help of the thought-balloons of the girls of 3-A? That’s pretty shaky for a princess with life-restoring magical power as well as magic-canceling ability. And what about Konoka? Doesn’t she have the most power? Why can’t she just wave her fans and poof the bad guys, including the Life Maker? However, my point is that none of these inconsistencies matter. They’re placed there to give us a good story.
Of course, Chisame’s and Eva’s jealousy are not inconsistent at all. They know that Asuna and Negi are close partners. I claim they are VERY close partners.
On the precipitous ending, I’ve had the suspicion for some time that Akamatsu just got tired of keeping all the eggs in the air. And he should have quit after period 334. I think he wanted to. Among other hints the cover of the paperback volume 36 containing period 334 suggests it. Asuna and Negi swinging the white-wing sword together. Great stuff. (WMC)
Interesting stuff. ^_^
I would disagree slightly that the main plot isn’t about Negi and his quest to find his father. I think that is the main thrust of Negima!, with Asuna and the other girls providing the B-elements.
Drat. Another glitch. At the end of “After much thought . . .” above, the terminal period should be 335, not 334. Akamatsu-sensei should have stopped after period 335. (WMC)
Re: “I would disagree slightly . . .” [Dec. 6] I thought so too until I started to put the characters and the various subplots together after I had read vol. 36. Then it suddenly came to me that although Negi’s obsession drives the a-plot line, Asuna’s actions drive Negi. And not just directly as his rescuer. Without her, Negi’s story wouldn’t fly nearly as well. Without her, “Negima!” wouldn’t have been such a major success. She enervates much of the plot, yes even after Shiori does a job on her. The direction changes to rescuing her. Also, she had initiated ala alba, for example. It’s now obvious, to me at least, that Asuna’s ascendance as a magical princess was the author’s agenda from the beginning, not Negi’s failure to find his father. No, he didn’t really find him, did he? That appearance of Nagi as the Life Maker is pretty bogus, Mr. Akamatsu. It’s worth it to belabor the point that after period 335, in which Asuna has saved everybody, the story rapidly slides into chaos; though her 130-year trip into the future is fun; and is closed down so quickly as to explode consternation in most of the literate world.
Yes, Negi certainly drives the bus, but I think Asuna and the girls are the engine. Especially Asuna. A great amount of effort was put into her design and engineering. E.g. I perceive her graphics as better, sometimes much better, than Negi’s. She sees Negi’s magic very early: the eraser that he suspended for a split second above his head in period 1, and of course his catching a falling Nodoka. Asuna’s gradual, subtle exposure as a magical girl throughout the saga qualifies as a masterpiece. The ending (periods 334 & 335) finds Asuna rescuing Negi AGAIN, embracing him VERY closely from behind (love that graphic), and swinging the white wing sword with him. From the drawing it’s clear that she is leading! And is just as strong. Ultimately then she reincarnates the magical world. By herself. I think that was the intent from the beginning, what was it, ten years ago? (WMC)
Well, there’s no doubt that Asuna was a main part of the mix. Man, has it really been 10-years? ^_^;;;
YES! Negima ended way too soon ~
Yeah, it did.
Last “Negima!” I just put the covers of vols. 1 & 36 side by side. On the first one Negi and Asuna appear about equal in importance, but she is already Negi’s partner. On the second cover Asuna has grown to be greater in importance and power than Negi. She is clearly leading with the white-wing sword. The text of periods 334 & 335 explicitly confirms this. Furthermore, Negi could be replaced by a different ten-year-old boy without reducing the success of the work. Not so with Asuna.
I probably won’t buy volumes 37 and 38 IF they come out, even with the Nibleys. The game’s been over for some time. It was magnificent work, Mr. Akamatsu. (WMC)
Well, I’m going to go ahead and buy them and complete the set. If Akamatsu-sensei returns to the series, then everything will be cool. ^_^
Thanx, ANB, ‘sbeen great fun & I ‘preciate how uncluttered your blog is. Your tolerance of divergent opinions is above the call, sincerely, Wm. M. Carhart
Sounds like you are vacating the premises. ^_^;
All be Bach. (WMC)
Har!
Oh pfui, another disappointing work by a Japanese master: “Children Who Chase Lost Voices” by Makoto Shinkai. With great anticipation today I watched it and was crestfallen when, after a beautiful start, it degenerated into the usual sci-fi delusions on traditional mythology of another world beneath us, hell to be exact, that all civilizations have in some form. The main character, Asuna, is developed well enough; but the plot is obviously a direct copy of two of Miyazaki’s great works, “Spirited Away” and “Tales from Earthsea;” and Shinkai’s wow-color-backgrounds, though pretty, are a little too cartoon-y for me in this opus. Copying Miyazaki’s backgrounds seems like a good idea until you try it. That subtle balance between reality and magic is probably impossible unless you work in Studio Ghibli with HM looking over your shoulder. Shinkai’s sky-scapes are of course terrific and original, but several of Miyazaki’s iconic scenes are directly copied! E.g. the single insect on a blade of grass, a breeze through a small stand of flowers on stalks, a small clear brook flowing over a berm, close-ups of ambient plants in a meadow, the ominous shadow suddenly flowing over the heroine, acurate details of rocks and walls, and fast sunsets and sunrises through trees or clouds — all of which I love. When they’re done by Miyazaki. Now even good copies can’t quite light my lantern.
And of course with Shinkai the story is about loss of love, though Asuna is reunited with her mother. The closing song “Hello and Goodbye, Hello” should have been the theme for one of the best animated movies ever, Shinkai’s “5 Centimeters per Second.” None of my objections above apply to it. The second “hello” in the song is followed by “to a world without you.” Very short. Very sad.
This disk goes in my inactive file. The best thing I got from it was how to pronounce “Asuna.” AHsunuh. (WMC)
I hadn’t seen it nor heard of it. ^_^;
As the king of swing Count Basie announced at tne third ending of his April in Paris, “one more one.” Okay, it wasn’t a mistake. That anomalous device of Negi’s father’s appearance to rescue him from the demons attacking his village, when his father was apparently dead, is deliberate. I had forgotten that in period 4 Negi tells Asuna: “Everyone says that person died. But I can’t believe that he’s dead.” In the graphics Negi is remembering his rescue six years ago and gripping his wand that his father had given him on that occasion. This exchange with Asuna is apparently put in the story to introduce the reader to Negi’s obsessive quest to find his father — the obvious, driving plot-line of “Negima!” And Negi doesn’t shed his obsession until the end of period 334.
But there’s tons of things that are NOT obvious in this work, and I think some are more important — my favorite being that Asuna’s portrayal is so carefully selective that it’s not obvious to the reader how complex she is. Her very gradual, very subtle exposure as a magincal princess stands as a masterpiece of character development. (WMC)
I just wonder how Akamatsu-sensei will explain that appearance by Nagi in the past.
I’m not sure he should. Has to be time-travel, and that introduces all kinds of paradoxes, complexities and even more inexplicible doings.
I’m happy with it now. (WMC)
Time travel was part of my “Nagi is Negi” theory, but since that was wrong, I figure we’ll get something dumb.
Cassiopeia was a lot of fun used for extrememly short time-travel. A lot of reality and a little magic, but epoch-sized jumps? Ugly. Unconvincing.
Indulging in another never-miss-a-panel reading of “Negima!,” I see at the very beginning of volume 1 in “A Word from the Author” that Akamatsu writes”: “The 31 beautiful girls in his [Negi’s] class all have unique personalities . . . maybe they’re the real protagonists of Negima!?”
Confirmation! Rhetorical questions like this are a standard way of politely, Japanesely stipulating the answer, and for me there’s no doubt. Akamatsu established his agenda at the beginning. The girls are the real plot-drivers of the story. And subsequently, obviously Asuna develops as their navigator. (WMC)
The manga ends with a massive, epoch-sized jump back in time and across parallel universes apparently. ^_^;
Yes. Much too confusing and chaotic for my taste. I soon lose the desire to track it all. (WMC)
My only other idea for Nagi’s premature death is that he’s not dead. An enormous mess for the plot. (WMC)
Well, from the way the manga ended, I’d say he’s not dead, which is what was stated all along.
Still finding stuff I missed the first twenty times through “Negima!” At the end of vol. 4 in the “Original Concept Art” for Setsuna there appears in very small print: “After leaving Kanto she went to train with Mo**ko.” Motoko? Yes, probably! Another connection between “Negima!” and “Love Hina.” I love this kind of thing. Oh, wait, wait, wait. This quote comes from “Omnibus 2.” In the separate volume 4 it says: “After leaving Kanto, she goes to learn from Oko (Maruko?)” Both copyrighted 2004. Whaat?
Naturally, in manga the boundary between marketing and art snakes all over the place, and for a ten-year opus perfect consistency can’t be expected, especially in view of Akamatsu-sama’s sometimes deliberate ambiguity. But I think he navigates extremely well. I really enthuse over his work, and I look forward to his next effort. (WMC)
Yeah, it is pretty much assumed to be true that Matoko & her sister trained Setsuna. I’m not where I can look at my volume 4 tankoubon so I don’t know how the original Japanese text is. However, I’d trust the omnibus over Del Rey’s volume 4 any day.
Thanks. In the 30th period when Konoka explains her and Setsuna’s childhood to Asuna and Negi, in the black-bordered panel (bottom of what I figure is page 90 in Omnibus 2) it definitely appears to be Motoko’s hand that Setsuna is holding as they enter the gate in the distant background. Motoko’s sister is on their left and taller. This one small image confirmed my conjecture that Setsuna had been trained by them. I even have an old annotation on the page to that effect! The many mentions of “the shinmei school” had initially triggered my belief.
I have no Japanese, but the omnibi’s dialog is much more consistant and sensible with the graphics. So much so that one wonders if it’s the same story sometimes. And even for a non-speaker the whole focus of the story suddenly clears. (WMC)
>The many mentions of “the shinmei school” had initially triggered my belief.
Yeah, that was Akamatsu-sensei’s way of nodding to Love Hina. He did something similar with A.I. Love You when Hakase started considering the idea of Chachamaru having emotions and she mentioned a brother and sister team at MIT doing AI work.
Oh, one more thing. That Nagi is alive in one time-space doesn’t compute necessarily for another. Hence my position about the chaotic nature of the ending. (WMC)
Ah, good point.
I’ve always been in a quandry about the quote from uncle-grandpa Stan six years ago: “He did us all a favor when he died,” in period 65; and Albiero Imma’s whole artifact, illusionary thing when he fights Negi during the Budokai in period 117. I can’t find it now, but didn’t Imma tell Negi that his father was alive? Also AI says he doesn’t remember anything from six years ago during Negi’s rescue from the demons by Nagi, so it couldn’t have been AI using his artifact as Negi asks. Therefore, it was Nagi, but how? My best explanation is that those are disconnected time-spaces. Magic and quantum physics together. Pretty paradoxical. (WMC)
Al also said that he wasn’t the one who appeared as Nagi.
Mea culpa. At the bookstore, making sure no one saw me, I snatched vol. 37, snuck to the back of the coffee shop and read every panel. Maybe I had been wrong, maybe I had missed something off the internet. Maybe Mr. Akamatsu had performed magic and redeemed “Negima!” while I wasn’t looking. His last chance, and he missed it. Negi as a pue-bred vampire who will be ten years old forever. Tertium-Fate as a teacher in a girls’ junior high school!? C’mon man, get real. (Oops, my mistake. I’m missing the point). My beloved Asuna not as herself, but as an avatar of that little tool of the Ostians. AArrg. I really don’t like this time-space. I don’t blame the author for wanting out of it. I don’t and won’t buy it. I left 37 on the shelf in the bookstore. (WMC)
I wasn’t a fan of the multi-universe thing, but that was the only way to avoid certain problems posed by changing time. 🙁 I was rather hoping for a resolution that completed the circle.
Yes. Negi as Nagi would have gone a good way towards it. I can think of some plots to join all the lines, but few of them are worth mentioning. They’re boring, stupid or out-there-crazy. My least dumb was as in cahoots with Makoto Shinkai and his orbital elevator in “The Place Promised in our Early Days.” Remember Ako had that title on her shirt when she met Negi as a fifteen-year-old for the first time when he caught her from falling with the bass guitar over her back. No. I give up. (WMC)
I do remember the shirt.
Art, including manga, should stand or fall by itself. The author’s history is an elephant. After period 335 “Negima!” is such a mess that the author shouldn’t try to fix it. Please, let’s have some reality-based fantasy with a little magic that you do so well, Mr Akamatsu. (WMC)
I’ll save the discussion of 335+ for my volume 37 review. ^_~
I’ll look for it. I’m curious about potential plots, but I’m moving on, awaiting Mr. Akamatsu’s next. I certainly appreciate your responses. Thanks much. (WMC)
Which reminds me, I need to write the review for the next volume.