魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 36
Negima! Volume 36

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For detailed chapter summaries of Negima! Volume 36 with chapter reviews, look below.

• Chapter 325
• Chapter 326
• Chapter 327
• Chapter 328
• Chapter 329
• Chapter 330
• Chapter 331
• Chapter 332
• Chapter 333
• Chapter 334
• Chapter 335

Story highlights have Fate and Negi have a battle of wills and magic, but because they are gripping hands, various moments from Fate’s past are shown, including how he met Shiori. Fate decides to agree to Negi’s plan for the time being. Setsuna manages to defeat Tsukuyomi. Poyo decides to concede her battle with Mana. However, the Mage of the Beginning appears, resurrecting all those of Cosmo Entelecheia who’d been “killed” and the fight is on. Eva shadow gates in before going unleashed while the Headmaster, Eishun, Al, Jack, Takahata, and Gatou also join the fray. Despite beating Cosmo Entelecheia, the Mage of the Beginning steps forward until a now freed Asuna combines her power with Negi to destroy the mage, revealing its identity to be that of Nagi. Asuna restores the Magic World, and the celebrations are on.

I’ve had this volume for ages, but with the combination of a massive work schedule combined with a lot of anime I was watching, I just put off reviewing this volume. Even when I had some time, I still delayed because this volume still depresses me.

I liked the chapters that explored Fate’s past. It helps round out the character, but still keeps him as someone who does his own thing, which is how the character has been from the start (aiding others has always been something I saw Fate doing because it suited him to do so).

The best part of the chapter is having another Eva dues ex machina arrival, then finally show her true power for a bit. We had hints of it, more so when Nagi and Eva had a final match, but this took the cake.

Asuna’s return struck a, “well, it is about bloody time” chord with me. I had become quite tired of the “we’ve almost rescued her, but then we failed” that kept happening in the story. Unfortunately, the way she returned just in time to perform her own deus ex machina moment didn’t sit well with me for some reason.

Showing Nagi to possibly be the Mage of the Beginning and then dropping it was a “meh” moment, mainly because Akamatsu-sensei was just desperately trying to end the Magic World arc with this volume. He succeeded, but at the cost of having the ultimate end be 100% unsatisfying for me.

On the Kodansha side, I can’t speak to any grammar or typo errors since it has been way too long since I actually read the volume (and I didn’t feel like re-reading it again this time out since I didn’t want to be depressed). There are a few translator notes, the Japanese honorifics are here, and the cover line art with notes are there.

So there’s good and bad in the volume with only two to go.