October 28th, 2009 
AstroNerdBoy 魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 30 Chapter 268 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 268
Negima! Manga Vol 30 Ch 268 Review
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
With the imminent collapse of the floating islands of Ostia, the Megalomesembrian assists in the evacuation of Ostia as magic does not work. Upon hearing that the slums of Ostia are slow to be evacuated, Arika decides to head there herself to assist since her magical abilities are not negated by the nullification going on all around them. Before she can leave, Nagi contacts her and though she has little time for him, she does agree to have him help with the evacuation before she orders him to get as far away from Ostia as possible. Young Kurt asks for Al and tells him that should they be caught, they would likely be arrested. Al promises to get Nagi away and Nagi is frustrated with Arika’s stubbornness.
Ostia saw a 3% death rate as a result of the magical nullification that brought the islands to the ground. Despite the fact that she had saved so many people, many refused to believe that someone of her rank would go out of their way to save the less fortunate.
Two months later while making a case for her people to the Senate, she is arrested for the death of her father and her suspected ties with Cosmo Entelecheia as well as for the incident that caused the fall of Ostia. Because of the refugee problem, slavery is legalized to appease those taking in the refugees. Two years later, she is scheduled to be executed as the Megalomesembrian government succeeded in getting most of the population to blame Arika for the problems. Ten days later, she is visited by a senator who demands to know a way to reach the graveyard where apparently Princess Asuna is sealed away. Arika won’t speak and the senator decides that her death will be enough.
Meanwhile, Nagi and Ala Rubra have been going around helping people in conflict areas and saving lives. Kurt Gödel contacts them in the middle of an operation to save people with the news of Arika’s impending death. He is frustrated with Nagi, who has great power and reputation, for not doing something for Arika and for following her advice to save others. Kurt rejects this notion because he feels Nagi’s love for Arika should rule, but Nagi points out that even now, he saved a life.
Ten days later, Arika is taken to Cerberus Canyon, which is filled with various monsters and no magic can be performed there. It has long been a point of execution and Arika is made to walk the plank. Arika hopes her death will help the people and her only regret is not getting to see Nagi’s face once more.
Thoughts/Review:
It is interesting how the Megalomesembrian government used the crisis in Ostia to control that land AND basically make a new slave class. This notion is not uncommon and has happened throughout history. Heck, Rahm Emanuel said in late 2008, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Clearly, the Megalomesembrian government had their eye on Ostia for a long time from how I read the chapter but the crisis caused by the fall of Ostia allowed them to pretend to help people while in fact becoming overlords of sorts.
I understand Gödel’s disillusionment with Ala Rubra and Nagi. We’ll see how the story progresses, but if Arika turns out to be truly dead, then that would certainly explain Gödel’s anger and desire to destroy the world since he seemed very devoted to Arika (I dare say he loved her). IF Arika is still alive somehow, then his anger at the world is harder to understand for me.
Well, we’ll see if Nagi saves her or not. The way things are set up now, Nagi making some sort of flashy rescue of Arika seems impossible since such an event would be harder to cover up by the government (too many people to witness it). If Nagi did that, it seems that Ala Rubra would be implicated by association but we know that Takahata often travels to the Magic World and does the work that Ala Rubra did when he was a youth. Eishun is allowed to live on Earth rather than being taken in for execution. Jack was basically underground and Al was literally hidden underground, Nagi “died,” Gatou did die and somehow Asuna is whisked away by Takahata to Japan.
Asuna. Now, this is interesting. Asuna’s memory-dream indicated a fight of some sort and it seems highly likely that Ala Rubra rescued her then. There are some bits that don’t quite make sense to me such as what happened with Asuna after they rescued her, if indeed this is during the war. Also, how was she used to cause the fall of Ostia? I may need to try to reread everything and figure that out.
This chapter seems to indicate that Asuna was sealed in the fallen ruins of Ostia (possibly where Asuna is currently held captive). So, it seems that Ala Rubra would have to rescue her yet again in order for her to travel with them. If Arika dies, I can see Nagi doing this to honor Arika since Asuna seemed important to Arika.
Of course, we still have the Eva problem. I’d love for Akamatsu-sensei to clarify this more as to when Eva was with Ala Rubra. For her to not recognize Asuna strongly suggests she was never around Asuna when Asuna was with Ala Rubra (the eyes alone would give Asuna away). So Eva could have spent some time with Ala Rubra after the war (indeed, Nagi may have taken her for a refugee child initially). Maybe I’ll hash this out more in a separate article.
Well, another exposition chapter that still needs at least one more chapter to wrap it up. Gödel’s talk has raised more questions than it has answered. *lol*
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On the Arika rescue front, I am wondering if Jack and Al will be the ones to rescue her rather than Nagi, as Nagi seems to have given his word or honouring what he sees as her wishes not to rescue her but help as many other people as he can instead. They were curious by their abscence when Kurt contacted Nagi and as you pointed out both of them have been underground for some time. Rescuing Arika and incurring the wrath of MM would be a good reason for this, and it is even possible they could attempt to rescue Arika without Nagi asking them to.
As for Asuna I get the impression that she is trapped in the Ostian palace through the sealing process. It is also possible that this could explain the age discrepancy if the sealing halted time for her in some way. IIRC Fate’s group was reliant on magic currents to be able to reach the palace and it is possible that Nagi had to do the same and this is why she was not immediately rescued.
As well as the Asuna/Eva issue there is also the Arika/Asuna issue as Arika has never appeared in any of Asuna’s flashbacks. Assuming that Arika is Negi’s mother and there is no other issue that makes Negi older than he appears, she should be alive then raising the question of where is she. One possibility is she is pregnant with Negi at this point and so not travelling.
Anyway it looks likely that next weeks chapter will finish up this story and may answer some of our questions while no doubt raising a lot more
I posted this idea in the theories thread at AQS forums.
“Ok, since there’s some people talking about the possibility of Arika going into hiding with a more anonymous identity, perhaps I can throw this random idea into that possibility…
Let’s suppose that Arika is with, of all families, the Yukihiro family (okay so that may not be anonymous…). She probably would have a different hairstyle, have one of those fancy fans to cover her face or wearing some kind of veil that only covers her eyes, and possibly magic tricks to keep people from seeing through her disguise. And there’s the possibility that she speaks to someone else to speak for her.”
With each chapter, the story gets better and better as well as ever more complex and wonderful. This is, in my opinion one of the best fantasy stories ever. Period. I am especially taken by how it has evolved from a apparently simple gag-filled story seemingly aimed at children to one complex enough that intelligent adults can’t see what’s going to happen next, yet once we see what does happen, it seems logical and natural, going with the flow of the story. And yet, many things mentioned from the very beginning are only now beginning to make sense, telling us that the author isn’t making it up as he go, but has the whole story finished from end to end already. As MANY things are yet still unexplained, we can only speculate on where the story will eventually go from here on. I find this truly awesome.
Sorry about the ramblings. I just had to tell someone who understand.
amazing this is really great
I’m still sticking with my theories about Gödel being an Eva-esque good guy. Much more strongly after this chapter, even.
Obviously at least part of his motivation is jet-black hatred of the MS senate, and he’d love to see most of them die very badly. He probably gets a stiffy just thinking about it. And just as obviously, he bitterly resents that everyone (as far as he knows) bought their lies. But I don’t think that can be extrapolated to saying he wants to destroy the world.
My money’s on “MM really is in danger of collapse, and the MS senate has some insane notion of turning that to their advantage at the cost of tens of millions of lives. The grief and bitterness has driven Gödel pretty close to bats#!t, but he’s right. In the end, the critical element will be that Negi can take advantage of the fact that Tosaka is more right about how the common people feel than Gödel is.”
Despite the best nonstop propaganda money can buy, people should (and usually do) instinctively recognize when they’re getting screwed. Maybe not right away, but it’s hard to miss after years on end.
I think Akamatsu-sensei may be trying to get that across to his fans on both sides of the Pacific. (Personally I think he’s wrong that anything can be done about it, but I prefer to hope.) And I suspect that the eventual end of this arc will be reminiscent of the Festival, with a great big everyone-working-together-happyfest.
@ANB: I’m kinda confused by why you’re saying Nagi can’t rescue Arika.
1) Her method of execution is extremely reminiscent of the old “leave the boy who’s prophesied to overthrow the king out to die,” which has been used for millennia to explain why heroes aren’t really dead. And arguably the attack on Negi’s village represents the MS senate’s belated realization that they were wrong.
2) The people you mention are all arguably out of reach of the MS senate, either hidden or surrounded by powerful groups on Earth. I’ll take your word for it that Takahata frequently travels to MM, but he still spends most of his time at Mahora.
Oh, file-system-check a monkey.
Rereading what you were saying and adding it up, I think I get what Fate’s doing. Asuna’s power, not Asuna herself, was sealed in the ruins… leaving only enough to nullify magic that directly hits her body. They’re trying to reawaken it as the key to finish pushing the magic that created MM over the edge.
And that might loosely tie in with the ending of the anime, if the writers saw advance outline notes.
@Mister Random — On the Arika rescue front, I am wondering if Jack and Al will be the ones to rescue her rather than Nagi…
That would be a good speculation to save her without Nagi getting involved. Of course, Kurt may arrange to have it done himself. After all, Al didn’t get sealed into hiding just before Nagi “died.”
As to Arika, if she is saved as most everyone believes will happen, then traveling around with Nagi at all has to be out of the question if she wants to stay alive. After all, if the Senate KNOWS she’s alive, then they’d seem to do whatever it would take to kill her after officially stating she is dead.
@Philip — Let’s suppose that Arika is with, of all families, the Yukihiro family (okay so that may not be anonymous…). She probably would have a different hairstyle, have one of those fancy fans to cover her face or wearing some kind of veil that only covers her eyes, and possibly magic tricks to keep people from seeing through her disguise.
Well, she’d need to hide in a manner as you’ve described or as a new person completely. Since wiping Arika’s memories the way Asuna’s was done would seem to be the best way to hide her for real as a mind reader could scan her and not pick up that this was Arika. That’s why to me, her being Nekane would work so perfectly — her memories get wiped, resulting in a new personality and she gets a new, perfect illusionary body. Then, she could hide out in the open as a normal girl, though with some connection to Nagi.
@Astrojensen — I agree. Akamatsu-sensei has made an extraordinary shounen manga that shines above anything else I’ve read in the shounen market. Yes, he tosses bones to the shounen and otaku crowds, but overall, he has a well thought out, intelligent and very engrossing story.
@arimareiji — You may be right about Kurt. The difference between Kurt and Eva is that from the start, Eva’s photo in the registry had words from Takahata-sensei which basically flagged her as someone Negi could trust. That never squared with me until the end of volume 3 and the beginning of volume 4. We haven’t been given that yet for Kurt, but Akamatsu-sensei is known for turning opponents into allies (Eva, Chachamaru, Kotaro) and even making opponents “not quite so evil” (Eva, Graf Herrman).
As to Arika, I’m not saying Nagi can’t rescue her but I am saying it would be problematic for him to do so based on how the story has been set up and what we know of Nagi afterward. So I can’t see Nagi openly rescuing Arika but I can see him arranging to have it done.
I’ll take your word for it that Takahata frequently travels to MM, but he still spends most of his time at Mahora.
I’m rereading the manga and while Takahata may spend a majority of his time at Mahora, he is away several times and during the Mahora Festival, Mei mentions how popular Takahata is and how he still does missions on MW.
arimareiji said…Rereading what you were saying and adding it up, I think I get what Fate’s doing. Asuna’s power, not Asuna herself, was sealed in the ruins… leaving only enough to nullify magic that directly hits her body. They’re trying to reawaken it as the key to finish pushing the magic that created MM over the edge.
If that is the case, where is Asuna?
ANB: If that is the case, where is Asuna?
Right now? In the ruins with them, I would think. I don’t think her power is a separate physical entity located there, but rather there’s something there which allowed them to seal it and which is needed to unseal it.
Back then, at the point in time Gödel is recapping? Dunno, but it needs to be out of the reach and knowledge of the MS senate. Possibly sent forward in time?
Thanks for the Takahata reference. When you first said it I was curious, but had no idea where to look. Hypothesis: The kids escaped notice since they weren’t full members?
ANB: Eva’s photo in the registry had words from Takahata-sensei which basically flagged her as someone Negi could trust.
I thought that was a flub in the Del Rey version. I can’t read Japanese, but the fan translation says “Talk to me if she becomes a problem”, and the Chuang Yi version says “If she gives you problems, come to me.”
Regardless of whether or not she actually meant to kill Negi the first time she attacked him (and I think there’s a case for it), the phrase “Ask her advice if you’re in trouble” does seem a bit over-optimistic…
Perhaps Nagi rushes to Arika’s side and ‘dies’ with her. Its been said that people ‘know’ how Nagi died (Eva mentioned this in volume 4). So if he died in front of many with someone else that dies, they are both assumed dead.
@93143 — Gah! You are probably right. This is why I wish Del Rey would just retranslate from scratch ALL of the volumes that Peter David did early on to get rid of the incorrect information.
@mastermack0 — His apparent death (possibly in Istanbul) always seemed to me to be what everyone referred to. If he were dead earlier, then he couldn’t have died again 10-years ago. Further, he wouldn’t have been allowed to wander the MW or Earth IMO.
yeah, i take back my theory. Spoilers are out by the way.
http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq272/paganmack0/1256796502353.jpg
http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq272/paganmack0/1256796571023.jpg
http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq272/paganmack0/1256796613002.jpg
Good thing these have been saved because the Japanese links are already dead and there were two sets of those.
>>>I thought that was a flub in the Del Rey version. I can’t read Japanese, but the fan translation says “Talk to me if she becomes a problem”, and the Chuang Yi version says “If she gives you problems, come to me.”
Heh. I went and checked the Spanish manga (by Glénat), and they went with a much more ambiguous: “Si hay problemas, consultar”, which translates to “If there are problems, ask”. They do not say if Takahata means “problems caused by her”, or just overall problems, and they omit the object of the verb, so you don’t know if Takahata means to ask him (which could be a “consultarme” instead of “consultar” to make the object explicit) or to ask her, as the one being talked about.
I also have a Croatian version of the manga, but I can’t read it >_> Just bought it on impulse when I was over there.
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