魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 26 Chapter 240 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 240

Summary/Synopsis:

Kotaro is still training in the Diorama Magic Sphere while Illusion-Eva has transferred Negi into her scroll. Nodoka wonders how Negi can physically train in the scroll since that scroll is for mental training. Illusion-Eva is impressed by Nodoka’s knowledge and confirms her statement, but says she doesn’t know what Negi is planning.

It is time for their match against Jack Rakan and Kagetarou and Negi and Kotaro haven’t emerged from training. With no time to spare, both emerge and are hurried to transform to their teen forms as well as wear new combat gear provided by Ricardo. They arrive at the stadium with a worried Tosaka and cronies afraid of the riots that would have happened should “Nagi” not have shown. They are met by Yuuna, Makie, Akira, and Natsumi with Kotaro telling Natsumi that should they lose, he’ll stay here with her so as not to face the wrath of Chizuru. Negi looks for Ako, but she’s not there so Akira has a message for Negi saying that he’s believed in and wishing him well.

In the fortified stadium (to protect the crowds), Jack and Kagetarou face Kotaro and Negi. Negi says he’s found something else to fight for and asks Jack if Jack will accept Negi as a man should Negi win. Jack agrees, so Negi promises to come full power and pulls out his pactio card.

Thoughts/Review:

I’m guessing Akamatsu-sensei is doing this on purpose so as to differentiate the real Eva from this Illusion-Eva, but have you noticed the wild-eyed look Illusion-Eva has?

That aside, it will be interesting to see what tricks Negi picked up within Eva’s scroll. I do have a theory about that. His card clearly depicts a kid and knowing the nature of pactio cards with their “henshin” (transformation) abilities upon the user, that would be bad if Negi activated his artifact and suddenly turned into Negi-form. So one of the things he may have studied would have been a way to prevent that. Just a theory. Also, whatever his artifact is, no doubt he worked on how to use that to maximum effect.

Jacks comments on it being an issue if Negi didn’t show up for the tournament struck me for some reason. One never knows what Jack is up to or whether there’s some bigger plan going on here but his wording did catch my eye.

With Tosaka back in the picture, there’s a lot of talk of him betraying Negi and company as soon as the tournament is over, regardless of whether Negi wins or loses. While I think there is a lot of credibility in that theory, I can also see Akamatsu-sensei pulling a fast one, wherein Tosaka has already confronted Negi at some point and agreed to keep Negi’s secret. I admit that this is not likely, but for some reason, it is a thought that popped into my mind as I read this chapter.

Nodoka kinda had to take Yue’s role this chapter since she figured out what kind of training Negi actually went through within Eva’s scroll — mental training. Normally, it would be Yue making such observations but I’m glad Nodoka got a chance to shine in this regard.

So, where was Ako? The most obvious answer would seem to be that she was to nervous to see Nagi before his big match and decided to send a message. However, there’s a part of me that wonders if Makie, Yuuna, and Ako now know that “Nagi-san” is in fact “Negi-sensei.” Now, Akira does address Negi as “Nagi-san,” but that’s to be expected since Negi is in that form and considering “Negi Springfield” is a wanted criminal, she can’t very well address him as “Negi-kun” or “Negi-sensei,” especially with “Mama Bear” there. However, its the reactions of the other girls when Negi asks about Ako that makes me wonder.

Again, Akamatsu-sensei dangles the idea of a Natsumi-Kotaro pairing. Personally, I rather like the idea but that’s just me. Of course, Kotaro will need to grow up a bit but that’s OK. ^_^

Finally, I want to go back to Negi’s pactio card. That obviously confirms that he’s a minister to Theodora, who’s the magister. I’ve said this before but I’m not really a fan of this. To me, it complicates matters a lot and lessens the whole idea of being a magister in my book. After all, as I see it now, it is very possible for Konoka to pactio with Negi, only with she being the magister and he being the minister. After all, she does have a big well of magic he could draw from to power his other ministra (since he has no ministers).

While I don’t like it aesthetically, Konoka and Negi in a power-loop could make a weird sort of sense now that I think about it. She draws power from Negi for her own artifact and uses her healing magic. Negi needs the combat magic, so in a sense, Konoka could supplement Negi’s own power drain from his rather large battle harem. Further, she’d allow him to use whatever his artifact is in battle. I wonder if Akamatsu-sensei has thought about this or not.

Still, what could Negi’s artifact be? We’ll have to wait until next week, but I am amused that his card caused quite a stir for its number ( a “perfect” number) & its dual-color mention (I never noticed the color mentions before). Frankly, I think the later could be more proof of Negi actually being Nagi. Further, the way that “whatever” Negi has looked like the cheat spell book Nagi always carried amused me as well. If it does turn out to be some sort of cheat spell book, I’m going to freaking laugh, though even I’m reluctant to suggest that’s what it is.

Fortunately, I was wrong about my belief there would be a chapter break after the volume completion. Yay for being wrong! I love it in those cases. ^_~ Anyway, we’ll have to wait until next week to see what kind of artifact Negi has.