Though I've only watched the anime. It seems to be just a shallow fan service show.
I just spent five minutes trying to think of a way to explain it, but none of the variations I came up with are actually useful to someone who's already skeptical. So I'll just say: the anime is very different from the manga.
How about this: The manga has an Unexpected Genre Change halfway through, becoming a lot more actiony, and losing most of the fanservice.
It's in the third volume, and the level of fanservice is about the same, though.
DUMB
I kind of want to read this, but the problem is, a lot of examples on the wiki talk about how it's GrownTheBeard and isn't so fanservicey so more, and then every other entry is blatant fanservice. I don't know what to think.
[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.
Taking "fanservice" to mean the type with what we shall call the appreciation of the female form, the level stays pretty much the same throughout the series. It's just that the level of the Fighting Action and Shounen Battle Mindgames rises quite a lot as the series goes on.
So the fanservice is still there, and it's still quite blatant, but it's no longer the only thing in the manga. Most of the time, it appears to serve as a comedic alternative to actual injury in battle.
It also has surprisingly likeable character, and at one point it actually kinda deconstructs the concept of "side characters" or ... somesuch. I know I once added an example about this to a trope page and it was pretty cool. Anyway, you'll have trouble finding a fanservice series less shallow than this one.
PS: Sorry, no idea about music.
edited 27th Apr '09 10:29:52 PM by Fawriel
Squad Leader
I'm so glad the wiki's article on it made me check out Negima. As my avatar will attest, I love the series.
The fanservice never goes away. It's always there, and if anything it's gotten more risque as time's gone on. But I found that once you get into the characters, the plot, and the action, that takes the focus and you just sort of say "yep, there's the fanservice...can we get back to the plot now?" But the characters are endearing and wonderful, the fighting is great, and the whole series is just so damn fun that I love it wholeheartedly. It's just difficult to talk about with folk who didn't make it past the first two volumes.
My Blog thing
I just like seeing the costumes and outfits Akamatsu puts his female characters in. Yes, they get ripped apart or disintegrated or whatnot, but before that, they often look pretty good, even in casual wear.
I'm also biased towards Nodoka, so there's that.
Avvie-free for life!
Look at it this way: The characters' clothes were never invulnerable to begin with and the fighting has increased drastically. The logical outcome should be clear.
The Good Troper
And if the clothes were, we wouldn't be having to jump through these loops.
Mathematics Is A Language.
Revolution of Ruin
I'm certainly a fan of the manga. It has a good blend of serious world-threatening plots with occasional romantic-comedy sillyness and awesome battles.
One problem is the use of Anime Anatomy when combined with so much fanservice. At one point I was also reading Black Lagoon, got to a topless panel of Revy, and thought "Oh right, girls have nipples..."
You've lost. You're the Bomb Squad after the bomb's gone off. I'm the blast ongoing.
Existence Weighed Against Nonbeing
I'm pretty sure that a good chunk of the Fanservice is due to Executive Meddling, so yes, sometimes it gets in the way of the plot, but not nearly to the point that it ruins anything. The characters, action, and comedy are all good enough that it's still very much worth reading. It just takes a while to get going.
And yeah, the anime is inferior to the manga in pretty much every way.
As far as music goes, Evangeline's theme music should totally be Metallica's Master of Puppets. It just fits. Especially her insistence that Negi calls her "Master"...
edited 14th May '09 1:00:57 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image Repository
Hm, I expected more from a topic about a rather Trope Overdosed series. Where are the plot discussions? Does no one care about what appears to be the latest problem for Negi's group?
Actually, many of them are on the trope pages such as CMOA and IJBM.
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
Oh, right. This would be a good place to rant, wouldn't it? :P
.
I predict Yue will not regain her memory for a while. She might come into a situation where she regains her memory at a critical time, but that won't be until at least the fight against the person whose name I can't remember (The Big Bad). I doubt they will do this, but I would find it amusing if they show Yue that she too is on the wanted list. That would be funny.
I predict confusion on all sides (except "Asuna" of course), and none of the confused being able to figure out what's wrong until they actually see the real Asuna. They will, though, come to the rescue just in time to see... whatever his name is... begin the final stage of his plan. Which will ultimately fail.
I predict Asuna will have regained her lost memories entirely, and will be unsure as to who she should be fighting for. But she will of course side with Negi in the end.
I don't know when, but I predict Negi will have a heck of a lot of questions for Rakan.
And finally, I predict that not everyone will return to Japan, but instead we'll see up to five of them stay behind, or at least go to Japan and then go back to the magic world afterward. Yue, Asuna, and Negi all seem like good candidates for this.
...That was longer than I thought, but not as long as other people would write when saying the same things methinks.
EDIT: Hmm. I don't touch CMOA, and I have no idea what that other thing you mentioned was. :/
edited 20th May '09 7:07:18 AM by Sabbo
True, and the WMG.
Still, the topic feels so lonely. <<
EDIT: Oh wait, post. Never mind!
The other one's It Just Bugs Me!
Hmm... while I certainly also feel that there's a chance that Yue might remain in the Magic World, I don't think Asuna will, for one reason.
She made a promise to Ayaka to come back safe.
Speaking of which, I have a feeling that that old, probably forgotten promise will play a part in the aftermath of this arc. Probably Asuna will return to the old world with a Heroic BSoD and Ayaka will help her get over it.
edited 20th May '09 7:23:11 AM by Servbot
I must say... the explosion of Chapter 252 spoiler images makes it very hard not to believe the Alternative Character Interpretation of Konoka being The Tease.
edited 23rd May '09 8:29:47 PM by Servbot
The part that turned me off the anime was when [{{[Squick}} Negi inflated Asuna's breasts]]. There exists a difference between tasteful/tolerable nudity and in your face fanservice.
edited 24th May '09 11:05:45 PM by Monsund
He did that in the manga too. Good thing it only took 3 or so panels.
Well, apparently Ken Akamatsu doesn't like it either, since every time it's attempted, it's to show it fail spectacularly.
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
Hey, I just noticed something odd: In the French edition, Cocone, in the rare occasions when she does talk, has a Robot Font!
Edit: By the way, having access to both an official French translation and the English scantrad scanlation was quite handy, because the English explanation of Chao's defeat and change of wish was quite confusing and seemed to have pronoun trouble... (in Bakaneko's scanlation)
edited 27th May '09 6:13:31 AM by Medinoc
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
The way I understood that part, she made it so that the contents of her spell changes to the idealistic wish at the moment of her defeat, right? Which part was made clearer in the French version?
And... I think Chapter 252 had just completely sunk one ship while simultaneously promoting another to official status.
edited 27th May '09 6:44:10 AM by Servbot
Hey, with all the material everywhere else on the wiki, I'm surprised there is nothing about this series on the forum.
So I begin the conversation with a subject important to me: Theme musics! What music would each character have as a personal Leitmotif?
For Fate, considering his appearance, objectives and the overabundance of Latin in the series, I can't think of anything more fitting than OWA with custom lyrics. And for the others, I can't think of anything, period. "And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."