Mahou Sensei Negima

So we can assume this is like Scroll Eva. A fragment of the real thing.

Hyped for Hyperdimension Neptunia V 2

Regarding the most recent spoilers: Damn, this is making my head hurt. So in the end, we still don't know anything about the real Zazie's personality or skills. I do find it ironic that someone as unique looking and mysterious as Zazie has a sister who looks, so far as I can tell, identical to her. On the other hand, fans who were freaking out about Zazie appearing and thus signaling the endgame for Negima may be able to rest easy. After all, since this isn't the real Zazie, it doesn't matter if we see her "true form" or not.

You wouldn't care what people thought about you if you knew how seldom they did.

Given the sort period of time between Zazie's sister's appearance and Akamatsu's comment that Zazie's true form would be revealed at the end of the series, it seems to me that he's deliberately trying to screw with the fanbase. Brian Clevinger would be proud.

edited 24th Jul '10 8:03:34 PM by JapaneseTeeth

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Well, there's more than one reason she could look identical. We've seen magical disguises such as Mana hiding in the ballroom. Fate is probably physical identical to Fate 1.0 when he magically ages himself. And remember, what whoever this is is good at is illusions.

48- Negi, Chisame and Cocone.

Misora came back to the classroom far sooner than Misa had expected. They were the only two ones left; for once, the other two cheerleaders had left before her friend, since she and the aspiring nun had classroom cleaning duty until late that day.

Of course, then the stupid prankster had skipped the issue away to go pester anyone else. When Misa had protested about being left alone at duty, Misora had reminded her about that favor she still owed her. The one involving both the absolution and the keeping as a secret of 'that incident' with her boyfriend last year.

That always was enough to make Misa to concede defeat in a hurry. And so, the victorious party had left laughing her head off, almost in a mad beeline for some practical joke. Somewhere outside. Misa actually felt like killing her, except because she still had a full floor to clean.

But she had returned quickly, ghastly pale and slumping down on her desk, with those goofy huge eyes she used to make when in shock.

"And now what happened?" Misa asked her. "I thought you had gone to play a prank at Chisame's room. Did they catch you?".

"Nope..." Misora shook he head, still in a stunned state. "At least, I hope they didn't...".

"Then why that face?".

Misora seemed to snap back to reality rather abruptly. "Ah... nothing! 'Twas nothing!".

Now that had piqued Misa's interest. The cheerleader was on her immediately, looming over her. "You liar! You saw something juicy there, didn't you? Come on! I never have been at her room before; and it's obvious she hides something there. Tell me what is it!".

"Ah... nothing! For real!" Misora protested weakly. "It was just... there was a big hairy animal there that scared me!" she lied.

"What kind of animal?" Misa was fully unconvinced.

"I-I don't know! I didn't get to see it right!".

"..............." Misa stared at her eyes. Then she headed towards the door. "I'm going to see that horrible animal myself".

"NO! DON'T GO!" Misora pleaded. "They might... I mean, it could hurt you!".

"Has it hurt Chisame?".

"Well, no, b-but—".

"Then I'll be okay".

"B-But you haven't finished here!".

"Finish it yourself. I already made more than my part here".

For some reason Misora didn't try to blackmail her again, choosing instead just to stare blankly. That told Misa she was on the right track to something, but before she could step out, Negi-sensei, Chisame and a short deeply tanned girl with vacant quiet eyes walked in, startling her. "Ah! Sensei!" the cheerleader exclaimed. "I... I was just going for a glass of water!".

Negi smiled at her. "Of course! It's okay. It's been a rather hot day so far!".

For you, I don't doubt it Misora thought cynically, sweating bullets.

Chisame, somewhat awkwardly, walked to Misora with the small girl. "Look, Cocone-cha— I mean, your friend... got lost and wandered into my room when Sensei... was helping me with some questions I had" the hacker said flatly.

Misora just nodded quickly, her eyes wide open. She clearly could read a hostile latent message on Chisame's pupils. "Heh heh, ah, Cocone, whatever will I do with you?" she laughed lamely, patting her shorter friend's head.

"Ne, Chisame-chan" Misa asked. "Have you happened to see any sort of strange animal wandering around?".

Hasegawa gave her an annoyed sideglare. "What are you talking about?".

Misa casually looked into a frozen Misora's direction, then smiled brightly at Chisame. "Nothing! Just a rumor I heard yesterday! Nothing important!" she dismissed it out. The important thing was she was sure of having a real counter to Misora's implied blackmail now.

The sprinter, on the other hand, simply looked down at Cocone, terrified. Cocone just stared back, as quiet and serene as always.

But somehow, her eyes, while still the same as always, were HORRIFYING now.

49- Negi, Chisame and Kaede.

"How can you do it so easily?!" Chisame had finally asked in exhasperation.

"Do what-de gozaru?" Kaede finally looked up from her unfinished homework, finally deigning herself to look at the girl who had been trying to argue with her for the last few minutes. At least, Chisame hoped she was actually looking at her. It was hard to say with those permanently squinting eyes.

"Keeping yourself that calmed over EVERYTHING! You don't even seem concerned about him! For all we know, they could be killing him right now!".

"It trust Negi-Sensei. You should do the same-de gozaru".

"It doesn't mean I have to trust whoever's fighting him! I know the conditions of the match said we couldn't interfere at all, but still! You like to talk a lot about love being trust, but love is supposed to be concern about those you care about, too!".

It certainly wasn't the first time they had a (sort of) discussion like that, and by now Chisame was getting ahead of Kaede's replies.

"I suppose it's both things, yes..." the tall girl replied slowly, as if somehow the full idea had just dawned on her. "Well, I guess that's why we complement each other in regard to him. You are the concerned love, and I'm the trustful love-de gozaru" Kaede had smiled at her happily, as if that fixed everything.

"You sometimes say such things with a straight pace!" Chisame paced back and forth across the room nervously. "Do you have ice in your veins? No, wait, I know. Now you'll tell me that's a ninja's way, and that while your heart's concerned, your face shouldn't show it at all".

"If you already know it, why to pose it, de-gozaru?" it wasn't a malicious questioing, but a simply confused query. Somehow.

"I don't know! Maybe I just want to vent it out, because it's sure not because I hope to get a straight 'yes, I should start showing my concern' answer from you!".

"Would it make feel you better if I did? Because I could make an exception for you-de gozaru".

Now Kaede was sounding serious.

That couldn't be good.

Chisame paused, then shook her head. "No. It's okay. I just won't feel right... until that idiot's back here so I can yell him about how idiotic he is for going there in the first place!" she claimed. "Until then, you don't have to look and act miserable and lunatic like myself!".

"Thank you-de gozaru" Kaede bowed politely, then turned back to the homework she surely was just screwing beyond all hope anyway.

Chisame sighed in defeat, staying quiet at last, her shoulders slumped down.

Then, for the briefest moment, she could have sworn she could hear the faintest hint of a sob from Kaede's direction.

It was impossible to tell from that direction, with the ninja's face being almost buried in her books.

But even so, Chisame put a hand on one of her shoulders. And she said nothing.

Both girls would continue waiting in silence for him for the next few hours.

Next: Nekane and Shiori.

edited 24th Jul '10 8:21:33 PM by OverMaster?!

I love your stuff man, but WHYYYYYYY....

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

The right answer is...

a) Why not?

b) Why so serious?

c) Why, be thankful I'm not doing a Mama Bear one!

d) All of the above?

Will this be Negima?! Nekane? they are very different.

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

Well, to be frank, it's not going to be a thematically suggestive piece anyway. You can take it in that way if you want, but it's going to be mostly harmless fluff that could be read in a perfectly innocent situation too. Much like the Makie installement.

^^^Oh my. That's... that's Tempting Fate if I ever saw it.

...

Perhaps that's not the wording I wanted.

edited 24th Jul '10 9:43:50 PM by Gilphon

Did I miss 297 spoiler images being posted?

Yes. Not what we're been spoiler tagging, though.

edited 24th Jul '10 10:37:46 PM by Arha

No, it is what we have been spoiler tagging.

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

Partially. But the bit about Zazie's sister wasn't part of the 297 spoilers, was it? It was someone said 'I heard this from someone and I can't verify' more or less.

Looking at the Comments on Astroboy's blog about 297.. (which I copied and pasted on the last page [1] which was a hell of alot of spoiler tags since you have to do it for every paragraph) it is True.

edited 25th Jul '10 12:34:42 AM by Raso

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

(regarding Negi-Chisame-Cocone) ... Okay, now I'm really curious as to what exactly happened in that room, and just why Cocone's eyes are scary now. BTW, how old is she again?

Weeeeeell... If Tousaka's flashback to the aftermath of Ostia's collapse are accurate, Mama Bear (is that her full name? I know they call her "Mama", but I never saw them referring to her by a full name.) was considerably more attractive (by human standards, anyway) during her time in the gladiatorial arena, so yeah. Come to think of it, she ain't that bad looking now either.

edited 25th Jul '10 5:50:42 AM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Now that I think of it, Negi/Chisame/Nekane could work with relatively less Squick if Nekane is a lesbian and Chisame is bisexual. It's just siblings sharing the same girlfriend.

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

We're not even sure if she really is his sister; the term "oneechan", while literally meaning "older sister", is also used when referring to any young woman, whether related or not. Nekane could easily be his cousin, and had been taking care of him for so long and so much like an older sister that it carried over to his Japanese terminology.

Fridge Logic: Why do the English/Welsh/British characters even use Japanese when it would make more sense to use English? Like, when only English-speakers are around (e.g. Ch. 1, in the Magic Academy in England)? It would be more sensible to do like Gosho Aoyama does in Detective Conan chapters that are set in America: Bubbles that contain the English speech plus a Japanese translation.

edited 25th Jul '10 7:15:08 AM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

That's a secret Misora will be taking to her grave. For her own wellbeing and yours.

50- Negi, Chisame and Nekane.

When Chisame woke up, Nekane already was up and hanging the just washed clothing to dry. She hummed happily as she did so, with a wide pleased smile at her lips.

"Ah, Chisame-chan" the blond woman gave her a back look. "Is Negi up now?".

The hacker shook her head. "I let him sleeping. He strained himself too much yesterday. Really, I don't see why he thinks there's a need to continue training anymore".

"The work of protecting a family never ends" Nekane answered while going back to her chores. After a brief moment, Chisame joined her. "Thank you. By the way, you received mail early today. It's in that basket over there".

"Mail? Why not to send me another e-mail?" Chisame wondered before walking to the basket, then picking up a few small packages. "Ah. Anniversary gifts" she said.

She unwrapped one at random first. It was Haruna's. She made a face at it. "I... I don't think any of us will be needing this...".

Nekane gave the object a curious look, then quickly covered her own mouth with a hand. "Oh Dear! How is that supposed to work?".

"Well, you connect it, and then you—" Chisame stopped. "I don't want to talk about it. I read about it in the Net once, but... it's just too freaky". She put the gift back into its box.

She unwrapped another one. It was from Konoka and Setsuna. It was a lovely ancient jar, finely decorated and painted, that seemed to be worth a fortune, heavily protected inside of its box to prevent damage.

"It'll look precious over the chimney" Nekane said happily.

Chisame nodded vaguely before going through a few more gifts. Yue had sent a autographed copy of her first novel. Natsumi and Kotaro had sent a whole photo album of them with their first boy. Hakase... well, the instructions said it would power their house up for three generations after being hooked up to the ceiling. That certainly would help a lot with the electricity bills.

"You do miss them, don't you?" Nekane asked.

"Those idiots?" Hasegawa paused. "Yes, I think I do. It's pretty nice here, don't get me wrong... but I suppose I can't help but getting nostalgic every once in a while. I wonder if Negi used to feel like that, too?".

"Oh, he did" Nekane finished her hanging chores and rubbed her hands off, satisfied. "I can show you the letters he used to send me while living with Asuna and Konoka, if you want. But the funny thing is, the longer he spent there, the less nostalgic he felt, until he didn't mention it anymore. He was just that happy of being with you all".

Chisame looked at her with fully open eyes. "Maybe he feels nostalgic about Mahora now, instead?" she wondered.

"I haven't outright asked him myself..." Nekane answered. "But he doesn't look too much like it, does he?".

"I guess he doesn't".

"That's because he feels at home. It was his once, and now it is again. Some of us are born to return to our roots, and some of us are born to branch away from them. But both of them are valid ways to happiness, I believe".

Chisame looked at her, somewhat impressed. Under the bright spring season, with her long flowing hair floating in the breeze, in her thin long white dress, Nekane looked like the house's protector angel.

"I think... I get your point. Yes. As long as we're happy, it really doesn't matter where it is" she said.

Then she turned around and walked back to the house. "Where did you leave the pen last night? I want to write some letters. To say thanks for those things".

"Oh?" Nekane paused. "Won't you be writing them e-mails?".

She looked at her again, smirking over her shoulder.

"... Nah. I feel somewhat old fashioned today".

51- Negi, Chisame and Shiori.

You will forgive me, won't you, Fate-sama?

I know it's egoist from me to ask that from you. When I'm happy despite your being... not with us anymore. In any sense of the word. When I'm laying at bed hugging their bodies who sleep so peacefully, so cutely, and it feels so good and so warm, and by contrast your presence is nothing but a memory. A dearly valued one, but still, a memory.

Your touch never felt so warm, and it obviously never was so intimate, and yet, it felt just as good as this. It's just... it doesn't anymore. Because you aren't there an longer.

Do I deserve happiness without you? Even after all the times they have told me I do?

I know I failed you. Did you leave with any resentment towards me? The last time I saw you, you didn't seem angry at me, but it always was so difficult to read your emotions. You were so subtle. They are easy to understand; they always say everything they think and feel. Even when they don't, it's obvious what they really are thinking.

Am I afraid of failing them as well? No, I'm not afraid of that. With them, I just can't feel fear for the future. My past is the only thing that haunts me.

Wherever you are now, you are happier now, aren't you, Fate-sama? Like the boy you never could be. I want to think that. I want to think that you are smiling, and you approve of the life you allowed for me.

I'll always love you, Fate-sama.

I'll always remember you.

But I can't let your memory to drag me down.

Sorry.

I snuggle closer, her long brown hair tickling my face, and I can't help but smile again despite my tears.

God, I'm such an awfully egoist person.

Next: The conclusion- Shizuna and Sakurako.

edited 25th Jul '10 8:43:09 AM by OverMaster?!

^Very sweet, both of them.

On a side-note, I was scrolling through the first character page for Negima and re-read Negi's When All You Have Is a Hammer… entry. So, keeping that in mind, what do you guys think the odds are that defeating Zazie will involve Negi kissing someone?

You wouldn't care what people thought about you if you knew how seldom they did.

Nekane's was a C Mo H.

Did you already do Yue?

Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar who could drink you under the table~

Nekane is not Negi's sister. It is her cousin. Yeah, the Fridge Logic pointed by Marq FJA is pretty weird. Specially because, in English, you wouldn't call someone 'sister' if it is not your sister.

But then, Negi is called 'Negi' and Nekane 'Nekane'. It don't make any sense by principle.

^ This. Nekane is his cousin. Apart from confirmation in story, she's also too old. Remember Nekane is likely in her early 20s.

I chalk it up to Translation Convention. Negima has enough Gratuitous foreign language as it is, so coming up with English translations for all of that would just be a lot of extra work.

EDIT: concerning the Zazie's sister thing; did Zazie ever have an Idiot Hair? Her sister certainly does, and Zazie doesn't have one in the class roster, but I'm not sure if Akamatsu just added it to her design later on. She shows up so rarely that I don't know where to look for a more recent image. If she doesn't normally have one, that it might be a clue that it isn't really her.

edited 25th Jul '10 11:06:37 AM by JapaneseTeeth

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I believe Zazie's most recent appearance would be when Evangeline was dressing up her around the tournament arc. She also appears in the lotus eater machine with the standard '...' text bubble.