Yeah this really looks like The Final Temptation. The only question is whether Zazie intends 1. to trap Negi in the world, 2. for him to overcome it, or whether 3. she's just testing him. If he's in league with Chao it's probably either 2 or 3.
In any case this looks to be a nice call back to the earlier chapters.
Reaction Image RepositoryAm I the only one getting major Evangelion finale vibes from that 'ideal world' school setting? I keep expecting to see Shinji running past by and crashing into Rei. I mean, Ako.
Also, I wonder if this isn't, in its own way, Akamatsu kinda giving a subtle finger to anyone who would be expecting to see the series returning to a calmer, Mahora based setting. Like a 'Things never can be the same again! And we're going to show you why!' claiming
Does anyone else think Zizie struck a low blow when she put Negi's Parents into the illusion? Negi since the begining of the story has been looking for them and now Zazie gave it to him at the cost pretty everything he's done. So I guess the main question is what does Negi want more? His past where he's suffered but became a better person because of it all or the perfect life at the cost his past connections? Only time will tell.
edited 21st Jul '10 3:53:41 PM by mega-dark
Hyped for Hyperdimension Neptunia V 2Since it's kinda doubtful the series would pull any kind of ending where Negi stays happily in the Lotus-Eater Machine forever, it's clear what will he choose.
That's why I think it's a dumb move to take. Even if it's solved very quickly, it's still taking a needless deviation and taking room away from more important developments. After all he's gone through, isn't more testing for Negi kinda redundant at this point? It makes those who are hungry for more battles unhappy, and those who want more development for the characters who have lost focus unhapy as well
I mean, even if we had to take a deviation before the next big fight, I'd prefer it to be about what the REAL rest of the students and the REAL teacher/magical cast is doing to prepare for the crisis at their side. Has Konoemon recalled Ayaka and the others with any sort of actual purpose, or just to keep them in the dark as sitting ducks while a huge crisis looms over?
The question isn't so much if he will break out of the illusion so much as why. Note that Negi's entire purpose has been to find his missing parents, so Zazie's essentially giving Negi exactly what he's been trying to obtain, with the subtext that if he's going to continue on this path, he might have to sacrifice his original goal of finding his father. It's also not clear whether the rest of Ala Alba got stuck in the Lotus-Eater Machine as well; if they did, there might be a good opportunity for some Character Development.
Reaction Image Repository@ the spoilers
◊ (picture is NOT a spoiler.)
man this is a perfect oprotiunty to give some characters that have been shoved to the side lately some screen time and a perfect way to put a bunch of Fanservice in between the massive amount of action.
edited 21st Jul '10 5:06:32 PM by Raso
Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!God, I hope the rest of Ala Alba is NOT stuck in the Lotus-Eater Machine as well (although they most likely are). If we have to check each student's take on it, we'll probably be there for the rest of the year. Unless they are all together in the same 'dream' instead of different 'ideal dreams' for everyone. Which would beat the purpose of a Lotus-Eater Machine, if it's only one person's ideal scenario.
edited 21st Jul '10 4:43:44 PM by OverMaster?!
Meh, if they aren't the actual people, I don't care to see a fake Dream Ayaka or Illusion Evangeline. Like I said, I'd prefer to see what are the real ones doing right now.
edited 21st Jul '10 4:47:53 PM by OverMaster?!
Well, it appears that some memory replacement of some sort is going on, as Negi isn't particularly surprised to see his parents, so it wouldn't be an enormous shock if they were all trapped in the same illusion. I don't think we'll be stuck in this for too long; Akamatsu is generally pretty good about avoiding Four Lines, All Waiting, though I see how it could easily drag out.
Reaction Image RepositoryI wasnt talking about Ayaka and co. I was more talking about the characters who are in or around Ala Alba but are rarely heard from becides the Rule of Cool Moments. I mean when was the last time we saw Kotaro do anything?
People I would most like to see in the machine Sayo (maybe we can get a little bit of her origin story), Yue (would be fun to see her old and new memories work themselves out), Ako would be just Squee worthy, and Chisame (what would be her ideal world? how much has she changed from her first appearance)
but mostlikely everyone that got ported there is real just have had their memories edited to fit
edited 21st Jul '10 4:56:44 PM by Raso
Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!And all his suitors (except Kuno, since he's too stupidly dense) will start to feel guilt at how they treat Ranma, now that they see the negative aspects of their own "methodologies" reflected to some extent in certain Negima characters.
Wait, that won't work. The Negima Love Dodecahedron is practically devoid of the most negative aspects that complicate the one in Ranma One Half. Of course, it compensates by being much more zig-zaggingly intricate. Ranma would actually consider himself lucky that he only has to deal with five regular suitors (four girls, one guy). Negi has to juggle a whole class of 31 girls, at least ten of whom who harbor varying degrees of "romantic" interest in him. And it just keeps increasing.
Oh, and the number and severity of Negi's Accidental Pervert mishaps would put Ranma's to shame. Ranma really is lucky.
edited 21st Jul '10 6:13:29 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.On another note, seeing how much of a Plucky Girl that Nodoka has become in her latest bouts of action, how do you think a meeting between her and fellow Plucky Girl Nia Teppelin would go?
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.Ranma would think of himself as somewhat lucky with only 5ish instead of Negi's 31+ but the problem is Negi is actually friends with his love interests while Ranma is friends with exactly 2 (one of whom is an extremely violent Tsundere, only Asuna can compare to her but she mellowed out a ton).
and screw mech warrior Negima/Gundam all the way.
edited 21st Jul '10 6:30:50 PM by Raso
Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!@Marq FJA: I'm pretty sure that they'd hit it off pretty quickly. Although Nia would probably end up questioning her about what this whole "Saishoudouken" thing is.
At least if Rakan doesn't get himself a hold of a Gunman and promptly begins destroying planets or something.
Reaction Image RepositoryA few more Negima shipping wars:
Shinji: Tells everyone he's okay with any ending, but secretely hopes with all his heart for a Harem Ending.
Rei: At the beginning of the series, she doesn't give a crap. Afterwards, she may root for Nodoka or Ako (oh, the irony!).
Asuka: Claim she doesn't give a damn about Negi, but is a furious and rabid, almost maniacal, Asuna-Takahata shipper. If given enough free time, she might even try to write a fanfic where 'Asuna' is pretty much 'Asuka' with a changed letter. Secretly ships Negi and Chisame on the side, though. She hates Kotaro.
Gendo: Doesn't give a damn about Negi shippings, but he's a closet Nagi and Arika fan.
Misato: For some reason I see her as a Kazumi shipper.
Touji: Says the manga is stupid, but hides his predilection for Yuuna.
Kensuke: Rabid Haruna enthusiast, but also likely to express open hope for a Tenchi Solution.
Hikari: Classic Nodoka shipper.
Ritsuko: Doesn't think much of the manga at all, but likes Mana well enough. Hakase, as a stereotypical Mad Scientist, somewhat offends her personally.
Maya: Rabid Kono Setsu closet fan.
Kaworu: Negi-Fate. Did you expect anything else?
Fuyutsuki: I could see him favoring Yue.
Kaji: I dunno. Maybe Kaede?
Mari Illustrious Makinami: Haruna is the only one... extreme enough for her liking.
Itoshiki-sensei: Thinks Negi is too annoyingly naive and optimism. Foresees a dark, grim and despairing ending. In the meanwhile, he'd be ashamed to say he roots for Chachamaru.
Chiri Kitsu: At the start of the series, where she was only an order freak, I can see her sympathizing Chisame. Now she's totally homicidal and insane, Tsukuyomi.
Nami Hitou: She hates Natsumi for being normal. She tries to pick the most abnormal choice she can select, so she goes for Negi-Fate forgetting the Foe Yay factor. She is dismayed when Harumi reminds her shipping enemies is normal in Japanese Young Female Fandom.
Fuura Kafuka: Eerily attracted for Konoka. She can do an IDENTICAL imitation of her voice and mannerisms.
Ai Kaga: Nodoka shipper. Apologizes to every other fandom for contradicting them, and to Nodoka fandom for 'giving them a bad name'.
Usui Kagero: Roots for Sayo, feeling sympathy for someone else (almost) no one can see.
Kiri Komori: Negi-Chachamaru.
Mayo Mitama: Negi-Chachazero *and* Tsukuyomi.
Manami Okusa: Negi-Chizuru.
Harumi Fujiyoshi: Negi-Kotaro-Fate-Takahata, naturally. However, she idolizes Haruna.
Kanako Oora: Any pairing is okay for her. Really.
Kaere Kimura: Negi-Evangeline. Saving to sue Akamatsu if it doesn't end that way.
Meru Otonashi: Being a Cute Mute who later can troll the plot like no one else, she ships Negi-Zazie.
Maria Seikutsu: Picks any couple at random and runs with it.
Matoi Tsunetsuki: Chisame's recent Negi-stalking impresses her enough to give her full support.
Rin Itoshiki: Negi-Ayaka.
Jun Kudou: Supports Haruna merely on the grounds of respect for a fellow storyteller.
Chie Arai: Negi-Mana or Kaede.
Abiru Kobushi: Negi-Ako.
edited 21st Jul '10 6:40:21 PM by OverMaster?!
uhh hahahaha
This is true. I had forgotten about her Les Yay with Kiri since it hasn't been touched again since the first season.
Negima x Macross. The Magic arrows spells will become litteral macross missile massacre
Hyped for Hyperdimension Neptunia V 2I got one challenging Shipping War for you guys: The whole Dai-Gurren Brigade on Negima.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.I was just hit by a stroke of genius. Try shipping the Negima with Avatar the Last Airbender. Sure some ships are already cannon but who cares. And if you don't want to ship them then how about Avatar Aang vs Magia Eribia Negi. WHO WILL WIN!?
Hyped for Hyperdimension Neptunia V 2Hoo boy
I see Kamina sympathizing with Chamo and just trying to Negi to acquire as many female followers as possible.
Simon is more low key when it comes to relationships, so he's probably support Nodoka, or maybe Yue.
Yoko would gravitate more toward the Action Girl end of the spectrum, particularly Mana, what with the whole sniper thing. Or maybe Eva.
Nia would be too busy wanting to give Negi a hug to mess with the whole shipping thing; the only relationship she'd really care about would be Konoka and Setsuna, mainly because of the WAFF factor.
Reaction Image RepositoryAssuming we're talking about Aang from the finale in fully controlled Avatar state, tough one. Aang has the advantage of versatility, being able to control all the elements on a master level, and being able to fly without any aids gives him the high ground. Negi, though, is faster, probably hits harder, and can take a ton of damage. Probably smarter as well, though I can't say that for sure.
I'd give the edge to Negi, but it's a pretty narrow margin. I've probably mentioned it before, but Negi's insane speed gives him a significant advantage in these Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny type discussions. I mean, just look at this page
compared to this page.
Or this one
compared to this one.
Being able to hit someone at 150km per second
is pretty nucking futs.
edited 21st Jul '10 8:10:27 PM by JackInqu

O.K I just looked at Raws and based on what I have seen It is a Lotus Eater Machine with Last Tempation thrown in. It seems everything past chapter 16 never happened. Setsuna is a Kuudare again. Eva is no long Negi's master and she doesn't like him. Chao is still around. And Negi can't seem to remember the past much. But hey his parents are around. Also the world Zazie threw Negi into is the same kind of world Fate wants to throw the entire Magical World into.
Hyped for Hyperdimension Neptunia V 2