Mahou Sensei Negima – Finale

This is one post I didn’t think I would have to write for a long time. Mahou Sensei Negima was one of the series that got me into manga to begin with, and I was sure it would be around for so much longer. Of course a part of that is because the ending felt so rushed and there was so much left unexplained. A lot has been said about this ending, most of it negative. I can see where all of that comes from, since I know I wanted so much more from the conclusion. How come we didn’t see Nagi come back? Why don’t we know who Negi liked? These are some of the building blocks of the whole series and they didn’t get the resolution they deserved. Clearly this series doesn’t know how to end things.

Mahou Sensei Negima – You Can’t Stay Young Forever (unless you’re Eva)

…and now Negi, I guess.

You would have gotten it faster if not for all those "research breaks".

I’ve mentioned a few times when I thought a series was concluding or moving toward some sort of ending. Even though the only series I read with a definite finale set is Bokura ga Ita, I’m also reading a lot of manga that feel like they’re reaching their climax. I’ve said a few times that Deadman Wonderland should be finished before the year is up, and I wouldn’t be all that surprised if Rosario + Vampire was in its final arc as well. For quite some time I’ve wondered if Negima was going to be finishing soon. It certainly feels like the story only has one arc left to tell, but considering how long the previous arcs have been and how much we still have to resolve, it’s still difficult to tell how far away the last chapter is. Even so, I can already see that steps are being taken toward that eventual end, and nowhere has this been more obvious then here.

Mahou Sensei Negima – Chapter 343

I'm not sure which part of this image to explain first...

So there I was, reading the latest chapter of Negima and getting ready to write a post about the way fighting is portrayed in it when something else caught my eye. The last chapter hinted at Asuna and Negi coming up with a concrete plan to defeat Evangeline in a fight. It turned out there was no real plan, but that didn’t stop them from kicking an enormous amount of ass. I know it has nothing to do with what I’m about to discuss, but let me just say that the shot of the two of them frozen in a crystal of ice, both smiling because they’re just that confident they’ll escape, is the sort of thing that made me fall in love with this manga.

So the fight goes on for a bit longer, and just when I’m wondering how long a training fight can last for, Negi accidentally strips both Asuna and Eva naked. Yup. I thought Negi’s sneeze from a few chapters ago was just a call back to the early chapters, but it turns out I was wrong. A big, badass fight scene getting interrupted by gratuitous fanservice, and there’s only one thought that comes to mind.

Why am I not bothered by this?