The title says it all, the name of this anime is its own program. I liked the first series (Magical Teacher Negima!) to an extent – I’ve always had a weird relationship to harem anime, as in I think they are overdone and overstretched, but give me two or three females pandering to my desires, and I’ll be all over it. Of course Ken Akamatsu, the master of all things harem, does a great job of creating interesting girls and a serviceable plot once again. I say serviceable, because the setting really isn’t that important, this anime is really about cute characters, fanservice, and comedy. You might say I have depicted these things are negative before, but no, I only take offense when an anime tries to cover up poor jokes and sappy melodrama. But this is neither the case in Magical Teacher Negima, nor in “Negima!?”, and that’s admirable, right?
“Negima!?” starts with a blast; It’s funny, witty, and very different from the previous series. The anime has darker tone overall, focusing more on fighting and an actual story, but it still doesn’t take itself too seriously and mocks itself quite often, which I always find refreshing.
But at the finish-line the anime drifts more and more away from satire towards fighting some big unexplainable evil, again probably because the creators thought they needed to present some sort of justification, besides the obvious one of young men wanting to sneak a peek of fictional 2D girls. It’s really sad, since this anime had a lot going for it. I suggest getting the first 10 episodes, having a blast, and waiting for the new OVAs to come out.
I know I’m pretty late on this one, but the English-speaking scene kind of missed out on this great anime, instead going on and bawwing about a badly made visual novel adaptation, featuring the same boring stock characters we’ve seen for years. The library girl kinda reminds me of Nodoka though….
Hmmm…….
