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Now Streaming: Negima! (1st TV series) 1-26s/1-4d




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ZeetherKID77



Joined: 17 Jun 2007
Posts: 982
PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:22 pm Reply with quote
Hoo boy...this show is, well...mediocre. They stick to the manga but then halfway through they decide to veer off in another direction. Watching this and then reading the manga is probably a good idea.

If anything the show does have a good episode regarding Sayo's backstory but other than that...well, your mileage may vary. Negima!? is better despite not being much of an adaptation of the manga.

The fact that it seems both series are on Funi's "Anime Classics" list gives me hope for the OADs being licensed much like Tsubasa's did. And there's also that movie too.
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R315r4z0r



Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 717
PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:38 pm Reply with quote
I didn't like this show that much. It was enjoyable, yes... but I also never read the manga.

However, Negima!? is so immensely better it isn't even funny. (Or rather, it is EXTREMELY funny to be more precise)

Negima!? > Negima!

It's just so laugh-out-loud funny. It's one of those shows that someone says a line that makes me have to pause the video and laugh hysterically for 10 minutes before resuming. Negima!... not so much.
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Zalis116
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Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6902
Location: Kazune City
PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:08 pm Reply with quote
ZeetherKID77 wrote:
Hoo boy...this show is, well...mediocre. They stick to the manga but then halfway through they decide to veer off in another direction. Watching this and then reading the manga is probably a good idea.

If anything the show does have a good episode regarding Sayo's backstory but other than that...well, your mileage may vary. Negima!? is better despite not being much of an adaptation of the manga.
The double standards enforced on these Negima adaptations never fail to amuse me. So for the 2005 Negima! series, veering away from the manga is viewed as a bad thing, yet the 2006 Negima!? series doesn't get penalized for being even farther from the manga?
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:23 pm Reply with quote
The thing is, Negima! tries to be a faithful adaptation and repeatedly mucks it up. It's not bad because it changes things, it's bad because of how it changed them. The fracturing of the Kyoto arc is one example of this. Most of those three volumes were adapted into the anime, but primarily as independent episodes and out of sequence, which eliminated vital revelations and character development. Shuffling the vampire arc to before the dodgeball episode and final exam plot either undermines the growth Negi endures in the latter two, as he's already undergone a more taxing trial, or it negates what he's learned from the former.

Interestingly, I find that the rare good moments of the first series are when it does deviate and create its own narratives (not counting the pointless bits where they insert as many of the girls into a given scene as they can). Zeether mentioned Sayo's backstory. I agree with that. Akamatsu's original plan was to have her be the victim of a serial killer, but decided he didn't really like the idea, so canonically she just forgets how she died. The part where Negi spends his first night looking for four-leafed clovers so he can make a love potion Asuna can use is a change from the manga as well that is an improvement. It shows that Negi will put effort into righting (his) wrongs, and it gives Asuna a reason to see him as more than just a little brat. In the manga, he just finds a convenient magic pill in his backpack and, poof, hijinx ensue.

Negima!? tends to get a pass from deviating from the manga because by episode 4 it has become blatantly obvious that the show wasn't really Negima, but Pani Poni Dash with magic and a different cast.
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Charred Knight



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3085
PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:04 pm Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:
ZeetherKID77 wrote:
Hoo boy...this show is, well...mediocre. They stick to the manga but then halfway through they decide to veer off in another direction. Watching this and then reading the manga is probably a good idea.

If anything the show does have a good episode regarding Sayo's backstory but other than that...well, your mileage may vary. Negima!? is better despite not being much of an adaptation of the manga.
The double standards enforced on these Negima adaptations never fail to amuse me. So for the 2005 Negima! series, veering away from the manga is viewed as a bad thing, yet the 2006 Negima!? series doesn't get penalized for being even farther from the manga?


I always saw the general mood as people hate Negima! because it's a horrible adaptation of the manga, and people hate Negima!? because it's Pani Poni Dash! just with the cast of Negima. People are still looking for the accurate adaptation of the entire series.
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britannicamoore



Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2618
Location: Out.
PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 5:32 am Reply with quote
For me watching Negima! got me into the series. (except for that dead end. That made me twitch) I picked up the manga and I can't stop reading it- spoiler[I constantly re-read Negi vs. Takamichi and I recently enjoyed Nagi Negi vs. Rakan] so for me I'm a much bigger fan of the manga.


As for Negima!? I ended up selling those dvds because I forced myself through the first part. By the time i hit the second I couldn't go on.
I just wish they'd hadn't slapped Negima on it- anything else and I might have been cool with it.

Will it ever be possible for us to get the OADs?

Lastly, any new word on that movie?
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ZeetherKID77



Joined: 17 Jun 2007
Posts: 982
PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:32 am Reply with quote
It might be possible for us to get the OADs since the series is on Funimation's Classic Line (which is apparently a sign of a good selling series) and the fact that Tsubasa's were picked up a while back. I'd gladly get them, especially if they released them like Tsubasa's (and they better include the Ariadne special with Yue as well)

All we know about the movie is that, well, it's a movie and it'll probably be the last animated adaptation of Negima according to a Q&A from one of the latest volumes in Japan. Crying or Very sad Not sure what the movie will cover but with any luck it'll be the spoiler[rendezvous at Ostia with Yue and her group and the events that occur afterward like the ball and the attack on it]
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TnAdct1



Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 120
PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 8:52 pm Reply with quote
Dorcas_Aurelia wrote:
The thing is, Negima! tries to be a faithful adaptation and repeatedly mucks it up. It's not bad because it changes things, it's bad because of how it changed them. The fracturing of the Kyoto arc is one example of this. Most of those three volumes were adapted into the anime, but primarily as independent episodes and out of sequence, which eliminated vital revelations and character development. Shuffling the vampire arc to before the dodgeball episode and final exam plot either undermines the growth Negi endures in the latter two, as he's already undergone a more taxing trial, or it negates what he's learned from the former.

Not to mention the fact that Xebec pretty much failed to realize that Negima was not supposed to be a harem title and pretty much cutting out everything that made the manga so great once the Kyoto arc started.

Quote:
Interestingly, I find that the rare good moments of the first series are when it does deviate and create its own narratives (not counting the pointless bits where they insert as many of the girls into a given scene as they can). Zeether mentioned Sayo's backstory. I agree with that.

Same thing here. Whereas most Sayo intro stories tend to focus on the class in a panic in seeing a ghost, the Xebec version actually gets credit for trying to develop Sayo's character (and Asakura befriending her).

Quote:
Negima!? tends to get a pass from deviating from the manga because by episode 4 it has become blatantly obvious that the show wasn't really Negima, but Pani Poni Dash with magic and a different cast.

Not to mention the fact that, unlike the Xebec version, the show actually remembered to spoiler[have Nodoka, Setsuna, and Konoka Pactio with Negi before the mass Pactio event (as well as actually show the girls' Pactio abilities in action throughout the series).]
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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4459
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 1:37 pm Reply with quote
R315r4z0r wrote:
I didn't like this show that much. It was enjoyable, yes... but I also never read the manga.

However, Negima!? is so immensely better it isn't even funny. (Or rather, it is EXTREMELY funny to be more precise)

Negima!? > Negima!

It's just so laugh-out-loud funny. It's one of those shows that someone says a line that makes me have to pause the video and laugh hysterically for 10 minutes before resuming. Negima!... not so much.


Not quite.

I for one liked both versions though the Natsu & Haru OVA were much better.

But I do have some favouritsm for the 2nd negima since it's animation is more on par with the manga than xebec's version.



Though the first one has some decent character development with some of the girls , espcecially of Sayo's case. and it's ending during their Kyoto arc was one hell of a shocker since I read all of the manga Vols that have been released here in the US and though it's a stretch, it might end up being the ending for the manga as well.

Also when I watched the series on Animenext 2006 , there's one thing everyone there agrees.

Everyone loved the eng dub for the series as well as the cast , and some of it's scrpit rewriting for the comedic parts made it at time a lot funnier than the Japaneese script especially for the 1st Vol.

Same for the 2nd one since they used the same cast.

Unfortunately , Having Christopher R. Sabat (a.k.a Picollo) accent as an over the top and over hyper active narrator was definitely bad bad bad.

Probably why Funi kept the original cast for the 2nd series as well as for the Natsu and Haru Specials.

Hopefully they'll keep the same dub cast if their are able to license the other OVA series as well as the Ala Alba arc. Who knows , they could use them for the live action version as well.
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kamiikazeheart



Joined: 26 May 2010
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 1:41 pm Reply with quote
I just finished this series last night. I ended up really liking it. I've only ever read the first volume of the manga (like, five years ago), but after watching this I've decided to go back and read it. This series is far from perfect, but its hilarious, fun and heartfelt. I loved all of the characters. I'm also willing to check out the second series, but this one will deffinately remain a favorite. I also watched this one dubbed which I don't do often and I really enjoyed that as well.
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PetrifiedJello



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 3782
PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 2:14 pm Reply with quote
ZeetherKID77 wrote:
Watching this and then reading the manga is probably a good idea.

I disagree with this. I can't count the number of times fans have whined and cried over either series as they compare it to the manga. It's as though any change whatsoever makes the series "garbage" and not worthy to the manga.

These are adaptations, not panel-for-panel replacements to the manga.

R315r4z0r wrote:
Negima!? > Negima!

I can't agree with this either. While I did find the art in Negima!? much more appealing, the rest of it left me without the same enjoyment as the "first" one.

It's not bad, but watching Asuna go from a fighter to a brain-dead, Chupacabra-obsessed idiot as well as the excruciatingly painful deconstruction of Evangeline into a dandelion was an eye-opening experience.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 2:22 pm Reply with quote
Lol, handing a manga to Shaft and expecting it to be faithful. I wonder if anyone ever did.

I consider the first series better. Yeah, too much talking about bologus I could care less for in the second adaptation. Like that chupacabra stupidity. Asuka went from a common tsundere, to a miserable and poor tsundere who sells chupacabra t-shirts.
All the pacts had much less impact, like comparing homemade food to mass-produced food like those godawful bite-size cornish pasties Tesco sells.
And the pace, oh man, the pace. Did it even exist?

The best thing about it was the art. But if we're talking about art and designs, Moonphase wins by far.
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:44 pm Reply with quote
egoist wrote:
Lol, handing a manga to Shaft and expecting it to be faithful. I wonder if anyone ever did.

Lol, SHAFT being faithful with an adaptation? Never. [/sarcasm]

That Akamatsu went back to SHAFT after Negima!? to have them do the OADs shows that he thought they handled the series well.
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