Akamatsu Answers My Question

Alright! It's like a dream come true! Having the author actually bother to look at and answer one of your questions! The one I had in mind was something I had been stewing around with for some time. I had been wondering who the other students that graduated with Negi were. There were five of them. One was Negi, another was Anya....then there were 3 more. Negi became "A Teacher in Japan" and Anya became "A Fortuneteller in London". But what of those other two? What did they become? And did they have adventures as good as Negi's?

Q: "Who are the other students that graduate with Negi? What jobs do they get?"
A: "The graduates from chapter 1 got jobs as fortune teller, courier, or other mage-like jobs. To be called for a middle school teacher job is extremely rare"

So...yeah...Not much was really answered. And yet it's very telling. It seems rather obvious that Akamatsu cares as much about these characters as he does for Anya's fortune-telling job.

If this was One Piece and I was asking Oda about these extra characters, Oda would have a name and a story for each of them. Not so here. This is Negima, and the story pretty much revolves around Negi, his harem, and his dad.

Some other questions got answered too...

Q: "What's the relationship between Eishun Konoe and Motoko Aoyama?"

A:"He is considered a close relative of the Aoyama family. They are not anything as close as parent and child."

Q:"Since the beginning, Asuna has had a sort of romantic / sisterly relationship with Negi. Now that her past has been revealed, the situation strikes me as very much like the relationship between Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the Star Wars Movies. Was this a consideration of yours? If so, who will play the Han Solo to Asuna's Leia?"

A: "If not Kotaro, then Setsuna."

My dear God...

Ladies and Gentlemen...I am proud to announce that I've actually gotten one of my questions answered!

Unfortunately, I'll have to wait for a translation...but I'll keep you in the loop when it comes out!

YES!!

Voice Demo #2

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More voices from me! Hope you all enjoy! If you need me in a production contact me at MetalMario@aol.com

Voice Demo #1

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Hey guys! Providing a Voice Demo for you all...for those who have seen the Captian SNES show, yes, I do do voices!

About Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail...

What is there to say about it? A lot actually. I think since the very beginning it was considered a One Piece ripoff. But after seeing its title page, I just had to take a look at it. So I read the first chapter and...I liked it! I kept reading it and reading and liking it even more.

Personally it does draw from One Piece, but it draws in all the elements that made One Piece good, and makes its own stories out of it, with mages, guilds, dragons, summoning. Similar art style and a similar humor, but different enough to enjoy in its own light.

Among the things I like is the way we're given many characters to work with in the Fairy Tail guild, however, we bring our main focus on a specific team, mainly Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray and Happy. Other characters join in for the ride such as Gajeel, Wendy and Juvia, and there are even other people in Fairy Tail who get their moment to shine in the spotlight. There's a good number of people out there, and although they can't be given the same attention as the major characters they're still pretty developed.

Another thing I like is the arc structure. Under normal circumstances, the mages see a mission request and take the mission and a great adventure ensues. Of course something unforseen could happen to them such as their guild getting attacked by a dark guild. A lot of the arcs we see indirectly pertain to the major story, but are very good by itself; it tends to either delve into: 1) the Evil Mage Zeref or 2) the 777 Incident. Of course we also get plenty of bonus stories as well and while tons of arcs slow the plot down, it does tend to paint a larger picture of the World of Fairy Tail.

On another note this was how Naruto's Ninja clan also did things...take mission, go on an adventure and kick ass...and I think it would've been better if it had continued doing that. Naruto and his team should've taken a few smaller missions to establish what is normal in the Naruto World, develop the characters, and make things exciting when something big like the Chuunen Exam pops up. Unfortunately, Kishimoto tends to focus on the BIG plot rather than smaller arcs, thus just about everything practically REVOLVES around Sasuke, Naruto or Akatsuki (and his pacing is as SLOW AS MOLASSES, especially during battles). Fairy Tail doesn't make these same mistakes.

Fairy Tail feels like One Piece in every way except one...FANSERVICE! Hiro Mashimo is willing to do what Oda is not and that is, give us some occasional strippage, panty shots and even some bare ass! Mind you, Fairy Tail is not a fanservice story but when it happens it's good. Hell he even did a special involving a Girls Dorm which actually turned out to be a very good story to boot!

The battles are intense! In any given arc, you're guaranteed to see Natsu and Lucy doing a battle. But like One Piece, each character has their own chance to shine in the spotlight, they fight with their own set of special moves (Natsu uses fire, Gajeel uses metal, Wendy uses air) and they get stronger as time progresses, meaning you'll see new abilities and cooler moves. Thankfully, just like One Piece THERE'S NO TRAINING ARC! (Hold it! Stop the Plot! Before you go any further in Bleach we need to teach you The Final Getsuga Tenshou!!)

Eventually, though, I had to go and see the anime. It's pretty good and faithful to the series. The voices are spot on too, but nothing like I expected. Where I envisioned Luffy, I instead got Simon (Guren Lagann), where I expected Nami I got Nanael (Queen's Blade) and where I expected Chopper I got Shana (Shakugan no Shana). I'm EXTREMELY thankful that they decided to push past the 26 episode barrier that most unpopular anime fall prey to. Once it gets past 52 episodes (currently on 37), it will become OFFICIALLY cool, and ongoing. There will be no turning back!

I do have a few gripes though...First off, there's stock footage galore for most of the attacks, transformations and summonings that occur in Fairy Tail. It's something I can generally overlook, but what bothers me even more is that for some reason the anime decided to spam the series with MAGIC CIRCLES every single time a character uses magic. It's intrusive, and annoying and sure as hell doesn't belong in Fairy Tail! Fanservice...is also generally lacking. It's not as bad as something done in the Negima anime, but it is noticably toned down...I mean, who the hell takes a bath...in their own bathroom...WEARING A TOWEL?

My biggest gripe would have to be all the shit they pull with the Tower of Heaven arc. This arc has LOTS of changes in the anime as compared to the manga. It's wierd to see because changing shit left and right in an ongoing series can ruin some things later on according to the laws of cause and effect. The One Piece anime made several noticable changes in the Longring Longland arc, however, that arc was small and not nearly as significant, plus they were padding things out so that the following arc, Water 7 could be done PERFECTLY. The Tower of Heaven arc in Fairy Tail is a MAJOR TURNING POINT in the Fairy Tail story...yet several changes are instilled on it...

The story flows normally, Erza gets captured and She, Gray and Lucy still take on Trinity Raven just as they did in the manga. But what gets the brunt of the changes are the following:

1) Sieglein and Jellal are said to be twin brothers straight from the getgo. In the manga we only get to see Jellal's face during the flashback AND HE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE A YOUNG SIEGLEIN. We the audience somehow knew that they were the same person and yet they were in two different places. What was the deal? As it turned out, Sieglein was Jellal the whole time...and since this was really no surprise I'm guessing that the anime decided to use the whole twin thing to mask something which was clearly not a surprise to us at all.

2) The Tower of Heaven. It looks like a nice normal tower in the manga...but in the anime, it's like a gnarled, black, twisted root of evil! Who the hell wouldn't notice this and sense danger from the mere sight of it? This was totally unnecessary!

3) SEVERAL changes made in the flashbacks! For one, the Cultists are all wearing masks to cover their face whereas they just show them normally in the manga.

4) Japan is apparently afraid of depicting children getting whipped. The prisoners are placed in cuffs instead that are magically linked to some floating idol which shocks them if they're disobedient. Also, at the part where Jellal should've been getting whipped, he is instead getting his energy drained by a lachryma. For shame!

5) Wierd monsters got added in to keep the slaves in line. We're given Xenomorph dogs which growl at the prisoners (seriously they look just like they're from Aliens, who the fuck WOULDN'T be scared of them?), also the "mages" that try to quell the rebellion are Zombies which shoot magic from their mouth instead of cultists that fire magic out of their staves making it look nothing like a scene from Tianamen Square.

6) Zeref's motif is skull based. But when Jellal is infused with Zeref's powers, we're instead given focus on the creepy eye motif instead. Either one is creepy depending on your tastes, though I think the Skull motif will come to play later on. Also, Zeref speaks to Jellal in a female voice. Those who are already caught up with the manga will already know why.

7) Violence of course is less graphic. We get no signs of blood, and when Erza manages to escape her clothes aren't a bit tattered! I guess that sorta stuff comes with the territory when marketting to a younger audience.


We're still not finished with the Tower of Heaven arc yet and from the 4th OP we will be getting the next arc as well. Fairy Tail isn't a journey the way One Piece is, so there's really no telling where or when the story will end. But I know that I'll enjoy it to the very last chapter and I hope you do too!

Captain SNES: Chapter 2 - Alex and the Weakest Link

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Okay, this time I'm going whole hog with these chapters. No more divided chapters unless I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO.

One Piece Chapter 591

Well, as I said, the Marine Ford arc is over. The flashback that follows it is over, so now what? Obviously, Luffy has to reunite with his nakama...However as one man it'll be impossible for him to do that and continue his journey...This time it's out of Luffy's hands. This time it's up to his nakama to reach him...Chapter 591 START!

In Amazon Lily, Law's pirates notice a seaking getting killed. Then they notice a man coming onto the beach from the water. It's none other than Silvers Rayleigh who recognize the Heart Pirates and they are surprised that he killed off a sea king. They're more surprised to learn that his ship got sunk in stormy weather, forcing him to swim the rest of the way.

Elsewhere in Amazon Lily, the Kuja pirates hear that Hancock is delivering food to Luffy. They get quite jealous and wish to meet him and play with his rubbery body. All the while, Hancock, Thundersonia, Marigold and Nyon are bringing food to Luffy. Elder Nyon explains that Hancock getting hugged does not automatically make her married...

Luffy and Jinbei meet with Rayleigh in the island. Luffy's surprised to meet him since he was planning to go back to Sabaody on his own. The shock on Jinbei's face is immense. They ask about Law and Rayleigh tells Luffy that they left. Sadly though, they did not get to see any of the amazons. When Nyon arrives she also recognizes Rayleigh and he recognizes her as well. Marigold and Thundersonia also exchange greetings but Hancock goes to greet Luffy instead...except she's too enamored to ACTUALLY TALK TO HIM. Hancock invites Luffy to eat the food she brought...and begrudgingly lets Jinbei eat some as well.

Elder Nyon reads off a letter from Shakky who Rayleigh mentions is just the same as ever. He also comments on how well the girls have grown...though they find it strange that Rayleigh immediately knew where to meet Luffy especially since they were hiding him. It's about this time that Hancock finally recognizes Rayleigh and says hello to him.

Rayleigh explains that it was Kuma who told him where Luffy would be, and that he worked for the Revolutionaries...It would be hard to imagine that the man-hating Boa Hancock, would ever collaborate with a man...though Shakky could perfectly envision Hancock falling in love with Luffy...because he's just that cool. But the Marines would never move on such a random hunch like that. Rayleigh then gets to the point of meeting Luffy and asks if he wants to meet his crew again. Luffy says of course he would...but Rayleigh warns him that trying to gather his crew as he is would only cause history to repeat...but he has his own way of gathering the crew...

We now cut over to the Boin Archipelago where Usopp, having feasted on the fruits of the forest has grown VERY fat. Hercules warns Usopp not to try to escape...but Usopp takes on a giant beetle...and gets thwomped! Hercules explains that the further out Usopp tries to go...the stronger the monsters get, forcing anyone who is unfortunate to get in into the center, never to leave the island again. Just then, Hercules realizes Usopp is gone...and that a strange beast has entered the island...

At this moment, a giant sea hippo appears, and Usopp tries to make a break for it...but Hercules knows that the island is going to move again...this is around the time that we realize that Usopp is NOT on an actual island...in the maw of a GIANT CARNIVOROUS PLANT which ensares and swallows the sea hippo. Usopp manages to hang on and it's around this time Hercules asks Usopp why he's in such a hurry to leave this island. Usopp tells him that ever since he got the news that Luffy's brother had died he knew he had to go to Luffy to ease his pain...LUFFY NEEDS HIM RIGHT NOW!

Elsewhere on Torino Island, Tonytony Chopper has managed to stop an ongoing war between the giant birds and the humans. He tells the birds the humans just need the the plants that grow on the trees to live, and the humans promis they'll never eat the birds or their eggs. With that, Chopper leaves the island on the back of one of the birds. He flies so high and so fast he feels he'll meet up with Luffy in no time! He meets a news bird along the way and tries to catch up with the times...what he sees shocks Chopper to no end!




It's about time we got to see everyone else in action. They wouldn't be much if they couldn't get out of this themselves...besides, Luffy's had enough adventures for now. It's time to see what the others can do!

Captain SNES: Chapter 1 - The Nightmare Begins

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For those who don't know I've been doing audio for a webcomic I deeply love. It's called Captain SNES: The Gamemasta, a webcomic sequel to the famous cheezy Saturday morning cartoon, Captain N: The Gamemaster.

It's quite a powerful series with loads of character, humor and an epic story to boot. However it's not very popular...I'd like to fix that.

It's also a great way to demonstrate my vocal prowess so please enjoy the first of many...

CAPTAIN SNES: THE GAMEMASTA

One Piece: Chapter 590

Alright...Back in the days, I was known for posting chapter summaries of One Piece. Usually I'd get the raw and decipher what I could, but even with translations I'd do a simple summary. I've been in a bit of a slump since then but now I'm gonna try and pull myself out of it. After all, a great event has just occured in One Piece. So without further ado, Chapter 590 START!



After an epic flashback we cut over to Luffy's grandpa, Monkey "Doggy-Style" Garp in Fushia Village. The villagers worry that pirates are going wild. Garp says that with Whitebeard dead, the seas will be unstable, but they're all amateurs. Just then a villager announces that mountain bandits have taken over Makino's bar. Just then, one of them comes out. It's Dadan who gives Garp a whack with her club! She damands to know why he of all people let Ace die, when he was RIGHT THERE WITH HIM.


Garp realizes that Dadan is crying. Makino steps in and tells her that it's because Garp was right there that he's the one suffering the most. Dadan tells Makino that she's wrong...it is Luffy who is suffering the most...and Makino's memories of young Luffy + Ace make her cry as well. The mayor comes in and asks whatever happened with Luffy. Garp tells him that Luffy's escaped and that since there's no corpse, he must be alive. The villagers of Fushia are relieved and Dadan says that she'll be rooting for him no matter what, so he better not lose!


Far, Far away, out in the New World, Shanks and Marco have set up graves for the fallen. Most of them consist of swords, but Edward Newgate (Whitebeard) and Portgas D. Ace have special Tombstones with their signature weapons and outfits (Ace's hat and Whitebeard's Jacket). Marco thanks Shanks for the help. Shanks says it's nothing, after all, Whitebeard is a man who deserves respect from all sides. As Shanks leaves, he thinks of Luffy...and Roger. He sends a mental message to Luffy telling him that sometimes it's alright to run away and cry sometimes; defeat is also a factor for shaping a real man.


We then turn to Amazon Lily, where Jinbei watches Luffy crying and slamming the ground, lamenting on how weak he is. Jinbei tells him to stop hurting himself, Luffy says it's his body and he can do whatever he wants. Jinbei says if that's so then since Ace's body is his then he can die if he wants to. Luffy gets pissed and tries to throw a punch at Jinbei. It misses and Jinbei catches his arm easily. With that, Jinbei pins Luffy down.


Jinbei remembers a time when Ace was telling him about Luffy. Just then Luffy bites him. Jinbei slams Luffy into a wall and asks him where that confidence he always carried around went. He goes on telling Luffy that he's become blinded by the wall that is the world standing in front of him. He tells Luffy to forget the things he lost...and to remember that he has NOT LOST EVERYTHING YET.


After a moment...Luffy calms down. And realizes that this is true. He hasn't lost everything yet. He still has Zoro, and Nami, and Usopp, and Sanji, and Chopper, and Robin, and Franky and Brook. HE STILL HAS HIS NAKAMA!!


With that, Jinbei continues to remember what Ace said, how he was relieved that Luffy has started to grow into an independent man instead of a kid brother tagging along.

Upon his realization, Luffy says that he and his crew have a meeting spot. They have to gather together now. He must see them!








Truly a hard moment for Luffy. Thankfully it gets overcome quickly. But with the flashback that takes place before this chapter, we truly get to see the depth of the pain Luffy experienced, losing not one but TWO brothers. Luffy is quite strong, but there's still room for him to grow and many challenges for him up ahead. Luffy's gonna have to leave Amazon Lily soon and with that in mind, how will Boa Hancock take the news? Something tells me she'll join him and leave her two sisters to rule in her place. I wouldn't put it past Oda to do something like that. Well, that's my prediction, we'll find out how things turn out in a couple of weeks! Teach out!

P.S.: Due to popular demand, here's the backs of the Pactio Cards, as well as a better Natsumi Card.

History of Pactio Cards Part 9: The Pendulum Swings Back

So now that you've seen all the unofficial made up Pactio Cards, it's time we answered that burning question you've been asking...What about the REAL Pactio Cards?

For awhile, we only got to see minor images that were directly from the manga. For a long time, we didn't get to see a SINGLE Pactio Card get released to the public. Hell, when Negi got the Haruna card, it got censored by Akamatsu himself! Why? Because he never actually designed the damn thing!!

But then he gave a release of Negi's Pactio cards, and during that time he had seven: Asuna, Nodoka, Setsuna, Konoka, Yue, Haruna + Chisame. It was during this time that we not only got 6 Pactio Cards from the ORIGINAL CD PROMOS released, but a seventh new one we had been itching to see for YEARS!

About goddamn time Akamatsu!

But the surprises didn't end there. Despite being given a shitty anime (26 Eps), Pani Poni Dash 2 (26 Eps) AND a Live Action series (25 Eps +1), MAHOU SENSEI NEGIMA WAS STILL STILL STILL POPULAR (and yet not popular enough)

Akamatsu decided to finally take matters into his own hands and create an anime of his own...if he had the money. Unfortunately, mangaka don't make nearly as much money as you'd think. (The publishing companies actually make more, A LOT MORE on a manga than its actual creator!) Thus Negima was relegated to an OAD series: Negima: Ala Alba


The series was given to Shaft to be animated, because despite the goofy parody style, they actually did a good job with the art and animation. However, Negima: Ala Alba would only have three episodes, each based on the training arc before arriving at the Magic World.


OAD #1: Mainly based off Chapters 176+177, the Badge Stealing Battle
OAD #2: Mainly based off Chapters 178-180, Anya's arrival
OAD #3: Mainly based off Chapters 182, 183+175, Ala Alba's departure and the Days of Summer


Only three episodes...direct to DVD! If there's one thing that BOTHERED me about this it was that the one TRUE version of Negima, in its shining moments of glory would be relegated to a mere 3 episodes! But there was a silver lining at the end: These three would be sold along with Special Editions of Volumes 25, 26 + 27 and could only be ordered online. If it sold well, there would be a movie based off the Magic World arc, if it sold really well, there would be an entire animated series based off the Magic World arc. And each of these three volumes came with its own Pactio Card:



Needless to say, it WAS popular but not popular enough. And thus we would be getting another OAD series called Negima: Another World. This one would have FOUR episodes:


OAD #1: Based off chapters 184-188 where Ala Alba takes on Kosmos Entelechia
OAD #2: Based off chapters 189-192 where Negi + Chachamaru get Chisame + Kotaro
OAD #3: Based off chapters 198-202 where Negi takes on Kagetaro and then gets training from Jack Rakan
OAD #4: Not sure but I think it's based off chapters 211-213 where Yue takes the Broom Race

After that, would be that fabled Negima movie which would highlight the conclusion to the Magic World arc (keep in mind that the Magic World arc itself starts at chapter 186 and is still going (currently at chapter 294). Along the way, Negi has made a grand total of 15 Pactios with his students, as well as one where Negi himself is the partner! Among several releases of Volumes, several new Pactio Cards will be released such as the ones here!



It's really quite refreshing to see just how well these Pactio Cards are made. Not only that, their artifacts are cool AND Practical. For instance, Kaede's artifact in the Xebec Abortion was a giant shuriken...which damages enemies when thrown. The thing is, Kaede ALREADY HAS THIS, making the artifact very useless. In the manga, Kaede's got this special cloak which sends things into a pocket dimention allowing it to remain hidden. Very befitting of a ninja!

As I said, Negi has now scored a grand total of 15 Pactio Cards, but there's plenty more to be shown! Lemme list the one's Negi has so far!


Pimpmasta Negi's Bitches!
Asuna Kagurazaka
Nodoka Miyazaki
Setsuna Sakurazaki
Konoka Konoe
Yue Ayase
Haruna Saotome
Chisame Hasegawa
Kazumi Asakura
Kaede Nagase
Ku Fei
Chachamaru Karakuri
Luna Xxxxx(Shiori)
Ako Izumi
Yuna Akashi
Makie Sasaki

Other Bitches with Cards
Mana Arcana - Property of Kouga T. (deceased)
Misora Kasuga - Property of Cocone Rosa
Negi Springfield - Property of Queen Theodora (Temporary)
Setsuna Sakurazaki - Property of Konoka Konoe (Yes she gets two of them!)
Natsumi Murakami - Property of Kotaro Inugami


That's seventeen girls out of the 31 who now have Pactio cards! And if you count the ones with the early release...


Early Releases
Sakurako Shiina
Satomi Hakase
Evangeline A.K. McDowell
Fuka+Fumika Narutaki


...we get a whopping 22 Pactio Cards! I gotta say, we're in an interesting spot.

I personally think Negi's getting his Pactio Cards waaay too quickly, and that's usually a sign that it's close to the end (which I hope it isn't). Then again, we have been waiting for quite sometime for these cards to be released haven't we?


Well, this is about the time when we stop. I can't say it's finished, because we will be getting more Pactio Cards that's for sure. But this is right now our most current chapter. I'll probably be releasing the next Part of The History of Pactio Cards once the Magic World arc ends and the movie finally gets released...but that will be months from now.

But don't worry folks, there'll be PLENTY of other things I'll be posting here! Be sure to subscribe, follow, and comment because this blog will certainly be updating!

History of Pactio Cards Part 8: Neo Way to Rage...

Negima had several adaptations each with their own version of Pactio cards...This also included ANOTHER manga called Negima?! Neo, by Takuya Fujima.

The manga was roughly based off of the Negima?! anime, but with less stupid humor and a few nods to Akamatsu's Manga. Unlike the original manga, this one updated monthly instead of weekly. It also expanded itself after the Star Crystal storyline. Unfortunately, it spent too much time showing off the other girls. Furthermore, it only ran for 34 chapters (Akamatsu's Negima is almost at 300 chapters). Which pretty much means that all they had time for was...

Once again with feeling:

THAT'S IT?!

The Neo Pactio cards, generally follow the same rule as in the anime. With Negi drawing one of three cards randomly, only Fujima was too lazy to design 93 Pactio Cards and decided to only go with armor cards. At the height of the battle against Anya's final fairy, Negi suddenly discovers he is able to invoke a NEO Pactio with Asuna, giving her the SUPER Armor Card.

Super Armor Card - The ultimate Pactio Card! Stronger than a normal Armor Card! YAY!

Afterwords, Anya becomes Student #32 (BOO!), Kotaro joins (Kewl!), Filler ensues (Yawn), Tsukuyomi appears only to fuck with Setsuna + Konoka's date (Aww...) And then...Fate appears. Bishonen Fate.

He's here to take Asuna back to the Magic World where he has come to claim her as his bride. He instantly Pactio's with her and we get...this.

Oooooookaaaaay. And this does...what exactly?

This is the penultimate chapter by the way. One chapter later, Negi and his students storm the Magic World, crash the wedding, kick Bishonen Fate's ass and then...this happens.

Okay, that's it. This is just fucking stupid! Fuck you Fujima! FUCK YOU!!

Jesus wept! All this investment and THIS is how you end it?! Goddammit! This is Negima! This is LONG HAUL material. You cannot go through and develop 31+ characters in a mere 34 chapters! You could've made this the next Fullmetal Alchemist, instead you cop out and drop us at some random spot and call it an ending. GRRR!!

But while all of the spinoffs have ended, the Negima manga still continues...

Next time, the pendulum swings back to place!

History of Pactio Cards Part 7: The Pink Generation

Just when you thought that Negima was done with the television medium, out comes a LIVE ACTION series. A show which basically featured:

A class of 31 Middle School girls

A 12-year old Japanese Girl (And Asuna),

A badly toonshaded cartoon on a patch...inside Negi's jacket,

A monkey,

A Pornstar and of course, Takamichi

(Really, what is there to say about him?)

As through the usual formula, the plot revolved around the 31 girls rather than Negi trying to find his dad. And since this was live action and had to be realistic, all the Japanese girls couldn't have their anime hair colors (Chachamaru's a robot so she's cool). This also meant that most of the girls looked the same and were hard to discern from one another at times. For the minor characters like Zazie (clown), Satsuki (cook), Ako (nurse) etc. they'd have to wear funny hats or deviate from the school uniform just so you could tell who's who.

Another big thing about this show was their way of dealing with the minor characters...by making them disappear! Literally, they'd make them experience an emotion (Sakurako, Misa, Madoka = Sadness for instance) and then POOF! Gone from the show. About a third of the cast was already "clocked out" before this really became an issue within the show itself. You'll understand why this is important in a few minutes...in the meantime I'll show you what you came here for...the Pactio Cards!

Two words for you guys: That's IT?!

Yes it is. For a 25 episode series (26 if you count that concert at the very end). As you can see, the cards are exactly like Akamatsu's but with live action characters instead of manga characters. The differences mainly stem from the fact that this is a short series with not much time to delve into its powers.

ASUNA: Asuna's artifact is a fan. She uses it to fight Chachamaru during the iconic Negi vs. Evangeline episode. Then we never see it again. And no, she never uses the sword EVER.

NODOKA: It's a book. This one functions radically different...sorta. From what I see it can monitor someone off in the distance and reveal what they're doing at the time. This one gets used a lot for a short series.

KONOKA: When Konoka discovers she's got magic in her, she forms a Pactio with Negi. She receives the two fans which allow her to...CAST a healing spell and save Fumika from dying. Like Asuna's artifact, it's only used once.

But the true purpose of the Pactios in this show lie not with the artifacts...What the Pactios are REALLY used for is THIS:

Ah the sweet taste of Evangeline's lips!

That's right...it's so Asuna can kiss EACH AND EVERY ONE of the 2-A girls in this show (except Sayo, cuz she's a ghost and Chao because she's an evil venomcunt). This is how it works: eventually everyone in the school gets clocked out and crystalized in stasis...it looks EXACTLY like the Opening of the show which makes it very very creepy. And since Anya and her Star Crystal went on vacation this time, it's Chao Lingshen's turn to be the main villain. Chao isn't able to get Asuna because she has a memory equally painful to hers. Asuna then discovers that Chao didn't get Sayo either (Screw the rules, Imma ghost!). Basically Sayo tells Asuna that she can use her magic to unfreeze everyone in the class. Where did Asuna GET this magic from? Her Pactio with Negi of course! And how is she supposed to use it? By kissing everyone on the lips...starting with Evangeline.

So yeah...Pactios...Cool, huh?

But even that doesn't make the tip of the iceberg. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING that will make me rage harder...than what they did in Negima?! Neo

DUN dun DUUUUUN

And now...Robot Boobs! Clang! Clang!

Enjoy it, it's the only boobs you'll see in THIS series.

History of Pactio Cards Part 5: Who cares! They're still cool!

In this chapter of Pactio Card history we're going to discuss cards that are NOT Pactio Cards.

At around 2006, an official series of character encyclopedias were released, discussing everything about that particular character. It was loaded with inside info that would be every fan boy's wet dream...mine too if there had been any translation, but at least we had pictures to go by.

Thing is, each book came with its own card, which I call a NegiPa Card. No it isn't featured in NegiMA, nor does it actually do anything, but it is extra artwork by Akamatsu himself and thus is given extra coolness in that regard. Behold, the Pa Cards!



It's all basic stuff. You're given a name in English, the horoscope (for some reason Negi's birthday is never revealed nor is Sayo's or Evangeline's) a PA number and a roman numeral. Not much but it's a collector's item. Nothing more.

Next time, I'll show you how other series manhandle the Pactio Card system.