Latest Negima RAW Discussions, Thread contains spoilers

Thoughts about Setsuna's card--from what I have read on this board, it does not seem that there is anything REALLY different about the "style" of the card. It looks like the key is the item in Setuna's hand, hidden by the "glare"--which is not surprising, since KA would want to extend the interest until another chapter (his version of a "cliffhanger").

My guess is that, with Setsuna's dual nature and Konoka's healing style, Setsuna, like Kaede, did NOT come away with another weapon--and that confuses (interests?) Albert. Something with healing powers? Something that has a purpose that is not obvious from just looking at it? A souvenir picture of her pactio kiss? Of course, only those who can read the panel can tell at the moment whether his comments are consistent with this theory.

i failed to make my point.

my point is that those factors i said, might be a plausable reason why perma pactios have age requirements is that the energy requirements for one to be formed must require a more matured body, certain energy/magic levels, etc.

and i say 15-16 because ive sat down more than once and ive decided more than once that statiscally, the ages im seeing in the magic world resemble the age model/bell curve from the middle ages. so 15/16 is where 18 would be for us.

For these interested, RAW is out at MH.

TALLY HO!

After reading 252:

Okay, apart from the whole date that konokaxsetsuna yuri fans are going to wet themselves over for a month...


So Emily is taking the risk... man for all her comparasions to Ayaka (whom i have little comtempt for her reasons of support), at least when she needs to make a tough call, she does so pretty quickly.

ol' governer has established his bonifids as a pervert like every important leader and it now im confirmed sure that kid is a swordsmaster instead of the guy's weapon caddy, but i have a nigling doubt that he is shinmeiyruu for some reason.

i think from this point on Emily and Negi are a team... sorta.



This post has been edited by NightHawk Imac 1.0 on May 25 2009, 11:02 AM

On Gov. Stooge-boy: He's a pervert. Emily, filthy-traitor-girl, SMITE him. Negi, help them out, just to make sure, and because the[b]-tard insulted your mother!

On Kono-Setsu: Yay! Se-chan's loosening up! She also seems to have reached some kind of 'Zen' peace, since she blocked/deflected that accidental attack without really thinking about it!

On the Pactio card: The picture is much clearer in this scan. All Setsuna's information, including the Latin 'Winged Swordsman,' appears to be the same, with just new wings, and a new uniform. From what I can tell Setsuna IS NOT holding anything. The 'glare' is so minor, it does not appear to be concealing anything.

However, there is one, SMALL, oddity that could be just as much part of the card's spell-circle, or Setsuna's right sleeve, as it could be some mysterious new artifact.

Right now? I don't think there's a new artifact, unless KA changes the art before the takoban comes out.

However #2: Since the wings ARE so different, is there any possibility THAT is the artifact?

This post has been edited by Neko_Arc01 on May 25 2009, 11:30 AM

To me, it looks sort of like she's holding a book.

I suppose it could just be part of the circle, but it's at an angle I've never seen in a magic circle.

And it's ironic that at the moment she showed what Neko called "Zen state", she was the most flustered internally, wondering what she should do for the future as well as Tsukuyomi's and Eva's words on being a human and being a warrior.

I liked how Konoka just came out and said what Setsuna was thinking (with Setsuna asking if she was an Esper ), and I also liked her speech on happiness and strength. It also seems like she thought about her own future as well as Setsuna's. That being a Magister Magi and her Partner.

Also, I'm not 100% sure, but I think Konoka says that her mother was also a Magister Magi. The sentence I'm talking about is on page 15 in the lower left corner, second bubble.

"Negi kun no Otousan ya Okaasan mitai na ribba na mahoutsukai ni"

Take a look at these:



What appears to be a book in the left image: (That was my first reaction as well,) is actually the diamond shaped part of the spell-circle clearly visible beneath Setsuna's left arm in the color card. (On the opposite side.)

Now there seems to be 'something' showing just about where Setsuna's right-arm sleeve cuff might be in the left picture. However, it is such a small part of the image, it is almost insignificant. If it is an artifact, why position it in such a way it is all but concealed by Setsuna's body? (Any glare of light aside.)

This post has been edited by Neko_Arc01 on May 25 2009, 11:59 AM

How so? That looks like he is the Governor’s weapon 'caddy'. When you’re evil and in high political office; you can afford to have a loyal kid to carry your weapon in the position best to draw it.

I never thought of it like that, i guess i just wanted to see a little kid with a blade kick butt.

As for the SetsunaXKonoka "Pactio"......well i can sleep easy tonite XD

You do realise that the colour card is just a manga page, coloured over, made into a pactio card by some unknown person? ...

You do realise that the colour card is just a manga page, coloured over, made into a pactio card by some unknown person? ...

The image has no meaning here, what's important is the card background.

Official card, same spell circle, and a blank card for comparison.



This post has been edited by Neko_Arc01 on May 25 2009, 12:09 PM

i think it is an articfact...but we'll see when akamatsu-sensei shows us more...

and i think her pactio card shows how she is going to be a demon + a warrior cause her wings are a lot smaller....kinda in a balanced manner in terms of the card being 50% human body and 50% wings.

idk. i'm probably just making weird ideas.

I'm betting is some type of talisman, or something like that...

You do realise that the colour card is just a manga page, coloured over, made into a pactio card by some unknown person? ...

Official card, same spell circle.

http://img16.imageshack.us/my.php?image=044ymm.jpg

Yeah - look at my avatar
I was just trying to work out the point of the fan made pactio card you were showing?
And I can't see any books anywhere

Edit: and yes that last line means I agree with you.
Or more the point - yes you are correct, there is no artifact there - it is just part of the pactio symbol.

Edit2: I should also add, I drew/traced from the manga, the pactio symbol used in all my avatar pics I traced ... tracing something detailed means you get to know it very well ... (like the fact that I have mentioned once before that there is a fault in the original pactio symbol that they changed about when they released the new cards last year)

This post has been edited by kano on May 25 2009, 12:34 PM

The spoilers pretty much got almost everything again it seems.

Few observations:

1) Konoka can't stop the iron ball with her shields or doesn't have the reflexes?

2) Chamo has a auto-summon buff whenever a pactio is imminent?

3) Trembling Setsuna.

So far, the only two girls that would make up the harem are Setsuna and Asuna. Of the other three people that she is close to (the Library Trio), Nodoka and Yue are probably going to be interested in either Negi or each other, and Haruna will most likely be in the grandstands watching the fun.

EDIT: I'm just going to retype this.

Slight correction: Konoka is saying she wants to be a Magister Magi, an outstanding mage like Negi's Father and Mother.

Negi Kun no Otousan ya Okaasan mitai na rippa na mahoutsukai ni

In the previous bubble, the kanji "rippa na mahoutsukai" (立派な魔法使い) is furigana'd into Magister Magi. In the next bubble, it's furigana'd into "rippa na mahoutsukai" to describe Negi's parents' abilities.

And in above phrase, remember, the "no" (の) indicates possession, so it's Negi Kun's Father and Mother, like them, outstanding mage to (become) the naru (なる)is left out, but it's implied, since she already used it in the first bubble to say she wanted to become a Magister Magi.

Fixed translation: Konoka wants to be a Magister Magi, an outstanding mage like Negi's Father and Mother... which means she's already figured out something about Negi, because she's very smart, and can figure out what was obvious from Rakan's little film--Arika is Negi's mom. (Duh.)

What will be more interesting is if she has figured out who Asuna is yet...

EDIT: Yeah, I see that you could wrangle a possible interpretation of Negi's father and mother to mean her mother, but people don't talk like that naturally. I don't say "My father and my mother," I say "My father and mother." And if I were talking about Negi's father and mother, I'd say "Negi's father and mother." If I were talking about Negi's father and my mother, I'd say Negi's father and my mother.

Which would be ネギ君のお父さんやウチのお母さん, given that Konoka talks in Kyoto-ben, and says "Uchi" a lot. (Using katakana just so it stands out from all of the hiragana.)

This post has been edited by cynicalicious on May 25 2009, 02:36 PM

Wow, I would be amazed if people didn't notice that Arika = Negi's mother.
But, she's dead? That's the impression I had from Kurt speech.

OMG! OMG! OMG! xD
Ch252 for download!
http://mangahelpers.com/downloads/download/30612

what did the governor said in the raw? was it about Arika or Asuna?

Well she did think of it with Haruna and Asakura after the movie, and Jack's answer was pretty much "yes" in lots of different words.

Now what would be truly intriguing would be if she's got the kind of doubts that Chisame had over the movie. Or she's doing the pactio with a ulterior motive beyond love - she truly believes that there's going to be a lot of trouble for the group, the kind that broke up their superiors.

Everything indicates that something terrible happened to her, but that may not mean dead (it could be worse true)

Interesting chapter.

The fact that an artifact isn't obvious on Setsuna's new card could be telling. Either she can't get a second artifact since she already has one. Or for whatever reason Konoka can't provide her one.

I'd think it's that a ministra can't have two artifacts similtaniously than Konoka can't provide her with one. Since for all intents and purposes she's stronger than Nagi.

This post has been edited by Trowa on May 25 2009, 03:14 PM

I wonder if Emily inadvertently sent the images of them being naked to the Governor instead?

Mahou Sensei Negima! Period 252

Divshare file: http://www.divshare.com/download/7481774-c86
Megaupload file: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TETXTSVC
Rapidshare file: http://rapidshare.com/files/237190100/Negima252.zip.html
Savefile file: http://savefile.com/upload.php
Uploaded.to file: http://ul.to/1bkjfp

Widya Santoso

Reading Chamo's comments at the top of the last page, it was a new record for the longest pactio kiss. (No surprise there.)

If I'm reading it right, it's a temporary one, not a permanent one. He says, "もう本契約行っとくか?" 本契約 would refer to a real contract. It's the 行っとく that's throwing me off, because it's a really informal version of... something. I'd guess he's saying "You wanna go just ahead and do a permanent pactio already?"

And regarding Negi, he calls him her orphan... so yeah, she's either dead, fled, or worse. The governor is a nice slimeball. Should be fun to watch him get cut to ribbons.

EDIT: might as well throw in Chamo's comments on the card: "Oh, a new card!?" "別扱いってコトか。" "Specially handled thing, huh?" That's about as close as I'm going to get without my brain a-sploding. No explanation, other than it's a new card, and it's different.

This post has been edited by cynicalicious on May 25 2009, 04:13 PM

first @setenshi, Jessie, ssjup81
which is why I said it is "stereotype and male chauvinism." (knew I would get in troubles for it )

first, it is already not an exact match, instead of the Mahora round tournament of winners advance, we have single matchup of AA vs. KE, then a grand final of Rakan vs Negi tag team style, we are talking structure, not exact match,

second, there is nothing that will stop Ken from putting into the plot Seras shows up with Ricardo and Theodora to spring Negi and friends away, or even Rakan to save the day, (but he already done it once, doubtful people got enough money to pay him again, and I think even if Ricardo and Godel are both senators of MM, and Ricardo represented the central government, Godel being the local governor would means Ricardo can not pull rank on him.)

but if nothing happen? then they are stuck and have to make hard choice, (fight? give up?) good guy get into troubles because, well, they are good guys, they have to follow a code of conduct on morality, etc. which is why Paru says bad guy is cool. and in a story we need troubles, without troubles and conflicts there would be no awesome solution, if the story is any good that is.

just think about how complicated the story would be if both Konoka and Setsuna are still players for Negi, Nodoka? even Asuna would be in troubles,

--------------------

upon reading the complete raw

-- nothing needed to be correct from my initial posts, some of the later questions can be answered by just going over them again, so I won't repost them.

-- and the later additions are correct by cynicalicious and kano, I actually knew that line (wanting to be like Negi's father and mother.) by reading the spoiler, but did not think of listing it as something important.

and to add some more.

-- the nekomom is telling her nekokid to ignore Setsuna, who is talking to herself on the street,

-- Setsuna is worry beyond swords she has nothing, and after Mahora end up working at MacD, which would not be enough money, etc...

-- Konoka use magic to get the balloon down for the kids, (how? consider all the things she practice are magic arrows and healing?)

-- when Setsuna splits the mace, she did it unconsciously.

-- Konoka knew Setsuna is worry about the future, because she heard Setsuna talking to herself.

-- it bug me the last couple of days how they got Chamo to pactio while at Ostia market with Chamo still back at the GPS with Paru and sports 4+1, the solution is easy, they went back, (doh!) the pactio taken place at the dock beside the GPS, (except GPS is no where in sight!)

-- Chamo is holding a stopwatch, saying it is a new record for length of time during pactio! (most likely broke the one by Chisame, and asking them if they want to do the real one, I hope Ken will drop into the storyline Chamo selling the video of the pactio to Paru.)

-- the little magic statue KonoXSetsu looking at page 2 which looks like ChachaZero? I am pretty sure it is a MUSIC BOX that rotate while joggle daggers and playing music, selling at either 530 or 530,000 DM, (think Europe as comparison units, if later then it is more expensive than GPS and some of the bounty!) the interesting part for KonoXSetsu is she has ONE WHITE AND ONE BLACK WING, another thing is it has the Ostia crest on the bottom, indicate it might be a jewel from the royalty, I couldn't make sense of the reverse words on the top of the label, so if anyone can read them please post it. (the fact that it looks like ChachaZero could mean it was made by Eva a long long time ago? the possibility if Ken wants to follow through on it...)

-- and last, no, Emily has NOT make any decision or taking a stand, yet. that is the cliffhanger/teaser of the week.

To be honest, I don’t think that a Konoka X Setsuna pactio makes any real difference to the Negi X question. Konoka’s family have shown themselves to be old school aristocrats. So, arranged political marriages to cement alliances would be pretty much the par for the course. From that point of view, Negi X Konoka would be a spectacular win. However, the same could be said for Asuna, given that they are not too closely related If Konoka equals Earth style magic royalty, then Asuna would be the equivalent for the Magic World.
If KA chooses to go for a “modern” love match, other girls come into the picture. But no matter what the ermine has to say, a love match is a two way deal and nobody knows what the Negi side of the equation is thinking. We’ve seen little of Negi’s feelings on the matter, possibly the girls he thinks about in the confessional might be a clue. But hey, he’s only 10, he needs more time to make up his mind. In the end, soft lips might not rock his boat as much as Chinese fire soup or 101 things to do with a very pliable gymnast who is expert with a long ribbon, hoop and stick
In the end, I think Konoka has, at least to some extent, made the pactio to reassure Setsuna that they have a future together and that Setsuna will not be thrown aside when they graduate. I don’t think it is time to put her out of the Negi darling stakes.

@ Hata

hmm I cant figure more out than this:

Antique
Evangeline .....

That panel with setsuna at macd and the last page are awesome. i cant wait for the scan.

Then again, Negi may just see all of these shota-con nee-chans as his dear students, and find some other girl on his travels...

What? Ken said it was going to be a surprise!

--

I do wonder what Negi's Ostian Royal background will have to do with his marriage prospects, though. Once word gets out (and it will-- nobody can keep a secret around this boy), I'm sure his life will get much more complicated. lol.

... and he thought being the son of the Thousand Master was bad?

upon a second look, Setsuna is actually picture herself working at 7-11, she is asking the costumer if they want the bento heated, (via microwave,)

antique Evangeline, hah, I was on the right track.

----------edit

the words are

Antique Evangeline's automation Dp 530,000

(I cheated, I used the mirror function of the program. )


This post has been edited by Hata on May 25 2009, 05:44 PM

So Setsuna finally did it...

Interesting, can a person have a Pactio with two persons and yet have different artifacts? Negi said they depended upon the Ministra's personality... Guess 'til we see it in action we won't knoow if the only difference is the illustration

(If Hata has already theorized/stated what differences could be, so sorry to not to had read them)

In some ways Emily has already made a choice regarding Negi. Pulling up his hood should show her unwillingness for anything bad to befall the cute, charming, very image of his father Negi.

Anyone have 530,000 ₯ I can borrow? I would love that trinket of Evangeline's, even if it were cursed.

Edit: Dp? I looked through the world's currency listings and found nothing similar. Macedonian denar, Kuwaiti dinar, Moroccan diram, Greek drachma(replaced by Euro).

My bad... found it. Symbol Δρχ., Δρ. or ₯ indeed the old Greek drachma.

This post has been edited by Rhyshaelkan on May 25 2009, 06:30 PM

Right now we're not even sure she has a second artifact. Much less what it is right now.

Right now I'm not sure it's even possible to have two artifacts. Much less what difference there might be in forming a contract with two people.

Be interesting to see the result if they try and summon her simultaneously.....

SHRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!

Perhaps since they are still a 14yo children, their personality is not complete yet as they are still maturing. Setsuna is Negi's third pactio. It has been quite somw time since then.

Man.... the Governor is SUCH a jerk. Granted, I guess he really can't fight, but it has been proven in time you don't need strength to attack your enemy.... As long as you have henchmen.

But where will it go after this. Now that Emily's made herself an enemy, this doesn't look good for the Magic World.

For the Pactio . Konoka really can sure be sneaky. Chamo even timed it.

"Automaton", actually. Which implies you were right about what it does. My guess is it's one of Eva's early (hence antique) forays into her magical puppetry. Before she was able to command armies of them at a time.

I think the price might be a little low, actually. She must have created a number of them, as you'd think it would definitely be a seller's market for such an item. To give a hypothetical real world example, how much do you think a handwritten rough draft of Mein Kampf would go for?

Hard to say since what it's worth since we don't have much information on the relative value of items in the Magic World. A potion that cures anything costs 1 million drachma while the reward for bringing in Negi, 300,000 drachma, would support someone comfortably for three years. Seems to me it is priced at a nice median.

As far as artifacts go, did the manga actually say only pactios with mages of a certain power would result in granting an artifact? The only point I remember is that Emily said it was rare for a card to come with an artifact.

just some comments on you guy's reply.

-- don't assume Godel can't fight, a lie which even Collet can tell, the way he instantly recalls all the photos to his hand without incantation should tell you he is a powerful mage, he could be as weak as Al is my guess.

-- Ken spent quite a few words describe the value of Dp in book#24, but I generally just convert it 1 Dp to 1 Euro, that is about as make sense to a modern currency as I can think of, consider the price of a manju, the price of the GPS, the price of the elixir compare the the years 3 slaves have to work to get it off, and the living standard compare to the bounty, etc.

-- if this auto doll is created PRE ChachaZero, then it must be around 400+years old, Eva only start to assemble her doll army since the 17th century.

-- it has been exactly about a couple of weeks less than half a year, since Setsuna and Negi pactio, so it had not been that long, (the entire Negima timeline in 28 books is only about 8 calendar months so far!)

-- Emily has not make a decision yet, she could still gives up Negi, or she could fight on Negi's side, however, the governor pretty much have them at his mercy by 1. the photos over the valkyrie, 2. the bounty over the AA,

-- and the AA just happen to lack fighters with Negi, but Negi does have Nodoka on his side, and if she ever put her AF to work, Shiori's name should be exposed. so in the following story Nodoka should either have some major page times, or she would be taken out ASAP, to not involve Nodoka would be an insult on the reader's intelligence.

I can think of at least one way that Nodoka could be kept out of the fight without the typical "Nodoka is knocked out first/is captured first/runs away at Negi's request/etc., and that's if the Ariadne quartet somehow take the fight upon themselves. Remember that Seras warned Emily about getting involved with the governor just a bit ago. In shounen manga/anime that's as good as guaranteeing that it will happen. And since it more or less already has happened that he has gotten involved... In for a penny, in for a pound...

Emily is the scion of a notable family, after all. Perhaps she challenges him to a duel to salvage her honor (due to his casual attitude toward the pictures, teasing at throwing them to his soldiers). He faces her, or has his "champion" do it (shouta-kun), or she even has her "champion" do it (Negi). However it's done, all those not involved are legitimately honor-bound from getting involved, including Nodoka.

I don't know about insults to readers intelligence, but I don't think it can come to a fight involving Negi. AK would not do that after the Rakan/Fate fights, it would upset the "power rankings" as they have been established, by either showing a disappointing Negi, or by making the governor into some Fate/Rakan powerhouse. It would also be an overload of Negi fighting, after the Rakan and Fate fight, AK still has to showcase the girls even if Negima becomes hardline shonen.

I don't know about Nodoka. After all, AK already did "insult the readers" by not using her to read Yue's mind. I'd rather see not-Asuna betraying herself by not being able to cancel magic, or something like that, before they flee