A fantastic finale!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Ken Akamatsu
Translation/Adaptation: Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley
What They Say:
Class 3-A has finally had enough of Negi and his philandering ways! They’ve devised an elaborate plot for revenge, but everything changes when they discover that their young teacher may actually have some small affection for one special girl. Can Negi escape with his secret intact, or will they make him talk?
Content:
As this final volume kicks off, Negi finds himself in quite a pinch, with his magic canceled out and the whole school hunting him down. Plenty of old rivalries soon flair up, and the cheerleaders manage to learn that Negi actually has someone he has feelings for. The class soon divides itself into sides, with some of the girls trying to force this information out of him and others attempting to protect him from this blatant harassment. Goofy antics of course abound in the ensuing chaos, and Akira shockingly takes center stage for a little bit, gaining a rather interesting pactio power in the process. Things start to get rather serious once Evangeline decides to join in, but fortunately for our hero Yotsuba decides to step in and act as the voice of reason, bringing things to a peaceful conclusion with the help of Hakase.
With that final burst of excitement out of the way, it finally comes time for Asuna to say her goodbyes. After departing from her close friends, Asuna falls into her deep slumber. Unsurprisingly, her personality is able to last longer than was predicted, hanging on long enough to be the one who wakes up. It turns out she ended up sleeping a bit longer than expected, but the tragedy of this doesn’t hit her until she sees Negi’s grave. Apparently he wasn’t quite as immortal as once thought, as he died well before she awoke. However, she remembers the time capsule that was buried for her, now containing a hundred years worth of memories. Though there are plenty of exciting and happy memories contained within, Asuna can’t help but be deeply hurt upon realizing that Class Rep hung on until she was 115 years old, till the year that she was originally supposed to wake up. Just when things seem hopeless, Evangeline and Chao appear before her.
With the help of these two powerful allies, Asuna is able to return home shortly after she left. Apparently, Chao invented a device to jump between parallel words, allowing her to meet up with the future Eva and bring our heroine back with her time machine. In an actually shocking twist, Negi ends up telling Asuna the identity of the girl he likes, and her reaction makes it clear that it is someone else, though unfortunately we don’t ever end up hearing who it was. With one last super powered sneeze, the series finally comes to a close.
In the extras, we get to see a bonus story set in the future starring Yue as a detective, followed by a meeting of many of the main characters for a get-together.
In Summary:
Put simply, this volume manages to do a great job wrapping up the series, especially considering the circumstances. Obviously what hurts the most isn’t what is shown, but what isn’t. It’s a real shame that the series was left with a clearly intended arc missing. However, this volume manages to wrap things up with a good bit of action, a nice focus on characters both major and minor, a lot of laughs, and even a few surprisingly touching moments. Don’t let the early end to the series turn you off, as this book still does a fantastic job at capping off the story.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B+
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: A
Age Rating: 16+
Released by: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: April 16, 2013
MSRP: $10.99
