VOL. 10
081 – MahoraFest Begins
La la la la...
The Mahora Festival begins, yay, it’s going to get quite interesting now. The haunted house by Class 3A was okay, but the special ability of the watch was pretty easy to guess. It reverses time, still, it’ll make for some good events later on I guess, not a spectacular start to the festival arc, but not too shabby.
082 – MahoraFest Begins… Again?!
so angelic
The time travel aspect reminds quite a bit of Harry Potter and the Prisoner from Azkaban for some reason. Though I like the way this works theoretically, in that the person time travelling has to avoid his past self and everything. Anyway, not too much has happened other than the fact that we see Negi acting like a proper 10 year old kid, and a different, more gentle side of Setsuna (who actually smiled properly!). The identity of Chao is displayed as a mystery at this time, quite funny when she said she was an alien, as a matter of fact, the whole chapter was funny, a nice chapter.
083 – Date With a Bookstore
such a happy accident
As the title may suggest, Negi has his date with Nodoka, and it’s another fun and lighthearted chapter to read. It never really occurred to me that Nodoka may be under the effect of the World Tree. An enjoyable read, a few laughs, especially with Nodoka’s imaginings, in contrast to her conservative nature.
"why do you act so surprised?"
084 – Kiss Machine’ Negi?!
this is funny... death by a kiss
This chapter was hilarious!!! Negi turns into a slightly perverted version of himself, bent on kissing Nodoka. He surprisingly gets very strong (so the next time an enemy appears, he shouldn't be helpless like all the previous ones… hopefully), but just when the two other mages appear to fight him, that was good. Burst out laughing when Nodoka imagined kissing with Negi, and it ending with her death.
085 – So What is a Grown-Up Kiss Like??
just blame is on the heat of the moment...
The humor continues, and Asuna wants in on the action, burst out laughing when she said that line. In the end, Negi kissed with Asuna, and somehow that feels appropriate. However, when Nodoka kissed Negi, I was thinking, this is kinda wrong, he is only 10 years old, Nodoka isn’t that much better before 15 or something (can't remember). If only Negi was older, at least a teenager, then the mood would have been so much better. I still liked the chapter however, good entertainment.
086 – The Object of One’s Long-Ago Love
talk about overkill
Another good chapter with laughs, although more of a filler chapter than anything, since it focuses on a character we hadn’t seen much, and it doesn't seem to be leading somewhere. That isn’t to say that there’s anything wrong with it, love Negi’s reactions though.
087 – That Lovin’ Feeling That Just Won’t Hide
words over fist
I liked the start, felt bored by the middle, but it picked up again in the end. The logical arguments of Yue against Katarou, rendering him speechless was funny, as was when Kamo annoyed Yue about her feelings for Negi. Confirmed now that Yue likes Negi, and she also finds out about the time machine. During the middle, where it was boring, I was thinking, this is another chapter where nothing much happens, but it worked out in the end and was not a terrible chapter.
088 – Return of the Ver-r-ry Dangerous Martial-Arts Tournament
the mastermind
Can't the fight start already!??! I kinda hate how it always takes forever for the main event in an arc to start, it’s like there are a few chapters preceding it that sets it up, dragging it along. I guess its part of the hyping up. Anyway, a few good moments here, but mainly, I just want to get to the start of the fight. It seemed that all the students who had fought before are going to be in the tournament, I do wonder how it will turn out, especially when it was revealed the last tournament 25 years ago was won by Negi’s dad.
nicely drawn
089 – The “Ba-Bump! Nuthin’-But-the-Strongest” Battle Royal
and first off in the comedic techniques round
Finally the tournament starts, and I like it. Even though it is the preliminary round, pretty much the people you expect to win, does win. They all go to the second round, at least the preliminary was over in one chapter, I don't think it would have been as absorbing if it was split into more chapters. Most of the ways the students win are humorous, since all the (more powerful looking) opponents underestimate them, but also coz they are not that good themselves. It ends with a match table, just the way I like this stuff to be done, in knockout matches!!! What’s more, it’s Negi versus Takamitchi, nice… Although, the apparently of a hooded figure causes some suspicion…
Overall
if there's ever a sub-theme for this volume, it's kissing
Focusing on the start of the MahoraFest, although the time travelling element is nothing new, and could have been utilized better, it was a good volume. It’s not the very best, but it’s one of the better ones, in terms of direction and story content. At the very least, I didn't get confused at what was happening.
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Credits: due to it being faster and more efficient I just took these pictures from scans online instead of scanning the tankobons themselves. These were scanned by the groups "
Red Hawk Scanalations" and "
Mahora-Manga"
