VOL. 21
187 – Fate Causes a Catastrophe
This chapter was… a shocking turn of events. It is really surprising that Negi’s team got
wasted so easily, especially after all that training (and I wonder how they
managed to end up beating the same group during the Kyoto events of Volume 5
and 6). It’s unbelievable (in the good
sense) how powerful the enemy is right now (even able to isolate the gate so no
one else can get in, that’s something right there).
188 – Power Up, Negi Party!
This is pretty much one of the best chapter in a long long
time. The white haired boy (forgot his
name) is as cool as ever (in terms of personality), but it’s not even revealed
why he’s here. Apparently it’s for
something different, yet they attacked Negi which does not make any sense (he
explains that Negi detected him, hence why he attacked but… that doesn't feel
quite right). The fighting moves were
excellent.
189 – Destruction!
Negi Party!!
Everyone is scattered, and Negi wakes up with
Chachamaru. It seems that Negi’s next
quest is to locate all the Mahora students that were scattered by that
spell. Conveniently scattered all over
the magic world, just like a typical adventure quest. I don't really look forward to it since it
doesn’t excite me much.
190 – Energy Recovered, 120%
So Negi displays his usual traits of always trying too hard
(annoyingly at times) and heading off before he’s ready and relying on someone
else to save his sorry back. In the
second half of the chapter where Negi winds Chachamaru, hmph, there are a lot
of innuendoes there, such that it makes it quite funny. Sadly, Negi is as clueless as ever with what
he is saying (and saying all the wrong stuff too).
191 – Promise from the Past
What’s up with the sudden things happening to the
characters? There’s an octopus that
spits stuff which conveniently only melts clothing. So Negi finds Chisame, and irritatingly,
although expected, she misses Negi and cries out for him. In a way, this was an interesting chapter.
192 – Hero’s Duty
Worry, worry, worry, and putting the blame all to himself, Negi
does that once again, even though he’s on the brink of death. Thankfully Kotarou comes and sorts it out,
and in the process, heals Negi. A bit of
a contrived chapter with the things Kotarou was speaking about, since it was
really obvious he was just edging Negi on, and Negi fell for it, hook, line and
sinker.
193 – Wanted!!
This chapter is a lot more interesting than the last few
ones combined. Thankfully, Negi has
gotten over his bout of depression (but I’m sure it’ll come back soon), and the
whole chapter was quite funny.
194 – Made in a Magical World
While this chapter overall is pretty mediocre, the ending
was good, where Negi comes in as the gallant prince and saves the day. For some reason, I always find any arc with
Ako in it, to be really interesting and much easier to read.
195 – 1,000,000 Dorakuma Repayment Plan
A fairly good chapter, I loved the part where Negi and
Kotarou signed up as prize fighters and was taking the enrolment test, only to
find out their opponent was something they had beat the trash out of
before. The ending was good as well with
the appearance of Takamichi.
Overall
I had my doubts about this volume and series and was about
to give up. However, the sudden turn of
events caught my interest right back, and I find myself looking forward to the
next volume. Most of the chapters here
are pretty good, except for the ones starring Negi with his obligatory self
pity scenes.