So in the end it is finally revealed that it was Chisame he went with. I know he got kind of close to her during the magic world arc but that seemed more like a brother and sister relationship similar to the one he had with Asuna to me. May have been more to it but it has been a long time since I read any Negima and given how it ended I don't really feel like going back to re-read it.
This does mean that everything from early in the story with Nodoka and later the love triangle drama with Nodoka and Yue was all for nothing.
Not hating on Chisame though, I did find her to be a fun and entertaining character plus her loli form during the magic world arc was adorable.
That seems to be a running theme for me personally when reading Ken Akamatsu series, ever since Love Hina.
Starts off great, I love it, but then it always gets messier and messier until I have no idea what's going on anymore, not to mention the DBZ-level power inflations.
Doesn't help either that the animes related to his works seem to always get FUBAR'ed by production into something really different.
I was actually pretty pleasantly surprised when I first found out that he probably went with Chisame (since that's generally been the popular interpretation for a few years, at least). It wasn't at all what I expected, and I'm so used to getting what I expect from harem series. That's probably part of why Mahou Sensei Negima is one of the few harem series that I kept liking long after I got tired of the genre.
That's probably part of why Mahou Sensei Negima is one of the few harem series that I kept liking long after I got tired of the genre.
I do have a lot of fond memories of reading Negima. I usually avoid a long running shounen series as most are a dragged out mess of shouting and ass pull power levels. I did have the added benefit of starting Negima while there were only a few books out. The Rakan fight during the magic world arc is one of the best shounen manga battles I have read. Rather than just relying on mindless brute strength Negi had plans within plans.
While at times I do want to go back to the world of Negima the way it ended left a sour taste and the MC of UQ Holder looks more like some dumbass generic shounen hero. Negi was a cunning badass lady killer during Negima's last story arcs.
Edit: Out of curiosity, in UQ Holder has Evangeline's anti magic curse been lifted?