Pactio!!

[spotto]

Too bad I'm like half-asleep here, dyhydrated, and extremely hungry. I didn't realize I fell asleep for like 11 hours. And considering my dinner wasn't much the day before and that we have like, no bread or cereal (I may go grab some waffles) it's hard to type. X_x

...and now I'm incredibly full. I think I ate too much. X_x

LOTS OF IMAGES UNDER THE CUT. You've been warned. :D

Anyway, speaking in fandom side...Negima has been rather disappointing/not disappointng lately. If you want to know what I mean, continue on!
In terms of OAD 3 that was released a few days back and I haven't been able to find it yet, the only thing I CAN criticize right about now is how Ako is completely cut out. I'd rant more, but I think I ran out of ranting energy when I ranted about it to like five other people when I found out.

To be brief, Ako subplot ties into several not-subplots, like the tournament. That happens because of Ako. Oh, and winning that tournament (well, at least tying) with Rakan...also has to do with Ako subplot. So it's pretty huge chunk being cut out. That tournament isn't nearly as good as it is without the whole Ako story. Now my comparison may be a tad extreme but it does remind me of the Kyoto Arc waaay back in the times of the first anime. Obviously that arc was cut and shafted much more than this, but I can't compare exactly because I have not watched it yet. The fact that we get to Rakan and Kazumi pactio so quick means lots of other stuff have to be cut too! It is injustice. It also isn't consistent whatsoever because OAD2 pretty much showed everything, maybe cut out a few scenes. OAD1 was kind of ridiculous in that it kind of took a long time, even if it was for good effect for everyone to realize Negi got stabbed by a spear (adeat henshin sequence!?), yet here in OAD3 it just got ridiculously rushed. I will hold back any other opinions until I actually watch it though.

I JUST WATCHED IT, REVIEW BELOW, AFTER PACTIO:

In terms of manga, well the latest chapter has three girls pactio'ing...in one chapter.
I DO NOT LIKE THAT. There should be at the very least, one chapter each for one pactio. Case in point, the Yue pactio may have come from one chapter, but we had two other chapters for her detailing character development just before and Haruna barely counts because you never see her actually kissing him and what the pactio card turns out to be (eventually we find out, but still.) Stuffing three in one chapter is kind of disappointing, actually it IS disappointing.

The one girl who was lucky was Akira. Seeing as she didn't pactio here, she'll get a whole chapter for herself eventually someday. I was also happy that Sayo didn't get one when Ku, Chacha, and Natsumi did because it means she'll probably get one for herself AND it wouldn't be in a whole row of pactio chapters. At least those three got chapters for themselves.

But, I suppose the one thing not disappointing is Yuuna's pactio card :D



Besides those boots and maybe the inner attire...A LONGCOAT. A BADASS LONGCOAT!
I always love putting Yuuna in any outfit where some part of it has to blow in the wind even if there is no wind! Such as a cloak or cape or scarf or anything. Here we have a trenchcoat of some sort!

Now if her "I GET PACTIO!!" was not three pages (Ako kind of took half the chapter even though it was amusing...) it would've been much more awesome. (Makie got her pactio with no one else watching too! So I think Yuuna got shafted the most in this chapter)

Anyway this is good because I was hoping for Kazumi to keep HER awesome pactio outfit that was teased around in promo pics but it looks like it was scrapped :C.
As you can see here...

...and here:

---

And now to watch the Akoless OAD3...



Wow, it actually starts OUT with the Yuuna/Makie scene. I do wonder though, if some silly person is watching and not reading the manga, how confused they must be.



And is it me or does the animation SERIOUSLY oversize breasts as compared to the manga? I remember OAD3 with the hot spring scene, they were much bigger than the manga portrayed. o_O That announcer sounds like Sawa Ishige (Haruna). I can TELL they're recycling voice actresses. I think they did the same in the Ala Alba OAD3, where that lady who lets them sleep in the giant room sounds like Madoka Kimura. (Yuuna)



Also why does Nagi's voice sound like....Rina Satou. I thought he got a second voice actor for his older-self. Hiroshi Kamiya must be really good at this if he can make himself sound EXACTLY like Rina Satou. But...in that case, what the hell is the point of getting a second seiyuu!? I think, watching this OAD it feels like I missed an episode. Since it cuts and skips through EVERYTHING, it's almost as if they missed an OAD or something. WHERE IS OAD2.5 WITH AKO!?



...why is Kotarou sitting in the bleachers? >__>



KAZUUUMI! (doesn't look as cool as here though: ALSO LACKS SAYO!)

The way Chibisame said "Asakura" was adooorable. Yumi Shimura can do a pretty convincing chibi-voice. Kazumi sounds oddly happy when she explains that the gateports are all destroyed and the pathway back home is gone. Lol.



WHY is there no music in this scene. MUSIC NEED. (Okay it starts with music but it eventually disappears o_O) It sounds so...flat without music to back it up. I'm gonna end up complaining about music throughout this entire OAD btw.
Unfortunately the animation for this scene looks like shit. I think they threw all their budget into the fight scene. She doesn't look NEARLY as cool as the manga due to the poor animation.
There are a few pretty cool shots I'll probably turn into icons soon enough, lol.

Like this:


ALSO HOLY SHIT the effect of Sayo appearing is cool and she looks very adorable.

Older Kotarou ALSO sounds exactly like Marina Inoue. I am very confused.

I'm a bit iffy with Rakan's voice. The singing made him sound good but he sounds oddly monotone in his first appearance. I hope it gets better as the OAD goes on. Maybe it's the quality of the audio or something. This isn't exactly a high quality version of the OAD :X



Okay, this fight scene is rather violent. DROPS OF BLOOD EVERYWHERE! Kagetarou's voice is also a voice I didn't expect. The shadow-blade chasing Nagi in air scene is pretty long actually. I'm not sure why they did that, was it like so in the manga too!? But, drawing it out seems kind of unimportant and wasting OAD space!?



Blood. Blood. Blood. Blood.



HOLY CRAP, they showed the ARM GETTING CUT OFF AND THE SEVERED ARM ON THE FLOOR AND EVERYTHING! The manga pretty much covered it all up, but they showed EVERYTHING in the animation!



WAIT WHY DID THE OAD COLOUR ZECHT WITH BLACK HAIR!?That is GROSSLY wrong!! Assuming the kid on the picture is him, that is. At least I think so, maybe? WHAT IF IT ISN'T!? That'd be interesting actually...


Overkill.



At this point it really feels like I'm watching some shonen anime because of all the male voices I am hearing out of Kagetarou, Negi(Nagi form), and Rakan. That is the first I've EVER heard that in Negima considering the huge female:male ratio! ALSO, when Rakan said ADEAT, that sounded pretty awesome. It may make up for that monotone-ish when he first appeared.

Skipping that whole surgery scene makes Negi's injury seem a lot more minor. It's ridiculous really. "YEAH LIKE CHOPPING OFF AN ARM, NO BIGGIE LOLOLOL" Also I must say the music at this scene sounds ridiculously inappropriate. The music makes it sound like it's a super serious, sad kind of scene and then a PINEAPPLE HITS NAGI'S HEAD WTF.

The music doesn't even switch to acknowledge the entering of the pineapple hitting his head! It just all sounds off!



THIS IS THE FIRST THING YOU SEE (after some scenery porn, of course) when it switches scenes. Yes I totally want to see a butt in my face. Okay I admit it was the same in the manga, but still. I was like WTF for a few seconds lolol.


LOL. Boobs in face.

Anyway I do like the music in this scene but I still don't think it really fits the scene. THe music is all nice and relaxing, soft...I guess that would fit, but it makes it sound like the scene is super important like some heartwarming plot development will happen.

I suppose it does go and give Setsuna and Asuna character development, but I don't think it's as important as the music makes it sound like, oh well.



And it REALLY doesn't fit when Setsuna is all "OMG OJOU-SAMA" so it kind of doesn't seem as amusing. MUSIC, YOU ARE REALLY MAKING THIS OAD ODD WITH YOUR BAD PLACEMENT!!! At least some sound effect thrown in or something when she does that! What is SHAFT doing!? (Okay there is a bit of a sound effect, but it just sounds like a waterfall...>__>)


Wad.

Okay queue me taking every screenshot Kazumi appears in, so uhm, I apologize for the screen-spam, lol.



I thought her pactio was YELLOW. What is this weird nauseating green/red recolour!? 

<-- she looks so smug, lol.



Also because Ako pactio'd with kid Negi, I do believe Kazumi still stands as only person who pactio'd with not!kid Negi. YOU GO NOT-PEDOPHILE! (even though she seems to like attracting them later on >__>)



Her movements in this screen are hilarious. I should make a GIF or something hahaha.



I think I can turn half of these into mood pictures. Seriously.


Aw, no more Kazumi here after this.
THEY CUT OUT CHISAME CHASING HER! Seriously I really, really hate all the cuts. REALLY.


Kotarou looks cool here.



GAH. THEY DO NOT SOUND DIFFERENT FROM THEIR KID-FORMS. AT ALL!



I must rant here. I don't really like Akamatsu's style of making the girls look "older" AKA, DRAW THAT WEIRD NOSE THING. It especially looks odd animated. I always thought at the very least the nose thing was just a large shadow, but here it's drawn like...THIS. WAT.



Also the music is off again here. I always found this scene to be particularly comedic, I have no clue why they threw epic-sounding music like the climax of a movie here. SHAFT, what are you DOING with your music. Did you fire the composer from the previous OADs!?



Have I mentioned how much I like how SHAFT draws Rakan? They draw him awesome. Even, dare I say it, better than the original material itself. Maybe it has to do with the colour.



Rakan walks back and forth like this for like...an entire minute. Now I forget if he was talking a whole lot doing that in the manga, but it sure gives the animator less stuff to animate. :X


BE AFRAID CHISAME, BE AFRAID.


Of...Eternal...Negi. FEEEEEEVEEEEERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Note to self: GIF THIS. )


I like how Chisame plays with the fourth wall and can grab Al like that, lol.


IDIOCY.


WOW SHAFT. Way to draw Nagi so UGLY. (That NOSE thing again! D< )


Negi looks pretty awesome here. I must admit.

Okay I can undestand all the EPIC WOOO music there when Negi throws his punch of doom, but then the music DISAPPEARS and there is no music whatsoever when Rakan hits him back, which is all clearly comedic. WHERE DID THE COMEDIC MUSIC GO, SHAFT!?  The lack of music on those parts is ODD. ODD DAMNIT. ODD!

Oh finally, music that fits. When Negi is angsting about not being strong enough to match Fate. YES FINALLY. Then it goes silent and more unfitting music happens when he draws up the "power levels". You know I always thought that was comedic too...but it doesn't sound comedic. The atmosphere, the music...ugh.



MAGIA EREBEA. Boom. Then fireworks and the ED begins.

...and that was the OAD.
When I got to this point, I went: ....WHAT. That's IT?
Man did that feel rushed and ALL OVER THE PLACE.
OAD4 will be released in August. And then we have the Yue Extra OAD in November, so maybe there's one more chance for the OADs to fix themselves because this was all over the place rushed. :C

So basically in the end I am ranting about these things:
WHY AKO NOT IN OAD? (plus cuts to amusing scenes, but they're not as important :X)
WHY AKO TAKE HALF OF PACTIO CHAPTER!? (Instead, she should get her own chapter and not share with 3 pages Yuuna :C )
Oh and Makie, yes. Ah well...