Changes...

[Hawk]

P-hew, created two new forums for ya'll to play around in as the anime/manga general one was starting to get a bit crowded.

So rejoice, now we have an AMG and a Negima section as well.

As I was moving topics over to the new ones, I also came to the realization that a Fate/Stay Night one might not be a bad idea either. So most likely one of those will show up before tomorrow as well.

 

[Dark Knight Gafgar]

Negima totally deserves it's own section. Spasiba.

 

[SimmyC]

:yay: Two great fandoms now have their forum! I think (haven't read Negima yet). :unsure:

 

[Fatuous One]

I say 'yay'!

Mostly to the 'F/SN' section being created, but somewhat to the Negima as well.

Yay! Now all the more reason to flood both of those forums with useless cra- Err, extremely interesting fiction... yeah, that's it!

 

[Israfel]

Ahh, more lands to pervert with my vile manipulations away from any relevant point or topic of conversation, these new lands are pure and untouched, there is much work to be done.

 

[Dark Knight Gafgar]

I think (haven't read Negima yet).? :unsure:

You should. Here's two very good reasons why: jailbait vampires and perfectly-tanned gunslinging mikos. And well-endowed kunoichi. Here's three very good reasons why: jailbait vampires, perfectly-tanned gunslinging mikos and well-endowed kunoichi. And angel-winged hanyo chicks. Here's four very good... screw it. You get the idea.

 

[Israfel]

I think (haven't read Negima yet).á

To summarize for DKG, you have 30+ girls all with individual and original looks and personalities to choose from thus presenting endless possibilities for various pairings. Welcome to a fanfic authors paradise.

 

[runestar]

To summarize for DKG, you have 30+ girls all with individual and original looks and personalities to choose from thus presenting endless possibilities for various pairings. Welcome to a fanfic authors paradise.

Well, some of the art was recycled over from the love hina manga, which was inevitable, since they are both from the same artist. But there's enough original creations to make up for this.

 

[Alzrius]

Well, some of the art was recycled over from the love hina manga, which was inevitable, since they are both from the same artist. But there's enough original creations to make up for this.

I have all of the domestic volumes released so far, and this bit about recycled art seems to be a rumor; or at least I think so. Yes Akamatsu's drawing style is the same (natch), but I don't see anything - backgrounds, characters, or anything else - that's just picked up from Love Hina and put into Negima.

 

[Moshulel]

Yay for the F/SN forum!

Thrilled about the other two as well, not as much but still.

 

[runestar]

I have all of the domestic volumes released so far, and this bit about recycled art seems to be a rumor; or at least I think so. Yes Akamatsu's drawing style is the same (natch), but I don't see anything - backgrounds, characters, or anything else - that's just picked up from Love Hina and put into Negima.

I am sure that some of his students are carbon copies of the LH girls. I recall one of them being a Motoko look alike, and another who looks like Motoko after she cut her hair in LH13. There might be a few others, but I can't recall any more at the moment. -_-

 

[Moshulel]

I am sure that some of his students are carbon copies of the LH girls. I recall one of them being a Motoko look alike, and another who looks like Motoko after she cut her hair in LH13. There might be a few others, but I can't recall any more at the moment. -_-

Yes, Akamatsu used a lot of recycled art from Love Hina into Negima. Guess he thought that it wasn't worth it to do his research again.

 

[Alzrius]

Some of the characters look like other characters - it's an inevitable byproduct of the same guy drawing, say, two teenage girls with long black hair, etc. I still wouldn't call it recycling the art, which seems to imply that entire pieces were lifted directly out of one manga and dropped into another.

When you've drawn dozens of characters meant to fulfill the same archetype (pretty teenage girls) there's only so much you can do.

 

[runestar]

I still wouldn't call it recycling the art, which seems to imply that entire pieces were lifted directly out of one manga and dropped into another.

I concur that for most part, he has added enough tweaks to each character's design to make it count as a different design, but for the 2 examples I stated, they really are identical copies. Check it out for yourself.

 

[GenocideHeart]

I still wouldn't call it recycling the art, which seems to imply that entire pieces were lifted directly out of one manga and dropped into another.

I concur that for most part, he has added enough tweaks to each character's design to make it count as a different design, but for the 2 examples I stated, they really are identical copies. Check it out for yourself.

You forgot Chizuru Naba, who's Mutsumi with a different hair color, basically.

And Kuu Fei could count as a Kaolla Suu clone.

 

[nuclear death frog]

And Kuu Fei could count as a Kaolla Suu clone.

Personally, I've always thought Fei Ku was a reference to Shampoo from Ranma 1/2. Practices Chinese martial arts; wields bonbori (those maces); her Japanese is very flawed and makes her look stupid (cute also, but still stupid). At one point there was a picture of her with her hair in two buns that I thought was an even stronger reference to Shamps.

Edit: Just saw this on the Negima forum itself.

Ku Fei ends all of her sentences with "aru" (which is the infinitive form of the inanimate "to be," though it's written in Katakana, so I'm not sure if that's what she means)

In a thread on Shampoo's Japanese on the Furinkan.com messageboard, Yoiko Hibiki, the webmaster had this to say:

And my response:

Well, it just depends on what you mean by "how accurate". Shampoo does use "watashi" (I) as a first person pronoun in Japanese rather than just repeat her own name as she does in English, but the English adaptation of her speech cannot literally be translated from the way she speaks Japanese.

The main thing about Shampoo is that she uses the verb "aru" (a tough verb to define, basically it means something inanimate exists) all the time. Shampoo will use this to end almost all of her sentences even if she has already used another verb, which just doesn't make any sense. She also uses "yuku" for "go" rather than "iku". This isn't wrong, but is unusual as it is not often pronounced this way (Mousse does the same even though he doesn't make the same mistakes with his Japanese as Shampoo). Shampoo often uses "zo" at the end of her sentences for emphasis, which sounds rough, this is usually something guys do.

A good example of Shampoo's speech pattern is to look at one of her most common sayings, "Let's go on a date." Rather than say something like "deito suru" (to date) or "deito shimasho" (let's go on a date), Shampoo says "deito suru aru", which is wrong. That would literally be translated as something like... "to date is". The translation sounds more incorrect to an English speaker than to a Japanese speaker. To the Japanese it's wrong, but still comprehensible. To an English speaker it doesn't even convey an idea. So when translating her speech into English you have to take into account the level of her Japanese speech... it's wrong but still gets the point across.

So all these little oddities add up to the Japanese ear as being incorrect Japanese. The transliteration is to give Shampoo the stereotypical broken English you hear in the English version. But you shouldn't take this as meaning the translations are wrong. The meaning is the same- Shampoo speaks Japanese badly, so in translation she speaks English just as poorly. The content of what she says though is accurate.

Thanks for the kind words about the site, please stay tuned. And thanks for the good question too!

So that's another reason to believe Fei Ku is an homage to Shampoo.

 

[Alzrius]

I concur that for most part, he has added enough tweaks to each character's design to make it count as a different design, but for the 2 examples I stated, they really are identical copies. Check it out for yourself.

It'd help if I was sure which characters you were referring to.

The only girl in Negima with long black hair that isn't bound in any way is Konoka, and she'd not at all like Motoko. Maybe you meant Akira, who seems to resemble her somewhat, but otherwise isn't like her at all?

Madoka might look like post-haircut Motoko, but that's kind of iffy.

 

[nuclear death frog]

Oh, and for the record, this one is probably bloody obvious but, Asuna looks way too much like Naru for my comfort.

Though since I've stopped reading this series after Volume 8 (chapter ~70-ish) it no longer matters.

 

[toraneko]

I don't see Ku Fei as an homage to Shampoo. True, they have some similarities, but that's more due to both characters being played-up stereotypes of Chinese girls.
Martial arts expertise (especially in forms of Kenpo), hair in twin buns or other odd pinnings, speaking the language poorly (especially using "aru" at the end of their sentences a lot), somewhat airheaded, wields an unusual weapon, works at a Chinese restaurant, et cetera, are all parts of the China Girl archetype in Japanese culture.

If you'll notice, in Guilty Gear, Kuradoberi Jam is also a strong example of the archetype. She has her hair done in a strange loop style, speaks clumsy Japanese using "aru" at the end of sentences, is extremely skilled at some obscure form of Kenpo, and works as owner, cook, and head waitress at her own Chinese food restaurant.

edit: Wow, that was surreal. After writing this post, I had to double-check to make sure it was in the right board. I suggest this discussion be moved to the new Negima board, to avoid further confusion.

 

[Dark Knight Gafgar]

Akira looks like Motoko and Madoka looks like Motoko post-volume 13 haircut. But neither of them ACT anything like her. While Setsuna's the resident kendoka (and even a student of the Shinmei Ryu Motoko's a part of!), Akira's an expert swimmer (bordering on professional) who doesn't have anything close to Motoko's initial anti-male stance, and Madoka's a CHEERLEADER for pete's sake!

I don't get where people get the idea that Chizuru is Mutsumi, as they look hardly alike (except for maybe the bust size) and act hardly alike (Chizuru shares some of Mutsumi's airheadedness, but not much else, and ESPECIALLY not her fainting spells).

Ku Fei as Su is about the dumbest idea I've heard ever. Yes, she has tanned skin and blonde hair. But that's the ONLY similarity they share. Ku Fei's Chinese, not Molmolian (if anyone's Molmolian it'll likely be Zazie, who we still know hardly anything about), isn't Su-smart at all (on the contrary - she's one of the Baka Rangers), and is a martial arts expert, meaning her closest Love Hina relative in that prospect is Our Lady Kanako.

Kitsune and Shinobu have both essentially been split into two people each - Kitsune has Kazumi (for general personality) and Kaede (the only Negima! girl I've seen with Kitsune's perpetually half-closed eyes), and even a bit of Sakurako (gambling addiction). A direct Kitsune clone makes a short cameo in Volume 2 as well. Shinobu has both Nodoka (who looks similar) and Satsuki (who's an accomplished cook).

Asuna is essentially a clone of Naru's personality. Aside form that, they look hardly anything alike.

Therefore, yes, several Negima characters are very similar to Love Hina characters, but to call them direct copies is incorrect.

 

[toraneko]

I agree with this assessment, save for the following:

Asuna is essentially a clone of Naru's personality.

Not so much. She does have that self-image problem, an occasionally hot temper, and a crush on an older teacher, but that's about it. She loses the "GRR CRUSH MALE PROTAGONIST" relatively quickly, and thus feels more like a "real" character than a caricature much earlier than Naru managed. And, really, she's too forgiving to be called a Naru clone.

I think the few similarities made people who've seen Love Hina saw her initial difficulties with Negi, thought, "Hmm. Hot-tempered female lead, weak male lead, fanservice-laden embarassing hijinks and 'accidents'. Akamatsu's at it again," and then quit thinking about the way the characters acted in favor of relying on first impressions.

 

[Israfel]

think the few similarities made people who've seen Love Hina saw her initial difficulties with Negi, thought, "Hmm. Hot-tempered female lead, weak male lead, fanservice-laden embarassing hijinks and 'accidents'. Akamatsu's at it again," and then quit thinking about the way the characters acted in favor of relying on first impressions.

True, for the first volume or so it would have been all too easy to simply right it off as a redux of LH but I think that once you go any further than that it truely begins to distinguish itself from its predecessor and shine on its own, by the fifth or sixth volume I think it should be obvious to people that it is definitely worthy of its own spot of prominence.

 

[Moshulel]

I think the few similarities made people who've seen Love Hina saw her initial difficulties with Negi, thought, "Hmm. Hot-tempered female lead, weak male lead, fanservice-laden embarassing hijinks and 'accidents'. Akamatsu's at it again," and then quit thinking about the way the characters acted in favor of relying on first impressions.

Despite all of this, the fact remains that Akamatsu uses a lot of stuff from Love Hina. There's nothing wrong with that, after all they both belong to him, so he has the right to do anything he wants with them.

In a way you can say that he learned from Love Hina, and applied his lessons on Negima. But really he does take a lot from Love Hina in term of personality for some and art.

 

[Dark Knight Gafgar]

Asuna is essentially a clone of Naru's personality.

Not so much. She does have that self-image problem, an occasionally hot temper, and a crush on an older teacher, but that's about it. She loses the "GRR CRUSH MALE PROTAGONIST" relatively quickly, and thus feels more like a "real" character than a caricature much earlier than Naru managed. And, really, she's too forgiving to be called a Naru clone.

True, though Asuna DOES smack Negi around a bit on occassion - just not as often - all the way up to the most recent volumes. See the "Kiss Terminator" incident in Volume 10.

 

[toraneko]

True, though Asuna DOES smack Negi around a bit on occassion - just not as often - all the way up to the most recent volumes. See the "Kiss Terminator" incident in Volume 10.

My point is, she doesn't Bobby Brown him all the time like Naru does. After the first, she pretty much mellows out. Moderation is good.

If she didn't hit him at all anymore, it wouldn't be Asuna.