honestly, i've avoided any negima fanfics besides the ones I've found here. in fact, I avoid the general channels of ff.net as a whole, mainly just following links from here and checking the c2s I trust. as to a few points made earlier, I got the impression that Negi is actually English, but the magical school he went to was in wales, hence he says he just came from wales. he repeatedly says in the del rey manga "I'm a proper english gentleman!"
as to the anime, the first series is good, not great, just good. they simplify the story at times (no cards, no wings for setsuna) and expand it at others (asuna's death/demon thing) all in all, it's a fun show, but the manga is a lot better. I've seen the first three episodes of the new series and I'm really enjoying it, too. lots of fun stuff and cameos.