Random Curiosity

OP Sequence

OP: 「夢☆みんなで！」 (Yume*Minna de!) by 神田朱未 and 佐藤利奈 (Kanda Akemi and Satou Rina)

Summary:
Late one night in the dorms, Negi is studying his magic when Asuna gets up and takes away his book because he should be sleeping instead. Wanting her to give it back, Negi says that it has nothing to do with her. Though Asuna is pissed off at this statement, Negi makes things worse by sneezing and blowing off all her clothes in the process. Konoka and Kamo both wake up to see a naked Asuna smack Negi with her harisen. It is three days later that Negi finds himself on a plane with the rest of his class. Asuna, however, is still angry at him. Negi doesn’t have much time to think about it because it’s soon time for them to skydive down onto their island destination.
Upon arriving on the beach, most of the girls start to play and enjoy themselves. But Asuna spends her time blowing up numerous beach balls far away from Negi. During one game with the girls, Negi gets knocked into the water and has to be saved by Kaede. Once he regains his senses, he finds himself in the middle of four pairs of breasts: Ayaka’s, Chizuru’s, Kaede’s, and Haruna’s. Of course, this scene doesn’t improve Asuna’s opinion of Negi any. Konoka and the others concoct a plan to have Negi in danger of sharks - played by Ku Fei and Natsumi - so that he has to be saved by Asuna and they can make up. Taking the threat seriously, Asuna activates her pactio card to bring out her harisen and smacks Ku Fei and Natsuki away with it. Although she is crying, Asuna realizes that it’s a set up and hits Negi on the head for it.
Meanwhile, Evangeline, who is allowed here outside the school’s barrier at the expense of Konoka’s grandfather having to sign form after form, is going to investigate a Chupacabra based on a rumor provided by Kazumi. Evangeline bears a grudge against the Chupacabra, but the group instead finds Chisame filming herself in one of her costumes. They don’t end up tracking down the Chupacabra and instead return to join the festivities that night. Afterwards, Negi tells Ayaka, Setsuna, and Konoka that he lost his glasses - the ones he got from his cousin Nekane. The class representative locates Asuna in her room and mentions Negi’s important glasses to her. Feeling bad, Asuna goes searching for them in the moonlight.
Negi wakes up early the next morning when he hears footsteps on the deck outside his room. Seeing Asuna’s figure, he runs out and notices the glasses that she found, which she claims to have come across by accident. As he puts them on, Negi directs Asuna’s attention to the beautiful morning sky. He feels that it was thanks to her that he was able to see this wonderful sunrise. This causes her to take his hand and suggest that they go for a swim together. She jumps off the deck and pulls him with her, getting him soaked. In the water, Asuna hugs Negi and apologizes, explaining how she had been saddened when he said several nights ago that it had nothing to do with her. After Negi also apologizes, Asuna vows to protect him and doesn’t want him to say something like that to her since she’s his partner.
Having made up, the two suddenly hear a rumbling - one that leads to a submarine popping out of the ocean. Appearing on the deck of the submarine is the entire class, all of whom call out to Negi. Asuna and Negi can’t help but smile as they watch the rising sun in the distance.

ED Sequence

ED: 「おはよう！」 (Ohayou!) by 神田朱未 (Kanda Akemi)
You know, I’m liking these Negima songs a lot more without every single girl in the cast singing (Happy Material, I’m looking at you). Kanda Akemi does a great job by herself in the ED, and her pairing with Satou Rina isn’t bad either.

Wow, I was impressed just as much as I was for the first episode of the new Negima!? series. In other words, I’m speechless all over again. If the new series is heavily leaning in the action direction, this OVA was definitely in the fanservice direction, maybe even romance - not that I mind in the least. Heck, Setsuna spent most of the episode staring at Konoka’s ass.
There’s no real plot other than Asuna being angry at Negi, but they pack in a lot of humor and references to manga. You probably have to have read the manga or know the story pretty well to enjoy this to the fullest. For example, I laughed really hard seeing Konoka’s grandfather doing the stamping thing for Eva to be allowed out of the barrier. All the Chisame costume stuff was great too.
Animation quality was once again one of the best things about this; director Shinbou Akiyuki and SHAFT/GANSIS do another excellent job. I don’t think I’ve seen hair billow so dramatically so much in one episode in a long while. I definitely look forward to seeing the Summer Special OVA coming out November 22nd. That’s only a month away, but for the time being, I have the Negima!? series to hold me over.