To say that the first Negima anime series was a flop would be a massive understatement. Produced by Xebec one of the single worst anime production companies in history the first major adaptation of this series was a trainwreck that pleased neither newcomers nor established fans of the manga. The animation was terrible most of the cast had the wrong hair colors the opening was lazy and the only genuinely good material to come out of it was the shit that was made up specifically FOR the anime. Having said all that it shouldnt be a surprise to anyone that Xebec quickly lost the license for the franchise which was next picked up by Studio Shaft who still hold onto said license to this day. Much like Xebec who used the Introduction Film OVA to experiment before jumping headfirst into their big series Shaft did something similar... Except they went way harder with their experiment producing two separate OVA episodes based sort of loosely on previously unused material from the manga and these OVAs were actually kind of a big hit at the time... To this day the only direct Negima project outside of the two TV series to get an official dub. For this review were going to be looking at the first of these episodes The Spring OVA. This episode follows a brief story from the manga where Ayaka invites Negi to her private island resort and somehow the entire class winds up going there with them. It immediately introduces the conflict that leads into this story... Negi saying the wrong thing and Asuna being offended by it... But the argument in this version makes less sense and is MUCH more stupid. But then it launches into an awesome opening sequence where all the girls skydive down to the island in one continuous shot so alls forgiven. From there its nothing but silly fanservicey beach hijinks as Negi and Asuna try to work out their differences. It wasnt as obvious at the time but the director of this OVA was the legendary Akiyuki Shimbou who wasnt really a big name at the time but has since gone on to establish his VERY distinct visual style through such titles as Madoka Magika March Comes In Like a Lion and the fucking Monogatari series. Yeah THAT director. There are staples of his work that have become synonymous with Studio Shaft like that famous overtheshoulder look but at the time he was still cutting his teeth on gag comedies... And he was pretty damn good at it to be fair. Ive complained before about how repetitive his auteur style has become and how pretentious I think he is for putting that style in every single project he works on regardless of whether or not its warranted but there are a few titles hes done where I think it works and his work on Negima is a particular favorite of mine. Without his visual style if Im being honest this OVA would be pretty mediocre. In the original manga this was NOT one of the better story arcs it was kind of just pulled out of Akamatsus ass for the sake of a beach story and it just wasnt great. Shimbous approach to the material takes what could have been mediocre and lame and presents it with an approach thats intentionally disorienting... a trick he pulled A LOT in the Monogatari series... and it puts you off enough that the comedy is way funnier than it deserves to be and the fanservice feels oddly psychedelic. Outside of the Negi and Asuna feud story which is handled fine for the most part most of this episode is just swimsuit fanservice vignettes and short nonsequitur conversations broken up at unexpectedly random intervals by quick character profiles of all of Negis students which youd have to pause to actually read. He also introduces chupacabras in this episode... I think they might have been briefly mentioned in the manga? But hes extended them into a subplot all their own and damn it they were going to play a HUGE part in the series he was about to direct. Its kind of hard to judge the quality of this OVA because if were being honest Shimbous work is always kinda tough to review. The production values definitely LOOK like a huge step up from any previous animated incarnation of Negima although Shimbous visual style is perfect for hiding the effects of shoestring budgets so who can really tell? The English dub is slightly better this time around... Maybe Im wrong but it sounds like the actors had more freedom to adlib this time especially Luci Christian as Asuna. There were a few very necessary recastings which is great because Cherami Leigh portraying Setsunas constant lesbian anxiety is an absolute treasure. Ultimately though this episode is just really damn fun. I dont know how a newcomer to the franchise would respond to it but I love the ambience of it I love the effect that Shimbous direction has on the material and I always enjoy returning to it. I probably wouldnt recommend it as your first exposure to Negima but Id totally recommend it to anybody whos already a fan of the franchise. I give Negima: Spring Special a 7/10.