Formerly Known as FKAJ Posted August 18, 2011 Report Posted August 18, 2011 Mahou Sensei Negima (AKA Magister Negi Magi outside Japan - I prefer the former title), a manga series about a 10-year-old mage who is sent to Japan to teach English at an girls' Junior High School - with sexy results. I'm on Volume 9 at the moment, the highpoints of which are Chapter 74 - the tear-inducingly sad but ultimately uplifting story of Class 3A's resident ghost Sayo - and Chapter 75, in which the class's mad scientist launches the following outburst in response to a suggestion that the class robot Chachamaru has fallen in love: Satomi: "I tell you, that's impossible! It just can't happen! Eva-san's automatons are robots with their anima magically ensouled! Did you hear me just then?! "Ensouled!" How unscientific is that?! Of all things - love!! Love, the one emotion that defies all rational thought and explanation!! Am I to become a philosopher, then? Am I to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of the human condition?! For an artificial intelligence to even experience such a thing - to fall into the realm of the subjective rather than the objective - that can lead only to one, inevitable conclusion - that Chachamaru has become self-aware! When one can monitor one's internal thought patterns with an 'inner eye' - that is self-awareness! We're talking meta-consciousness here! There's no scientific rationale for that!! Chachamaru was never intended to develop such a thing.. then again - then again - when it comes to emotions, who can say what is or isn't rational?! To be human is to have emotions, and to have emotions is to have love. And, once there's love, he, why not throw reproductive endocrinology into the mix! I mean, why not, right?! And reproduction means death - which is all well and good if we're talking about replicants, but we're not - we're talking about robots! Robots don't have emotion - they just can't. Or could it be that - maybe, just maybe! - it's only the ghost of an emotion, generated by her auto-learning program...? Still - even so - from a strictly methodological standpoint - it's all too bloody subjective for a scientist to wrap her mind around, don't you think? Science is absolute!! It's... ohmigawd, what am I saying, it sounds like I've given up! This isn't good - it's not good, I tell you! - Since when has the lack of an easy answer been an excuse to... For what did I sell my soul to science if not to answer those very same hard questions?! Was it the magic based power system that Eva-san gave me which caused an unforeseen side-effect on her systems?! No. No! I can't accept that. That's just another easy answer - that's what that is!! Then again, there is that brother-sister team at M.I.T. that supposedly engineered an artificial intelligence capable of independent emotion, so maybe..." The best part? It's all in one speech balloon!
charmed60 Posted August 18, 2011 Report Posted August 18, 2011 The Midwife's Confession. It's amazing I recommend it to everyone
LauraPhilly!! Posted August 18, 2011 Report Posted August 18, 2011 The Diary of Anne Frank. An amazing story.
Formerly Known as FKAJ Posted September 14, 2011 Report Posted September 14, 2011 I just finished comparing the print version of Mahou Sensei Negima Volume 10 to the online scanlations. Still kind of a tossup as to which is better. Volume 10 I think is my favourite so far - while it doesn't really have any of my favourite chapters, (33, 37, 41, 61, 62, 75, 75, 126, 128, 162, 165, 175, 183, 244, 252, 262, 263, 289, etc), it does have a perfect mix of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, comedy, romance, drama, action, character development and chainsmoking ermines. And if nothing else, Negi and Nodoka's first (non-pactio-related, non-accidental) kiss.
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