Red RiverANATOLIA REPREZENT.
Also Finished Negima. There's not much I can add to this:
Essentially, it's a marvelously self-aware power-level shounen with huge amounts of boobs and buts. However, the ending chapters dispense with all that, and what remains is an actually touching story about friendship between the female core cast (two budding lesbians, a pedophile and a Tsundere from Another Dimension). In the end the day is saved, and although Negi's big quest to find his dad isn't over, it has entered a new phase. Sure, plenty of things are left waiting for a potential sequel, but with a story this bloated it seems like natural order of things.
Unfortunately then there's three more epilogue chapters with another time-skip, and that's where it all comes crumbling down. These incredibly lukewarm chapters are there just to state that the magnificent sequel happened off-panel, and we're not getting to see any of it. And despite this abrupt, forced conclusion, major plot points, such as the ultimate fate of Negi's mother and the identity of the main villain, are still left unresolved.
What were they thinking? Was there some behind-the-scenes publishing drama? It's pretty apparent that Akamatsu was just making stuff up as he went along, but never did it seem like the story was losing steam. Sure, it had the occasional hiccup all bloated shounen series suffer from (for example, the creator entirely forgets a minor Chekov's gun established 25 chapters ago), but it never gave me the impression that Akamatsu was rushing to get it over and done with. It didn't feel like, say, Riki-Oh, where everything that came after the first arc was more epic in scale but inferior in terms of intensity.
But despite the epilogue being a miserable wet fart, it was a good ride while it lasted, and I'm morally obligated to post my personal, subjective rankings in its honor.
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Cutest girl:
1. Sayo
2. Konoka
Hottest girl:
1. Theodora (Wow)
2. Shizuna (God **** it, Akamatsu, stop concentrating on jailbait so much)
Best girl overall:
1. Chisame (eclipsing the designated main girl like a boss)
2. Haruna (Chisame's polar opposite; she's having way too much fun with all the magical shenanigans)
Best comedy character:
1. Setsuna (so much repressed sexuality)
2. Fate during the final arc
Honorable mention: Jack Rakan, a true working-class hero
Biggest HOLY **** moment:
1. Eva finally going all-out (the battle also beautifully subverts the "always send a child to do a man's job" anime cliche)
2. Chachamaru fires her lazor
3. Oh god, Love Hina takes place in the same universe
Especially that end. 
...Oh. Oh no. Nonononono...!! 
). (EDIT: Oh no... wait a minute-- I just realized a way that Elliot could indeed have the 'main body' of the Chain, and it's a way that I think would actually make perfect sense of all the flashbacks and clues. 
) fanservice sprinkled throughout could be a tad distracting when it appeared, it was great otherwise. In fact, once I started reading it, I just couldn't stop! I can see why it's a classic, and I certainly enjoyed it.