I have to be honest, I gave up on the Negima! manga after volume 9 (If my memory serves me right). To that end I never got around to the anime and I felt no urge to, especially after hearing not-so-good things about it. The second time around, studio SHAFT was given the reigns of the anime series after the first season -- produced by studio XEBEC -- failed to satisfy fans. Ultimately, SHAFT failed to raise eyebrows (mine included). Were Negima fans doomed to subpar anime adaptations of their favorite manga? 

Fortunately, the third time could very well be the charm (or at least a freak aberration of the Negima! status quo). A couple months back Ken Akamatsu announced that a third season titled Mahou Sensei Negima! -ALA ALBA- was in the works and now we get to see a preview of the end results (of which you can see in the video above). Of course, there will probably be much fan-felt apprehension towards the new season, but it helps that Akamatsu himself is handling the story, promising that it will closely follow the manga. SHAFT is back on animation duties and director Akiyuki Shinbou will return to helm the OVA. OVA? Oh, that's right, I almost forgot to mention: the third season of Negima! will not air on tv, but will instead be released as a 3 DVD OVA packed in with the special edition volumes 23-35 of the Negima manga. The first volume of the OVA hits in August with manga volume 23.

 Source: Japanator