Customer Reviews

Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Volume 5

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

More crazy adventures from Akamatsu Ken, featuring his young wizard Negi Springfield and the girls who have the hots for him.

If you have been following the series to this, Volume 5, then you are familiar with the style of the book and its characters. Here, it's part two of the school trip, with the kids in Kyoto facing off against menaces of their own creation as well as new challenges

The Kissing Contest in the first section is hilarious, with Asakura and Chamo arranging a contest amongst the students to see who will be the first to kiss Negi. Of course, things never go as planned, and hijinks ensue, even in this unorthodox situation. The romance between Negi and Nodoka heats up from her attempted confession last issue, and Nodoka is determined to be the kisser. However, there are some unexpected twists, and even the stalwart Yue reveals secret longings and gets into the game.

Next up is the revelation of new player, Kotaro, who challenges Negi and Asuna, after isolating them from the rest of the crew. Nadoka's new abilities are revealed, and she lends a hand to the two battlers. (Powers which manage to flip up her skirt every time they are used. Ahhh...Akamatsu...) Kotaro is a great new character, one who will play an even larger part as the story unfolds.

Finally, a trip to Movie Village in Kyoto, famed as the place where Samurai dramas are filmed, allows for more action from Konoka and Setsuna. This is a good chance to get the gals in period costumes, and for Sestuna to play the Knight Errant.

Volume 5 is a somewhat transitional book, setting the stage for the climatic battle that will come in future volumes, and allowing some of the girl's to get charged up. It is nice to see the Konoka/Setsuna storyline expanded on, and Kotaro is a great character and an interesting foil for Negi.

This manga series is about Negi Springfield, a ten-year-old wizard from Wales, who is assigned to teach at a girls middle school. In this volume, Negi and his students are on a field trip. Various plot complications ensue, such as a contest to see which girl will be first to kiss Negi, and battles with supernatural beings. This is a very fun series that should appeal to fans of Love Hina. The biggest problem with the comic is keeping track of who all the girls are. But it's still a cute, funny, exciting story.

Negima! Vol. 5 has three parts. In the first part, you'll see a funny confusion. Asakura the paparazzi and Chamo arrange a competition to see who will be the first to kiss Negi, who of course knows nothing about such a mischief. Since he has to patrol around the hotel secretly, Negi uses Setsuna's magic paper doll when he goes out. The doll, which is an instant doppelganger, becomes your stand-in if you write your name on it in Japanese with a writing brush appropriately -- Do you think Negi's familiar with writing brushes? I won't tell you any more as I don't want to spoil it.

The next day is a free activity day. While students go sightseeing, Negi and Asuna visit the main temple of the Kansai Magic Association to deliver the letter. They enter the gate, and then find themselves in a strange place, where once trapped no one can exit. Negi and Asuna encounter Kotaro the new enemy there. Kotaro is very strong. It's a crisis! Nodoka, the girl who confessed her love for Negi in the previous volume, performs an important role in this episode. It is amazing how she uses her new magic item spontaneously and effectively.

And now, where is Konoka? She is pursued by the enemies. The last parts of the book depicts the adventure of Konoka and Setsuna. Setsuna the guardian takes Konoka to a famous tourist spot Eiga-mura (Cinema Villege) in order to hide her in the crowd. There are a lot of open sets of the street scenes of the Edo Period. You can try on costumes of famous historic figures. (I've never been there, though.) Setsuna's usually a bit too formal with Konoka because of her faithfulness. But now she enjoys a short rest -- until they are attacked.

This is my most favorite volume so far. The girls with various personalities are not simple followers now. They act decisively not only for Negi but also for their friends. The last scene is very picturesque... (I know it could sound stupid to comment that the graphic novel is picturesque, because all graphic novels are made of pictures. But you sure understand what I mean if you read the book.)

By the way, since English is my second language, I'm not sure whether the translation style of the book is natural or not. But when Kotaro calls Asuna "One-chan," it should be pronounced "O-Nay-Chan." It would be better to spell it as "Onee-chan / Onei-chan" or such. (Onee-chan means "older sister" in the literal sense of the word. It sounds amiable and cute when used between siblings or good friends, or if the caller is a kid. But if not, it is kind of rude. Although Kotaro is neither Asuna's sibling nor friend, he is a kid, so this cheeky cub's manner is not so bad.)

Field trips are almost never so much fun -- or so dangerous. Negi Springfield makes some new enemies in the fifth volume of "Negima: Magister Negi Magi," a volume almost evenly split between romantic hijinks and lethal magical battles. Keep it up, Ken Akamatsu.

"Paparazzi chick" Asakura has found out about Negi's magical abilities, and has teamed up with pervy ermine Chamo to exploit them. She arranges a "kiss Negi" competition among the girls, in order to get him more probationary partners. Problem is, Negi has botched a doppelganger spell, and now there are five half-witted Negi clones wandering around the building. Will anyone kiss the real Negi?

Meek Nodoka comes out of the deal with a magical card, which transforms into a mind-reading book. Meanwhile, Asuna and Negi prepare to deal with a thuggish band of eastern wizards. Unfortunately, they end up trapped in a bamboo forest with one of them: Kotaro Inugami, a lethal dog-boy. And finally, a strange girl with a crush on Setsuna challenges her to combat...

The fifth volume of "Negima" is probably the first one where we see a completely equal balance of fights and comedic problems -- one is fight-based, one is comic, and the third is both. This is probably the best balance that Ken Akamatsu has, and he does a pretty good job.

The story is still littered with underwear shots, crushes on a preteen, and the might-be-might-be-not interpretations of Setsuna and Konoka's relationship. And the humour is getting even funnier, with the exploding Negi duplicates causing mass confusion. But the magical duels are becoming more complex, and the enemies are getting a lot more lethal -- Kotaro is perhaps even worse an enemy for Negi than Evangeline the vampire was.

More and more girls have found out Negi's secret, and with the addition of Nodoka as a second probationary partner (nobody permanent yet), there's a bit more romantic tension. Negi himself undergoes a bit of growth, as he talks about his determination to become more powerful, and Asuna finally admits that she could "never hate anyone who gave his all." Although it's anyone's guess who she hasn't made Chamo into ermine mittens yet.

More probationary contracts, magical enemies and funny competitions are the backbone of the fifth "Negima" volume. It started off weakly, but keeps getting better.

In this volume of Negima!, it begins when the papparazzi Asakura and the ermine Chamo scheme a competition among the girls. Their objective was to find Negi and kiss him passionately. Of course, there is a purpose for this madness. Negi, on the other hand, doesn't know anything about this and decides to go patrol the hotel secretly. He uses the paper dolls Setsuna gave him to make copies of himself in his room while he's away. To activate the paper dolls, he must write his name on them, but since he sucks at writing with a brush, a lot of confusion arises. I don't want to reveal too much, so I'll leave it at there.

In the next part, Nodoka (the girl who confessed her love to Negi) eavesdrops on Negi and Asuna talking about the probationary contract cards. She then starts to activate her power and because of that, she has an important role in this part. Negi and Asuna and some other girls go to the arcade and meet a boy named Kotaro. Negi and Asuna sneak off to deliver the letter to the KMA (Kansai Magic Association). They arrive at a temple but inevitably, get trapped within it. They go on a panic raid but then see a familiar face: Kotaro!

Then, Negi and Asuna were able to escape thanks to Nodoka's magic. The story then moves to Setsuna and Konoka running away from the KMA and the girls think they are more than just friends. Paper doll Negi arrives to the scene and the KMA try to kidnap Konoka out in the open. But they aren't going to let that happen are they?

I think Volume 5 is the most action-packed one of the series yet. It is very comedic and will not make you want to stop reading it.

A Negi-kissing contest. A magic picture diary that can read minds. Negi gets trapped in a walkway. And a showdown with those after Konoka.

Negi times six, Kotaro the dog-boy, and Asuna gets more use of her battle fan. I love this series!

Volume 5 picks up where Volume 4 left off and while half of the manga is dedicated to a humor story (though an important one), the 2nd-half is dedicated to the main story arc with new enemies, new allies, and further proof that "Negima!" is much more than a lolicon ecchi-fest.

With Asakura (Kazumi) having learned Negi's secret, Chamo-kun uses her to scout out potential partners for Negi. Chamo-kun will get ermine dollars and Asakura gets to have some fun and more. A contest between several pairs of girls we've been previously introduced to is formed with the goal of kissing Negi. Asakura has rigged video monitoring in the inn for the contest and provides the play-by-play for the rest of the girls who are watching it on TV. What they don't know is that Se-chan provided Negi with paper dolls which when activated create a duplicate of him so that he can help Se-chan and Asuna patrol the inn grounds. The duplicates cause all sorts of fun and the girls that kiss them create flawed magic cards. Only Miyazaki manages to kiss the real Negi and create a real card, which she is given a copy of though she doesn't know its true nature.

Meanwhile Asuna is given a copy of her card so that she can activate her special weapon when she wants and she can communicate with Negi no matter how far apart they are. Miyazaki overhears this and discovers the card creates a book for her, which then reveals to her information of things going on in the form of a picture diary. So as Asuna, Negi, Chamo-kun, and a paper doll in the form of a mini Se-chan head to the temple to deliver the letter and finish Negi's quest, Se-chan guards Konoka-chan along with Yue and Saotome.

Negi and Asuna soon find themselves in a magic trap where they battle Kotaro, a powerful kid in the Kansai Group. Miyazaki follows the action from her book and eventually comes upon the fight in person. Using the book, she helps Negi and Asuna as they fight for their lives. Meanwhile Se-chan is attacked as another kidnapping attempt is made on Konoka-chan and has to defend Konoka-chan with her life.

The story continues to become more interesting. Even the kiss contest was very interesting though it only added little to the main story arc. However, the groundwork is clearly being laid for some of these girls to have greater roles as we see with Miyazaki. I like how her character is being brought along. The amount of fanservice has dropped off in this volume. It is still there, but considering the sheer amounts of it in Volume 4, it is a relief to have it cut back so much.

Peter David is not part of the English adaptation in this volume, so his trademark humor is missing. That's not a problem, just an observation. Del Rey continues to do a good job with the honorifics, translator notes, spell dictionary, a display of the botched cards, some character sketches by Akamatsu-sensei, and an English preview of Volume 6.

Bottom line: "Negima!" continues to impress with its interesting story and is turning into a favorite manga title of mine. I look forward to buying Volume 6!

Now that Kazumi, the leader of the Journalism Club, has decided to keep Negi's secret, she's in kahoots with resident weasel pervert Chamo in an effort to increase Negi's probationary contracts. She instigates "Operation Kiss Negi-kun Passionately on This School Field Trip". She splits the girls into pairs and tells them that whoever kisses Negi without getting caught by the other faculy members gets them on the limited edition trading cards that are a prize among his class. Of course, MOST of them don't know that they will also be entering into a magic contract at the same time to help Negi in battle. Unfortunately for them, there is now more than one Negi. Negi made some paper doll copies of himself so he could go out on patrol without being missed. But some of the copies are defective and want to get it on with his students! Meanwhile, elements of the Kansai Magic Association that do not want peace begin to make their moves to stop Negi from fulfilling his mission to deliver a letter of conciliation from his magic school.

Negima is nothing if not entertaining. Again, the art is great, with Akamatsu making sure that things never get too serious. Even when Negi battles with a powerful fox spirit and gets the snot beat out of him, it never gets to the Naruto stabbing and cutting off heads realm. Akamatsu is about showing pretty girls and panties and he never misses an opportunity to showcase them. He really is a master of character design even if his plots steal from other better known Japanese and Western franchises. I enjoy each volume of Negima, but see little reason to ever pick up the new Negima Neo series. One time around with this story and characters is quite enough for me.

I'm making it a personal mission to review every Negima! novel before the start of June. Here I go on number five. (Update: it ain't happening. lol)

Volume five seems to be one of the most confused novels of the series, but on no fault of either Akamatsu-san or Del Rey Publishers; it's all due (in the first part) to Asakura-san, who teams up with the pervin' ermine Chamo for a little contest on the Kyoto/Nara field trip. The point of this wild little romp? Face off against nine other opponents in order to get a kiss with Negi-sensei- except since Chamo has drawn a magic circle around the perimeter of the hotel, the girl who kisses Negi will also become one of his temporary partners. Nodoka enters the contest, and her teammate (the 10 contestants are split into five groups of two) is Yue Ayase, who reveals that she, too, has very intense feelings for Negi. The inclusion of five fake Negis (due to his failure to write his name correctly on four talismans, but finally getting the fifth one right so he can go out on patrol) and their unfortunate side-effects (they explode once kissed) add for some more hilarity. But in the end, all is well- the talismans are all destroyed and Nodoka ends up being the one to kiss Negi, though only because Yue trips her and she falls on Negi, kissing him in the process.

Thus ends that story arc, and begins the next. Setsuna and Konoka set out on a trip through Nara, and its famed Cinema Village, while Negi and Asuna (and, unbeknowst to them, Nodoka) try to deliver the letter. Negi and Asuna are ambushed by Kotaro, a master of the dog onmyou and little brat who simply wants to fight Negi to see how strong he really is (Kotaro knows Negi is the Thousand Master's son). Setsuna and Konoka, on the other hand, are forced to face off against Tsukuyomi, Setsuna's former kouhai (or student, since Tsukuyomi calls Setsuna "sempai"), and they eventually drag in Asakura-san, the Class Rep, and a bunch of other people into the fight. At the end, something is revealed, although I won't tell you what. (I'm bad, aren't I? lol)

Volume five is better than all the other ones, and the series just keeps getting better than ever. A good bit of the humor is lost from this volume, as one of Del Rey's main publishers who worked on volumes 1-4 did not work on 5, unfortunately; this doesn't mean, however, that there is a lack of fan service, which there is not- it's still there, and in full force (fortunately). All in all, volume 5 of Mahou Sensei Negima (the title in Japanese) is another wild little excursion for our pint-sized wizard and his harem of junior-high lovers.

Enjoy!!

~andy~

A decent series so far. Still a little in his Love Hina mode but he has greatly expanded the number of characters, almost to the point of not recognizing some of them. Still, a good read for those that like the "harem" type manga.