Customer Reviews

Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Volume 6

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
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The School Trip arc has been very interesting, so I was eager to read volume 6. Not only did I find this the best volume of the trilogy, but Del Rey has taken the plunge and made this an "otaku-friendly" translation which hardcore fans will appreciate, but normal fans will get into as well considering how much it adds to the translation.

Negi and his group of girls (including Asakura) head back to the temple where Negi delivers his letter to the head of the temple, who also happens to be Konoka-chan's father. He accepts, but unfortunately the enemies that have been fighting with Negi, Asuna, and Se-chan have a powerful new ally who has the form of a blonde-haired boy in a school uniform. He overcomes the temple's natural defenses including those of Konoka's father. Despite Asuna's best efforts, she is unable to keep the boy from kidnapping Konoka, though she is able to resist his petrifaction spell at the cost of her clothes. In attempting to rescue Konoka, Se-chan, Asuna, and Negi have to face scores of summoned demons. In order to rescue Konoka and fight the demons, Se-chan and Negi form a pactio so that she and Asuna can fight while Negi rescues Konoka.

The reasons behind Konoka's kidnapping become clear as Negi's enemies intend to unseal a powerful demon that nearly destroyed the world centuries ago. The battle looks grim until Yue, who's discovered the truth, contacts Kaede, the powerful ninja in the class. Kaede and her allies Fei Ku (who knows powerful Chinese martial arts) and Tatsumiya (who is an expert with guns and who's bullets have been enchanted) provide cover for Negi, Asuna, and Se-chan. Se-chan reveals a secret about herself as she rescues Konoka, while Negi is saved from death by an unexpected source. With so many allies, can Negi now defeat the unsealed mega-demon?

I have to say that this is my favorite volume of the series to date. This is aided by Del Rey's decision to take the plunge and make the translation a bit more otaku-ish in nature. This means that the various forms for "big brother" and "big sister" are left un-translated. Each form has a different feeling and while someone like me may understand it, newbies may not. That's not a problem because Del Rey gives an explanation as to why they are doing it. I think they should have gone into a bit greater detail on the differences, but I won't complain. Regardless, it adds depth to characters, primarily Chamo-kun who uses them the most.

Another interesting item was when one charater calls Negi "böya". This is Engrish for "boy", and I think they've been translating it as "kid" in earlier volumes. However, leaving "böya" un-translated gives so much sass to the character saying it that completely belongs! Obviously, the new staff in charge of "Negina!" understood this and I applaud Del Rey for this! Del Rey also left Greek, Latin, and Japanese in the manga when spells were cast. This gives it a more interesting flavor since it comes off more like spell-casting. Del Rey has complete explanations at the end of each chapter which I liked better than having the spell lexicon at the end of the manga.

Finally, Del Rey has a really cool extra (beyond the standard extras) which has Akamatsu-sensei's original artwork for the various tankoubon covers (front and back) and include his notes. Tama-chan from "Love Hina" shows up in the notes and Akamatsu-sensei hints at a link between Motoko from "Love Hina" and Se-chan. Very cool!

Bottom line: Clearly, Del Rey understands the manga market with this volume of "Negima!" and it shows. Combine that with Akamatsu-sensei's great story and this became the best volume to date!

Fans of the previous volumes of this series should enjoy this one, also. However, there were a few things about it that bothered me, just a tiny bit. They have a new translator this time, who translates things differently, so characters have different speech patterns than they had in previous volumes. Also, a bit too much of the book is taken up by magical battles for my taste. Although the fights are well done, I would have preferred more comedy than we get this time around. But, that's just me. Other fans of the series may feel differently.

Ten-year-old wiz kid Negi Springfield has been battling some nasty new enemies in the past couple of "Negima" collections, and the battle hits its high point in the sixth volume. Old enemies, new allies and an army of demons make this battle the most intense of Ken Akamatsu's new series.

The gang arrives at the Kansai Magic Temple, which also happens to be the home of Konoka and her dad, the Elder of the West. Negi and Co. are assured of their safety -- but then a strange white-haired boy petrifies everyone except Asuna (who merely loses her clothes and gets tickled almost to death). Konoka is kidnapped, so that her latent magical power can be manipulated.

To get her back, and keep the Monkey Woman from releasing a legendary demon, Negi enters a pactio with Setsuna, and she and Asuna take on an army of ancient demons. Negi sets off to rescue Konoka, but is stopped on the way by the white-haired boy, and by dog-boy Kotaro. But Negi will receive help from an unexpected source: vampire mage Evangeline, who is also his enemy...

This is perhaps the most intense volume of "Negima" so far, focusing on magic, battles, and the friendships that make them possible. The only flaw is that they switched translators somewhere, which means that some characters, like Fei Ku, sound EXTREMELY different. Suddenly she's speaking in pidgin English. Ah well...

And yes, there's still gratuitous nudity, but at least some of it is humorous, such as poor underwearless Asuna being pursued by an army of ogres, wailing, "Why do these things happen to me?" The focus is a lot more on Negi's burgeoning powers, and on the increasingly elaborate fights between characters. Yet Akamatsu still has a knack for humor, such as Evangeline's sick little sidekick doll. Freaky.

And some of the characters get new dimensions: the Elder reveals that Konoka might be even more powerful than Negi's dad, , and Setsuna reveals that she's not really human. And Tatsumiya (whom Akamatsu only noted for her "endowments" before) gets to show off her magical sharpshooting skills by defeating ogres.

Ken Akamatsu's new fantasy series hits its stride, with an epic fantasy battle and lots of new battle pals. Time for some downtime.

This is the Sixth installment on the Negima! manga series by Ken Akamatsu-san. In this volume, Akamatsu-san brings the Kyoto Field Trip Story arc to a close, in the only way it could be closed, an all out battle. Comdy takes a back seat in this volume that, suprising for Akamatsu-san. Negi, Asuna-san, and their friends face many dangers in this one and I don't want to be the one that spoils them. All I can really say this is by far the best book in this series yet.

Fantastic! Ken Akamatsu doesn't disappoint with another great book in the series. I felt he wrapped up the "field trip" story line very well, and I'm anxious to see the next book. (some sexual themes, not recommended for under 13)

So we've come so far on this school trip. We've seen Nodoka finally confess her undying love for Negi-kun, had an unfortunate run-in with Kotaro and his spider onmyou, and had alot of fun along the way. The fun pretty much ends with volume 6, though, as this is the most serious of the three Kyoto/Nara volumes. Akamatsu's still at the top of his game, however, and this is most definitely a good thing.

Volume 6 begins as Asuna, Negi, and the others finally arrive at Konoka's home in Kyoto. A welcome party is in order, but not before Negi delivers the headmaster's letter to the leader of the Kansai magic district (who happens to be the headmaster's son-in-law). Things quickly get out of hand, though, as an ally of the Monkey Lady, known simply as Fate Averruncus, pays the temple a visit and turns most of the people there, including Nodoka and the rest of the girls, into stone. Miraculously, Yue escapes and calls Kaede and Fei Ku for help. Negi, at the same time, calls Asuna, who tells him that Konoka was kidnapped; he then calls the headmaster, who promises to send someone.

The second part of the novel details Konoka's rescue. Asuna and Setsuna end up having to face hundreds of golems- and she's still panty-less (from being turned into stone earlier)!!! They get aid, however, in the form of Kaede, Fei Ku, and Mana Tatsumiya, who shows she's no slouch when it comes to wielding a sniper rifle (actually her artifact in the anime version). Negi ends up pactio-ing with Setsuna, and then races off with Chamo in tow to save Konoka. What happens next is quite the surprise, but that I'll let you figure out on your own, but I will tell you this: Negi gets help from someone whom he least expects to show up.

Not as much fan service than the other novels, but with such a serious setting it would have been out of place anyways. There is one funny scene in particular when Fate's conjured water spirits don't exactly do to Asuna what he had intended them to do, leaving her screaming, "What is it with you wizards and your perverted attacks?!?!" The demon's always good for a startle or two, also. In all, one of the better volumes. Oh yeah... be on the lookout for Setsuna's little secret too... like you'll be able to miss it.

Enjoy!!

~andy~

I love Negima, and this volume of the manga proved to me just why I like it so much. In this volume we get to see some much-anticipated action with the conclusion of the Kyoto arc. Akamatsu is starting to really develop the characters in Negima, which can be a challenge with so many! With this volume you can really see the characters' different personalities forming in how they react to things happening to them.

The only thing I didn't like about the issue was that almost every girl in the class apparently has some sort of fighting ability, which can be a little unbelieveable at times. But overall this is a great manga and I highly recommend the entire series so far.

this is real is a good manga as it continues throughout more chapters... so in this book negi and companions met up with unsuspected extra companions... the assocation that negi had to go for a mission is really the home of one of his lovely students... they celebrate and talked over things but only later to be attacked by one of the monkey girl's group... he single handedly took out mostly all of the associations people... leaving negi, asuna, set... to defend konoka... but she gets taken away anyways... as they trail to konoka only to find that they have to battle more than 100 summon monsters... believe it or not, they are actaully nice although they have to do what they are summoned for... soon mana, ninja girl, and fei helps them out... negi made it to konoka but was too late and the beginning great summon of a 2 faced summmon thingamajig... after negi tries to defeat it only to find out its too poweriful... an old enemy helps protect negi then defeats the giant thing after setun...rescues konoka... after the hard won battle negi was close to death. Konoka saves the day due to her healing powers and everyone is saved. later negi visits his fathers home and learned little but useful to negi. Then they were going back home after a long fun adventure.

later series gets really good hehe because u can really tell. turst me.