Customer Reviews

Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 1

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

From Ken Akamatsu, writer/artist of the popular "Love Hina," comes "Negima!: Magister Negi Magi." This comic follows the adventures of Negi Springfield, a young 10-year old magician from Wales who has been assigned to an all-girls school in Japan as an English teacher for his post-graduation assignment. The scenario of one guy surrounded by many girls sounds familiar to readers of Japanese comics, but this is quite different from your standard "harem" story.

Negi is an entirely likeable character, charming and in over his head, yet determined to do his best in an overwhelming situation. His dream is to become the Magister, a sort of wandering Master Magician who helps those in trouble. This being an Akamatsu comic, Negi has the habit of a powerful sneeze which blows girls skirts up, or blasts their clothes off entirely. His naivety presents this habit from being too silly, and he is always quite shy and embarrassed afterward.

He is joined in the regular cast by Asuna Kagurazaka, a 14 year old jr. high school student in Negi's class. She is a bit of a tom boy, with a powerful kick that can send Negi flying. Not so much a romantic interest, but a friendly foil for Negi. Asuna is the only one who knows that Negi is a magician, a fact which must be kept secret.

Of course, the Mahora school is no ordinary school, and is filled with all sorts of oddities such as a legendary bath that holds 100 people. Akamatsu also seems to have a thing for the baths in his comics! The large cast of characters sets the stage for a variety of adventures, although do to the young age of the characters these adventures are much less romance-orientated than "Love Hina."

This is my favorite Japanese comic being produced right now, and it is nice to see it getting an English release. Fans of "Love Hina" will find the same kind of humor, with a bit of a Harry Potter sling to it.

One of the most anticipated new manga titles this year is the new project from Ken Akamatsu, creator of Love Hina, A.I. Love You, and Mao-chan. Negima - Magister Negi Magi is a story about a boy who has just graduated from the magician's academy, and in order to become a full fledged wizard, he must complete his training with a real world job assignment. Due to an error, he is assigned to teach English at an all girls academy. As he begins his job, one girl isn't too thrilled about his being a teacher, Asuna Kagurazaka, since he's replacing a teacher that she had a crush on. This is just the beginning of the story as a lot of comedy, magical battles, fanservice, and a touch of romance make this yet another cute and fun series for fans of Ken Akamatsu's work.

If you enjoyed Love Hina, this title definitely has a lot of the same elements going for it that made Love Hina so popular. On occasion, there are even some references in Negima to that series. 31 girls each with different personalities, interests, and backgrounds at Mahora Academy turn out to be an adventure in teaching and fun for Negi Springfield. And just like Love Hina, there are many hints at romance which really add to the charm of this series. Currently, this series is still going with more chapters in Japan, along with character voice CDs and an anime series planned. Overall, an excellent series that will leave you wanting more as you get to know the students of Negi's class and the young mage himself.

It isn't often that I'll purchase a graphic novel without knowing anything about it. But perusing the shelves I happened upon one called "Negima!". I instantly recognized Ken Akamatsu's style on the cover and being a huge fan of Love Hina, purchased it without another thought.

The concept behind Negima is very clever. A young Welsh boy, training to be a great magician, gets shipped off to Japan to teach English at an all-girls junior high school. It could be said that it's Love Hina mixed with Harry Potter, but that would be doing it a disservice in describing the story.

There are a lot of strengths already shown right off the bat. Negima doesn't waste time and dives right into the story which clips along at a good pace without dragging out plot points. The artwork is beautiful, you can sense Akamatsu getting better with each pencil mark. Even introducing a whopping 31 girls into the mix, we still get a sense that we'll see enough of each one. Asuna makes a great foil to Negi. And of course, it's extremely funny.

A few things did bug me about Negima though. The fanservice was evenly spread through Love Hina, though here we get quite a few instances where clothes are blown off (by Negi's sneezes, of course) and with the characters being in junior high, comes off a little creepier. Plus, there's already a sense of some characters and events that fall into romantic-manga cliche such as Asuna's adoration of Takahata-sensei and the evil upper-classmen.

But then again, I wasn't crazy about Love Hina until a few volumes in. Small complaints aside, Negima volume 1 is a great start to a promising and fun-filled series. If only we didn't have to wait until August to get volume 2.

I'm sorry, but the first thing I noticed was the fact that the main character, Negi, seems to have some game. All the girls in his life (minus one) seem to adore him, despite his age, and are even willing to parade around in the buff with him in the room. Besides that, he's a very charming young man, capable of tearing himself away from all the constant affections in order to get the job done. Much respect, Negi, for being a player who knows how to play his game...

But seriously, Negima! was, for me, a fun manga to sit and read. Though I'm not generally a fan of fan-service (I don't like to feel exploited), and I tend toward the more mature side of manga, Negima had just enough in it to keep my interest throughout. For one, the fan-service was never to the point where there was full-body nudity. The worst were a few naked rear-ends. Secondly, the sexual jokes in this manga were definitely enough to push this manga into the mature zone, if not the fan-service alone. And the simple fact that the jokes were intelligent if a little brash made me appreciate what this manga was attempting to do, and that was to draw laughs from an older audience while still trying to keep the "young'ens" entertained.

The story wasn't so bad, either, at least to where I got from reading this volume. Contrived at times, to be sure, but how else would fan-service ever find a way into manga if it weren't forced in. It follows Negi Springfield, a new graduate of magic academy as he's getting his first assignment; which just happens to be as an English teacher at an all-girl high school in Japan. But he accepts the job willingly, believing it to be his stepping stone to becoming a great wizard. Unfortunately, he doesn't expect what comes to him. He makes enemies with the same girl who's supposed to be his keeper, his students don't take him seriously, and should his magic be discovered and revealed to the student body he lose his position. Either way, he's definitely the man for the job, despite everything. Now, all he has to do is make friends with Asuna, a girl with a sad history but a tough mentality.

Though I can't consider this a perfect manga, I say so only because it isn't something I'd aim for as a reader and fan of manga. Too cutesy and the fan-service was a turn off at times. Still, it had more than enough to keep me reading from cover to cover, and I would like to know what happens next to Negi and Asuma. Either way, if you liked Love Hina or anything of that vein, then Negima! would be a perfect manga for you, especially since it was created by the same man who made Love Hina. It was an innocent sexual yet surprisingly funny manga. And, for fans of anime, the American release of Negima! is looming so if you'd like to see what it's about then now is as good a chance as any.

I'm sure there will be hundreds of good reviews about the comic itself, so I just wanted to mention how beyond the call of duty Del Rey has gone. Every sound effect is translated, the honorifics are kept and their nuances are carefully explained in the translator's notes. Tokyopop may have pioneered doing licensed manga "right," but Del Rey has perfected it! It doesn't get much better than this, folks.

A little different than Ken Akamatsu's usual work, Negima still doesn't fail to please.

Ten year old Negi has just graduated into the rank of magician. His mystic diploma gives him the task of teaching in Japan. At an all-girls middle school, no less.
Dealing with an irate roommate, his occasional super-powered sneezes, a few poor learners (one being said roommate), some high school bullies, and more, Negi's got his hands full.
Not to mention the fact that he has to keep his magic a secret, or he'll be turned into a hamster...

It's got magic. It's got comedy. It's got action. It's even got fanservice, if you're into that sort of thing.

Ken Akamatsu has done other graphic novel series besides Negima, like Love Hina and A.I Love You. Both look like they'd be good graphic novels to read {no, I don't own any of those series}. So I was a little of Ken's work on this one. But after I read it, I realized that I would have been stupid not to get it. There's good characters, a good plot, a good setting...and definately enough girls ^-^!!! If you have read any other Delray manga, then I would highly recommend this book to you. And I'd also recommend it if you've read Love Hina or A.I Love You.


Negi Springfield is a 9 year old wizard. When he graduates from magic school, he is chosen to be a teacher at a boarding school in Japan!! Course, it doesn't help that the school is an all girls school full of sex girls {ecspecially the ones in Negi's class}. So who blames Negi that he doesn't think he can teach his class, since the fact is that the girls in his class thinks he's adorable and don't take him seriously as a teacher. But all that changes when the girl with the lowest amount of brain cells {Asuna Kagurazaka, a girl who doesn't like kids... and it doesn't help that she and Negi got off to a bad start} sees him perform magic to help a girl in his class. After that, however, things start to be looking up for Asuna and Negi. Sexy girls, love potions, and dogdeball mathches to see who gets Negi, geez.


This book is rated OT for older teen, like 16+ but if you're parents are reasonable and think you're mature enough to handle these, then I'd say a person who's entering their teenage year could probely read this.

I was nervous when I first picked up this new manga to read because I had heard a lot of mixed reviews about it. As a huge fan of Love Hina, I was worried that Akamatsu's new series would be a big flop. But it wasn't. It is true that there are a lot of the same elements in Negima that there were in Love Hina, such as the 'boy in the girl's bath', etc. theme, but unlike Love Hina, Negima's focus isn't on that sort of thing.

I saw a lot of promise not only in the developing plot but also in the amazing 31 unique characters. It is also exciting to see how far Akamatsu has come in developing the style of his beautiful artwork. If you enjoyed Love Hina, the you will definitely like Negima: Magister Negi Magi. It has me hooked and I can't wait to get the next volume.

One thing Ken Akamatsu is best at, is giving every character in his stories a fun and deep personality. In his earlier manga Love Hina, he had 5 girls to give a different face to each. Now he's splitting his ability between 31 female characters, a 10 year old wizard, and an whole staff of unique teachers, and he still hasn't lost his incredible ability. Like his manga's before, Negima is original, funny, displays beautiful artwork, and is fun to read. Unfortunately, he hasn't dropped his perverted side, so this manga isn't exactly for the younger generation, but this is still a great manga that I have high hopes won't sit in the shadow of Love Hina for much longer. Definetly a must-have for manga fans.

Is there anything that Ken Akamatsu can't do? Write boring stories, perhaps?

Negima tells the story of Negi, a ten year-old british Magi who has come to Japan to complete his final task before becoming a full mage: to teach English to a class of 31 highschool girls. Fanservice, anyone?

The characters are all highly appealing, especially with such an endearing protagonist. Magical elements are few and far between and are usually used for comedic sight gags. Negi's sneezing is a prime example of this. Whenever Negi sneezes, the force of the sneeze usually disrobes any females immediately in front of him.

Recommended for Akamatsu fans and manga fans who enjoy comedy and can accept an upskirt every now and then.