Customer Reviews

Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 7

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you've been following the Negima! series, then you won't be disappointed by this book. Negi becomes the student of two of his students. Kū Fei's teaching mode is very cute, and Dark Evangeline's test is quite dramatic. The class president taking Negi out scene is very hillarious, as it shows the best-laid plans of mice and men oft go awry. The ending is very heartwarming and promising.
Please be warned that there are several adult situations here. I don't recommend it for little kids (under 13.)

With the school trip over, young Negi-sensei decides that he needs to become a more powerful mage. As such, he seeks to train under Evangeline, who proved to be a VERY impressive mage when not under the restrictions of the curse. At the same time, he decides to learn Kung Fu from Ku Fei-san to improve his melee attack and defence skills. Ku Fei agrees to train him, but Evangeline is offended that he would learn Kung Fu and decides he must lay one hit on Chachamaru before she will train him.

Meanwhile, gymnast Makie-chan discovers her coach finds her too childish to be a great gymnast. Devistated, she happens upon a training Negi and decides to train to get even better for an upcoming competition. While they train, Se-chan and Asuna-san decide to train in sword techniques. On the night of Negi's fight with Chachamaru, Negi takes a beating but gets Evengeline to agree to train him.

Meanwhile Yue-san and Miyazaki come to Negi with some clues about Negi's father. This leads the trio on a trip to library island without Asuna where they discover yet another dangerous secret of the island. Asuna finds out and is offended, but things get worse when she and Negi get into a verbal fight and Negi seriously insults her. A trip by the girls to Ayaka's private beach doesn't help matters. Will Negi be able to appologize for what he said? Will Asuna forgive him? Will Negi be able to master all of the training in time for the next battle? Will Makie-chan prove her coach wrong?

With this volume, Akamatsu-sensei is clearly taking things down a few notches in intensity but is laying the groundwork for the next big story. The fight between Asuna and Negi was a lot like the fights between Naru and Keitaro in "Love Hina", but I suppose that's to be expected. I enjoyed watching Negi train as he decides whether to be a battle mage or a traditional one. Now that he has four full partners, it is even more important that he get better.

Evangeline continues to be a cool character, though with a new translator, the very sassy "boya" is back to "kid" or "kiddo" (as I understand it). The later two just lack the sass that "boya" has (IMO) so that was disappointing, but a minor thing. Evangeline's puppet Chachazero continues to steal scenes when she appears. ^_^ Akamatsu-sensei knows a good thing and decided to find ways to keep her in the story. It works and adds some nice spice to things.

The tease about Asuna's past was VERY interesting as well.

Bottom line: another good manga volume worthy of purchase despite not really advancing the main story. However the time is not wasted and the groundwork is clearly being laid for the next volume when the main story arc is picked up again.

This is the seventh volume in this "harem" manga series. Negi and his students are back from their field trip. Negi decides he wants to be able to defend himself better, so he begins martial arts training with Ku Fei and magic training with Evangeline. More of his students find out he is a wizard and hilarity ensues. Negi and his students also take a vacation to a South Pacific island, which is a good excuse to show the girls in swimsuits. If you enjoyed the previous volumes in this series, you will also enjoy this one.

So the school trip's over, and Negi's finally back at the Mahora Academy. What's he doing? Poring over the maps that the Elder of the East gave him and trying to find out just where exactly it is that the Thousand Master could have gone. This is how Negima volume 7 begins, and it just snowballs from there!! After Asuna comes up to see what Negi's doing so early, she notices some candies on his desk- so, being Asuna, she pops one, not knowing that those are magically enhanced so that the wearer falls in love with the first person he/she sees... and of course, the first person Asuna sees is Negi!! Negi and Asuna then head over to Eva-san's, where Negi surprises Asuna by asking Eva-san to take him on as a disciple!! She says she'll consider it, then Negi and Asuna go on. Asuna, meanwhile, is getting more and more anxious that she's fallen in love with Negi (she still doesn't know about what the candies are supposed to do). Negi also ends up asking Fei Ku to train him in Chinese martial arts- after scaring the rest of the class (unknowingly) into thinking that Negi was going to ask Fei Ku to be his partner!! Volume 7 ends with everyone ending up in Eva-san's portable resort, where Asuna and Negi get into a fight, and true feelings are finally revealed- kinda. Oh, and did I mention Asuna's dreams- dreams that hint that she might have had something going on with the Thousand Master?

Volume 7 is a bit of a comic relief compared to the more serious fifth and sixth volumes, especially at the end of the "candy" part, which finds Konoka (also a victim of the candies) tackling Setsuna to the ground proclaiming her love for her- kinda ironic considering everyone thought they were going out in volume 5... Anyways, this one's one of the best novels, but it is kinda confusing- does Asuna like Negi or not?!?! Either way, the rest of the series is gonna be good.

After a huge battle, it's inevitable that the chapters that follow are a bit of a letdown. And after the explosive finale of volume six, the seventh collection of Ken Akamatsu's "Negima" chugs along at a more languid pace, with more stories about magic, romance, and learning.

Having exhausted most of his power in the previous battle, Negi decides to toughen up. First he asks vampire/magi Evangeline, who is less than forthcoming, then he asks martial-artist Fei Ku. Meanwhile, Makie is depressed after hearing her teacher say that her gymnastics lack something, but she tries to cheerlead Negi when Evangeline gives her answer: She'll train Negi if he can defeat her near-invincible robot partner.

Clues are piling up about Negi's father -- Asuna is having odd dreams, where she is a small child travelling with the Thousand Master. And a scribble on a map might lead Negi to whatever happened to the Thousand Master, except that a dragon is barring his way.

And Asuna starts struggling with her liking for Negi. First, some magical chocolates make her fall for him. Then, a tropical island vacation takes an unfortunate turn -- he and Asuna had a fight, and now he can't seem to make it up to her.

After the heated battles, volume seven of "Negima" mostly focuses on fun and games. And of course, lots of magically-induced goofiness, such as Asuna beating her head against a boulder for being interested in Negi. And the final gag is Konoka tackling a terrified Setsuna with proclaimations of love. Good thing the other girls -- especially Freud dreamgirl Ayaka -- didn't get ahold of them.

However, this volume also sets up future developments, though none of them are really seen through -- the clues about the Thousand Master's whereabouts, Asuna's dreams, Evangeline's training, and Asuna's final words to Negi. Certainly they promise that things are only going to get more interesting from here on.

And several of the girls are getting used to the idea that Negi is actually a wizard. Maybe not all of them know, but they'd be pretty stupid not to suspect; in one charming scene, Negi takes Nodoka and Yue flying with him. It's a credit to Akamatsu that he can give personality to so many of the thirty-plus girls in Negi's class.

While it returns to the fluffy goofballness of the first few volumes of this series, "Negima's" seventh volume hints at future storylines that will only make this better.

For those who have not read the prior volumes, this book (Volume 7) of the Negima! series, centers around Negi Springfield, a "western" (as in European) mage who is sent to a rather unusual girls' school in Japan as part of his training to be a Master Mage. Hijinks ensue, not surprisingly as this is a Ken Akamatsu manga (Akamatsu is the author of Love Hina, a well-known harem manga).

I would argue that this is where the series begins to take a temporary downturn. This is largely because the manga begins shifting away from the "magical harem comedy" aspect towards a more "magical action" series. The end result is ultimately good - Negima gets much better after the arc that begins in this book, commonly called the "Mahora Festival Arc" - but during the period in question, the manga more or less gets usurped by Dragonball Z-like training sessions, one-upmanship, and a rapid expansion of magic kung fu. Unfortunately, like Dragonball Z, this sequence shares the penchant for boring fights and drawn-out conclusions.

Because of this, I can't really give this volume more than two stars. However, I would suggest that fans of Negima continue reading, since the manga does improve after the Mahora Festival finally ends.

This is the seventh volume on the ongoing "Negima!" series, concluding the "Kyoto Field Trip" story arc and beginning the "Training/Wilhelm" story arc.

After his experiences in Kyoto fighting with and against the Kyoto Magic Association, 10-year old Magician/Jr. High School teacher realizes that he needs to up his game if he wants to compete on the level necessary to protect his students. Negi recruits his kung-fu superstar student, Ku Fei, to teach him some fighting skills and to help him improve his physical attacks. Next up, he asks the Vampire Magician Evangeline A.K. McDowell to train him in magic, but Evangeline is too amused by Negi's efforts to learn kung fu alongside magic. She sets a challenge for him: If Negi can lay a single punch on Evangeline's robot companion Chachamaru, using only his new kung fu skills but no magic, then she will take Negi on as a student.

Volume seven was a bridging issue, letting the cast take a break between the heavy action of the Kyoto Field Trip and things to come. It sets the stage for future conflicts, and allows Negi to develop his strengths as a character and as a magician. There is some individual attention given to some of the girls, most specifically the rhythmic gymnast Sasaki Makie. The Chachamaru showdown is pretty cool, as I always liked Chachamaru as a character and it is nice to see her in play.

Of course, this is an Akamatsu Ken comic, and he can't spend too much time with the serious parts of the story. "Volume Seven" concludes with a trip to the beach, with all the girls in swimsuits or less in grand Akamatsu style. This is a bit of a plot here about Asuna and Negi having a fight, but you know they are going to make-up eventually and it gives us all a chance to enjoy some Akamatsu eye-candy.

it's great comics. Especially, the pictures are absolutely beautiful.