Customer Reviews

Negima, Vol. 3: Magic 301 - Practical Application of Magic (Limited Edition)

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This volume of Negima! has to be the weakest yet; hopefully the frequent mid-series slump won't last much past this set of four episodes. While there are a few cute happinings in the course of events, all would easily fall into the category of so much filler, as absolutely NO plot or character development occurrs. The closest to it is a rather amusing misunderstanding common in "Harem" anime, as to why Negi and Konoka are spending the day together - could it be a DATE? - which serves mainly to reenforce the setup between him and some of the other girls. Even the cute Yui, given prominence on the cover and title and menu pages, gets precious little in the way of actual screen time. The fanservice Ken Akamatsu's work is famous for somewhat reappears here in a satirical tale of duelling fanboy "net" sites, featuring an unlikely "idol". All are essentially stand-alone episodes that are mainly so much mindless fluff.

Being a preteen wizard in an unfamiliar country is bad enough, but Negi Springfield also has to devote himself to the education of Mahora's junior high students. And "Negima, Vol. 3: Magic 301 - Practical Application of Magic" shows blatantly that his students have way too much time on their hands -- magic books, hit websites and occasional mall-stalking.

One of the few students who openly dislikes Negi is Chisame, a surly loner who disdains all the weirdos in her class. Privately, she's also a #1 net idol. (No, I don't know what that means)

But when Negi is called upon to create a class website, "Chiu" is outraged when the newly minted website shoots to second place -- right behind her. So begins a heated competition between Chiu and the girls of class 2-A, who are determined not to be left in the dust by the mysterious net idol. What happens if Chisame's double life is revealed?

Then finals are about to strike, and Negi is horrified to discover that if 2-A comes in last yet again, he will be fired. So he and the Dummy Force venture into the vast Library Island where a magic intellect-enhancing book is said to be kept -- but their way is filled with lethal traps and savage golems, as well as intellectual hurdles that they must clear.

Unfortunately, the trip up may take them too long -- and Negi has sealed his magic until after finals. Will they make it in time, and somehow do well on their tests?

Finally, a trio of cheerleaders are out shopping when they spot Negi and Konoka -- and jump to the conclusion that the dean's granddaughter and the preteen teacher are on a date. As Ayaka freaks out and drags Asuna out to intercept them, the cheerleaders trail after Negi and Konoka -- but apparently they've got the wrong idea.

Pretty much all of "Negima, Vol. 3" is devoted to the chaos caused by Negi's apparently insane students -- half the time the chaos is magical, and half of it is your basic harem-anime mayhem. Poor Negi spends the entire DVD either happily clueless or frantically treading water in hopes of not drowning in all the crazy ("DON'T WORRY? DON'T WORRY? Are you crazy? THIS IS WORRY!").

Like the second volume, the third has solid magical stories, with some potentially lethal golems, a magic book and a cavernous library filled with booby traps (arrows, trap doors and falling books). Even though Negi barely does any magic at all, the entire two-parter is a bit like glimpsing the wizards' world. Except, of course, with the required scene where all the girls get completely naked.

And there are some fun moments of kooky comedy. While the last episode is thin on plot, it has the cheerleaders doing some entertainingly stupid things while they stalk Negi. And the first episode is a fun, goofy little comedic ride full of cosplaying costumes, computer tricks, and the underlying message that "normal" is highly overrated.

Oh yes, and some fsntasy in-jokes. Though the English translation has Chamo the lecherous ermine shopping for "cotton panties," note that the laptop screen actually says "mithril."

As for poor Negi, he seems perpetually stressed out and bewildered here -- if he isn't freaking out over impending unemployment, he's bewildered by his class's eccentric behavior ("I uh.... think we need a bigger server"). Fortunately his fondness for them and his upbeat personality keep things going smoothly, although it's obvious the boy wizard still has some things to learn about trusting his students. And not sealing his magic.

"Negima, Vol. 3: Magic 301 - Practical Application of Magic" has a generous helping of sitcommy fluff, mingled with mildly comedic action and magical adventure. Lightweight fun.