Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 1

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.

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.

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.

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.