Creators: Ken Akamatsu (story) and Takuya Fujima (art); Alethea Nibley, Athena Nibley (translation and adaptation)
Publishing Information: Del Rey Manga, paperback, 196 pages, $10.99 (US), $11.99 CAN
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-0-345-52059-3 (ISBN-13)
Rating “OT for Ages 16+”
Negima! Magister Negi Magi was a manga created by Ken Akamatsu (the creator of Love Hina) that followed the adventures of a Welsh preteen wizard who teaches at an all-girls high school in Japan. The series spawned several anime productions. One of those anime, entitled Negima!?, re-imagined the series and also inspired the manga series, Negima!? neo.
Ten-year-old Negi Springfield is the greatest prodigy to ever graduate from his magic school in England. Negi dreams of becoming a Magister Magi (master mage) so that he can better protect the ones he loves. He also hopes his exploits will led him to his father, the legendary mage, Nagi Springfield. Negi teaches English at Mahora Academy, an all-girls junior high school in Japan, where he must deal with 31 beautiful girls who are often overly affectionate with him. Negi must also do his job without using magic.
In Negima!? neo, Vol. 6, Negi and his master, the vampire Evangeline AK McDowell, take a trip back in time to watch Evangeline and her master, Negi’s father, Nagi Springfield, fight off a Yuletide demonic invasion. Next, Akira Okochi, one of Negi’s students and a member of the school swim team, befriends a lost and sick baby dolphin. Finally, Makie Sasaki and Yuna Akashi take a trip by train in order to celebrate an anniversary only one of them remembers.
My prior experience with Negima!? neo was Volume 1, and I wasn’t crazy about it. I found the fantasy and comedy too broad, as it encompassed several genres, including action, horror and science fiction. I also found the narrative to be on otaku overload or fan overload. The series seemed more like a parody of anime.
In this volume, the stories focus on the characters and their relationships with one another. There is certainly a lot of fantasy action – as in the two-chapter, time travel episode with Nagi and Evangeline. There is high school fun and heartwarming drama in the tale of human-animal interaction, “Grand Bleu Friends.” Fanservice abounds in the breasts-and-booty fest, “The Longed-For Love Lingerie!?” A heartwarming tale of friendship offers innuendo and martial arts in “A Pair of Cherries.” So genre and the usual Negima!? neo antics are plentiful here.
It is all, however, character driven. When told from the point of view of character, Negima!? neo’s wildness and genre extravagances don’t seem like mere excess. Experiencing this manga through the characters is the way to really enjoy it.
B+
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