Negima!   Japanese title 魔法先生 ネギま! Manga-ka/Author 赤松健 Ken Akamatsu Genre drama, comedy, romance, shounen Volumes: 16+ Distributor: Tanoshimi Classification: 15 Originally serialised in 週刊少年マガジン Weekly Shounen Magazine Rating   Introduction to the story   Ten-year old Negi Springfield is a wizard in training. After graduating at the top of his class from his Magic Academy in Wales, he is then assigned practical training to help him refine his skills. To his surprise, he is sent to Japan to teach English at Mahora Academy - an girls' school; and is soon in charge of the 31 students of class 2-A, all of them older than him. Negi is placed under the care of two of these students in particular - Konoka Konoe, granddaughter of the school dean, and her best friend Asuna Kagurazaka, who immediately takes a dislike to him. Negi struggles to fulfil his job as teacher, as well as his lifelong search for his father, known as the 'Thousand Master' and commonly believed to be dead. At first, all at Mahora Academy seems normal; but as Negi gets to know each of the girls better, it becomes clear that class 2-A is far from normal...   My thoughts   Negima! (otherwise known in English as Magister Negi Magi) is a rather light-hearted series which depends on humour and (dare I say it) fan-service to entertain its readers. This would more or less be expected from its creator, award-winning manga-ka Ken Akamatsu (also famous for the series Love Hina). Ken Akamatsu is known for his risqué sense of humour, and so this series is definitely not for younger teens. However, as with Love Hina, Negima! is a fine example of his drawing skills and plot development. As I've mentioned before about his work, it is always of good quality; Love Hina fans would no doubt also love this series. There are many similarities, especially with some of the characters (which are highly developed; their characters are used as part of the plot); Asuna is very much like Naru of Love Hina; as is Nodoka like Shinobu and Konoka like Mutsumi. The sheer amount of main characters is at first daunting, but I find this one of the attractive things about this manga; the girls of class 2-A are a very interesting bunch, and remembering all their names is a pleasing challenge in itself.   Where to find it   Manga Negima! is still being serialised in Weekly Shounen Magazine in Japan (as was Love Hina, not surprisingly). The translation of the manga into English has changed hands from company to company; Del Rey has published this series in the past, however the manga being sold in the UK are being translated by Tanoshimi.   Anime Even though the manga series is still ongoing, Negima!'s popularity was such that a full anime series ran in Japan in 2005. Interestingly enough, as some of Negima!'s content is a little mature, a second version of the story, Negima?! was released for younger viewers, together with its matching manga series, Negima?! neo. The series was recently licensed in the West.   Related web sites   If you are interested in Negima!, check these web sites out. http://www.shonenmagazine.com/works/negima [Japanese] Shounen Magazine's official site for the manga series http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/negima [Japanese] The official site for the anime series http://www.mahora-academy.net A good Negima! fan site http://cherimu.net/negima The AnimeFanlistings.org approved fanlisting for Negima!