Negima! Magister Negi Magi Recommended

Publisher
Del Rey/Tanoshimi
Writer
Ken Akamatsu
Artist
Ken Akamatsu
Country of origin
Japan
Year
2004

Negima! Magister Negi Magi V. 1

By David Rasmussen
26th Feb 06

Ken Akamatsu. You either love him, hate him, or formed internet lynchmobs of ignorant parent groups and censorship lovers who consider him the anti-Schultz (or something worse). But as it stands so far I’ve only reviewed one thing of his to date that I actually loved, that being his AI Love You series (and that only being of Volume 1 so far) and nothing else. So then… why review another book now?
Could I have changed my mind? Have I come to pay my respects to Mr. Akamatsu and his works?
Or am I just warming you up for my adult hentai reviews next month with a slice of softcore with several scenes of women naked or their clothes flying off or panty shots… I guess it’s the latter.
However I guess it’s not so bad since it’s not that often, not that explicit (no “Hot Coffee”) and there is an actual story here to go with the occasional near nude shots and outrageous situations that put our boy Negi into some hot and strange situations with one female in particular being the focus of his troubles (and adventures). Still it’s for the best that you find the story yourself, especially since it’s abit to go through here. But in short… Negi Springfield just jumped from the mystical fire into the hot potential for hentai volcano as he has just graduated from magic academy and finds himself needing to find “work” so he can secretly train to become a master wizard (why he wants to be a master wizard is tied into his staff that he carries, and the story of how he got it in the first place), which lands him as a English teacher in an all girls high school (and Miss Yukari he is not)!

Instead of landing a class of quirky personalities that makes him the center of the next Azumanga Daioh Seinfeld of Japanese Anime/Manga comedic masterpiece he finds himself the target of one particular girl (Asuna) who resents him for taking the love of her life (who is way too old for her) away by taking his place as teacher… so how come they end up being paired up more often as an odd couple duet throughout this book if she hates him so? Seems she learns early on about his power (as if his ability to become flustered and sneeze away women’s clothes wasn’t hint enough that he has Harry Potter blood) and somehow he makes it his duty to help her even if it kills him… or gets him into naughty, painful, naughty… you know.
High cast of female students, yes, but don’t expect any stand out personalities unless they’re rethread of Ken Akamatsu girls you might have seen in the past. Otherwise the classroom hijinks won’t become the next Azumanga Daioh, but it will titillate you which is why it has a OT for Older Teen rating (16+).
The breakdown should say the rest there is to say about this first read.

Negima Breakdown the 1st
What’s Hot?
Let’s see… do I say the obvious or do I say… OK, let’s be obvious.
It’s a title filled with more women who have the potential to be barely clothed than all the women found in the recent Lingerie Bowl III on Pay-Per-View -- ok, not really! It does have it’s moments but it also has lots of non booty bearing antics as well so it’s well balanced. Anyway fan service never hurt anyone so why complain about it, especially since I think that is what you are coming here for, isn’t it!
I guess your also here for the titular storytelling as Ken Akamatsu finds new ways to titillate you as he writes the strangest things, and the strangest situations, with women who end up being the nearly naked things (but only occasionally). I have no complaint about it though… because it shoots midlevel and hits something.

What’s Not?
If, however, you are looking for the next CLAMP, Kiyohiko Azuma or Shirow Masamune you won’t find it here. There are many devotees to the works of Ken Akamatsu but Ken Akamatsu just isn’t my idea of the greatest creator out there. There are better series, though I guess if you’re looking for softcore titillation in your read then you can’t do better than Ken Akamatsu… I know, I know, what kind of compliment is THAT… yeah, by the way it is a compliment, believe it or not.

Moments to Remember?
Guess!

What to Ignore?
Hmm… better hurry to Volume 2 review-wise so I can complain about the older woman/Negi nude hugging scene that I heard about in that one…

Overall?
I don’t know if I should be calling him the “Master of Titillation” since I’m sure there is better… and I don’t want to start riots amongst the devoted of Ken Akamatsu’s best works… so how do I describe Ken Akamatsu in closing… hmm… let me count the ways that won’t get me in trouble…
Ok, truth be told I’m not bashing him, I have no real gripe about him and I might learn to like this with a few more readings. There is (after all) merit to this read, and not just the women falling out of their clothes. It has abit of an acidic wit to it and it’s humor rolls with the punches and can hit you anyway possible.
I guess that means I should go buy more of these and review more… right? Right. I’ll get to it.
So until next time we return to the land of Akamatsu… take care, and keep reading.

-- David Rasmussen 26th Feb 06