Mahou Sensei Negima! is an ongoing manga series authored by Ken Akamatsu. After finishing Love Hina, a very successful harem comedy manga, he wanted to try his hand at something different. While Negima starts as the same genre as Love Hina, it evolves into a shounen action kind of story without losing the characteristics of a harem comedy. The result is a story which is able to mix those two genres smoothly and create something innovative. It can please both fans of harem comedy and fans of shounen action, yet also please those who aren’t fans of either of those two genres.

Negima started publication on 02/26/2003. As of today, it has 267 chapters and 27 bound volumes released.  It’s released weekly, but with a break week (a week with no chapter being released) between each 4 weeks with releases.

• The Story

The story starts with Negi Springfield, a 10 year old Welsh boy, graduating from his magic school. To continue their training to become a Magister Magi (something like a Master of Mages) each student receives a task after graduation. Negi receives the unreasonable task of being a teacher in Japan. That’s how he ends up being an English teacher for a girls’ middle school, and the homeroom teacher for Mahora Academy’s class 2-A: a second year class with thirty-one 14-year old girls.

Negi and the 2-A girls

Mahou Sensei Negima! starts with lighthearted themes:  a little slice of life, a little harem comedy, a lot of fanservice.  All three are on display as soon as he arrives at Mahora Academy.  He has a really bad start with Asuna, who happens to be not only his student, but also one of the two girls he will have to share a room with. Asuna, who already isn’t fond of children, gets an even worse impression of Negi through a succession of unfortunate events usually triggered by Negi’s naïve personality.  Things only get worse when she discovers he is a mage, something he is supposed to keep as a secret from all his students.

There are a few other students who, for their own reasons, don’t take kindly to Negi. And while most of the class likes him, they can’t take him seriously because of his personality, not to mention the fact that he’s younger than them.  Yet another problem arises as he arrives in the last trimester of the school year; he immediately needs to improve his class’ scores, by far the worst of all the second-year classes, on the end-of-year test if he wants to continue to be a teacher there – and he has to, in order to become a Magister Magi.

With lots of effort Negi is able to slowly gain the trust and respect of his students and conquer his hardships. The story dynamic starts to change when we learn Negi’s reason for wanting to become a Magister Magi:  he wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, Nagi Springfield aka The Thousand Master, famously touted as the strongest mage ever.  Nagi Springfield was supposed to have died a few months before the birth of his son, but in an encounter six years before the story, Negi met someone he still believes to be his father.

It’s in Negi’s search for clues about what happened to his father and his quest to become as strong as him that the story starts to take a different path. While fanservice and harem comedy stay present in the series, they take a bit of a back seat as the story starts to darken a little and shift its focus more toward powerful magic battles. For Negi to mature and reach his objectives he will need to learn that things such as good and evil, or right and wrong, aren’t absolute.  Negi will also learn that most of his students are far from normal as he discovers the relationship amongst them, the world of magic, and what happened with his father.

• The Characters

The main cast is sizable to start, with Negi and the 2-A students. In the beginning they may look similar, but as we are introduced to them and slowly learn more about their backgrounds we can see how unique each character is. The cast grows a lot with time as more and more important characters are added to the mix, but the manga is still able to keep most, if not all, of them interesting and each contributes at least a little to the main plot.

While Negi and Asuna are the central characters, many others take the spotlight during the course of the series. Some seem minor at the beginning but end up suddenly shining later; most get a decent amount of development during the series, which shapes them into becoming even more unique. Romance is also developed nicely, not only in relationships with the girls and Negi, but also between other characters.

• The Setting
  

Most of the story happens in Mahora Academy, a learning institution about the size of a small city with its own residential and shopping district.  It contains, amongst other things, elementary, middle and high schools, each divided by gender, and a university fully equipped with research facilities. It also features many clubs which have members from all grades.

A view of Mahora Academy

Mahora has many mysteries, like the Library Island, a giant library in the middle of a lake with many underground levels, and the majestic World Tree, which stands in a small hill in the middle of the campus.

Library Island and the World Tree

• Art

As the characters mature and the story changes its direction, the art evolves too. A panel in Negima tends to have many details spread through it, and to obtain that level of detail Ken Akamatsu uses CG for drawing many of the manga’s background elements.  Those details can be important, as Mahou Sensei Negima! has a lot of foreshadowing hidden in plain sight.

Negi as in the first chapter and in a later chapter

• Negima’s other media

Many adaptations and spin-offs based upon the Negima! manga have been created. I will give a short summary of each, concentrating on their relation to the manga. I asked Seishi to give a summary for one of the series as he knows more about it.

Mahou Sensei Negima! (Anime)

The first Negima! adaptation with a total of 26 episodes.  It faithfully adapts the first few volumes of the manga, although the art quality isn’t the best and the fanservice is downplayed.  The pace picks up for the last few episodes, cutting some important scenes out of the story, and the final arc is completely original.

Negima!? (Anime)

Summary done by Seishi:

First of all, we must establish the two things Negima!? is not.
1) An adaptation of the manga’s story
2) An actual coherent story of its own

Having said that, Negima!? stands out for its quirky but stylistic take on Ken Akamatsu’s popular manga. The first thing manga fans will notice is the noticable toning down of fanservice, something Akamatsu used quite liberally. In the beginning, the focus of the series goes straight to Evangeline and the problems she causes for Mahora Academy. The first batch of Negima!? episodes features a greater focus on action and pactio forming, the latter of which is very different from its manga counterpart. All wrapped up in this is Studio SHAFT’s (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Bakemonogatari, Hidamari Sketch) magic touch; director Akiyuki Shinbo manages to entertain his audience with his usual animation tricks.

As the series progresses, it manages to fully separate itself from the manga, which in turn alienates long-time Negima fans.  This is rather disappointing because Negima!? has elements that hardcore fans should be able to latch on to if they can look past the obvious adaptation decay.

Mahou Sensei Negima! Haru OVA and Natsu OVA

Two 1-episode OVAs loosely based on events from the manga. They don’t really fit in any of the timelines from the manga or either of the two animes, so they’re more fanservice for the fans. They were also animated by Shaft.

Negima!? Neo (manga)

A manga adaptation for the Shaft anime. The main plot of the anime is shortened; after it covers all of the anime, it becomes more of a slice of life. It’s like a middle term between the manga and the second anime.

Mahou Sensei Negima! Shiroki Tsubasa Ala Alba (OAD) / Mahou Sensei Negima! Mouhitotsu no Sekai (OAD)

These two Shaft-animated OAD series were supervised by Ken Akamatsu, so the art and story are fairly loyal to the original manga. The first series, Ala Alba, with 3 episodes and one drama CD, animates some of the later chapters of the manga and acts an introduction for the second OAD series. The second series is still ongoing with 1 of 4 episodes released. It follows the events from Ala Alba and will adapt the latest manga arc together with a movie.

Spoiler Rating: This is a Series Analysis, which attempts to analyze the series and present the author’s likes and dislikes of the series. On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being very high spoilers, the spoiler level is 5. Short episode summaries are presented for several episodes as well as thoughts about the ending. However, nothing in this post would be considered a major spoiler that would lower the enjoyment of the reader.

Summary and Personal Thoughts

When I first watched Sora no Manimani, it was really just an okay anime. At first, it was really cheesy. Two childhood friends meet in high school after being away for so long and now they will probably fall in love or something. I was seriously rolling my eyes at this point because I do not want another Love Hina, Tonagura!, Princess Lover, or Yotsunoha. It comes off as a bit shallow that is almost slapstick but not quite, since Mihoshi, the female lead, does tackle Saku, the male lead, whenever possible. But there were some good things. First of all, it was pretty funny and enjoyable. Secondly, Mihoshi is really cute.

But most importantly, the selling point of Sora no Manimani, was Mihoshi telling Saku that her dream is to show everyone the beauty of the night sky. Just in the first episode, we get a glimpse of Mihoshi’s character: She is hyper and fun, determinedly seeking out her childhood friend without caring about anything else. She cares about the memories of their past, becoming way more angry than I expected when Saku feigns amnesia, which is the last thing I would expect from her. And finally, she shows herself as not just some random girl who likes astronomy and wants to make trouble. She really loves it, and despite her ruining the astronomy club’s reputation by runnning around looking for Saku, she really wants it to be successful.

“Mii-chan’s always smiling. What exactly can I do for her right now?”

In epsisodes 2-5, we are treated to more romance cliche. Hime, someone who likes Saku, decides to randomly join the club just so she could get closer to him. Wow, amazing. But the key difference here is that Hime is not annoying like others of her type in romantic comedies, and Saku is definitely not perverted. We got to see more of the astronomy, which was absolutely stunning. I feel that, up until this point, the main selling point of the anime is comedy and “slice of life” in lack of a better term. The astronomy holds the story together, and it does so very well. Every activity or event is centered around astronomy somehow so that the comedy and fun are not random and have substance. Read the rest of this entry »

So we’re a few weeks into the Fall season now. Everyone bitched from the outset that there was nothing much interesting coming up, not to mention the overload of sequels. Me? I was pretty excited. Sure, there was nothing that stood out as on-the-edge-of-your-seat, I-am-staying-up-till-7am-to-watch-the-raws-god-damn-it (oh Umineko, how you abuse the fuck out of me again and again), but there was a small handfull of titles that appealed to me.

So now, dear readers, you get to experience my completely biased opinions on what few series I am bothering to keep up with this season! Hurray!

Sasameki Koto (Eps. 1-2)

I’ll get this one out of the road first, because as everyone on IRC should know by now, it’s the one I was–and am–gushing like a rabid fangirl about.

Sasameki Koto is yuri through and through, and it’s wonderful. The plot is simple: Sumika loves Ushio. Ushio loves cute girls. Sumika is not a cute girl. Sumika is, however, an awesome best friend, and consoles herself with by trying to make Ushio happy… even if it’s not together with her. Really, it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before. But the characterisation and Takashi Ikeda’s kinda quirky writing style really make it work for me.

It’s clear that everyone involved in this show knows the yuri tropes, but they work with them–and… well, at times they just walk right through them. They’ve picked a typical desaturated palette, with a frequent recurring sunset overlay. It’s nice to see the predominance of blacks and browns in the characters’ hair, too; this series doesn’t try to portray itself as anything amazing, just the type of drama you would expect in any average school, with any average people. That’s something I’ve found interesting about this series, really. Ushio comes right out and says she’s only interested in girls. Sumika never really questions that Ushio is female, or even her tastes in general. Sumika doesn’t even question why Akemiya-kun does what he does (you’ll see in episode 2.) All of it is just… accepted. There is, of course, drama from outside sources that find the lesbian tendencies disgusting, etc. But it’s all treated in a very… normal way. It’s nice to see that yuri drama that isn’t filled to the brim with OH NO ONEESAMA IS TALKING TO ANOTHER GIRL!!! Read the rest of this entry »

Spoiler Rating: This is a Series Analysis, which attempts to analyze the series and present the author’s likes and dislikes of the series. On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being very high spoilers, the spoiler level is 5. Short episode summaries are presented for several episodes as well as thoughts about the ending. However, nothing in this post would be considered a major spoiler that would lower the enjoyment of the reader.

Personal Thoughts

To me, Saki was something that was at first hilarious. All of the yuri hints, constant blushing, and Yuuki were all funny. There’s nothing wrong with laughing at an anime, right? Sure. It’s entertainment. The plot is actually pretty good to be honest. Saki, the main character who attends Kiyosumi High School, hates mahjong. So she joins the Kiyosumi mahjong club and shows her incredible ability of getting +/- 0 every round. Pretty soon, Nodoka convinced her to permanently join the mahjong club as Saki want to compete at nationals with her sister.

Saki is an amazingly enjoyable series, nothing more, nothing less. There is no depth to Saki nor does it need any. Every episode is pure win. It is a great mix of comedy and excitement, with some yuri hinted at now and then. The amazing thing about Saki is that it manages to make everything exciting, including episode 5, an onsen episode. When I read the title, “Training Camp,” I went, “Oh no this is going to be bad.” But it wasn’t, because it was filled with exciting mahjong, not to mention Yuuki being hyper and weird, which is always a plus. Needless to say, I couldn’t believe how much I was enjoying an onsen episode. It was from that moment that I knew I would enjoy Saki very much.

And then we got the tournament, which was amazing. The mahjong playing was so enjoyable; I was on the edge of my seat every episode. Not only that, but some of the players are really cute, such as Hajime, Yuuki, and Kana. Other players are very likable, such as Hisa, Touka, and Mihoko. In fact, I do not hate any characters in Saki. I like each of them in some way, and with no bad feelings towards anything of Saki pretty much, I can just sit back and enjoy the show. Read the rest of this entry »

Spoiler Rating: This is a Movie Analysis, which attempts to analyze the movie and present the author’s likes and dislikes of the movie. On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being very high spoilers, the spoiler level is 10. A summary of the entire movie will be presented at the beginning of the post, followed by analysis then personal opinion.

Background

My Neighbor Totoro is a lighthearted movie by Miyazaki Hayao of Studio Ghibli. It had a theatrical release in 1988 along with Grave of the Fireflies, probably to counteract the depressing mood of the latter. Comparing all of Miyazaki’s movies, My Neighbor Totoro is probably the most “Japanese,” since the setting is very similar to a Japanese setting, unlike other Miyazaki movies with European or Western settings. In terms of genre and style, it is most like Spirited Away because it focuses less on plot and more on fantasy and character portrayal. My Neighbor Totoro succeeds at exploring children’s highly imaginative minds through blurring the lines of fantasy and reality.

Summary

The movie starts with a father and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, driving through the countryside with their truck loaded. Because Satsuki and Mei’s mother is in the hospital, the family wants to move closer, which in this case is a decrepit house in the rural area. The girls are seen as very energetic and playful, running around the new house, which is very old and supposedly haunted, to explore the different rooms and possible animal inhabitants. They soon find little soot-covered dust bunnies that like dark places. According to stories, these soot sprites will leave once the family is settled in and is comfortable. And that is what happens.

While playing outside, Mei, the younger daughter, finds an intriguing creature walking in the grass and follows it. Soon, she finds herself crawling through the forest tunnels, finding another world that exists in the forest. Mei eventually comes to the center of the forest where she meets a large creature that she calls Totoro. When she tells the story to Satsuki and his father, they do not believe Mei. Satsuki tries to crawl through the tunnels like Mei did but just comes out of another hole. After a while, though, they both believe the tale, and her father thought that Mei met the keeper of the forest. Read the rest of this entry »

Spoiler Rating: This is a General Anime Post, which attempts to analyze certain aspects of anime, often over a wide range of anime. On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being very high spoilers, the spoiler level is ten. Major plot spoilers and/or ending events are revealed for Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, Chrono Crusade, and Kanon, although hidden in invisible text. You are welcome to read through the post, unveiling only the spoilers you want to see.

What is symbolism? In literature class, we may have learned that symbolism is the use of symbols to represent things such as ideas and emotions, or something along those lines. However, we may also remember perusing through a chapter of a novel or reading over a poem for the tenth time trying to find that hidden symbolism. Why is that? The definition of symbolism as we learn it refers to something more obscure, an object that indirectly connects different ideas that may not be obvious with a simple glance. But the question that we must ask ourselves is, how useful is this symbolism? If something is truly a symbolism, then why should it be cryptic and require literature analysis?

In anime, I look at symbolism in a completely different. To me, for something to be a symbolism, it has to tell a story behind it in a clear way. It does not have to be obvious at first that it is a symbolism, but it has to be memorable, something that can be used to jolt our memory, letting us recall the images and scenes that are associated with that object. Imagine that while not thinking of the anime, you stumble upon a certain object. Without warning, all of the memories of the anime you thought you have forgotten comes rushing back, and you realizes how powerful that symbolism really is. Because to be true symbolism, it needs to do more than represent ideas and emotions. It has to have the ability to store them, hold them in, and then release them fully and mercilessly.

Even though characters or pretty much anything can symbolize something, I have found that in anime, there are two categories that emcompass the most powerful symbolism: They are photographs and possessions. The first type of symbolism, through photographs, is the easier one to understand and spot prematurely, because even in real life, photographs hold lots of memories. Similarly to opening an album you haven’t touched in a long time, a photograph in anime can suddenly bring back past events, often more effectively than words. The first example will be a photograph from the series Kimi ga Nozomu Eien.

(Highlight the 3 paragraphs below to read Kimi ga Nozomu Eien spoilers.)

This photograph was taken near the end of episode 2, before Haruka’s accident. At that time, it was a reminder of their friendship, how they will come to each other’s side and comfort one another if one has a tough time. It was also significant because it was the first photo that the four friends took together. While supposed to be on a date with Haruka, Takayuki found Mitsuki depressed and decided to try talk to Mitsuki instead. At this time, while Mitsuki was harboring feelings for Takayuki, she had no desire to take him from Haruka. So in a sense, all four of them were truly friends with no bad intentions towards one another. The picture was an important portrayal of their current relationship up to that point. Read the rest of this entry »

Spoiler Rating: This is a Series Analysis, which attempts to analyze the series and present the author’s likes and dislikes of the series. On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being very high spoilers, the spoiler level is 6. Short episode summaries are presented for episodes 1-4, 5, 12, and 13, as well as thoughts about the ending. However, nothing in this post would be considered a major spoiler that would lower the enjoyment of the reader.

Ah, K-ON!, the show everyone was looking forward to watching. Before it aired, it had already gathered lovers and haters alike, and moreso after. K-ON! is a twelve-episode anime adaptation produced by Kyoto Animation, maybe the least prolific anime to receive such popularity. The title comes from the word けいおん, or keion, meaning light music. In this anime, light music refers to popular music, which resembles the J-pop songs played in anime opening and ending sequences. In other words, K-ON! is an anime that features a band playing J-pop; what could go wrong, right? Read the rest of this entry »

Where to start, just where to start with this epic brilliance brought to you by ufotable.

Plot Summery Taken shamelessly from Anime News Network

Mikiya Kokuto finds himself intrigued by two things. The first is by Shiki Ryougi a beautiful, yet rather unsociable, girl and the other is the strange series of violent deaths that start occuring in his town. As he attempts to get closer to Shiki, he soon learns that the two are connected and that there are many supernatural forces at work which could very likely get him killed as well.

Well let’s start at the begining and with the basics then, the story of this instalment of Kara no Kyoukai is what you would expect from Type-Moon, mysterious and complex. Akiha Azaka the mysterious imouto of Kokuto Mikiya takes a central roll in this installment as such the feel is differnt but welcome. Azaka is a cheerful good girl with an onii-chan complex. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re not very appreciative of Saki then don’t worry, we talk about other things too. Not just Pokemon either.
And fuck yes to my awesomely cliché post title. You know you like it.

The title screen might be the only thing I don't like so far.

We’re a few weeks into the Summer 2009 anime season and while there have been many promising series ( CANAAN, Umineko, Bakemonogatari ), the one I feel that stands out unexpectedly is none other than stargazing anime Sora no Manimani (SnM). Yes, it’s an anime about a group of high schoolers staring at the sky. I’m sure half of you are about to blow it off right now.

SnM has many qualities that simply elevate it from what would normally be a common, school club anime to a series that has so far been extremely enjoyable. It doesn’t quite tread on the moe path that many similar types of anime ( K-ON! ) seem to take and for me, that alone already sets it above the bar.* Granted, the show isn’t without its “oh-god-she’s-so-cute-I-think-I-just-came” moments but as the focus doesn’t entirely lie there, it’s a fresh and invigorating experience. Read the rest of this entry »

So…Pokemon. Chances are, we have all watched and enjoyed Pokemon some time in our past. I was lucky enough to start watching Pokemon from its very beginning, when it was first aired and Ash got his first Pokemon. The show was basically the hype of the school and among my friends. It became so distracting that Gameboys were banned from school, and Pokemon Trading Cards quickly followed suit. Many people remember vividly some memorable hype when they grew up, such as The Beatles, Vietnam War protests, or the iPod. For me, someone who grew up ignorant of Dragon Ball or Sailor Moon, this hype was Pokemon. I never got as far as keeping rare Pokemon cards worth thousands of dollars, but I got bought of the games, books, and became very obsessed. Now that it is ten years later, what has become of my obsession?

Just like yo-yo’s and the SNES, Pokemon went out of popularity while we move on to bigger and better things. I don’t quite remember when I stopped watching the shows, but like many fans, I still play the games. However, my competitive battling skills stopped during the third generation because there were simply too many Pokemon to remember, too many more skills to keep track of, and too many more abilities, natures, and other additions to learn. I changed my approach to playing Pokemon games not to be “the very best” but rather just to have fun, like I would for any other game. But in some ways, I was glad to see Pokemon retaining is popularity in games. Pokemon still dominates handheld systems, getting top ranks at GameFAQs.com for Nintendo Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS at the time of this post. In fact, I have seen Pokemon dominate 7 spots in the top 10 list, boasting over games such as Zelda and Final Fantasy.

To me, Pokemon is just something I can’t let go off, at least not yet. Eventually, I decided to pick up the show where I last stopped. It was interesting going through episode summaries to determine the exact episode where I stopped, but I finally found it, an episode in Season 6, the start of the Hoenn journey. This was the second series, the Advanced Generation, and the start of Ash’s journey with May. (It should be noted that no one fansubs Pokemon, so I am following the dubbed version.) Interestingly, I found that watching Pokemon again is very exciting. I ended up marathoning season through season of Pokemon during a time when marathoning anime was very difficult and boring to me. It seems as if I found some new, exciting anime that I really love.

There were many factors that made continuing Pokemon so fascinating. The first was that I am emotionally attached to the series and its hype, so I could recall the first five seasons…very well. The second factor is a very important factor, which made me glad that I continued from Season 6. In the Hoenn region, there is a new addition to Ash’s repetitive gym battles, and that is Pokemon Contests. Suddenly, Pokemon becomes some new anime that is very refreshing and thrilling. Watching May perform as a Pokemon Coordinator was very exciting while watching Ash’s gym battles was very nostalgic. The mix between the old and the new was excellent, but that’s not all. It seems to me that some hints of romance were added in this season, mostly centered around May. This makes the anime that much more interesting, and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Seasons 6-8.

Aside from being new and exciting, the Advanced Generation produced some excellent stand-alone episodes that I would like to bring into attention. First is Episode 386: Do I Hear A Ralts? I loved this episode because it was very emotional in a way, derailing from the usual gym battles/contests and focusing on Pokemon-human relationships. Also, Max was, for quite a while, useless and annoying, and this episode gave me a much better opinion of him. The episode starts with Max finding an injured Ralts, which he then convinces to let him help. Max brings Ralts back to the group and let it join in for lunch while Max takes care of Ralts. Because of his age, Max cannot yet be a trainer so this is one of his first times he could interact with a Pokemon like it was his own.

As usual, Team Rocket comes and attempts to steal Ash and company’s Pokemon. Now, typically, they would fail horribly and blast off. But not this time! Actually, the battle was really good, almost on par with the average gym battle as far as excitement goes. I mean, Wobbuffett actually uses Mirror Coat and Seviper strategically uses Haze. All in all, it was an unexpectedly damn good battle. During the battle, Max discovers that Ralts was still sick and hid behind a tree. The group decides that Max should run to the Pokemon Center, taking Ash’s Snorunt with him, while everyone is still battling. Read the rest of this entry »