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Negima!Reviewed by Tuan Vo
"Ten-year-old prodigy Negi Springfield has just graduated from magic academy. He dreams of becoming a master wizard. Instead he's sent to Japan to teach English… at an all-girl high school! All the students are delighted with their cute new teacher – except for Asuna, who resents Negi for replacing the teacher she secretly has a crush on. Although he is forbidden to display his magical powers, sometimes Negi can't resist. And when Asuna discovers Negi's secret, she vows to make his life as difficult as possible – just the thing to prepare Negi for the challenges of life as a master wizard!" --From the back cover of Negima! Volume 1 Ken Akamatsu's most recent work, Negima! is good, but does not represent his best. With the same concept as Love Hina! where you take one guy and throw him into a houseful of women, instead you throw him into an all-girls academy. Though the storyline does hold its appeal, I believe readers will get more of a kick of the artwork. Readers will also be happy to know Del Rey, who bought the rights to Negima!, has opted to not alter any images of the manga, but instead to just shrink wrap it and slap on a sticker saying, "For Mature Audiences Ages 16+". Also, the manga has added bonuses like concept art, translation notes, and a preview to the next volume. From what I have read, the storyline is a crossover between Harry Potter and Love Hina! I say this because the main character, Negi Springfield, is a wizard who just graduated from his magic school and is now teaching English to a 8th grade class at an all-girls academy. He has to keep his magical background a secret, which doesn't work out because he is caught by Asuna Kagurazaka, one of his students. So now, not only does Negi have to worry about teaching at an all-girls academy but also have to worry about Asuna, who has it in for him, since he replaced the teacher she had a crush on. Like previous works done by Ken Akamatsu like Love Hina! and A.I. Love You, the artwork in Negima! is nicely done. The expressions of the characters are hilarious and their reactions to certain things are comical. The only drawback I can see in this manga is some of the characters look very similar to old characters from Akamatsu's previous work. Then again, you have to give the guy credit since he is creating manga with over 31 characters in it. I must give Del Rey credit for the translation of the manga. Not only did they keep the honorifics of the names but the translation of the dialogue is nicely done. Also, conversations between characters seem to flow really nicely. Overall, I must say that I am impressed by the adaptation of Del Rey. Not only did they not alter any drawing from the original manga, but the translation is done very well while keeping the honorifics and many Japanese aspects in the manga. I am anxiously waiting for the next volume of Negima! to come out. |
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Author: Ken Akamatsu