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Negima Vol 1: Negima! Magister Negi Megi/Magic 101: The Basics Of Magic
01/03/2007 . Source: Phil Jones 
region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films Ltd. 1 DVD 130 minutes 6 episodes plus extras. Price: £15.99 (UK) Buy Negima Vol 1 in the USA - or Buy Negima Vol 1 in the UK  check out website: www.revfilms.com www.revfilms.com and www.negima.tv www.negima.tv
Negima! is an anime series based on the Manga series by Ken Akamatsu, probably better known for 'Love Hina'. Both series contain fanservice/ecchi content, but the anime series of 'Negima' is toned down to a PG compared to the manga. There's still plenty of titillation and 'Easter egg' scenes which do little to aid the overall plot but provide some humour to the series. So, basically we have a harem romantic comedy.
The general story of this series revolves around a ten year-old wizard from Wales known as Negi Springfield. He strives to become a Magister Magorum. After graduating from Merdiana Magic Academy in Wales, he is sent to Japan to complete his training. He is given a class of 8th grade girls to which he is given the task of teaching English and become an English lit. professor.
Each of the 31 girls is special in her own way. You see all the usual anime characters in these students. The shy girl who doesn't like men or boys, the bombastic but intellectually challenged girl, martial arts specialist, vampire and I suspect one girl is a ghost from the way she looks, just to name a few. I think it's this large supporting cast that provides the interest to the series. Plenty of differing characters to be going on with.
Negi's not supposed to use his magic or let any of the girls know he's a wizard but, of course, various events occur and the girls start to either find out or suspect. Due to Negi's age, he is relatively non-threatening and the class as a whole find it hard to take him completely seriously. So, at first glance, the premise just seems to be fairly contrived and an all too familiar vehicle to produce the desired scenes.
OK, so we've gotten plot holes and clichés a plenty. Scantily-clad females, breast shots and panties to behold. It's probably not too good to think about the main character being ten and surrounded by fourteen year-old girls talking about love and the like. Hold on, though, as it does have a certain charm. I think of many things can be forgiven as a cultural and genre specific. Hey, you got panty shots in all sorts of anime and manga. A lot of the other sexual jokes will be familiar to anyone who's watch anime before as well.
Volume One consists of 6 episodes and extras. These consist of a guide to Japanese schools and text free intro and outro titles. In the first episode we see the first of many embracing situations Negi involving underwear and Asuna. Negi is introduced to the class by Professor Takahata, who was their previous home teacher. We get introduced to a few of the girls. Asuna Kagubazka features heavily and the end of the episode we find Negi rescuing Nodoka Mijazaki. She has an aversion to interacting with men, when she falls down some steps Negi uses his magic to break her fall but Asuna sees everything and this leads on to episode two.
Asuna confronts Negi and finds out he's a wizard. Negi feeling he has to take action tries a spell to erase her memory, but it all goes wrong and Asuna is embarrassed yet again as Prof Takahata arrives on the scene. Asuna shows Negi around the school and finds out a bit more about how he became a teacher at the school. Negi finds out that Asuna has a crush on Prof Takahata. Negi gets roped into trying to find out how the professor feels about Asuna at the party that has been organised by the fellow students for Negi. Of course, things don't go to plan. At the party, we're introduced to a few more of the girls.
Episode three sees Asuna Dreaming about Prof Takahata which again leads to another embarrassing situation. With class, there's some bitchiness between the girls and Asuna is shown up to be a bit of a dunce. Negi steps into to defuse the situation and yet again embassies Asuna.
Negi tries to make up for everything by making a love potion. We find a bit more about Negi's past from a conversation with Asuna and Professor Takahata. She feels a bit more sympathetic towards Negi but when she's presented with the love potion, she reacts badly and forces him to drink it. Most of the class, except Asuna, fall for him and things go a bit pear-shaped for Negi as they chase after him. He is found by Nodoka who helps him hide in the library but she, too, starts to fall for him.
Episode four and Asuna bumps into Negi on her early morning delivery job. Negi is flying and offers Asuna to go flying with him as it's early and no one will see. Unfortunately, they crash. We meet a few more of the classes girls when they do a test. Asuna has problems with the test and runs off with Negi in pursuit. We find out about Negi's father who has gone missing. Asuna ends up giving Negi a bath as he hasn't washed in a while. They are interrupted by the rest of the dorm girls arrive at the communal baths and they have to hide. It's not long though until Negi embarrasses Asuna in front of the class again. Are you starting to detect a theme here?
Episode five and Nodoka is rescued again from a fall when she carrying her textbooks. Negi gets a magical letter from his sister, spreading a rumour that he came to Japan to find his one true love. He gets hassled by the girls in the baths as the tease him about him finding a partner. Cue lots of innuendo jokes. Negi takes in an ermine as a pet and it turns out he talks and knows the teacher. The ermine has been sent by his sister to help find a partner. We get to discover that wizards need a partner.
Episode Six there is the threat of a vampire as a girl is attacked and Negi senses some else in the school uses magic. Yukihiro offers to protect Negi from the vampire while the girls discuss the vampire threat in class. Most of the class follows suit. Negi realizes he's the only one who can protect his class from magic and Asuna starts to come round to Negi seeing him less as a burden. Negi finally confronts the vampire and cue action sequence. We find out why a partner is so essential.
Overall, these six episodes are really just introduction to the series. I've got a feeling it's going to be well into the series before we meet the whole class in any depth. There's not a huge amount of plot with each episode only being twenty or so minutes long it's going to take a while to get going. You're only given a small snippet of Negi's past life in each episode along with a small insight to some of the girls. Its slow development could put some people off as could Asuna's headstrong nature.
These first episodes feature Asuna quite heavily and it may grate on some peoples nerves. The animation isn't the best I've seen. This is especially noticeable in the action sequence in episode six but the English voice acting is very good. You can easily distinguish the different characters. You don't have to resort to the Japanese soundtrack and subtitles like some anime out there. For the purist's, there have been quite a few deviations from the original Japanese script with the English dubbing. Not sure whether it was done for matters of taste or just to appeal more to a western audience, but if you're a purist, stick to the sub-titles.
As I side point, I quite enjoy the title music. It's light-hearted, fun and typical J-pop. Not sure about the scantily-clad swimsuit sequence, though. The music itself is OK and functional. I read that the anime doesn't quite match the manga series and fans maybe a bit disappointed if they've already read the manga or expecting another 'Love Hina'. In that case, it may be better to wait for the second series which is produced by a different animation company and is basically a re-telling of the story from scratch. There are some really funny moments and despite its failings, is still quite enjoyable in a light-hearted way.
Phil Jones
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