Negima
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Negima: Magister Negi Magi (魔法先生ネギま! Mahō Sensei Negima) is a manga and anime series by Ken Akamatsu. It is also the name of a video game released by Konami based on the same series, which was released on 20 January 2005.
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Overview
A 10-year old Welsh wizard from the United Kingdom, Negi Springfield, gets sent to Japan to be an English teacher. The series details his time in Japan, including getting acceptance and respect from his class of 31 older female pupils. The main relationship he develops comes from one student, Asuna Kagurazaka, (who is very much like Love Hina's Naru Narusegawa) who nearly hates him from the start. On the contrary, Negi is quite unlike the male lead of Love Hina, in that he is younger, generally more capable, and usually treated with sympathy. Negi puts in a lot of good will, and even though most of the girls are very friendly with him, they see him more as a cute little boy to have fun with instead of a respectful instructor or mentor.
Negi helps some of the poorest students, putting them on a special studying team called "Baka Rangers" (a spoof of the Power Rangers and the word baka, which means idiot in Japanese).
As is becoming a feature of Ken Akamatsu's manga, fanservice is common, the premise in this case being Negi's Disarming spell (Flans Exarmatio [Latin: "Blowing Disarmament"]) supposedly going out of control. For example, when Negi sneezes on a train, all the skirts of the girls on the train suddenly fly up, revealing their panties in the process.
This title was also involved in a controversy surrounding the censorship of the English-translated manga in North America, due to some sexual terms which were used in the Japanese version. For instance, Asuna at some point sarcastically calls Ayaka a shota-con. The publisher, Del Rey Manga, was also initially going to alter the art in several panels of each volume to tone down the images. However, the community, upon receiving news of this, immediately began fighting against the changes. The end result was Del Rey's decision to release the book uncensored, but sealed in shrinkwrap to prevent prying eyes. This in turn caused miscontent among manga collectors, as the shrink-wrapping sometimes causes damage to the manga novel.
Magister Negi Magi is also published by Chuang Yi in Singapore, Play Press Publishing in Italy and Pika Edition in France.
Characters
The Class of 3A (formerly 2A)
Teacher
Negi Springfield, is the teacher of Class 3A (formerly 2A) of Mahora Academy Middle School.
Students
There are 31 pupils in Negi's class. They are all girls, whom Akamatsu intended to be attractive each in their own way with their own distinctive personalities. Some, in fact, are not even human.
Student Number 1: Sayo Aisaka, the hapless and meek yurei. More often frightened than frightening, Sayo haunts seat #1. She is invisible to virtually everyone and her presence goes unnoticed until Negi absentmindedly counts her during a class vote.
Student Number 2: Yuuna Akashi, an athletic girl who plays basketball and is a friend of Makie Sasaki, Ako Izumi and Akira Ookouchi who are also in the school sports clubs. She loves her father who happens to be a professor. It is unclear if this professor works at the Mahora Academy.
Student Number 3: Kazumi Asakura, the resident class reporter always with a camera on hand. She likes to get the inside scoop on everything that goes on. She is also one of the few girls in the class to know of Negi's secret, which she found out while investigating who had proclaimed their love to Negi. She is currently staying silent about it, and is occasionally seen plotting with Chamo. An additional feature of Kazumi that is perhaps often mentioned by male readers is with regards to her breasts: Kazumi purportedly sports the fourth largest set of breasts in the class.
Student Number 4: Yue Ayase, the cool slacker. Despite being talented, she hates studying and keeps being amongst those who have the lowest grades in the class. She is a member of the "Baka Rangers", the nickname for the five lowest scorers in Negi's class (she is the "Black Ranger"), and is a member of the Library Exploration Group, often hanging around with Haruna and Nodoka. She is a strong supporter of Nodoka, and encourages her to develop a relationship with Negi. She is also one of the few girls in the class to know of Negi's secret, which she found out all by herself by figuring out the clues and strange incidents since Negi's arrival. In fact, she was the one who called Kaede, Ku Fei and Mana for help when the Kansai Magic Association headquarters was attacked by the people who kidnapped Konoka at Kyoto. She is sometimes seen drinking tomato milk. Some passages in the Del Rey translation imply that she may also be Konoka's cousin.
Student Number 5: Ako Izumi, a shy athletic girl who works as a school nurse's assistant. She has a scar over the back of her waist and is a friend of Makie Sasaki, Akira Ookouchi and Yuuna Akashi who are also in the school sports clubs. She is also the coach of the boy's soccer club.
Student Number 6: Akira Ookouchi, a very athletic and shy swimmer in the swimming club. She is a friend of Makie Sasaki, Ako Izumi & Yuuna Akashi who are also in the school sports clubs. She resembles Motoko Aoyama of Love Hina.
Student Number 7: Misa Kakizaki is one of the three & the leader of the cheerleaders in the class. She is a friend of Madoka and Sakurako. She also loves to go shopping every week and hates carbonated drinks.
Student Number 8: Asuna Kagurazaka, the irascible dunce and leading female character, and bearing many similarities to Naru Narusegawa. She is also often in conflict with people. Asuna has a crush on her former English teacher, Mr. Takahata, whom Negi replaces. Asuna is in fact an orphan, who was allowed into the school for free by the school dean, yet Asuna still tries to pay for her schooling via a paper route. Much to her chagrin, she is a member of the "Baka Rangers", the nickname for the five lowest scorers in Negi's class. She is the "Red Ranger". She has Heterochromia iridis and as such, her eyes are blue and green. This is considerably more noticeable in the anime, as while in the anime the two eyes are of quite different colors, they are quite similar to each other in the manga version. Asuna is the first to find out about Negi's secret when she saw him saving Nodoka from falling down the stairs. Negi and Asuna had a very shaky relationship from the start but later improved, with Negi being like a little brother to her and Asuna being like a big sister/guardian to him; their relationship seems to, very occasionally, show hints at eventually developing into a less platonic one. Asuna is the first person that Negi made a probationary contract with. Her artifact was supposed to be a giant sword, but turned out to be a giant fan instead; she nevertheless wields it with gusto and effectiveness. However, the sword first appear when Asuna was worried and tried to save Negi from the sharks in chapter 61, which means that emotions play a role to her summoning the sword. She has immunity to most magic against her such as love potions or petrification spells. Asuna may have met the Thousand Master as a child before which may explain her strong magic immunity.
Student Number 9: Misora Kasuga, a tomboy in the track & field club. She sometimes wears a nun's habit.
Student Number 10: Chachamaru Karakuri, a robot (created by Hakase and powered by Evangeline), though only a select few actually seem to have noticed (even though her metal robotic parts stick out very clearly, such as her rabbit-ear-like antennas and mechanical head screw). To date, only Evangeline, Chamo, Chisame, Chao and Satomi have been able to identify her without having it pointed out to them. She also stands out as being about the only friend Evangeline A. K. McDowell has in the class. In fact, the two are so close that Chachamaru takes care of Evangeline whenever she gets sick. This is not simple friendship, as she has been designed by Eva as a specific magic partner. Chachamaru behaves cold and emotionless most of the time (as she is an android), though she spends most of her free time, of her own will, taking care of people and animals (she is looking after a pack of stray cats). She is also in the Go and tea ceremony clubs, but only because Eva is in those clubs too.
Student Number 11: Madoka Kugimiya, the serious one of the three cheerleaders in the class. She is one making sure that the other cheerleaders (especially Sakurako) don't get into any trouble. She likes Gyuudon Noodles, Silver accessories and is a fan of Avril Lavigne but hates playboys, and is mildly obsessed with her husky voice. She does resemble Motoko Aoyama of Love Hina with short hair.
Student Number 12: Ku Fei, the energetic and joyful kung-fu fighting Chinese girl. She is much like Love Hina's Kaolla Suu (though less childish). She's a member of the "Baka Rangers", of which she is the "Yellow Ranger". She says that she can't concentrate much on her studies as she "takes most of her time" to study Japanese language. She hates being used as test subjects for Chao's and Satomi's inventions. She is also one of the few girls in the class to know of Negi's secret when she, Mana and Kaede helped Negi, Asuna and Setsuna rescued Konoka at Kyoto.
Student Number 13: Konoka Konoe, a gentle and caring girl who lives with Asuna and Negi. If anything, she's the mediator within Asuna's and Konoka's dorm room, being both Asuna's best friend and Negi's biggest supporter. She is also the school dean granddaughter. A fan of fortune telling, she has much magical potential, having come from a family of powerful mages. Her father is the chief of the Kansai Magic Association, who married her mother, the school dean daughter, in an arranged marriage in order to ease tension between the Kansai and Kantou (where Mahora Acedemy is located and the dean lives) Magic Associations. (This is because Kantou mages use western type magic from Europe, and this angered Kansai mages who use eastern type magic from East Asia, because they see Kantou mages forgetting traditions and being more western). She is the fourth person that Negi made a probationary contract with and has the magical ability to heal wounds. She has strong affection for Setsuna, and this often makes their friendship seem more akin to a romantic relationship (it sometimes seems that the friendship, indeed, has that potential). Known to many fans, Konoka resembles the look of Tomoyo Daidouji from Cardcaptor Sakura.
Student Number 14: Haruna Saotome, the local rumor-monger and a frequent companion of Yue Ayase and Nodoka Miyazaki. If there's a rumor going around in the class, she's almost always at the root of it all. Also, as a member of the Library Exploration Club, she seems to have made it her mission to get Nodoka together with Negi - whether Nodoka wants her help or not.
Student Number 15: Setsuna Sakurazaki, a kendo expert trained in the Kyoto Shinmei (God's Cry) Style. Originally from Kyoto, she is a childhood friend of Konoka and often acts as her protector. At times, her devotion to Konoka and Konoka's open affection towards her is suggestive of a more romantic relationship (and the friendship, indeed, seems to have that potential). However, she rarely communicates with Konoka, as she believes that she should be her "protector from the shadows" so to speak. But the truth is she is has angel wings since she is half human, half bird, fearing that Konoka and everyone else would hate her. But Negi, Asuna and Konoka, who were the first to find out, still became her friends even after finding out who she was. The only people who know about her secret is Asuna, Konoka, Eva, Chachamaru and Negi who all agreed to keep it a secret. After the Kyoto incident, she has become more open, even being with Konoka. Occasionally goes on exorcisms with Mana Tatsumiya. She is the third person that Negi made a probationary contract with. Interesting note: the kendo style that Setsuna use is the same style used by Motoko Aoyama of Love Hina. This has led fans to believe their might be a possible cross over between the series since both are created by the same author, Ken Akamatsu. And she was the first girl to beat Makie Sasaki of her number 1 postion in the readership polls.
Student Number 16: Makie Sasaki, the delicate and feminine rhythmic gymnast. She has a strong liking to Negi and is friends with Yuuna Akashi, Ako Izumi & Akira Ookouchi who are also in sports clubs. She's a member of the "Baka Rangers", the nickname for the five lowest scorers in Negi's class, standing out as the second lowest scorer (only Asuna does worse than her). She is the "Pink Ranger". In several readership polls, she has been consistently been voted number 1 & being the most popular girl in Class 3-A.
Student Number 17: Sakurako Shina, the most cheerful one of the three cheerleaders in the class. She also has high liking to Negi. Together with the Narutaki twins, the three look like hyperactive kids. She loves to karaoke and her pet cats, Cookie and Biscuit but she hates black stuff that appears in the kitchen especially what the cats bring in. She is also in the Lacrosse club.
Student Number 18: Mana Tatsumiya, the mercenary miko. She works part time at a shrine within the academy as a priestess & employs guns with spellbreaker bullets as her tool of exorcism. She is also one of the few girls in the class to know of Negi's secret, when she, Fei Ku, & Kaede help Negi, Asuna & Setsuna rescue Konoka at Kyoto. She is also in the Biathlon club as her crush, the Biathlon captain is in the club. Another note: Mana is 1 of the 5 girls in the class who have big breasts & the 2nd largest breasts in class.
Student Number 19: Chao Lingshen, the top student of the entire year group. A Chinese girl, she is in a lot of clubs and is particularly into cooking. She is best friends with Satomi Hakase & both enjoy using Satomi’s inventions on Ku Fei.
Student Number 20: Kaede Nagase, the gentle and calm yet strong and tall girl. She resembles Mitsune Konno from Love Hina. In her free time, she goes ninja-training in the mountains, using real ninja weaponry and even having true "magical" ninja powers (such as the art of the doppelganger). She is a member of the "Baka Rangers", the nickname for the five lowest scorers in Negi's class. She is the "Blue Ranger". Kaede is one of the rare girls who know Negi's secret (though he doesn't know at first, as she noticed it secretly) & helped Negi, Asuna & Setsuna rescue Konoka at Kyoto with Mana & Ku Fei. Another note: Kaede is 1 of the 5 girls in the class who have big breasts & has the 3rd largest breasts in class.
Student Number 21: Chizuru Naba is a gentle and loving, yet strange, girl. She resemble Mutsumi Otohime from Love Hina & even acts like her. She is a kind person to everyone, volunteers at the daycare in Mahora City & is in the Astronomy club. Acording to Natsumi Murakami, even though she's nice she can be sometimes be scary. She is also roommates with Ayaka Yukihiro & Natsumi Murakami. Another note: Chizuru is 1 of the 5 girls in the class who have big breasts & has the largest breasts in the class.
Student Number 22: Fuka Narutaki, the elder of the Narutaki twins. She's the class prankster, and always seems to be looking for some way to get into trouble. More often than not, she winds up getting Fumika to help her out as well. Together with her sister & Sakurako the 3 look like hyperactive kids.
Student Number 23: Fumika Narutaki, the younger of the Narutaki twins. Truth be told, she's almost the complete opposite of Fuka. Her hobby is cleaning, and more often than not winds up going along with Fuka's pranks, trying to tell her sister that it's a bad idea the entire way. Together with her sister & Sakurako the 3 look like hyperactive kids.
Student Number 24: Satomi Hakase, the robotics expert. She is best friends with Chao Lingshen, and created Chachamaru with her help. She & Chao enjoy using her inventions on Ku Fei. She is also a member in the Robotics & Jet propulsion society of Mahora university.
Student Number 25: Chisame Hasegawa, the grumpy computer geek, with a double life. She is serious in public, however in private she dresses via cosplay fashion and takes glamorous and sexy pictures of herself that are posted to a website. In the manga, she is the most popular of the internet idols. She particularly dislikes Chachamaru Rakuso, Mana Tatsumiya, the Narutaki twins, Ku Fei, Lingshen Chao, Evangeline, Kaede Nagase, Zazie Rainyday and Negi, considering them to be crazy (as they are quite eccentric-looking). Actually, she is afraid of being crazy herself because of her hobby, but denies it herself. She does look like Love Hina’s Naru Narusegawa with her glasses on. The only person who knows about her double life is Negi. Unfortunely, not only did he found out about her secret, he even accidently embarrasses her to the entire class no thanks to his magic (he sneeze at her which blow all of her clothes off in chapter 12) & she vows one day to get her revenge for what he did.
Student Number 26: Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell (a.k.a. Eva), the only Western/Caucasian girl in the class. A cold and devilish small girl, she is actually a criminal witch/vampire nicknamed the "Dark Evangel" and a thousand other names... or so she would have a person believe. She may looklike about 10 but she’s really over a hundred years old! She rarely ever says much in class, but what she does say tends to lean towards an attempt to seem as evil as possible. However, she DOES have a soft side, which she rarely shows. The only people who can truly say much about Evangeline would be Chachamaru & Chacha Zero. She enjoy playing Go & is in the Go & Tea Ceremony club. As an interesting note, Mr. Takahata wrote "Ask her advice if you're in trouble" on Negi's class roster. (See Note on Evangeline in Translation Notes) Eva ostensibly hates Negi, although it is due to the fact that his father rejected (indirectly) her love & 15 years ago, he put a powerful curse that seal her magic powers & prevented her from leaving Mahora Academy as punishment for being evil. However she was able to leave the academy once when she & Chachamaru help Negi, Asuna & Setsuna rescue Konoka at Kyoto thanks to the dean who was able to find way to trick the powers that prevented Eva from leaving the academy. Another way for her to leave, is if the entire electricity power at Mahora Academy is shutdown since this power is powering the curse that’s been sealing her magic & preventing her to leave. The only way for her to end the curse is if somebody who is powerful like (Negi father) to lift the curse or she has to completely drink Negi blood (which contain very powerful magic which was passed down from his father) inorder to be free from the curse. Given that the identity of Negi's mother is unknown, and given Eva's past with Negi's father, there is a possibility (albeit a very, very remote one) that Eva might be Negi's mother but it is unlikely since Eva was curse 15 years ago & Negi was born 10 years ago.
Student Number 27: Nodoka Miyazaki, the shy book maniac. A member of the Library Exploration Group, and helps in the book store, she spends so much time in the library that people outside the Library Exploration Group refer to her as "Bookshelf girl", "Library Girl", "Book Store girl", etc. (the Del Rey translation often gives it as "Librarian-chan"). When Negi first arrived, she always had hair falling in front of her eyes, though her current hairstyle usually leaves enough of an opening in her hair that one (and only one) eye & later both eyes can be seen, created by wearing a short ponytail. After Negi catches her after she falls down some stairs, she develops a liking to Negi, which seems to be reciprocated & rather interesting since she dislikes boys .Interesting note, she is very much like Love Hina's Shinobu Maehara, by the same author, Ken Akamatsu. Nodoka is the second student Negi make a probationary contract with. Her magical artifact is a "Diary" that shows the thoughts of any person she speaks the name of, and has saved Negi and company on more than one occasion.
Student Number 28: Natsumi Murakami, is a sweet yet shy girl who is an actress in the theatrical club. She loves acting but one thing she hates is herself & how she looks because her body is not ‘mature’. This is made more worse since she is roomates with Ayaka & Chizuru who both have mature bodies & bigger breasts.
Student Number 29: Ayaka Yukihiro, the rich and snooty class representative. More often than not, she winds up being the only thing keeping the class in order, due to Negi's inexperience with handling large groups, which winds up with betting rings opening up whenever she's distracted, more often than not because she's fighting with Asuna (which in turn winds up being what the betting is on). She and Asuna seem to hate each other, with the two often getting into fights, but it eventually comes clear that they merely have a very weird friendship that neither is willing to admit to. She is madly in love with Negi, though she stands by the position that she's only interested in Negi because he "needs a mother figure". She tends to be aggressive in pretty much everything she does, which tends to wind up with her being misunderstood. However, she's very good at hiding her own past (such as her younger brother who died at childbirth, which may explain her fixation on Negi). She also roommates with Chizuru Naba & Natsumi Murakami & is in the equestrian & floral club. Another note: Ayaka is 1 of the 5 girls in the class who have big breasts & has the 5th largerst breasts in class.
Student Number 30: Satsuki Yotsuba is the only girl in class whose fat. She enjoys cooking and is in the cooking club. She also runs a nikuman business with Lingshen, and is the school dining officer. Despite her overweightness, she is still rather cute.
Student Number 31: Zazie Rainyday is very mysterious student. Nothing much is known about her, as she rarely talks. What is known is that she is in the school's magic club, thanks to Takamichi's notes. She has dark skin, and has two particular face paint marks: a large teardrop under her left eye, and a vertical line crossing the right side of her face. She is always seen with her pet bird.
Other Characters
Anya is the only other student who graduated with Negi that has been named. She and Negi have been childhood friends for as long as they can remember, and it has been indicated that Anya helped Negi pack for his trip to Japan. She is currently working as a fortune teller in London, so it is unlikely that she will make any major appearances other than in flashbacks. Anya seems like a grumpy girl (often shown frowning), although that could be from the typical reaction of young people towards those they like.
Albert Chamomile, or Chamo is a perverted panty-stealing (typical manga male stock character!) chain-smoking talking ermine that Negi helped out when he was five. Since then, Chamo has been going to Negi whenever he ran into trouble. He was originally thought to have been sent to Negi by his elder sister to help Negi out, though we later find out Negi was the only person he could rely on when Chamo escaped from the law for stealing girls underwear(Over 2000!) because the law could not arrest him if he were a pet of a wizard. He lied to Negi saying he stole them to keep his sick sister warm, which Negi believed, whereupon Negi made Chamo his pet/familiar. As a side note, being turned into an ermine is one of the punishments that Negi's magic academy gives, which makes one wonder about whether Chamo was once a mage as well. He cares strongly for Negi and will fight to protect him, but he's not above using him to try to make a fast buck.
Negi's elder sister's (Nekane Springfield) gentle personality is largely based on interpretations through disjointed flashbacks, so it is hard to identify precisely what she is like. What has been indicated however is that Negi's sister took on more of a motherly role in his life. As a side note, Asuna and Negi's sister feel similar for Negi. Nekane may not be the daughter of Nagi Springfield because when he was officially announced dead, he was 25, which doesn't make sense since she was still a teenager during & after his death, she may be Nagi sister or a relative of his, but if she is Nagi daughter, the only clear explanation is that Nagi married at an early age or she is his adopted daughter. 6 years ago, when demons attack the village where she & Negi use to lived, she was almost turn to stone trying to protect Negi from a petrification spell but was saved by The Thousand Master. (It is unknown if she knows she was saved by him.)
The School Dean (Konoemon Konoe) is Konoka's grand-father, which likely played a role in his decision for Negi to live with her and Asuna. What has been indicated is that he's a kind-hearted man, but extremely strict & is the chief of the Kantou Magic Association. The Dean’s hobby is arranging marriage interviews & is always telling Konoka to choose a future fiance . One arrange marriage thanks to him is his daughter's marriage to the chief of Kansai Magic Association (Eishun Konoe) which has resulted in Konoka's birth & easing tension between the Kansai & Kantou Magic Association. Unfortunaley, there were still a few mages in Kansai who still dislike Kantou even after the marriage, so the dean sent Negi on secret task to give the chief of Kansai a letter containing a peace offering when the school was on fieldtrip to Kyoto.(Actually the letter was a complaint by the dean, telling his son-in-law to try to control his henchmen who dislike Kantou Mages). When the Kansai Magic Association Headquarters was attack,his granddaughter kidnap by Chigusa Amagasaki & her henchmen, the dean help Negi & the others by sending Eva & Chachamaru. He helped Eva leave the academy by distracting the powers that prevented Eva from leaving by stamping a document on where she was going, however this only last for 5 seconds, which resulted the dean stamping a new document every 5 seconds! As a result, he ended with bad back ache & a sore hand but he was glad he was able to help Negi save his granddaughter.
Ms. Shizuna Minamoto is Negi's advisor on the school. She primarily attempts to be a motherly figure whilst Negi adjusts to the school, slowly leading him into the different aspects of his job. She, along with Takamichi, are perhaps the only teachers who have knowledge of Negi's alter ego as a wizard since the beginning of the series.
Takamichi T. Takahata, or Takahata-sensei is the teacher Negi is replacing in the school. This is not to say that he is not in the school, however - he has appeared several times throughout, though he has become the new art teacher for the time being. It should be noted that Takahata-sensei is close friends with Negi, and fought in the magic war, alongside Eishun Konoe and the Thousand Master. He is very much like Love Hina's Noriyasu Seta (who is also a calm teacher on whom the leading girl character is in love with).
Nagi Springfield (The Thousand Master, occasionally the Southern Master) is a legendary wizard who supposedly wields a thousand spells which is where the name descended from & He is Negi's & (maybe) Nekane's father. The name may be descended not because he knew a 1000 spells but he was able to make spells a thousand times stronger.(i.e Evageline's curse.) He was so strong that he didn't even need any partners to help him. He was a magic swordsman, using both magic & hand-to-hand combat. When he was 15, he & his friends (Eishun, Takamichi, and 3 others) fought in a magic war 20 years ago. After the war, he became famous for his heroic deeds during the war & got the name The Thousand Master. He disappeared ten years ago in 1993, the same year Negi was born. No one knows precisely what happened to him, but most people assume he's dead. According to some flashbacks, Nagi was a nice & playful man but sometimes the things he did were troublesome especially the village he lived.. Negi when he was younger didn't believe the stories that his father was dead, so got himself in trouble, hoping his dad might come & rescue him. He did. 6 years ago, when demons attacked the village where Negi & his sister live, he rescued his children & defeated the demons. He gave Negi his staff, after he defeated the demons & last thing he said to his son was, "I'm really am sorry, I can't do anything for you. It's not like I have any right to say this, but grow up well & happy!". Negi is becoming a Magister Magi so, one day he could meet his father again. Nagi may also have meet & gave Asuna her magic immunity when she was a child.
Chachamaru Zero (Chachazero) was a magical doll that was once Evangeline's partner before Eva was put on a curse by Nagi. Unlike Chachamaru (Eva's current partner) who is powered by a spring, Zero is powered by magic which mainly comes from Eva. As a result of the curse, she can not move but talk only, which is the reason why Eva rely's on Chachamaru. While Chachamaru is polite & kind, Zero is rude & a whiner. She is always complaining that she can't move & her master has become too soft & not so evil lately because Zero enjoy killing & seeing things get killed. When she fights, she uses 2 daggers & sometimes a giant sword larger than her. She is sometimes seen riding on Chachamaru head.
Eishun Konoe is Konoka's father & the chief of the Kansai Magic Association. Before Konoka's birth, the Kansai & Kantou Magic Association had a feud because Kansai mages did not approve of Kantou mages becoming western & using western style magic instead of eastern style magic, because they dislike western mages & see Kantou's actions were abadoning their tradition. In order, to ease the two sides, The school dean of Mahora who is also the chief of the Kantou Magic Association made an arranged marriage between Eishun & his daughter. The hostility ended but there were still few in Kansai who still dislike Kantou &/or western mages.(i.e.Chigusa Amagasaki). Despite Kansai mages attidtue to the west, Eishun became best friends with a powerful western mage, the Thousand master, Negi's father. Nagi, Eishun, Takamichi, and 3 others who were Nagi's comrade-in-arms, fought in a magic war that involved both mages from the east & west 20 years ago. He has battle scars on his body from that war. Even after his so called death in 1993, he still kept Nagi's holiday house clean. When Konoka was born, Eishun never told her that she was a mage because he wanted his daughter to have a normal life. However, because she is also from the Konoe bloodline, she inherited incredible magic power which makes her a target for anyone who wanted to use her powers. So Eishun sent her to study at Mahora Academy with Setsuna as her bodyguard, so his father-in-law could protect her from danger from mages trying to kidnap her, especially those from Kansai.
Chigusa Amagasaki is a ying-yang charm user from the Kansai Magic Association. She was the one reponsible for causing trouble at beginning of the school field trip. She try to prevent Negi from giving his letter to the chief of Kansai Magic Association because she does not want relations between the Kansai & Kantou Magic Association to improve & she was the one who was trying to kidnap Konoka due to the powerful magic power she has. She bears a grudge against western mages because her parents were kill in the magic war that Nagi, Eishun & other mages from east & west that were involved in that war 20 years ago. She plans to have her revenge against the western mages by summoning the demon god "Ryoumen Sukunanokami" & the only way to do that was to use Konoka powers. Despite having the ability to summon warrior spirits & creating Shikigami she needed help, so she also enlisted the help of 3 mercenary children to help her in her plan. She was successful summoning the demon god using Konoka powers but Evangeline who was more powerful defeated the demon. Her plans fail, she tries to escape but was captured by Chacha Zero & is under custody of the Kansai Magic Association.
Kotarou Inugami is 1 of the 3 mercenary children helping Chigusa. He is wolf-man, which can be tell by the wolf-like ears & tail he has and uses the power of the dog gods to summon dogs. He is a powerful fighter & an expert in Ninjutsu & charms. He prefers to fight hand to hand rather than using magic. He disrespected Negi by calling him a weakling, because he had seen Western mages who let their partners fight for them, and came to regard them as weaklings. He takes back what he said to Negi, when Negi defeats him using both magic & hand-to-hand combat. He later turns into his beast form, a stronger version of himself to defeat Negi, but he was defeated easily thanks to the help of Nodoka & her magic diary. He and Negi had a final match when Negi was trying to rescue Konoka, but was it cut short when Kaede intervened & was defeated by her, who was more skilled. Despite being a hot headed person, he is a feminist & would never hit women unless they are powerful fighters. He was currently under custody of the Kansai Magic Association but later escape, trying to warn Negi of an impeding danger. He is currently living with Chizuru & Natsumi.
Tsukuyomi the Shinmeiryuu swordsgirl is 1 of the 3 mercenary children helping Chigusa. Unlike Setsuna who only use a 1-sword style, she uses a sword & dagger style. And she also knows how use charms like invisibility & summoning creatures (mostly dolls). She has a crush on Setsuna since she is a senior at the Shinmeiryuu, admires her bravery & loves to duel with her & even calling her Senpai. She loves to cosplay as seen from the costumes she wears, and is often seen dressing in Gothic Lolita fashion. She had a final duel with Setsuna, when Setsuna & Asuna fought against the demons summon by Chigusa but was stop when Asuna & Setsuna went to help Negi fight against Fate & the Demon God & when Mana & Fei Ku join the battle against the demons. After the demon god was defeated, she returns to the Shinmeiryuu with the only shame she couldn't finish her duel with her beloved Setsuna-Senpai.
Fate Awelnks is 1 of the 3 mercenary children helping Chigusa. He came to Japan from the Istanbul Magic Association a month before the school fieldtrip to train but was really there to help Chigusa. Fate is an expert in both Western & Eastern Magic & is stronger & more skillful than Negi. He helped Chigusa not because she hired him but because he helped for another reason. He was the one that turn almost everyone at the Kansai Magic Association headquarters to stone & kidnap Konoka when Chigusa fail to kidnap her at earlier attempts. When Negi, Asuna & Setsuna try to rescue Konoka, they had a hard time defeating Fate for he was very good fighter & mage but succeed thanks to Negi's surprise attacks & help from Eva. The name he has may not be his real name & according to Eva, he is not human but a construct. He disappeared after the demon god was defeated. He sometimes overdoes his magic.
Cast Members in the Anime
- Akemi Kanda – as Asuna Kagurazaka
- Rina Satou – as Negi Springfield
- Ai Nonaka – as Konaka Konoe
- Junko Minagawa – as Ayaka Yukihiro
- Mamiko Noto – as Nodoka Miyazaki
- Ryoko Shiraishi – as Kaede Nagase
- Yu Kobayashi – as Setsuna Sakurazaki
- Yui Horie – as Makie Sasaki
- Yuki Matsuoka – as Evangeline.A.K.McDowell
- Ai Bandou – as Misora Kasuga
- Akane Omae – as Sakurako Shiina
- Akeno Watanabe – as Chachamaru Karakuri
- Ayana Sasagawa – as Kazumi Asakura
- Azumi Yamamoto – as Akira Ookouchi
- Chiaki Osawa – as Chao Rinshen
- Hazuki Tanaka – as Ku Fei
- Kikuko Inoue – as Shizuna Minamoto
- Kimiko Koyama – as Fuuka Narutaki
- Kotomi Yamakawa – as Ako Izumi
- Madoka Kimura – as Yuuna Akashi
- Mai Aizawa – as Natsumi Murakami
- Mai Kadowaki – as Satomi Hakase
- Mami Deguchi – as Madoka Kugimiya
- Mari Kanou – as Fumika Narutaki
- Masami Suzuki – as Nekane Springfield
- Miho Sakuma – as Mana Tatsumiya
- Misa Kobayashi – as Chizuru Naba
- Naomi Inoue – as Satsuki Yotsuba
- Natsuko Kuwatani – as Yue Ayase
- Norihiro Inoue – as Takamichi T. Takahata
- Ryou Hirohashi – as Anya
- Sawa Ishige – as Haruna Saotome
- Shizuka Itou – as Misa Kakakizaki
- Takehito Koyasu – as Thousand Master
- Yuka Inokuchi – as Zazie Rainyday
- Yumi Shimura – as Chisame Hasegawa
- Yuri Shiratori – as Sayo Ai
- Ken Akamatsu – (ep 11, Special Guest)
The Anime
The anime version began airing in Japan on January 6th, 2005. The anime is expected to show the events of volumes 1-6.
List of Episodes
The official names for the episodes are in Latin with the episode numbers written in Roman numerals. Additionally, each episode name is a Latin phrase.
- I - Asinus in cathedra
- II - Omne initium est difficile
- III - Amantes, amentes
- IV - Nullus est instar domus
- V - Fama volat
- VI - A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi
- VII - Fallaces sunt rerum species
- VIII - Omnes una manet nox
- IX - Te capiam, cunicule sceleste!
- X - Ubi concordia, ibi victoria
- XI - Cum tacent clamant
- XII - Aut disce aut discede
- XIII - Tamdiu discendum est, quamdiu vivas
- XIV - Amicitiae nostrae memoriam spero sempiternam fore
- XV - Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur
- XVI - Amor tussisque non celantur
- XVII - Nihil difficile amanti
- XVIII - Amor ordinem nescit
- XIX - Verba volant, scripta menent
- XX - Nisi credidentis, non intelligentis
- XXI - Nil desperandum!
Songs
All the songs in the series are sung by the voice actors of the girls in Negi's class.
Opening Songs
The Negima anime uses one opening song with six different versions. Each version is sung by a group of five or six of the girls, organized by seat number.
- Happy Material ver. 1
- Used in: Episodes 1-4
- Sung by: Yuri Shiratori (Sayo Aisaka), Madoka Kimura (Yuuna Akashi), Ayana Sasagawa (Kazumi Asakura), Natsuko Kuwatani (Yue Ayase), Kotomi Yamakawa (Ako Izumi), Azumi Yamamoto (Akira Ookouchi)
- Happy Material ver. 2
- Used in: Episodes 5-8
- Sung by: Shizuka Itou (Misa Kakizaki), Akemi Kanda (Asuna Kagurazaka), Ai Bandou (Misora Kasuga), Akeno Watanabe (Chachamaru Karakuri), Mami Deguchi (Madoka Kugimiya)
- Happy Material ver. 3
- Used in: Episodes 9-13
- Sung by: Hazuki Tanaka (Ku Fei), Ai Nonaka (Konoka Konoe), Sawa Ishige (Haruna Saotome), Yu Kobayashi (Setsuna Sakurazaki), Yui Horie (Makie Sasaki)
- Happy Material ver. 4
- Used in: Episodes 14-17
- Sung by: Akane Omae (Sakurako Shina), Miho Sakuma (Mana Tatsumiya), Chiaki Osawa (Chao Lingshen), Ryoko Shiraishi (Kaede Nagase), Misa Kobayashi (Chizuru Naba)
- Happy Material ver. 5
- Used in: Episodes 18-21
- Sung by: Kimiko Koyama (Fuuka Narutaki), Mari Kanou (Fumika Narutaki), Mai Kadowaki (Satomi Hakase), Yumi Shimura (Chisame Hasegawa), Yuki Matsuoka (Evangeline A.K. McDowell)
- Happy Material ver. 6
- Used in: Episodes 22-26
- Sung by: Mamiko Noto (Nodoka Miyazaki), Mai Aizawa (Natsumi Murakami), Junko Minagawa (Ayaka Yukihiro), Naomi Inoue (Satsuki Yotsuba), Yuka Inokuchi (Zazie Ranyday)
Ending Songs
There are two ending songs used in Negima. The first one is sung by the four main girls in the series and the second one is sung by the five secondary girls.
- Kagayaku Kimi e
- Used in: Episodes 1-13
- Sung by: Akemi Kanda (Asuna Kagurazaka), Ai Nonaka (Konoka Konoe), Mamiko Noto (Nodoka Miyazaki), Yu Kobayashi (Setsuna Sakurazaki)
- Shisho to Nayameru Otomegumi
- Used in: Episodes 14-26
- Sung by:Ayana Sasagawa (Kazumi Asakura), Natsuko Kuwatani (Yue Ayase), Akeno Watanabe (Chachamaru Karakuri), Hazuki Tanaka (Ku Fei), Yuki Matsuoka (Evangeline A.K. McDowell)
Anime Revisions
Due to protests against the storyline and animation in Mahou Sensei Negima, the DVD release will be revised from the TV version. The first episode will have several scenes changed as they were improperly supervised; the storyboards will be changed as well. The second and fourth (and subsequent) episodes will be completely redone with proper supervision. The introduction itself will also be changed and edited. Additionally the Fafner team from Xebec will join the animation team from episode 10 and onwards. The DVD is slated for release in May 2005 in Japan.
One of the more obvious errors in the anime: at the end of the second episode Negi didn't go to sleep in Asuna's and Konoka's room; instead he stayed outside for the entire night collecting four-leaf clovers for the "love potion". Going to her job, Asuna finds him outside and allows him to stay in her dorm room. In the beginning of the third episode we find Negi in Asuna's futon (like in the manga) but yet it is still only the second day. This conspicuous clash with the ending of the second episode is probably one of the reasons for the revisions on the Mahou Sensei Negima! anime DVD release.
The Manga
Inconsistences Found in English Version
This are a number of inconsistencies found in the Del Rey translation of Negima.
Haruna Saotome: Pseudonym "Pal"
The conversion from Haruna to Pal looks unusual. To understand this, one has to have a kind of have to know a bit of knowledge of Japanese pronounciation or either hiragana or katakana. Basically, one starts with "Haru", short for Haruna. In in Japanese, Ha, Ba, and Pa are basically the same character, and to the Japanese ear are pronounced fairly similarly. Thus, "Haru" becomes "Paru". Keeping in mind more Japanese pronounciation, when one converts that to English he or she winds up with "Pal".
Thousand Master/Southern Master
In the first volume, the Del Rey translation refers to the Thousand Master as the Thousand Master, and mention that it is said he knows a thousand spells. In the third volume, they refer to a "Southern Master", who supposedly knew a thousand spells. Negi also identifies the "Southern Master" as his father. Del Rey has verified that they are in fact the same person, and it was improperly translated in Volumes 3 and 4, since in Katakana, "Thousand" (サウザンド) and "Southern" (サザン) looked about the same to to the translator. The translator in question has been replaced, and future prints of Volumes 3 and 4 will have this correction.
Note for Evangeline
In Negi's class folder, Takamichi has written under Evangeline's picture: "Ask her advice if you're in trouble" ("Talk to her if you have any problems" in the Chuang-Yi version) which is an incorrect translation of the original sentence saying "Komatta toki soudan shinasai" ("If in trouble, ask for assistance"). Since Eva is a bitter enemy of Negi who does anything but help him, it is obviously inconsistent. It probably originally meant that if Eva causes trouble, Negi has to request help from the Dean and others (the Dean knows about the wizards).
EDIT: I won't delete everything that had been written here, but I must point out that it was not translated incorrectly. In the anime it referred to this note on the roster in the same way as it had been translated in DelRey's version. And it might not be a mistake after all as later in the series Eva does help Negi.
Modified Surnames
So far, the surnames of two characters appear to have been adjusted. In the first two volumes of the Del Rey translation, Chachamaru's surname is given as "Rakuso". However, in Volume 3, her surname is listed as "Karakuri". This actually stems from the fact that with the kanji that make up her name, the most common pronunciation of each is as "Raku" and "Sō". This is not especially uncommon, as many kanji have multiple ways of pronouncing them. Making use of some of the audio CDs released in Japan, the proper pronunciation of Chachamaru's surname is "Karakuri".
In addition, Satomi's surname has been changed from Del Rey's "Nakase" to "Hakase" in the Del Rey translations. The proper spelling is Hakase, and the first character can never be pronounced as "Na", so the most likely conclusion is a simple typo: It's entirely possible that the editors of the first volume didn't notice that it was an N in the first volume.
Another note in most of the class roster sheets in the Del Rey translations Number 7:Misa Kakizaki is actually listed as Kakizaki Misa. Knowing that in Japan the surname does come first in speaking and in lists this could be nothing to worry about. But in several areas (Vol:1/Chapter3 and some time in Vol:4 on one of the chapter pages) Kakizaki-san's name is listed as Misa Kakizaki. It is unknown exactly why they have such different placements, but going by the Japanese version, Kakizaki is the surname, with Misa as the given name.
Note on Color Changes
The conversion from manga to anime has left several characters hair colors changed, the most radical color changes being Chisame's hair color (indicated to be a red-head in the manga, but has green hair in the anime), Misa (light brown hair in the manga, but purple hair in the anime) and Yuna's hair color (black hair in manga, bright brown in the anime). In addition, the Del Rey translation of Negima changed a limited amount of colors, including Asuna's eye colors: Instead of her left eye being blue and her right eye being green, her left eye is a light purple and her right eye is blue.
It is thought by some fans the color changes make reflect a need of the animators to more easily identify characters.
Latin Phrases Used in Negima
The second volume of the Negima Del Rey translation states that the Latin subtitle "Magister Negi Magi" means "Wizard Negi-Sensei." It also defines the "Magi" as "magical." "Magi" is a form of the Latin word "magus" ("magician" or "mage"), but the "Magi" in "Magister Negi Magi" doesn't grammatically agree with "Negi" or "Magister" if it is used as an adjective.
The original Japanese version of the second manga volume defines the "Magister" as "先生" ("teacher" or "master"), and "Magi" as "魔法使いの" ("of the mage"). It also defines "Magister Magi" as "魔法使いの達人" ("Master of the Mage" or "Mage Master"). Those translations are acceptable. "Magister Negi Magi" can mean "Mage Master Negi" (if "Magi" is interpreted as a Genitive of Quality (http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Latin/Grammar/Syntax/Syntax-Cases-Genitive.html#Genitive_of_Quality) with no adjective). (Incidentally, Negi's name is Latinized as "Negius" [Latin genitive, singular form: "Negii")], so "Magister Negius Magi" would have been a more consistent Latin title.)
For the most part, the Latin phrases used in Negima are meaningful and correct. (One notable exception is the "MACINATRIX" on Satomi's "Charta Ministralis" or "Attendant Card." That should be "MACHINATRIX" ["mechanic"].) However, the interpretations of the Latin phrases in the Del Rey translation are mostly inaccurate. For instance, the second volume claims that "Magister Magi" means "magical people," but "magical people" is "homines magi" in Latin. One possible reason for the many inaccuracies is that the translators didn't actually translate the Latin words directly, but rather they translated the Japanese translations of the Latin translations. If that is the case, then that can be a problem with Latin words such as "adeat," which is translated into Japanese as "kitare" (English: "come" used as an imperative form). "Adeat" is a subjunctive form, not an imperative form, of the Latin verb "adire" ("to approach," "to draw near"), so it can be translated as "Let him/her/it approach," but not simply "Approach."
Timeline in the Manga
Interpreting the timeline in Negima! can be a hassle. There are very little and subtle clues that give the date in the manga. In the first volume we see that Negi graduated from the wizard school sometime in 2002, but didn't start teaching until early 2003. On the scroll he received his first assignment on it says 2003-7, however the rest is obscured by a speech bubble, the date could be when he is going to start teaching. (Actually Negi graduated at 2002-7 not 2003, another note Negi is not really 10 yet because he was born in 1993 so therefore if he graduated in 2003, he would have told Asuna about his real age was 10 not 9 at Chp 3(in the anime, episode 4, Negi states that he uses kazoedoshi, an 'old system' of measuring age, where when one is born they are already considerd one and every New Year they age one year.)) In the second volume Negi receives a letter from the headmaster with a date; 2 April 2003. The date actually refers to the date that Negi will start teaching his second year of school. In the fourth volume we see that Asuna's birthday; 21 April, is in one chapter. Also in volume 1 one of the girls states Negi had been teaching them for nearly a week. We cannot guess how long volume 2 is the time at Libray Island only last for three days but the time after the test is only a guess, possibly 1 to 3 weeks. We can also assume that the time between volumes 1 and 2 would be a day or 2 days, and the time between volume 2 and 3 would be at least a week if not more.
However in volume 3 we see Evangeline say that she had waited 6 months for a chance to attack Negi. Now taking that and adding it to the existing data we find that this must be false, most likely a typo or translation error. The actual comment might have been 6 weeks or possibly less, as Negi was only teaching for a few weeks. The events in volume 3 last about 8 or so days, and the events in volumes 4 currently a week, give or take a day. Thus we can safely assume that the time in Negima! the manga is near the end of April to the first week of May.
After reviewing unofficial translations of Negima from volume 1 to 8 & the clues within chapter 1 to 71 & other sources, a ‘proper’ & ‘accurate’ timeline of Negima has been made. The so call mistakes mention earlier will be corrected in the text below.
First, many fans first assume that Negi started teaching at July of 2002 by looking at his diploma. However that was a mistake. The date on the diploma was actually the date he graduated. Negi couldn’t immediately go to Japan as he had to prepared himself for his trip like packing his things & learning Japanese. When did Negi came to japan & began teaching left many wondering but thanks to 3 clues, a date has been finally confirmed. Negi actually came to Japan around October 2002. To know how this date is the real date, you have to know the 3 clues. The first 2 clues are from chapter 38 & Evangeline comments in chapter 17. In chapter 38, Nodoka magic diary reveals that the 3rd day of the school fieldtrip is on the 24 of April 2003. With this date we can calculate the days of Chapter 38 all the way to Chapter 17 where our second clue is found in Chapter 17 that is Eva’s comments. In the Del Rey version, Eva said that she had waited 6 months for a chance to attack Negi. Many asuumed the information to be false, most likely a typo or translation error from the early data but in fact it’s actually correct. As mention above, as we calculated the date of Chapter 38 to the days till Chapter 17, the date in Chapter 17 is the 7th of April 2003. Now we minus 6 months and the date is now October 2002. Since Negi graduated in July 2002, and was preparing for his trip & taking 3 weeks to learn Japanese, it’s clear he came to Japan at October 2002. The third & final clue is in fact the students themselves. While most might not notice the clues at first, those with sharp eyes & some closer examinations might find the clues. The clues are not what the girls are saying but in fact what they are wearing. You might have notice that the students are wearing their jackets from Chapter 1 to 12 but are not wearing them in Chapter 13 and onwards. The reason for this is the change of seasons. In Chapter1-12 the season is autumn & Chapter 13-71 the season is spring. Using common sense you might know why. The autumn season is cold so the students are wearing jackets & even coats & the spring season is not that cold so the students are not wearing their jackets. When Negi first arrives he is seen wearing a trench coat in Chapter1-12 & he doesn’t wear it again from Chapter 13 to onwards. With these clues, Negi did in fact arrive in October 2002. Of course you might also realized that 3 months have pass from Chapter 12 to 13. It might be because Ken Akamatsu decided to skip the winter season to progress the story quickly to spring of 2003.
(After this explanation you might be already be surprised of the Mahora Academy’s school year. You might be puzzled by the fact the exams are around October-November & the new school year is at April. Here is an explanation. Schools in the US & UK start the beginning of the school year after summer & ends during the end of spring. However, some schools in Asia like Brunei start the school year after New Years & ends at the end of November. Mahora Academy might actually follow the Asian version of the school year but since Japan follow the US version of the school year (If they do since I’m not sure when Japan school year starts & end.) Mahora Academy might actually be a private school that follow it’s own school year. (It’s still confusing since due to the lack of knowledge of Japan’s school year, so if anyone has any information please add it here.))
Anyway, another mistake mention before is that Negi recevies a letter from the headmaster with a date; 2 April 2003. It was thought that the date actually refers to the date that Negi will start teaching his second year of school but it was wrong. The date is in fact when Negi becomes an official teacher. When Negi came to teach at Mahora at first, it’s was as an intern because the principal was testing him wheter he was qualify to become a teacher. Negi actually started teaching in the new term at the 7th of April, 2003. In the Del Rey version of volume 1, Makie mention’s that Negi has been teaching them nearly a week. But actually the sentence was actually changed from the original, which stated it had been 5 days since Negi’s arrival.
Because of the confusion & lack of knowledge of how long the time of each volume is, a proper explanation is made. The following is the correct & accurate timeline of Negima from volume 1 to 8.
- Volume 1
- Chapter 1-Negi's 1st day around October 2002.
- Chapter 2-Negi's 2nd day around October 2002.
- Chapter 3-Negi's 2nd night around October 2002.
- Chapter 4-Negi's 3rd day & later night around October 2002.
- Chapter 5-Negi's 5th day around October 2002.
- Chapter 6-Negi's 5th & later 6th day around October 2002.
- Volume 2
- Chapter 7-Fews days after Chapter 6 around Thursday of late October/early November 2002.
- Chapter 8-The same day on chapter 7 expect it's night.
- Chapter 9-Friday & Saturday.
- Chapter 10-Same day as last chapter (Saturday) & later Sunday late afternoon.
- Chapter 11-Monday and later a week (Or more or less depending on how long the results of all the classes were mark & calculated.)
- Chapter 12-Sometime around the end of November 2002.
- Chapter 13-Sometime in March 2003 as its spring break.
- Chapter 14-Sometime around March or early April 2003 as its still spring break.
- Chapter 15-6 April 2003.
- Volume 3
- Chapter 16-Night of 6 April & later 7 April 2003.
- Chapter 17-Night of 7 April 2003.
- Chapter 18-8 April 2003.
- Chapter 19-Same day as last chapter, 8 April and later 9 April 2003
- Chapter 20-10 April 2003.
- Chapter 21-11th & later 12 April 2003.
- Chapter 22-13 April 2003.
- Chapter 23-14 April 2003.
- Chapter 24-Night of 14 April 2003.
- Chapter 25-Night of 14 April 2003.
- Volume 4
- Chapter 26-15 April 2003.
- Chapter 27-20 April 2003.
- Chapter 28-22 April 2003.
- Chapter 29-22 April 2003.
- Chapter 30-Night of 22 April 2003.
- Chapter 31-Late night of 22 April 2003.
- Chapter 32-Late night of 22 April 2003.
- Chapter 33-23 April 2003.
- Chapter 34-Afternoon of 23 April 2003.
- Volume 5
- Chapter 35-Night of 23 April 2003.
- Chapter 36-Night of 23 April 2003.
- Chapter 37-Night of 23 April 2003.
- Chapter 38-24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 39-24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 40-24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 41-24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 42-24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 43-24th of April 2003.
- Volume 6
- Chapter 44-24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 45-Night of 24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 46-Night of 24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 47-Night of 24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 48-Night of 24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 49-Night of 24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 50-Night of 24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 51-Night of 24th of April 2003.
- Chapter 52-Night of 24th & 25th of April 2003.
- Chapter 53-25th & 26th of April 2003.
- Volume 7
- Chapter 54-4 May 2003.
- Chapter 55-5 May 2003.
- Chapter 56-7th & 8 May 2003.
- Chapter 57-9th & 10 May 2003.
- Chapter 58-11 May 2003.
- Chapter 59-12th & 13 May 2003.
- Chapter 60-14 May 2003.
- Chapter 61-17 May 2003.
- Chapter 62-17th & 18 May 2003.
- Volume 8
- Chapter 63-Night & next day, sometime around late May 2003.
- Chapter 64-Same day as last chapter.
- Chapter 65-Same day as last chapter.
- Chapter 66-Same day as last chapter.
- Chapter 67-Same day as last chapter.
- Chapter 68-Same day as last chapter.
- Chapter 69-Same day as last chapter.
- Chapter 70-Same day as last chapter.
- Chapter 71-Same day as last chapter & later the next day.
Note: Note: You may have realized that in volume 3 that chapter 22 is Sunday, 13 April 2003. It's not a mistake even though there is class in chapter 22. The reason is because they are having class on Sunday.
In addition, the timelines of the game, anime, and manga seem to differ greatly. The anime states that Negi began teaching at the start of the school year in 2002, making the time he arrived some time in April, 2002. Meanwhilst, in the game, The events of Volume 2 occur between 3 March 2003 and 18 March 2003, and mixes in the events of Volume 3, with the final exam being the last occurrence in the game.
Magic in Negima
The magic in Negima, whilst seeming fairly general, have several things that should be noted. This will be covered in this section.
Western Mages vs. Eastern Mages
One may note that there are many significant differences between the Western Mage schools and the Eastern Mage schools. First, the Western school of mages tends to emphasize the mage as a part of a group: The mage casts spells, whilst the partner or allies provide support, protecting the magician. In this way, many of the spells have a focus on two main sections: support powers, such as magic barriers, healing, and precognition, and assault powers, designed to either fire too many attacks to dodge, or make an extremely powerful attack to break through any magic barriers. Even in this grouping however, many of these spells are designed more for sealing, capture, and disarming an enemy than outright destroying the enemy.
On the other hand, the Eastern school of mages emphasize the mage as a solo operative, with many of the spells devised more to disrupt and confuse more than play a role in direct combat. In addition, the Eastern mage's talismans are highly specific. The exceptions occur when it comes to talisman monsters, such as the assault and protective demons. These talisman monsters last until their purpose is accomplished, or until they are destroyed. An assault demon will thus last until it is either destroyed, or until no more enemies remain, and dissipate. In much the same way, a defensive demon will only last until it defends the mage from an assault. Once again, once there are no possible threats, they dissipate. In the case that no orders are given to talismans, they will attempt to complete whatever task they are first given, and complete that. Once that task is completed, they return to paper.
Magic Vampirism
Of note is the fact that while Evangeline does not have any of the weaknesses of a vampire, she still makes use of vampirism to empower herself. Before being cursed, she wielded immense magical power, which was likely what prevented any aging. However, the curse placed upon her sealed most of that magic power away, leaving her extremely vulnerable. Judging by her physical weaknesses, it can probably be assumed that Evangeline's magical powers probably boosted her physical capabilities: However, upon losing them, her body, which was now more dependant on magic, became far more susceptible to disease than an ordinary human. In fact, it appears the only thing the remaining magic seems to do is prevent her from aging.
In an attempt to counter this, Evangeline's taken to many different techniques to boost her magical capabilities. The first being the catalysts she uses, reducing the drain each spell cast has on her. The second being the vampirism itself. What actually occurs is that the magical power within the blood is consumed, rather than the blood itself. Thus, Evangeline can keep herself from becoming sick, and allow herself to use stronger magics by drinking the blood of someone with significant magic power. This can also explain why Evangeline is significantly healthier and capable of more impressive magics later on in the series.
Magic Neutralization
Magic neutralization is an ability that completely nullifies magic. What this ability does is that any magic that is cast or use, the person with this ability has no effect. In others words it protects the person from magic. However it doesn’t mean all types of magic are nullified. Magic that harms the person is stopped, while magic that helps the person isn’t. It is unclear how does one gets this ability as is it a rare ability. The only person known to have this ability is Asuna, which may have something to do with her and the Thousand Master.
However, Magical Neutralization does not explain some of the more unusual instances, such as Asuna being able to destroy an onmyou monster in one hit due to magic neutralization, yet not being able to protect herself from Fate's magically produced monster.
Another case which isn't entirely understood is when love potions are used. If another person drinks a love potion which causes anyone that sees them to be affected, a person with Magic Neutralization would not be affected. However, if someone with Magic Neutralization were to drink a love potion which causes them to fall in love with the first person they see, they will be affected.
Here is an explanation for the 2 paragraphs above. Magical spells are stop by magic neutralization but they do not stop physical attacks. Even if the attacker is a demon, monster or a person powered by magic any attack that is physical like punching, kicking or using a weapon will not be stop as they are physical attacks not magical attacks. The second paragraph actually referred to chapter 54 when Asuna accidentally ate a chocolate, which contain a love potion, which causes them to fall in love with the first person they see. The confusion was that Asuna was falling in love with Negi even thought she has magic neutralization. What's really happening is that Asuna is really falling in love with Negi or she remembering her feelings for Nagi but she thinks it's was all because of the chocolate in the end.
External links
- Official Magister Negi Magi website (http://www.negima.ne.jp/) (Japanese)
- Negima anime website (http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/negima/) (Japanese)
- Del Rey's manga section (http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/manga/) (which includes a section for the Negima manga)
- Negima game website (http://www.konamijpn.co.jp/products/negima/vol1/) (Japanese)
- Ken Akamatsu's website (http://www.ailove.net/) (Japanese)
- Latinitas Negimaria (http://www.absoludicrous.net/antares7/latin/ln/index.html) (English translations of the Latin phrases used in Negima)
- Ken Akamatsu Forum (http://s8.invisionfree.com/Ken_Akamatsu/) (A place to talk about all of Mr. Akamatsu's works.)es:Magister Negi Magi
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