to Kyoto and Nara- and beyond!!! | Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Volume 4

RIVAL WIZARD FACTIONS | Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Volume 4 | Ken Akamatsu

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	• Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Volume 4 Ken Akamatsu Del Rey, 2004 - 208 pages average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

School Trip Part 1 of 3

With the impressive mark left by Volume 3 of "Negima!," I was eager to see where things went from there. Fortunately things remain pretty good, we are introduced to two new characters and a 3rd gets some work as well.

Evangeline tells Negi that he should take a trip to Kyoto as his father, the Southern Master, used to live there. Thus Negi-sensei decides the class field trip should be to Kyoto and Nara. The headmaster then gives Negi a quest to deliver a letter to the head of the magic association based there (Kansai Group) to stop an age-long feud between them and the Kanto Group. Thus preparations begin by the students and Negi to take this 4-day trip. Konoka and Negi are out in a nice district of Tokyo and are spotted by the cheerleader squad who think the two are on a date. Naturally Ayaka learns of this and will not tolerate anyone else being with Negi, so she grabs Asuna and begins her plan to make sure nothing happens between Negi and Konoka.

The school trip finally starts with Negi-sensei being attached to a group of girls that includes Asuna, Konoka, Miyazaki (the library girl), Yue, and Saotome. They are also joined by Setsuna-san, a girl with a nodachi - a giant, long sword. Forces opposed to the Kansai Group and Kanto Group making amends begin to work with a series of mild attacks by frogs and then monkeys. Setsuna is comes to the aid of Negi as she is sworn to protect Konoka-chan, whom she has known since a child and refers to with the very reverent title of "oujo-sama". The battle heats up as Asuna (armed with a new weapon), Negi, and Se-chan team up to battle a female Japanese wizard and her summoned demons as they attempt to kidnap Konoka-chan.

Once the battle is over, Miyazaki-san is determined to confess her feelings for Negi, something that has been brewing since Volume 1. Being so shy, she has a very difficult time of it, but her friends Yue and Saotome are there to force her to keep on. She is further aided by talking with Asuna and Se-chan. Hearing someone may be confessing their love to Negi, Ayaka dispatches the class reporter Kazumi on the case. Kazumi is bored with the assignment but soon comes upon the scoop of the century when she learns Negi's secret.

There is a fair amount of fun "filler" in this volume, especially at the beginning. The subplot of Miyazaki's feelings is sweet and while being told, the main story arc is not forgotten. Kazumi's learning of Negi's secret should prove interesting and we'll see where this is taken. There's more naked girl fighting in the manga than one would dare dream.

Del Rey does its usual good job and I noticed that they are starting to use a little more of the sister honorifics (neesan) which is cool. The standard extras of the spell lexicon, the translator notes, and early character sketches by Akamatsu-sensei are all included as are definitions of the honorifics.

Bottom line: While not as intense as the previous volume, it is still very good and I look forward to seeing where the story goes from here. Se-chan is a great charater and Asuna continues to grow on me. Well worth the purchase.

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to Kyoto and Nara- and beyond!!!

So here we are. Negima! volume four. Up until this point, Negi's had to deal with a lot of stuff: beginning to teach at an all-girl's school, a dangerous excursion deep beneath the school library, and a powerful vampire by the name of Evangeline McDowell (aka Dark Evangel), but Negi's never had to face the intricacies of a girl who's in love with him. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Volume four begins with a brief conversation between Negi and Evangeline concerning Negi's father, the Thousand Master; when Negi tell Eva that the Thousand Master is alive, she initially just laughs it off, but realizes that he's telling the truth and advises Negi to go to Kyoto to look for clues about his father, since Kyoto was the last place that anyone ever saw Nagi. Negi then gets the idea of doing it legally (since he's accrued no time off, neither does he have any extra cash) by organizing a class field trip to see the sites at Kyoto and Nara. The headmaster agrees to the field trip, but only on the condition that Negi delivers a letter to the leader of the Kansai magic group, the main group opposed to the field trip (Kyoto is in the Kansai district and their opposition stems from the fact that a wizard [i.e. Negi] would be leading the trip). Things start to get out of hand on the train ride, though, as the students are attacked by... frogs? Also, a paper bird steals Negi's letter, but one of his students, Setsuna Kagurazaki, slices the bird in half while leaving the letter untouched; this leads Chamo to believe that Setsuna might be a spy for the West. Their time at Kyoto is no less eventful, including a first-day trip to the fountains that has everyone passed out drunk from booze that was pumped into the fountains. Then there's that little thing about Nodoka finally confessing her love for Negi...

One of the main reasons that I'm so impressed with Negima! is that each novel seems to be better than the previous one, and this one is no exception. Of course, the fan service is there, but the best parts of this novel are Nodoka's confession to Negi and a neat little sidestory about just how deep the relationship is between Setsuna and Konoka (who Setsuna insists upon calling "ojou-sama", a highly reverent and respectful term for a girl of affluent parentage).

Enjoy!!

~andy~

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RIVAL WIZARD FACTIONS

Most of the third volume of Negima was taken up with Negi's battle with Evangeline McDowell, a vampire who had been cursed by Negi's dad, the Southern Master, and trapped in the body of a young girl. Evangeline believed that his father was dead but Negi tells her the story of how the Southern Master was the one who gave Negi his staff. Negi wants to find him but has no idea of where to look. Evangeline suggests he look in Kyoto, where his dad used to live. In a bit of a selfish act, mixing business with pleasure, Negi proposes that his class go on a field trip there. That way, he won't have to miss work. The headmaster of the school agrees to let them go to Kyoto but he also has a task for Negi to perform. Apparently, Kyoto falls under the territory of the Kansai Magic Association, which has a running dispute with Negi's Kanto branch. In an effort to smooth out the relationship between the two organizations, the headmaster appoints Negi as an ambassador of sorts and gives him a letter to be delivered only into the hands of the leader of the Kansai wizards. Unfortunately, there are elements of the Kansai group that do not want peace with Kanto and want to keep Negi from fulfilling his mission.

As always, the first thing that jumps out at you with Negima is the excellent art in which Ken Akamatsu cleverly combines cuteness, comedy, realism, sexiness, and and great layout to create a very unique style. The story is where this book could get a bit muddled. I mean how many times can we stomach someone's clothes getting blown off at least once a volume, if not more, without it becoming a cheap parlor trick? Well, the answer for now is...a lot more! This series hasn't worn out its welcome yet, seeing as how we know so little about the 31 girls in Negi's class. In this volume the spotlight focuses on Miyazaki, who is pining to declare her love to Negi, and Setsuna, a sword bearing student who is a bit of an enigma. She seems to be obsessed with Konoka, but Negi has to figure out whether she's trying to protect Konoka, or working for the Kansai faction.

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Same Old Magical Pimp, New Problems and Setting

Darn it all, I'm hooked. I can't put this damn series down for a life of me, no matter how much I tell myself that I don't like manga such as this. I like blood and guts and mature situations. I like adult titles like Berserk and Hellsing and Monster, not Negima. But Negima has somehow wormed itself between these manga and made a place all its own on my manga shelf, one that continues to grow yet one where Negima seems to hold its own.

But seriously, this is shaping up to be one heck of a manga series. After finishing the fourth volume, I've come to understand that I won't soon be disappointed by this series. It continues to stay fresh by bringing in a constant stream of characters, without overwhelming a reader too much. It has added a small element of action that wasn't found in the first couple volumes. And it has moved settings now from an all-girl's high school to a public tourist attraction.

Plus, Negima is still as funny as it was when it first started, still using a subtle adult humor and a mocking style of fan-service.

In this volume in particular, Negi takes his class on a field trip to the old Japanese capitals of Kyoto and Nara, which has since become world famous tourist attractions. Though his battle with the vampire Evangeline is on hold for now, a new dilemma has arisen for Negi, and that is finding his father, the Thousand Master. He learns the first clue may be in Kyoto. Along the way, however, he runs into a couple bumps, including a mysterious girl swordmaster who is also a student of his, some crazy paper-using wizard, a plot to kidnap Konoka, the daughter of the school's headmaster, and a student reporter who wants to know all of Negi's deepest secrets. But worst of all, Negi must confront the idea of having someone in love with him.

As for the problems with this volume, it still suffers from an over-abundance of fan-service. Even if it is comical, it always feels forced. Another problem I found with this one is the appearance of yet another character outside the student body, making it well into the thirties. It's becoming difficult to keep track of the names of the students. While the book has a handy roster at the back, when a character is brought in that isn't in that roster, it's close to impossible to remember them. The characterization is also a bit iffy on some of the characters, though Ken Akamatsu apologizes for this in his earlier volumes, saying the sheer size of the cast causes some problems with keeping things in order. As a writer, I've got to appreciate creative honesty.

With everything Negima has going for it, it's shaping up to be something instantly special (I don't want to use any cliches like "my favorite" or "instant classic"). The manga has me hungry for the anime, which is due in August through FUNimation. Though not yet perfect, I'm sure that it will always stay at least a solid four in my eyes. I recommend this to anyone seeking a change from their normal manga reading list.

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Taking a trip...

Negi takes the class on a field trip to Kyoto and Nara. People there are out to kidnap Asuna's friend Konoka, and another student has taken it upon herself to defend Konoka. Nodoka has difficulty telling Negi of her feelings for him. And a reporter-in-training finds out Negi's secret.

Paper panty-stealing monkeys, a female samurai, and a birthday surprise. The total is one excellent graphic novel.

A FIELD TRIP INTO PERIL

Ten-year-old teacher/magician Negi Springfield is looking forward to taking his class of beautiful girls to the historic cities of Kyoto and Nara?but there?s a catch! Negi?s student, Konoka, is a kidnap target of feuding magicians in those very cities. Her grandfather, the school principal, orders Negi to protect Konoka?while keeping the fact that she?s in danger a secret from the unsuspecting girl. To add to Negi?s headaches, his sword-wielding student, Setsuna, may be a spy for the kidnappers. With so much on his mind, how is a young magician to see the sights, care for a sarcastic stoat, and stay in the good graces of his hot-tempered magical partner Asuna?

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