{"id":245732,"date":"2025-05-18T16:17:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T16:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/anime\/back-to-the-vaults-negima-magister-negi-magi-manga-review-astronerdboys-anime-manga-blog\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T16:17:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T16:17:12","slug":"back-to-the-vaults-negima-magister-negi-magi-manga-review-astronerdboys-anime-manga-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=245732","title":{"rendered":"Back to the Vaults: “Negima! Magister Negi Magi” Manga Review – AstroNerdBoy’s Anime & Manga Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Back to the Vaults: Negima! Magister Negi Magi Review
\u9b54\u6cd5\u5148\u751f \u30cd\u30ae\u307e\uff01<\/strong>
Mahou Sensei Negima!<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a fan of AKAMATSU Ken-sensei\u2019s Love Hina manga, it was only natural that I would then gravitate to his Negima! Magister Negi Magi<\/strong><\/em> manga series. Admittedly, the first two volumes of the manga are fluff, but by volume 3, things turn good. Indeed, I became such a fan, I eagerly sought out spoilers.<\/p>\n

However, by September 8, 2013<\/a>, it became clear to me that since spoiler images out of Japan didn\u2019t stay up long, I wanted a place to save them for folks. Further, since I worked nights, it seemed logical for me to just put them up on the blog. I never thought it would take off as it did, but there you go. Good times.<\/p>\n

Still, it has been a while since I last read the manga series. As such, I wondered how it holds up today.<\/p>\n

\u2013> Buy\u00a0Negima! Magister Negi Magi<\/em> Manga from Amazon.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Story, in Brief<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Negima<\/a>Negi Springfield is a precocious, nearly 10 year old boy from Wales, England. Officially, he is sent to Mahora Academy girls junior high school to teach English. Unofficially, he\u2019s sent there to continue his training and evaluation as a mage. Due to his age, he\u2019s forced to reside in the girls dorm with KAGURAZAKA Asuna and her roommate, KONOE Konoka.<\/p>\n

Asuna soon discovers that Negi is a mage. Ultimately, she decides to keep his secret. However, when another of Negi\u2019s students turns out to be the notorious, immortal vampire Evangeline A.K. McDowell, Asuna agrees to become Negi\u2019s first partner, allowing her to fight at his side.<\/p>\n

As time goes on, more and more of his students learn his secret. Many of them end up becoming a partner of Negi, each gaining a unique artifact as a result. Negi grows in power, but as an orphan, he looks to find info on his father. This results in a trip for him and his battle harem to the magic world. There, they discover the secret of the magic world and Asuna\u2019s connection to it.<\/p>\n

It Gets Good in Volume 3<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Japanese<\/a>While there\u2019s nothing wrong with the first two volumes of Negima! Magister Negi Magi<\/strong><\/em>, they aren\u2019t more than mere fluff and table setting. Indeed, as I reread these first two volumes, I was struck by how different many of the girls are here compared to when they get their own storyline, such as Eva in volume 3.<\/p>\n

Speaking of that third volume, this is when the manga rises above some shouta harem comedy series to something more serious. This is when we get introduced to Evangeline A.K. McDowell and her partner, the android powered by magic and science, Chachamaru. It turns out that Negi\u2019s father captured the notorious vampire, but rather than cash in on the reward, he put a curse on her to make her powerless on a magical front, yet also compelled to act as a guard of sorts for Mahora.<\/p>\n

From there, the Kyoto arc was quite good, introducing us to reoccurring villain, Fate. We get a short arc where the demon Graf Wilheim challenges Negi. That\u2019s followed by the VERY long School Festival arc, which includes the first tournament fight of the series. It also foreshadows events to come since the final day of the festival is a fight to prevent magic from getting revealed to the world.<\/p>\n

Magic World Forward<\/strong><\/h4>\n

By the time Negima! Magister Negi Magi<\/strong><\/em> reaches the Magic World arc (with its various sub-arcs, making it the longest arc in the manga), the series is at a high. Indeed, the events on the Magic World are quite interesting and entertaining. Unfortunately, this is where things start faltering a bit, which is more evident in hindsight rather than on an initial read-through.<\/p>\n

\"Negima!<\/a><\/p>\n

For a start, after Negi\u2019s party gets separated, Akamatsu-sensei only touches the stories of the other girls, and then, usually giving just enough information to indicate what they\u2019ve been doing. But we never get to SEE this in action, which is unfortunate in my mind. The exception to this is Yue, who gets her own, detailed story arc on the Magic World since her memories were accidentally wiped for a time. Yue\u2019s story is amazing, and I think watching getting to read the other girl\u2019s adventures would have been amazing as well.<\/p>\n

Next is Negi\u2019s mother, Arika. Until well into the Magic World arc, Negi\u2019s mother is never mentioned. His infamous, heroic father is all that\u2019s talked about. Then out of the blue, we find out that Negi\u2019s mother is just as famous as his father, if not more so in some regards. That leads to my first major problem of the manga (though it isn\u2019t enough to kill my love of the series).<\/p>\n

The Arika Problem<\/strong><\/p>\n

Up until well into the Magic World arc of Negima! Magister Negi Magi<\/strong><\/em>, the only parent talked about by Negi or others \u201cin the know\u201d around him was his father Nagi, the \u201cThousand Master.\u201d I always found this odd, and it lead to my \u201cNegi is Nagi\u201d theory that I\u2019ll talk about in a bit. That aside, it was pretty much out of the blue when suddenly, there was mention of Negi\u2019s mother. Not only that, but she was just as famous as Negi\u2019s dad. What?!<\/p>\n

\"Negima<\/a><\/p>\n

To be fair, on its own, I love the story of Nagi and Arika together, both when she was the royal leader of a doomed country, and afterward, when she\u2019s officially an executed woman who travels with her husband\u2019s group, Ala Rubra. Unfortunately, when this backstory is shoehorned into the Negima!<\/strong><\/em> storyline, it causes a major problem, namely Eva.<\/p>\n

Early on, we learned that Eva knew and traveled with Nagi in her child form. She didn\u2019t seem to reveal the truth of who she was. Then later, Eva is in her magically created adult form as the notorious \u201cHigh Daylight Walker\u201d vampire when she falls into Nagi\u2019s trap and gets cursed, but NOT turned in for the bounty on her head.<\/p>\n

Further, members of Ala Rubra knew and trusted Eva. Takamachi-sensei told Negi he could seek out Eva for advice. Al enjoyed teasing her, as did Jack. Throughout it all, it was heavily implied that Eva spent a great deal of time with Ala Rubra. Yet she never saw Arika. Eva never knew Nagi was married to Arika. There\u2019s really no way for Eva to travel around with Ala Rubra, become very friendly with them if Arika was in the picture. Indeed, Akamatsu-sensei tries to brush all of this off when Eva learns this information at Al\u2019s tea party. Nevertheless, Eva and Arika cannot co-exist based on how the manga started vs. how it ended.<\/p>\n

Negi is Nagi Theory<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Although Negima! Magister Negi Magi<\/strong><\/em> went the route of Nagi getting possessed, I\u2019m still not convinced that the original plan for Nagi was to disguise himself as Negi and claim to be his own son. Everything in the manga was set up to make this happen.<\/p>\n