 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 4:3 FULL SCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 625 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV PG | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 02/05/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 05/02//2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
SYNOPSIS:
Vampires, robots, sorcery…And that’s all before Gym Class! Welcome to Mahora Academy, an all-girls school where the impossible and the enchanting are a part of the curriculum. It’s the starts of anew school year and emotions run rampant as the girls of Class 2-A meet the newest staff addition – Negi Springfield. A ten-year-old Welsh born prodigy, Negi has more problems than he has students. As a wizard-in-training, this academic appointment is the final requirement in his quest to become a Magister Magorum. But if he messes things up and the girls find out, existence as an exotic ermine will be his fate! It’s mishaps and mayhem even without the magic, but the undaunted Negi won’t give up. Between his quiet determination and compassionate nature, and the talents, quirks and abilities of each of the girls, Class 2-A finds their way into and out of every predicament, redefining school spirit along the way. Friendship, adventure and life lessons are all on the agenda, and the students have just as much to teach their young professor as they have to learn. When you’re the only boy in an all girl’s school, magic’s the easy part! Six discs contain the entire 26 episodes of the first season of Negima.
REVIEW:
Based on the hit manga by Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina), Negima is a boisterous, event laden anime rich with diverse female characters and memorable adventures. It starts off with a sweetly innocent young boy who becomes the teacher at an all-girls school. Not only is he a young genius, the little fellow has a big secret: he’s a magician. But as the series unfolds, we find out he’s not the only one with secrets. His class is filled with a variety of interesting girls, each with their own story. As the anime progresses, it highlights as many of the various female characters as possible and it does it exceedingly well. There’s a vampire, a robot, a ninja, a mad scientist, a shy bookworm, a fetishist class representative, and many more. But out of all the girls, it is Asuna, the feisty girl who spends the most time with Negi, that the show focuses the most on and in the end, play’s a crucial role in the underlying story. The anime has a lot of fun and frolics with various characters, telling each of their stories in all sorts of fun and adventurous ways. There are so many individual stories and all so appealing that it’s difficult to choose just one. Personal favorites involved the arc focusing on Setsuna, the sword girl and her relationship with quiet yet resilient soft spoken Konoka, and of course the dramatic turn of events at the end of this first season. The surprises and unexpected seriousness of the twists and turns Asuna’s story takes gives the show a lot more punch than anticipated. It makes for a mesmerizing conclusion with grave matters on the line as the girls each join in a fight to save one of their own. Yet even in this most dire of circumstances, the anime still injects all kinds of comedy and fun energy as the girls take on various magical transformations in their battle. Each of their transformations is a sly parody and part homage to various other anime. When you watch it, see if you can catch all the references. Despite the fun and the big splash of action at the end, the conclusion to this first season is quite emotional and features a storyline that diverges from the original manga. It added emotional depth and effect to the overall fun anime and makes it a keeper for certain. The animation is by XEBEC who did such superb work on The Third: The Girl With the Blue Eye, Fafner, and DNAngel. The visuals in Negima are gorgeous, at times striking, and impart the warmth of the series and its plethora of characters. The magical incantations animated are fantastic and imaginative. The great diversity in the many (around 30) female characters in the show is a testament to the creativity of the character designs originally created by Ken Akamatsu and given moving life by XEBEC.
EXTRAS:
This has a plethora of bonus features including Character Profiles, Tree of the World explanations, text files explaining Japanese schools, a look at Kyoto, communal baths in Japan, Japanese values, and the City of Kyoto, Bloopers with the English Cast, clean opening and closing animation, FUNimation trailers, and humorous Schoolgirl Commentaries. The first is on episode 7 with Caitlynn Glass (Chachamaru) and Charine Harp (Kaede). Next is episode 15 with Laura Bailey (Ayaka) and Brina Palencia (Yue). And last is commentary on the final episode with ADR Director and the voice of the ermine Chamo, Chris Carson, and Trina Nishimura (the voice of Chao Linghsen).
IN SUMMARY:
A wonderfully rich and magical series about one young magician and a lot of diverse girls in one class, Negima promises adventure, drama, and a whole lot of magical intrigue. It will appeal strongly to Harry Potter fans.
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