Mahou Sensei Negima

Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, known in Japan as Magical Teacher Negima! (魔法 先生 ネギま!, Mahō Sensei Negima!) is a manga and anime series by Ken Akamatsu (known for his best selling title Love Hina) that contains a large amount of fan service/ecchi scenes. The manga is currently being published by Kodansha and serialized in Shonen Magazine in Japan. Del Rey Manga is publishing the English translated version. The anime, produced by XEBEC, aired in the first half of 2005 and is being released in the US by FUNimation Entertainment. Additionally, two OVAs have been released, produced by Shaft and GANSIS, who had produced an alternate retelling of the series, Negima!?.

Overview

Negi Springfield is a nine year old wizard (He starts out at 9 and is 10 years old as the story goes on) from Wales who dreams of becoming a Magister Magi (Approximate Latin translation: "Mage Master"), special wizards who use their powers to help normal people using covers such as working for NGOs.

Negi's reason for becoming a Magister Magi is to find his father, Nagi Springfield, the legendary mage also known as the "Thousand Master" who many believe to be dead. Though the name Thousand Master was cast into doubt in book 3 (Anime Episode 9) when Evangeline flashes back and he states he only mastered a few spells. Later, it is exposed that while his power or ability seem to be among the greatest in the magical world, he regularly uses an 'anchoko', or crib sheet, since he apparently does not bother to memorize the spells themselves.

After graduating from the Merdiana Magic Academy in Wales, he is given a duty as a cover in the real world, and training, before he actually becomes a Magister Magi. That duty is to become an English teacher at Mahora Academy in Japan. The task will not be easy, however, as Negi will become a teacher to a Middle School class of 31 older girls, each very special in her own way. The series details his time and adventures in Japan as he gains acceptance and respect from his students, helps them in their problems, and faces magical threats from inside and outside Mahora Academy.

His main relationship is with Asuna Kagurazaka, his student and roommate, who dislikes him initially but later accepts him as a friend and becomes his partner, helping find clues about his father and his life.

The series, while initially appearing to be another bishōjo work like Love Hina, has progressed into a mix of bishōjo, shōnen action, fantasy, horror, romance and comedy. Akamatsu stated that he specifically wanted to do something "different" than Love Hina. Negi himself is prepubescent, and many of his scenes with Asuna are specific subversions of the "awkward romantic scene" tendency of bishōjo manga, quickly diffused and only played for laughs. In addition, many of the girls are able to fawn over him in a childish sense without any romantic expectations from the reader.
In keeping with this style, Negi himself is seen as a contrast to Love Hina's Keitaro and other typical male leads of bishōjo manga. He is hardworking, capable, and treated kindly, but due to his appearance and age (well below most of his students), he feels completely non-threatening and finds it difficult to be taken seriously as a teacher; many of his students treat him as a cute little kid, if not a playmate.

Characters
The Class of 3A (formerly 2A)
Teacher: Negi Springfield, is the teacher of class 3A (formerly 2A) of Mahora Academy Middle School. (more information will be added.)Students: There are 31 pupils in his class, all girls, all attractive in their own way, each with their own distinctive personalities & some who aren't even human!
Student Number 1: Sayo Aisaka, the hapless and meek yurei (yurei: more facts about this subject) . 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 is an athletic girl who plays basketball and is a friend of Makie Sasaki, Ako Izumi and Akira Ookouchi who are also in sports clubs. She loves her father who happens to be a professor. (It is unclear if the professor works at the Mahora Academy.)
Student Number 3: Kazumi Asakura, the resident class reporter. She likes to get the inside scoop on everything that goes on. Always has a camera on hand. She is also one of the few girls in the class to know of Negi's secret, which she found out while investigating who proclaimed their love to Negi. She is currently staying silent about it, and is occasionally seen plotting with Chamo. Another note: Kazumi is 1 of the 5 girls in the class who have big breasts and has the fourth largest breasts in the class.
Student Number 4: Yue Ayase, the cool slacker. Despite being talented, she hates studying and keeps being in the bottom of the class grades. 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 it out the clues and strange incidents since Negi arrive & she was the one who call 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 likes to play soccer. She also works as a school nurse's assistant. 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 sports clubs. She is also the coach of the boy's soccer club.
Student Number 6: Akira Ookouchi is a very athletic, shy swimmer in the swimming club and is a friend of Makie Sasaki, Ako Izumi & Yuuna Akashi who are also in sports clubs. She resembles Motoko Aoyama of Love Hina.
Student Number 7: Misa Kakizaki is one of the three cheerleaders in the class. She is a friend of Madoka and Sakurako and 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. 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 (Heterochromia iridis: image:iris_sectorial_iridis.jpgthumbright180pxan example of sectorial heterochromia iridis...[follow hyperlink for more...]) and her eyes are blue and green. This is considerably more noticeable in the anime, as while in the anime the two are quite different colors, the eye colors are fairly similar to each other in the manga version. (See Note on Color Changes) 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 a little brother to her and Asuna being 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. The only time the sword was seen when Asuna was worried and tried to save Negi from the sharks in chapter 61, which means emotions play a role to her summoning the sword. She has immunity to most magic against her such as the effects of a love potion or a petrification spell. Asuna may have met the Thousand Master as a child before which may explain her strong magic immunity.
Student Number 9: Misora Kasuga is a tomboy in the track & field club. She sometimes wears a nun's uniform.
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, 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, on her own will, taking care of people and animals (she is looking after a pack of stray cats). She is also in the Go (japanese chess) and Tea ceremony clubs, but only because Eva is in those clubs too.
Student Number 11: Madoka Kugimiya, is the serious one of the three cheerleaders in the class. She is their leader and the 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 (Avril Lavigne: more facts about this subject) but hates playboys, and is mildly obsessed with her husky voice.
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" where 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 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).
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.
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 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. 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 kind person to everyone, volunteers at the daycare in Mahora City & is in the Astronomy club. 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 invetions 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 (Go: A board game for two players who place counters on a grid; the object is to surround and so capture the opponent's counters) & 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. 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.