Mahou Sensei Negima is about a 10 year old boy who becomes a teacher in an all girl class. Not only that, but he's a mage!? Now that is something worthwhile....So I thought.
Negima is your typical harem mixed in with a supposed twist of 'adventure'. As people say it is a good series, but not as well thought of I say. Why? Well, honestly, it feels lacking the spirit of shonen despite being a harem. Ken Akamatsu just went "Here! A group of girls and a 10 year old boy who will be constantly teased in ecchi moments. I know! I'll give him magic powers! How about it? Would you like a cup of tea?". Though, as interesting as Negi looks, he bears too much of a typical archetype. For now I'll leave that off in the character section. Now lets get into the story.
-STORY-
The crucial part of every manga is the story. If it is not interesting enough, than it is revised. If it is, then it is published. The story of Negima is actually nice when you take off the Ecchi flakes and the Character nuts. I overall thought the nice concept of a boy looking for his father and grow to be like him one day. As much as I like seeing giant mechs and large festivals, if feels too out of place since it's only 2002 there. Another notable thing Ken Akamatsu does is the whole "Train->Travel->Big Festival->Tournament->Enemy Fight->Repeat" which isn't really as enjoyable as it sounds.
We are provided with nice points and concepts of magic and how it is supposedly not to be revealed and the whole run down of the story. Though the downside is that it leaves too many plot holes. The Story is indeed nice, but not as well thought out. Oh, and its comedy is very weak. But also, it is trying to copy dragon ball, though it isn't doing a very good job. It's more watered down when it comes to fight sequences.
-ART-
Alright, now this is where Negima hits hard! The art is indeed well drawn and well developed. From Anatomy, to Design, I have to say I would be utterly blown. I enjoyed the designs of the ships and monsters and overall style. But enough with the complements! The art may be great, but it gives off a rather unnatural feel to it. Take a character pose for instance, when drawn, they look and feel as if they are stiff and robotic with either hands clenched or fingers pursed together instead of a natural, relaxed, believable pose. Rather than having a normal standing stance, it looks like they were ripped off of a "How to draw a character standing stationary" tutorial. As for its perspective, it's nothing really to praise since it uses simple angles. There is an over dosage of screen-tones that it makes a Shojo manga look as if it uses less than 10 screen tones. The art also feels very computerized and too smooth for me than hand drawn and natural. Overall, it's pretty, but rather unnatural in my opinion.
-CHARACTER-
This category is what I hate the most. I could write a whole page on how horrible Negi's whole design may be despite being original. But I'll do My Summary on him.
Lets Look at the Protagonist shall we?
Negi, a ten year old boy who is a teacher and a mage learns a an extraordinary rate. Sounds normal right? Wrong. Sounds typical. Negi may be 10 and he may be a mage, but that doesn't do any good for being "extraordinarily fast" at learning. What's bad about him is that he does what practically every main character does. Pull stuff out of no where. Sure they showed him training and stuff, but at some parts later, he starts doing moves that hasn't even been shown to be learned. His character development is rushed and not cooked out well. He grows at an exponential rate that it's annoying. He learns a dangerous technique and then busts it out, then pulls out ridiculous spells that he hasn't even show to be learning. This is what I hate about some main characters. They grow too fast because they want more power and try way too hard. He is leaning towards the typical archetype.
Now lets go with the overall characters. Lets just say this. They are the freaking same. Everyone is either cocky or super respectful. It goes rather like The protagonist just pops into town and then immediately, all the characters go "I respect this man/woman even though I don't know you!" or "Gee willickers! You're Strong!". It's either that or they become the center of attention way too much. If they are cocky characters they go "I go beat you up now!" and then get their butts handed over to them. Not to mention your constant deus ex machina's in the story along with Name summoning(Character shouts name, character whose name was shouted appears).
Now let focus on some important characters. Some characters are "too much" of one thing. For instance, a recent character who is practically the embodiment of arrogance. Not only that, but considerably the "wise man" type of character. A character who knows everything and supposedly reveals everything gradually. The bad thing is, he knows too much and reveals too much. Rather than keeping his mouth type, he just tells the main character practically everything rather than saying "You can't handle the truth!" to him. Again, he falls victim of the whole "respectful spell" and practically respected Negi when they first met.
Characters also tend to go "Can I have your autograph? I'm a big fan!". Negima really does have a lot of "big fans" in the story.
Overall, the characters are rather annoying. Rather than rather, they are overall annoying. They tend to be less human with nearly no separate personalities and has a "respectful spell" cast on them. The only person who holds doubt is Negi Springfield, but then he is overdone and tries far too hard. Villains are cocky, but somehow hold some respect towards their enemy. Practically everyone is a pervert some way or another, subtle or not. Not one character can't go around without being;
a)Cocky
b)Over respectful
c)Perverted
d)A big fan
e)All of the above (A cocky, over respectful, perverted, big fan.)
That is all.
-ENJOYMENT-
Lets keep this short. I liked the story a bit despite plot holes. I like the Art despite the awkward poses. I hate practically the side characters and dislike how the Protagonist is made. How do you think I enjoyed this? Well, I enjoy this as much as a person who is trying to pass time for the sake of burning time. Not enjoyment. I say I have had a fair share of enjoyment from this manga.
-OVERALL-
I recommend it to be read by those who enjoy ecchi, harems and so called "adventure". I don't recommend it for those who love pure Shonen like ONE PIECE or DRAGON BALL or a character that grows at a rather exponential rate instead of let them take their time. Ken Akamatsu, honestly is trying to hard to copy DRAGON BALL.
