Negima!: Magister Negi Magi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is for the manga series by Ken Akamatsu and its related works. While the spin-off series Negima!? does not redirect here, technical limitations may cause you to be redirected here anyway.
Magical Teacher Negima!
Image from the manga
魔法先生ネギま！
(Mahō Sensei Negima!)
Genre Harem, Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Supernatural
Manga
Authored by Ken Akamatsu
Publisher Japan Kodansha
Canada United States Del Rey Manga
Tanoshimi
Other publishers:
Serialized in JapanWeekly Shonen Magazine
Malaysia Weekly Comic 漫畫周刊
Original run February 26, 2003 – ongoing
No. of volumes 17, with 158 total chapters (as of November, 2006)
OVA: Mahō Sensei Negima! Introduction Film
Directed by Hiroshi Nishikiori
Studio XEBEC
No. of episodes 3
Released August 25, 2004; December 22, 2004; March 24, 2005
Runtime
TV anime
Directed by Nagisa Miyazaki
Studio XEBEC
Network TV Tokyo
Original run January 6, 2005 – June 29, 2005
No. of episodes 26
OVA: Negima!? Spring Special!?
Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo
Studio Studio Shaft
No. of episodes 1
Released 2006-10-25
Runtime
OVA: Negima!? Summer Special!?
Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo
Studio Studio Shaft
No. of episodes 1
Released 2006-11-22
Runtime

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, which 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 Studio Shaft and GANSIS, who are also producing an alternate retelling of the series, Negima!?.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Negi Springfield is a ten year old wizard from Wales who dreams of becoming a Magister Magorum (latin translation: teacher of magic), special wizards who use their powers to help normal people using covers such as working for NGOs. Negi's reason for becoming a Magister is to find his father, Nagi Springfield, the legendary mage also known as the "Thousand Master" who many believe to be dead.

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 Magorum. 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 guardian, helping find clues about his father and his life.

During initial press releases, some criticized the premise of the series, noting an extremely large cast for a bishōjo series and fears Negi himself (who appeared to be the standard male lead in a harem comedy) would be a forgettable character [citation needed].

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. This coupled with the initial comments of Akamatsu that he specifically wanted to do something "different" than Love Hina has fueled fan speculation. Some feel the current turn in mood for the manga reflects Akamatsu's 'real' vision of the series, and the initial setup was just a ruse to placate the publishers expecting a bishōjo series. Similarly, Love Hina took a turn for the surreal during its later run. Others point to the set up of the series making the classic 'shipping' tendencies within such manga moot. 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.

Ironically, Negi himself is seen as subversion to leads like Love Hina's Keitaro and other bishōjo males. 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 or playmate (If not plaything).

[edit] Characters

Main article: Characters of Negima

[edit] Anime

[edit] Introduction OVAs

Before the beginning of the series, three OVAs were produced for the sole purpose of introducing the characters. The first two were released on DVD bundled with two drama CDs, with the third being sold separately. It is unknown if these will ever be released outside of Japan.

[edit] First television series

The anime began airing in Japan on January 6, 2005 and ended June 29, 2005. The anime showed certain events of manga volumes 1-6 but mostly in a different manner. The anime also created its own reasons for certain events happening, which differs from the manga. It currently airs as part of the FUNimation programming block on CoLours TV.

Color changes

The conversion from manga to anime has left several characters hair colors changed. The changes are as follows: Chisame's hair color (Bright orange hair in the manga, but has dark green hair in the anime), Misa (light brown hair in the manga, but purple hair in the anime) and Yuna's hair color (black hair in manga, bright brown in the anime). It is thought by some fans that the color changes may reflect a need of the animators to identify characters. It was officially noted that Misa is meant to have purple hair, as the hair color is carried on to the games and related materials. She is the only character whose hair color change was made permanent.

Filler

In order to bring a true ending to the series, starting approximately halfway through episode XXII and continuing until the end of the series, original work was created for the series. The content is extremely controversial, as it involved "killing off" one of the main characters, in an otherwise light-hearted series.

Anime revisions

Due to protests against the animation in Mahōu Sensei Negima!, the DVD release has been revised from the TV version. Various episodes have redrawn characters, expressions, scenes, and even a few episodes have been redrawn completely. Despite early rumors, there are no dialog or storyline changes. FUNimation used this version for their English release of the series.

[edit] Spring and Summer OVAs

Two OVAs directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and produced by Studio Shaft have been announced, a Spring OVA and a Summer OVA. The Spring OVA called Negima Haru! was shown to a private audience in Japan in April 2006 and was released for the public in DVD in October 25 2006. It is based on the trip to the Southern Islands in volume 7 of the manga. The story is about how Negi made up to Asuna after saying to Asuna that she shouldn't mind his bussiness.

The Summer (Natsu) OVA was also be shown to a private audience in September 2006, and the DVD was released in November 22 2006. The beginning is about Nodoka and Yue practicing casting spell. While training, Yue convince Nodoka that they casting a red string of fate spell on Nodoka. A spell which shows them whose their fate is. One end connect to Nodoka and the other end connect to Negi. Unfortunatly, this spell isn’t a fate connection, but it just connects two people with a red string. This OVA is about how Nodoka and Negi spend the rest of the day trying to take their bath, while their hands are tie together.

Hair color changes

Just like in the Manga to Anime conversion, the hair color on various girls was changed. They go as follow - Sayo Aisaka - White to an extremely Light Blue; Yuna Akashi - Bright to Sienna Brown; Akira Okochi - Black to Sienna Brown; Kasuga Misora - Red to Grey; Sakurako Shiina - Red to Yellow/Blonde; Chao Lingshen - Black to Blue; Chisame Hasegawa - Green to Brown; Natsumi Murakami - Red to Turquoise; Satsuki Yotsuba - Brown to a Dusty Grey Brown.

[edit] Second television series

Main article: Negima!?

A second series was announced on May 9, 2006 to be developed by Shaft, and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, the director of Pani Poni Dash! and Tsukuyomi - Moon Phase. It started airing in Japan on October 4, 2006, and works more like an alternate retelling of the original story with different character designs and an all new storyline.

[edit] Manga

In the US and Canada, the manga is licensed and published in English by Del Rey Manga. Publishers in other countries and languages include Tong Li in Hong Kong, Chuang Yi in Singapore, Play Press Publishing in Italy, Pika Édition in France, EMA in Germany, Glénat in Spain, Editora JBC in Brazil, and Tanoshimi in the UK.

[edit] English Version

Negima! was involved in a controversy surrounding the censorship of the English-translated manga in North America, typical of Akamatsu's penchant for fanservice and risqué humor. Fans fell upon initial rumors of potential edits by Del Rey, and upon receiving news of this, immediately began fighting against the changes. The compromise reached was to release the book uncensored but shrink-wrapped, which some collectors feel can cause damage to the books. [1]

Del Rey's releases contain fully translated versions of the omakes found in the Japanese versions (which include character sketches, fan art, and information about spells and related concepts), as well as various notes about Japanese culture and other things of interest not found in the original omakes.

[edit] Translation Mistakes[original research?]

There are a number of inconsistencies found in the Del Rey translation of Negima!. While Del Rey makes a strong attempt at communicating, as fully as possible, the cultural and lingual nuances of the manga - most notably in the inclusion and explanation of the various honorifics - the translation, and the explanatory notes in the back of each volume periodically demonstrate misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

Part of this can be attributed to Del Rey's adaptation process, where a translated script is adapted into colloquial English by a different author. The first four volumes of Negima! were adapted by Peter David and his wife Kathleen; later volumes were adapted by Trish Ledoux.

  • Thousand Master/Southern Master
In the first volume, the Del Rey translation refers to the Thousand Master as the Thousand Master, and mention that it is said he knows a thousand spells. In the third volume, they refer to a "Southern Master", who supposedly knew a thousand spells. Negi also identifies the "Southern Master" as his father. Del Rey has verified that they are in fact the same person, and it was improperly translated in volumes 3 and 4, since in Katakana, "Thousand" (サウザンド) and "Southern" (サザン) looked about the same to the translator. The translator in question has been replaced, and subsequent editions of volumes 3 and 4 have this correction.
  • Mistranslated Names
In the first two volumes of the Del Rey translation, Chachamaru's surname is given as "Rakuso". However, in Volume 3, her surname is listed as "Karakuri". This actually stems from the fact that with the kanji that make up her name, the most common pronunciation of each is as "Raku" and "Sō". This is common, as many kanji have multiple ways of pronouncing them. Making use of some of the audio CDs released in Japan, the proper pronunciation of Chachamaru's surname is "Karakuri".
Satomi's surname has been changed from Del Rey's "Nakase" to "Hakase" in the Del Rey translations. The proper spelling is Hakase, and the first character can never be pronounced as "Na", so the most likely conclusion is a simple typo: It is entirely possible that the editors of the first volume didn't notice that it was an N in the first volume.
Misa Kakizaki is actually listed as Kakizaki Misa. Knowing that in Japan, the surname does come first in speaking and in lists, this could be nothing to worry about. However, in several areas (volume 1/chapter 3 and some time in volume 4 on one of the chapter pages) Kakizaki's name is listed as Misa Kakizaki. It is unknown exactly why they have such different placements, but going by the Japanese version, Kakizaki is the surname, with Misa as the given name.
In the initial printing of volume 5, during chapter 43, the "Character Popularity Poll," and the "Botched Card" omake section, Ayaka's surname is mistakenly listed as "Hiroyuki," rather than the correct name, "Yukihiro." Also in the "Character Popularity Poll," Chizuru is listed as "Chitsuru," Sakurako's surname is listed as "Shina," Sayo's surname is listed as "Azaka," and Natsumi's surname is listed as "Muragami."
  • Mistranslated Latin
The second volume of Del Rey's translation of Negima! states that the Latin subtitle "Magister Negi Magi" means "Wizard Negi-Sensei." It also defines the "Magi" as "magical." "Magi" is a form of the Latin word "magus" ("magician" or "mage"), but the "Magi" in "Magister Negi Magi" does not grammatically agree with "Negi" or "Magister" if it is used as an adjective.
The original Japanese version of the second manga volume defines the "Magister" as "先生" ("teacher" or "master"), and "Magi" as "魔法使いの" ("of the mage"). It also defines "Magister Magi" as "魔法使いの達人" ("Master of the Mage" or "Mage Master"). Those translations are acceptable. "Magister Negi Magi" can mean "Mage Master Negi" (if "Magi" is interpreted as a Genitive of Quality with no adjective). This error is most likely due to a misunderstanding of the difference between linguistic idioms between Latin and Japanese. While Latin cases are, in many cases, parallel to Japanese particles, the translator had overlooked the fact that the genitive used as an appositive, which is acceptable and in fact required in Japanese, does not apply to Latin. (Incidentally, Negi's name is Latinized as "Negius" [Latin genitive, singular form: "Negii")], so "Magister Negius Magi" would have been a more consistent Latin title.)
For the most part, the Latin phrases used in Negima! are meaningful and correct. (One notable exception is the "MACINATRIX" on Satomi's "Charta Ministralis" or "Attendant Card." That should be "MACHINATRIX" ["mechanic"].) However, the interpretations of the Latin phrases in the Del Rey translation are mostly inaccurate. For instance, the second volume claims that "Magister Magi" means "magical people," but "magical people" is "homines magi" in Latin. One possible reason for the many inaccuracies is that the translators did not actually translate the Latin words directly, but rather they translated the Japanese translations of the Latin translations. If that is the case, then that can be a problem with Latin words such as "adeat," which is translated into Japanese as "kitare" (English: "come" used as an imperative form). "Adeat" is a subjunctive form, not an imperative form, of the Latin verb "adire" ("to approach," "to draw near"), so it can be translated as "Let him/her/it approach," but not simply "Approach."
  • Nita/Nitsuta/Nitta
In the Del Rey translation of the Negima! manga, Nitta-sensei's name was translated erroneous numerous times. Nita and Nitsuta were the two errors made before the actual name, Nitta, was discovered. The reasoning requires some knowledge of the Japanese language. Nitsuta and Nitta look very similar in hiragana or katakana because the only difference is the size of the tsu character. A smaller tsu character indicates doubles consonants, while a regular-sized tsu indicates "tsu"

[edit] Trivia

In order to meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article's trivia section requires cleanup.
Content in the trivia section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article.
Trademarks that were not changed, however, include Sony, Docomo, Toshiba, Microsoft Windows (it appeared numerous times in the manga, apparently they have used Ken's computer's windows to be inserted into the manga), Nikon, Segway, Adobe, and Kyocera.
  • In addition, a number of cameos of vehicles and characters from a variety of series can be seen during the Mahora festival. Mostly costumes, and mock-ups (most of them working) made by the many students at the academy. Most cameos were restricted to background elements in the crowds, or heavily modified with only a basic, but unmistakable resemblance. Modified vehicles included a De Lorean DMC-12 modified into a time machine, an MS-06 Zaku II, and an insect-like walker that resembles an AT-AT.
Cameo appearances include Terry Bogard (Fatal Fury), M. Bison (Street Fighter), Cody Travers (Final Fight), and Benimaru Nikaido (King of Fighters) (all the above appear before the beginning of the tournament). Another cameo appearance appears in the panel where Negi and Kotaro are pointed out as kids being no more than fourth or fifth graders. In the background, Seta and Naru Narusegawa from Love Hina can be found during the Mahora Fight Out preliminaries between Negi and Kotaro (Volume 10). References to characters in popular game or anime series are also present, and these include Cure Black and Cure White from Pretty Cure, Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII, Pleinair (Disgaea 2), EVA-01 (Evangelion),Ridley (Radiata Stories), Sakura Kasugano (Street Fighter), Athena Asamiya (King of Fighters), Mint Adnade (Tales of Phantasia), and Anita and Hisami (R.O.D the TV).

There are also cameo appearances of popular Toei tokusatsu heroes. Kamen Rider Black, Riderman and Super Sentai's J.A.K.Q.

  • On the bookshelves of Konoe Eishun's lab, various things can be seen on the binders of the books such as the Negima! cast's seiyuu's names and Love Hina volumes going as high as volume 19.
  • In volume 2, when 2-A is declared first place in the tests classification, a chibi version of Mitsune Konno (Kitsune) from Love Hina can be seen in a certain panel, throwing her tickets in the air, as she usually does when loses a bet.
  • In volume 4, at the time when Konoka tells Asuna and Negi about her relationship with Setsuna, in one panel, a younger Setsuna is seen holding on to someone who looks like Motoko Aoyama and Tsuruko from Love Hina, which makes sense because both Setsuna and Motoko studied the Shinmeiryuu Style.
  • In volume 4, chapter 34 the last chapter. Haitani Masayuki made a cameo appearance. Negi saves a cat from being hit by a van by flipping it in the air with a spell. Negi then looks at the condition of the crashed van's driver. The driver's appearance is consistent with Haitani's appearance during the Love Hina epilogue.
  • On the back of volume 8, Chizuru is seen with an apron that has Tama from Love Hina on the apron.
  • Love Hina volume 10 has a reference to a "television show Naru saw last year about the cute teacher and his troublesome students" when Keitaro, the protagonist of Love Hina, asks Naru, the other protagonist, why she became a teacher. It was 1999 when she saw the show, Negima! aired in 2005, and Volume 10 was published in 2000, three years before Negima! volume 1 was published.
  • During the time when Satomi hacked into Chachamaru's database in hopes of finding out something about her crush, the operating system shown is a Windows XP using Classic layout. Chisame uses a Mac (erroneously identified as Windows by Del Rey), which is presumably modeled after Akamatsu's own machine since the source code for his website is seen on screen.
  • Some of the objects in the manga were modeled (in Lightwave 3D) after real-life objects to maintain a standard of realism. That includes the school building, the Tatsumiya Shrine (which was based on another shrine), the bridge (in the battle of Evangeline and Negi), the World Tree, the red fountain pen Asuna held in her hand, and other objects. The bowling alley that appears in Vol. 7 is a re-use of background artwork from a similar scene in Love Hina.
  • Transportation is realistically modeled in the manga, which is unusual since manga like these usually overlook it in favor of objects that appear more often. Examples are the Toyota Hiace (late 4th generation) van in the Kyoto arc and Takahata's Dodge Viper (2003), which are the only road vehicles other than Ayaka's limousine and the trams that have appeared so far. The art of the vehicles are arguably better than some street-racing manga, which usually focus more on vehicle art.
  • There are several references to Ken Akamatsu’s first manga Ai ga Tomaranai also known as A.I. Love You. In Vol. 9 Period 75 Hakase Satomi went into a mad scientist ranting rationalizing how Chachamaru Karakuri could have fallen in love. In her dialogue she mentions a rumor of a brother-sister team from M.I.T. that created A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) with feelings. The siblings could be Hitoshi Kobe and Yayoi Kobe. The teacher known as Nitta, Director of Academy External Activities, character design appears to be an aged version of Hitoshi Kobe’s strict math teacher. The cyberspace Chisame, Ayaka and Makie entered in Period 152 when Chisame used her artifact is an ocean environment. In Period 154 data and programs in this cyberspace water environment are depicted as sea life. A reference to Ai ga Tomaranai/A.I. Love You cyberspace that is depicted as a water sea environment when the A.I. Namba sisters enter it.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Negima to not be censored. Anime News Network. Retrieved on 20 September 2006.

[edit] External links

Official Sites
Fan Sites


Negima!
Series: Negima!: Magister Negi Magi | Negima!?
Characters: Negi Springfield | Students 1–15 | Students 16–31 | Other characters
Other: Episode list | Magic | Items and artifacts | Music
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../m/a/g/Negima%21%7E_Magister_Negi_Magi_6eb1.html"