Negima!: Magister Negi Magi

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Magical Teacher Negima!
Image from the manga
魔法 先生 ネギま！
(Mahō Sensei Negima!)
Genre Harem, Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Shōnen, Supernatural
Manga
Authored by Ken Akamatsu
Publisher Japan Kodansha
Serialized in Flag of JapanWeekly Shonen Magazine

Flag of Malaysia Weekly Comic 漫畫周刊
Original run February 26, 2003 – ongoing
No. of volumes 18, with 167 total chapters (as of March, 2007)
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
TV anime
Directed by Nagisa Miyazaki
Studio XEBEC
Network JapanTV Tokyo
Original run January 6, 2005 – June 29, 2005
No. of episodes 26
OVA: Mahō Sensei Negima! Spring Special!?
Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo
Studio Shaft
No. of episodes 1
Released 2006-10-25
OVA: Mahō Sensei Negima! Summer Special!?
Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo
Studio Shaft
No. of episodes 1
Released 2006-11-22


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 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 Magi (Latin translation: master 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 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 guardian, 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. 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.

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 or playmate (If not plaything).

[edit] Characters

Main article: Characters of Negima

Negima includes a wide array of characters, including the 31 students from Class 2A. Like many classes, Negi's students have your typical array of smart students, idiots, bookworms, athletes and cheerleaders. However, Negi's class also includes several martial artists and ninjas, a vampire, a robot, a ghost, at least one demon, a web idol and even a time traveler. Many of these girls are immediately drawn into Negi's world of magic, some of whom teach him things he never learned in schools, others who are much closer to him than even Negi realizes at first. But not all of Negi's problems are found within the classroom: living in a world with many styles of rival magic, demons and other sorts of chaos, he and his students eventually find themselves drawn in to one after another incidents and situations. But ultimately, Negi's magic and training connects him to his father Nagi and his courageous warriors, whom he hopes to follow in the footsteps of someday.

[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.

The first OAV is a re-enactment of the first chapter, where Negi first learns of his job as a teacher and is introduced to the students of Mahora Academy 2-A. It ends with profiles of the Baka Rangers (Asuna, Makie, Yue, Ku Fei and Kaede) as well as Ayaka.

The second OAV is a re-enactment of the "love potion" incident of chapter 2, with profiles at the end of Nodoka, Konoka, the cheerleaders (Misa, Madoka, Sakurako) as well as Kazumi.

The third OAV is a re-enactment of chapter 13: Negi's Mahora tour with the Narutaki twins. The tour shows Negi to several of the students (Yuna, Akira, Chao, Satsuki, Satomi, Chizuru, Natsumi, Zazie) as well as others that he ends up missing (Sayo, Evangeline, Chachamaru, Chisame, Misora, Ako) After being chewed out by Haruna for completely skipping her, a final scene introduces Setsuna and Mana, keeping watch from something on campus.

[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), Shizuna-sensei,(blond or yellow-colored hair in the manga, blue 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), along with the Narutaki twins (orange hair in the manga, pink in the anime-Fumika's hair covers are also yellow instead of white). 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.

Storyline changes

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. The redraws are minor, and fix errors like in episode 16 Makie has six fingers in a scene. 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 released, 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 makes up to Asuna after saying to Asuna that she shouldn't mind his business.

It's a running gag throughout the special in which Setsuna keeps ending up right behind Konoka when she's bent over and Setsuna gets a front row view of her backside. She continues to react to it in such a manner that might lead one to question her sexuality.

The Summer (Natsu) OVA was also 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 a spell. While training, Yue convinces Nodoka that they cast a spell of the red string of fate on Nodoka. A spell which shows them who her future partner will be. One end connects to Nodoka and the other end connects to Negi. Unfortunately, this spell isn’t a fate connection, but just a tie-up. The rest of the OVA is about how Nodoka and Negi spend the rest of the day trying to take their bath while their hands are tied together. The bath house depicted in this OVA is a parody to the one depicted in Spirited Away although the "creatures" are working on treadmills.

Both OAVs see various changes in hair and eye color of some of the students, changes that are also used for Negima!?

[edit] Second television series

Main article: Negima!?

A second series was announced on May 9, 2006 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, Tanoshimi in the UK, and Level Comics part of Gramedia Group in Indonesia.

In Malaysia, the malay version of the Negima books are retranslations off the Chinese edition. Evidence shows the names of the characters in Chinese style, such as Asuna as Shenlao Asuna and Konoka as Munai Xiang.

However, instead of printing "Ken Akamatsu" as the author, the name Chesong Jian is used. It is currently known that Chesong Jian is actually a mandarin translation of Akamatsu's name in kanji.

[edit] Chinese/ Malay version

The names of the characters are translated as follows (kanji to pinyin):

Aisaka Sayo: Xiāngbǎn Xeye; Akashi Yūna: Míngshí Yùnài; Asakura Kazumi: Zhāocāng Héměi; Ayase Yūe: Línglài Xīyìng; Izumi Ako: Héquán Yàzǐ; Ōkōchi Akira: Dàhénèi Jing; Kakizaki Misa: Shìqí Měishā; Kagurazaka Asuna: Shényuèbǎn Míngrìcài; Kasuga Misora: Chūnrì Měikōng; Karakuri Chachamaru: Luòqiāo Chácháwán; Kugimiya Modoka: Dīnggōng Yuán; Ku Fei: Gǔ Fēi; Konoe Konoka: Jìnwèi Mùnǎixiāng; Saotome Haruna: Zǎoyǐnǚ Chunai; Sakurazaki Setsuna: Sakurazaki Shānà; Sasaki Makie: Zuǒzuǒmù Shìhuì; Shiina Sakurako: Zhuīmíng Yīngzǐ; Tatsumiya Mana: Lóngōng Zhēnmíng; Chao Ling Shen: Chāo Língshen; Nagase Kaede: Chánglài Fēng; Naba Chizuru: Nàbō Qiānhè; Narutaki Fūka: Fēngxiāng; Narutaki Fumika: ; Hakase Satomi: Yèjiālài Cōngměi; Hasegawa Chisame: Chánggǔchuān Qiānyǔ; Evangeline A.K. McDowell: Irwan Kethleen A.K. Magrowel; Miyazaki Nodoka: Gōngqí Hexiang; Murakami Natsumi: Cūnshàng Xìaměi; Yukihiro Ayaka: Xuěguǎng Língxiāng; Yotsuba Satsuki: Sìyè Wǔyuè; Zazie Rainyday: Zhaji Renee;

Negi Springfield remains unchanged.

[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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]
The original Japanese version of the second manga volume defines the "Magister" as 先生 (sensei "teacher" or "master"), and "Magi" as 魔法使いの (mahōtsukai-no- "of the mage"). It also defines "Magister Magi" as 魔法使いの達人 (mahōtsukai-no-tatsujin "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] References

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

[edit] External links

Official 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 | Pactios | Shinmei-Ryū
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