Negima! Omnibus 1 (Negima!: Magister Negi Magi Omnibus) [Paperback]

Negima - the latest work from Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina) has been running now since 2003 and despite initially seeming to be another harem/romance manga like Love Hina, Negima has fully separated itself from that series to become one of the best shonen/action/romance/comedy manga's out of there. I have read a lot of shonen action manga's over the years, Naruto is a good series but runs at a snail's pace, Bleach got repetitive, Historys Strongest Disciple has dissolved into fan service, One Piece is too bizarre and Yu Yu Hakashu ended prematurely. These are all great action manga's (along with many others) in their own right and will have legions of followers who will swear that 'they' are the best shonen manga out there these and yet for me, Negima remains the most enjoyable, action-packed manga out there - why?

The set up for Negima initially seems bizarre. Negi Springfield (aged 10) from Wales dreams of becoming a Magister Magi and as part of his studies is sent to Japan to become an English teacher at the all girls school of Mahora Academy for a class of 31 older girls. Between his magic studies and work as a school teacher he is on the hunt for his father, Nagi, the legendary 'Thousand Master' believed to be dead.

Thus the first volume introduces Negi and he is as overawed and confused by his class of 31 ladies as the reader is, what quickly separates this series from many others is that over time, each of the 31 ladies (plus many other supporting female and male characters) becomes fully developed and integrated into the story. Many other authors would struggle to make each character individual and special, yet Akamatsu largely succeeds, hence why each character has a fan club of some description back in Japan... Many of the characters are indeed anime clichés, there's the 'bookish' one, 'the jock,' 'the reporter,' 'the computer nerd,' etc etc. However despite these clichés and the repetition of some of his older character traits from Love Hina (Asuna = Naru) some of the twists are surprising, the character friendships well done and their personal growth interesting. Following your 'favourite' character and never being sure what will happen to them is very fun, some of the most surprising characters (as in, some of the ones that would never see the light of day in other mangas) get a lot of development and chapter time which really helps put this ahead of its rivals.

Negi himself as the lone 10yr old male is the exact opposite of Keitaro in Love Hina, competent, kind, well-mannered and polite its easy to actually like the main character rather than face-palming whenever they do/say something stupid. Negi, his growth in strength, experience as a teacher and his battle to keep his magical powers a secret from his pupils is funny and genuine. The girls rush of affection for him (ranging from 'love-love' to 'awwww') sometimes nearly crosses the line into perverted and 'awkward romance' but is largely just played for laughs and satire at other romantic amines.

As Shonen manga's go, this has plenty of action from brawls/sword-fights to end of the world boss battles. All the villains and opponents are interesting and the story arcs which include vampires, a martial arts tournament, a kidnapping and the like are interesting and don't overstay their welcome. Unlike Naruto, Bleach and many other Shonen fight scenes don't last for several books making each panel critical to the flow of combat. The magical spells and the like are dazzlingly drawn and each is expanded in a commentary section at the back.

As for the art, Akamatsu makes liberal use of computer aided design for a large number of backgrounds which enables him to do his favourite thing - draw absurdly attractive women. There is a lot of fan service, particularly in the first few volumes, it moderates eventually and is mostly played for gags but still - there is a lot more than most Shonen manga (barring 'History's Strongest Disciple')The art is always detailed, interesting and clean, some drawings are very congested however with the text barely squeezed in!

Negima! Omnibus 1 includes the first three volumes of Negima including his arrival and introduction to the school, a quest for an ancient magical book and the arrival of a vampire on the school campus. This is just the tip of an epic book series which is currently still ongoing (Approaching chapter 350 now!) with each story arc getting progressively longer. However reading the first three volumes is probably the best way to start allowing you to see what you can expect for the next 35+ books)

These are just a few of the reasons I would recommend Negima happily to anyone. It's not going to please anyone looking for just an action manga (check out Berserk) nor is it just a magic/fantasy manga (Try One Piece). If you are looking for something that covers a whole range of genres, is funny, interesting and enjoyable, Negima is one of the best shonen manga's out there and I heartily recommend it.

Best for - Age 14+