Negima! Magister Negi Magi
Negima: Magister Negi Magi (魔法先生ネギま! Mahō Sensei Negima, tr. Magical Teacher Negima) is a manga and anime series by Ken Akamatsu, known for his best selling ecchi titles, specifically Love Hina. The manga is currently being published by Kodansha and serialized in Shonen Magazine in Japan. In America, the manga is licensed and published in English by Del Rey Manga, with translations of unreleased chapters (scanlations) being released over at [1]. Additionally, it is published by dong li in Hong Kong, Chuang Yi in Singapore, Play Press Publishing in Italy, Pika Édition in France, EMA in Germany and Glénat in Spain. The anime, produced by Xebec, has aired in the first half of 2005. Funimation announced October 30, 2005 that it has licensed the series for production in America. The series has spawned many merchandise, including Character CDs, Drama CDs, OSTs, two PlayStation 2 video games, as well as one Game Boy Advance title.
| Negima! Magister Negi Magi | |
| Genre | Harem, Action |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Ken Akamatsu |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Anime | |
| Mahō Sensei Negima! Introduction Film | |
| Directed by | Hiroshi Nishikiori |
| Studio | XEBEC |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Nagisa Miyazaki |
| Studio | XEBEC |
Overview
Negi Springfield is a 10-year-old wizard from Wales in the United Kingdom who dreams of becoming a Magister Magi, special wizards who uses their powers to help people. One example mentioned used a NGO job as a cover. Negi's reason for becoming a Magister is to find his father, Nagi Springfield, the legendary mage also 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. However, the task will not be easy as Negi will become a teacher to a middle school class of 31 older girls, each very special in their 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 within and without 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 fairly forgettable character.
The series, while initially appearing to be another bishōjo work like Love Hina, has progressed into a fine mix of bishōjo, shonen action, 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 prepubscent, 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 expection from the reader.
Ironically, Negi himself is seen as a subversion to leads like 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, a playmate.
This title was also involved in a controversy surrounding the censorship of the English-translated manga in North America, typical of Akamatsu's penchant for fanservice and risque 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 shrinkwrapped, which some collectors feel can cause damage to the books.
Characters
The Class of 2A/3A
| Teacher: Negi Springfield (ネギ・スプリングフィールド), is the homeroom and English teacher of Class 3-A (formerly 2-A) of Mahora Academy Middle School. Negi is never without the large staff he inherited from his father, Nagi Springfield. Negi specializes in wind-based spells and light magic. His control over lightning spells are growing as well. After the Kyoto incident, Negi felt that he was still lacking in the strength to protect those who are important to him. To improve himself, he enters an apprenticeship under Evangeline in order to learn magical combat skills, and becomes Ku Fei's martial art student. As a child prodigy with a driven work ethic, his growth is unmatched in the series. His greatest wish is to be reunited with his long-lost father.(VA: Rina Satou) |
Trivia Negi's name is actually a pun; Negi in Japanese means scallion, also known as green onions, spring onions or, vitally, Welsh Onions, and are also in the same family as the leek which is a national symbol of Wales. His nickname, "Negi Bōzu", is another pun since while "Bōzu" can be translated as "brat", "Negi Bōzu" literally means "Onion Head". Evangeline hates green onions.
Most notable is the series' enormous cast of 31 students. They are all girls, whom Akamatsu intended to be attractive each in their own way, with their own distinctive personalities. Many are parodies of stock characters.
| Student Number 1: Sayo Aisaka (相坂さよ), the hapless and meek yurei. More often frightened than frightening, she is invisible to virtually everyone, and her presence goes unnoticed until Negi absentmindedly counts her during a class vote. Sayo has been friendless and lonely for around 60 years since her death, which made her very desperate for a friend. This led a series of hilarious events during the preparations for the School Festival, which led to everyone mistaking her for an evil spirit. She nearly ended up being exorcised by Mana and Setsuna, but Negi and Kazumi, having caught a photo of her crying and realised what was really happening, came to the rescue and offered to be her friends. She currently hangs around (haunts?) Kazumi, who sits beside her in class. (VA: Yuri Shiratori) | |
| Student Number 2: Yūna Akashi (明石 裕奈), an athletic girl who plays basketball and is often seen together with Makie, Ako, and Akira (i.e. the sports clubs group). Her father happens to be a professor, but it is unclear if he works at the Mahora Academy. She is the most mischievous one amongst the sports girls. (VA: Madoka Kimura) | |
| Student Number 3: Kazumi Asakura (朝倉 和美), the resident class reporter with a camera always on hand. She likes to get the inside scoop on everything that goes on. She was one of the first girls in the class to learn Negi's secret, which she found out in Kyoto while investigating the rumor that someone had proclaimed her love to Negi. She is currently keeping quiet about it, and is occasionally seen plotting with Chamo. Kazumi sports the fourth largest breasts in the class.
Kazumi bears some similarities to Mitsune/Kitsune from Love Hina. (VA: Ayana Sasagawa) | |
| Student Number 4: Yue Ayase (綾瀬 夕映), the cool slacker. Despite being talented, she hates studying and is amongst those with the lowest grades in the class, and hence is a member of the "Baka Rangers" study group ("Baka Black", and considered to be team's leader). Yue is also a member of the Library Exploration Group, often hanging around with Nodoka Miyazaki and Haruna Saotome, who calls her "Yuecchi". She is a strong supporter of Nodoka, and encourages her to develop a relationship with Negi, but later she also develops feelings for Negi but keeps it a secret for Nodoka's sake. She guessed Negi's secret after the Kyoto trip, having witnessed the attack on the Kansai Magic Association headquarters. One line in the Del Rey translation implied that she may be Konoka's cousin, but this was a misprint (the wording on the bubble that was directed at her was supposed to be for Konoka). She is often seen drinking unusual beverages from juice boxes (e.g. in Volume 6 of the manga, she had the Last Elixir from the RPG series Final Fantasy.)
Yue resembles a smaller and less atheletic version of Love Hina's Kanako Urashima. (VA: Natsuko Kuwatani) | |
| Student Number 5: Ako Izumi (和泉 亜子), a shy athletic girl who works as a school nurse's assistant. She has a scar on the back of her waist. She is usually seen with Makie (her roommate), Yūna, and Akira. She is also the manager of the boy's soccer club. Ako is one of the more well-behaved ones in the class, and can be considered to be a contrast to the more mischievous Yūna amongst the sports girls. (VA: Kotomi Yamakawa) | |
| Student Number 6: Akira Ookōchi (大河内 アキラ), a very quiet and athletic girl in the swimming club. She is so good at swimming that the Mahora High School swimming club is already looking to recruit her. She is friends with Makie, Ako, and Yūna.
Akira physically resembles Motoko Aoyama of Love Hina. (VA: Azumi Yamamoto) | |
| Student Number 7: Misa Kakizaki (柿崎 美砂) is the leader of the class's cheerleaders. The other members are her friends, Madoka and Sakurako. She loves shopping and hates carbonated drinks. Misa also has some "adult" tendencies, far more than any of the other girls in the class. She also uses the term "onee-san" when she talks about herself, if Negi is around. (VA: Shizuka Itou) | |
| Student Number 8: Asuna Kagurazaka (神楽坂 明日菜), the irascible dunce, incredible runner and physically-powerful lead female heroine. She is also often in conflict with other people, especially Ayaka. Asuna has a crush on her former homeroom teacher, Takahata, whom Negi replaces. Asuna is an orphan who was allowed into the school for free by the school dean, yet still tries to pay towards her schooling with her wages earned delivering newspapers. Much to her chagrin, she is "Baka Red" of the Baka Rangers. She has Heterochromia; one of her eyes is blue and the other is green.
Negi and Asuna had a very shaky relationship from the start, but later improved. Negi is like a little brother to Asuna, and she is like a big sister/guardian to him; their relationship seems to, very occasionally, show hints at eventually developing into a less platonic one. Asuna was the first to find out about Negi's secret when she saw him saving Nodoka from falling down some steps and was the first person that Negi made a probationary contract with. Her artifact is a giant sword, but usually manifests as a metal harisen (fan) instead; she nevertheless wields it with gusto and effectiveness. The sword form first appeared when Asuna tried to save Negi from the sharks in Chapter 61 (other later appearances included the time Negi kissed her on the first day of the Mahora Festival, as well as during her duel with Setsuna in the Tournament, when she briefly remembered the death of Gatō Kagura and went momentarily berserk), which means that emotions play a role in its summoning. She has partial immunity to most magic used against her, such as love potions or petrification spells. Asuna met the Thousand Master as a child and travelled with the members of his group both before and after his disappearance but retains no memories from this period in her life. She has also demonstrated something of a fetish for older men, judging from both her crush on Takahata, her reaction to meeting Konoka's father (although this may be related to her dormant memories of them from the past), and her wish to go back in time when the Prohibition era of the United States was still going on (due to Asuna's belief that a lot of dandy old men existed in that time period) after learning that Negi has Cassiopeia, a time machine. Asuna bears a resemblance to Naru Narusegawa of Love Hina (VA: Akemi Kanda) | |
| Student Number 9: Misora Kasuga (春日 美空), a hyperactive tomboy in the track and field club, who had rivalled Asuna in the class sprint runs. She always wears a crucifix and is sometimes seen wearing a nun's habit. Later in the manga she is revealed as a mage-in-training (a member of the Mahora "mahō shōjo team") as well as a Ministra Magi. Her artifact is a pair of sneakers that allow her to run and jump with superhuman ability. (VA: Ai Bandou) | |
| Student Number 10: Chachamaru Karakuri (絡繰 茶々丸), a robot created by Satomi and Chao for Evangeline, who is powered both mechanically and by magic. Despite her robotic parts showing very clearly, only a select few actually seem to have noticed; to date, only Chamo and Chisame Hasegawa seem to have realised without having it pointed out to them. As well as being Evangeline's Ministra Magi, she performs maid duties at the cottage they share on the Mahora campus. While Chachamaru behaves emotionlessly most of the time, she spends most of her free time helping people and rescuing stray animals, including regularly taking care of a pack of stray cats. She is also in the Go and Tea Ceremony clubs, but only because Evangeline is in those clubs as well. She developed a liking for Negi when he found himself unable to attack her when undefended, and while still obedient to her Master's will, does not like opposing him. She eventually develops love and human emotions towards him, much to the astonishment of her creator, Hakase. (VA: Akeno Watanabe)
Trivia Karakuri means mechanism in Japanese. | |
| Student Number 11: Madoka Kugimiya (釘宮 円), the serious one of the three cheerleaders in the class. She makes sure that the other cheerleaders (especially Sakurako) do not get into any trouble. She likes Gyuudon noodles and silver accessories and is a fan of Avril Lavigne, but hates playboys and is mildly obsessed with her husky voice.
Madoka resembles Motoko Aoyama of Love Hina with short hair. (VA: Mami Deguchi) | |
| Student Number 12: Ku Fei (古 菲), the energetic and joyful kung-fu fighting Chinese girl. She is "Baka Yellow" of the "Baka Rangers" study group, her excuse being that she can't concentrate much on her English studies as she is still learning Japanese, an excuse supported by her pronounced Chinese accent. She hates being used as a test subject for Chao's and Satomi's inventions. She learns of Negi's secret when she, Mana and Kaede helped Negi, Asuna and Setsuna rescue Konoka at Kyoto. After the Kyoto arc, she becomes Negi's martial arts instructor at the latter's request. Ku Fei works at Chao's nikuman (meat bun) shop and is respected and idolized by the members of the fighting clubs.
Ku Fei is much like Love Hina's Kaolla Suu (though less childish). (VA: Hazuki Tanaka) | |
| Student Number 13: Konoka Konoe (近衛 木乃香), a cheerful and caring girl who lives with Asuna and Negi. If anything, she is the mediator of the group, being both Asuna's best friend and Negi's biggest supporter. She is also the school headmaster's 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 headmaster's daughter, in an arranged marriage in order to ease tension between the Kansai and Kantō (where Mahora Academy is located) Magic Associations. She is a member of the Konoe family of the Fujiwara clan, the source for all imperial brides from the 8th through 19th centuries.
She was the fourth person that Negi made a probationary contract with and has the power to heal. It was mentioned in the anime series that her powers are comparable to those of the Thousand Master, while in the manga, it said that she has the power to heal those petrified by Wilhelm during his attack on the village where Negi and his sister grew up. She has strong affection for Setsuna, and this often makes their friendship seem more akin to a romantic relationship (but some doubt has been cast on this, as Setsuna showed that she is attracted to Negi). She is sometimes shown in the manga as a Final Fantasy white mage, probably a reference to her healing abilities. All in all, she is a clueless girl who is quite dense, a trait probably borrowed from Love Hina's Mutsumi Otohime. Also, Konoka resembles Tomoyo Daidouji from Cardcaptor Sakura. (VA: Ai Nonaka) | |
| Student Number 14: Haruna Saotome (早乙女 ハルナ), the local rumormonger and a frequent companion of Yue Ayase and Nodoka Miyazaki. If there is a rumor going around in the class, she is almost always at the root of it all. It is said that her rumor-spreading abilities are so well-developed that she can spread them to the other end of the school in 2 hours. Because of that, she is never told about Negi's secret by her friends. 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. She also draws manga and goes by the nickname "Haru or "Pal" (see below).
Haruna resembles a healthier-looking and more self-confident Ema Maeda. (VA: Sawa Ishige) | |
| Student Number 15: Setsuna Sakurazaki (桜咲 刹那), a kendo expert trained in the Kyoto Shinmei ("God's Cry") Style and some onmyou-jutsu. Originally from Kyoto, she is a childhood friend of Konoka and acts as her protector. At times, her devotion to Konoka and Konoka's open affection towards her is suggestive of a more romantic relationship, however she rarely communicates with Konoka, as she believes that she should be her "protector from the shadows" so to speak. She is actually a half human, half bird demon with white wings who was taken in by Eishun after being exiled from her tribe who believe white wings to be bad luck. She kept this a secret from Konoka as she was afraid her friend would hate her for it, but Konoka accepted her for who she is after being forced to reveal her true appearance in Kyoto. A comment made by Evangeline suggests that she dyes her hair and wears colored contacts so she may also have the white hair and pink eyes of an albino. She is the third person that Negi made a probationary contract with.
Later on in the story Setsuna indirectly confessed that to liking Negi, although after this stated that she likes Konoka more, leaving that relationship a possibility. The kendo style that Setsuna uses is the same style used by Motoko Aoyama of Love Hina, which has led fans to believe there might be a possible crossover between the series. After her character development started, she beat Makie Sasaki for first place in the official character polls. Occasionally goes on exorcisms with Mana. Setsuna's nodachi looks a lot like Tsuruko Aoyama's, Motoko's big sister, from Love Hina. Also of interest, when Konoka tells the story of her meeting Setsuna, she mentions that people from the Shinmei School came. These people, in the same panel, greatly resemble Motoko and Tsuruko Aoyama, wearing their same clothing, and someone that could be Tsuruko's husband. Setsuna's nodachi is named "Yuunagi", meaning "evening calm".(VA: Yu Kobayashi) | |
| Student Number 16: Makie Sasaki (佐々木 まき絵), the delicate and feminine rhythmic gymnast. She strongly likes Negi and is friends with Yūna, Ako, and Akira, who are also in sports clubs. She is "Baka Pink" of the "Baka Rangers" study group, standing out as the second lowest scorer (with Asuna performing more poorly than she does). (VA: Yui Horie) | |
| Student Number 17: Sakurako Shīna (椎名 桜子), the most cheerful of the three cheerleaders in the class. She also strongly likes Negi. She loves karaoke and her pet cats, Cookie and Biscuit, but hates black stuff that appears in the kitchen, especially what the cats bring in. She is also in the Lacrosse club. As a hobby, Sakurako gambles a lot. However, she wins her bets most of the time, with great profit. (VA: Akane Omae) | |
| Student Number 18: Mana Tatsumiya (龍宮 真名), the mercenary miko. She is the daughter of the keepers of the Tatsumiya shrine (which is on campus), and works part-time there as a priestess, employing guns with spellbreaker bullets as her tool of exorcism. She discovered Negi's secret when she helped rescue Konoka at Kyoto. She is also in the Biathlon club, as her apparent crush is the captain of the club. Mana has the second largest breasts in class. She carries a pactio card which is the remnant of a contract she had with another mage who is now deceased (and who is the one she really likes, and who the biathlon captain resembles). (VA: Miho Sakuma) | |
| Student Number 19: Chao Lingshen (超 鈴音), the top student of the entire year group (also referred to as the "smartest kid in the school"). A rich Chinese girl, she is in many clubs and is particularly into cooking. She is best friends with Satomi and both enjoy using Satomi's inventions on Ku Fei. Her origins are mysterious as she claims she is related to Negi by blood and she has come into conflict with the school administration for spying and trying to reveal the existence of magic. (VA: Chiaki Osawa)
Trivia In The Chuang Yi version, her last name is translated to Rinshen. | |
| Student Number 20: Kaede Nagase (長瀬 楓), the gentle and calm yet strong and tall girl. 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 famous kage bunshin no jutsu, the art of shadow body-split as popularized by the Naruto series), which she uses to great effect. She is "Baka Blue" of the "Baka Rangers" study group. Kaede was one of the first to learn about Negi's magic, but kept this a secret even from him until she helped Negi rescue Konoka at Kyoto where she fought and defeated Inugami Kotaro (although Kaede realised that Kotaro wasn't giving his best then, probably due to his sense of chivalry). During her fight with Kotaro, Kaede introduced herself as a Chūnin of the Koga ninja clan. Kaede has the third largest breasts in class.
Kaede resembles Mitsune Konno from Love Hina. (VA: Ryoko Shiraishi) | |
| Student Number 21: Chizuru Naba (那波 千鶴) is a gentle and loving, yet strange girl. She is a kind person to everyone, volunteers at the daycare in Mahora City and is in the Astronomy club. Even though she is nice, she can be sometimes be scary (an fine example would be her attempts to stick spring onions into Kotaro's behind, chapter 66). She also has a lot of guts, as shown in her encounter with Wilhelm, where she calmly confronted him for his intrusion and even slapped him when he was about to petrify Kotaro. Her roommates are Ayaka, Natsumi and Kotaro. Chizuru has the largest breasts in the class.
Chizuru resembles Mutsumi Otohime from Love Hina and even acts like her (she has less ditziness, however). (VA: Misa Kobayashi) | |
| Student Number 22: Fūka Narutaki (鳴滝 風香), the elder of the Narutaki twins. She is 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. She and her sister are the only girls in the class that haven't gone through puberty. (VA: Kimiko Koyama) | |
| Student Number 23: Fumika Narutaki (鳴滝 史伽), the younger of the Narutaki twins. Truth be told, she is almost the complete opposite of Fuka. Her hobby is cleaning, and while she goes along with Fūka's pranks, constantly tries to tell her sister that they are bad ideas the entire way. She and her sister are the only girls in the class that haven't gone through puberty. (VA: Mari Kanou) | |
| Student Number 24: Satomi Hakase (葉加瀬 聡美), the robotics expert. She is best friends with Chao, and created Chachamaru with her help. Her nickname is "Professor" (博士, meaning "expert, learned person", a play on her last name as it is also pronounced "Hakase"). She and Chao enjoy using her inventions on Ku Fei. She is also a member of the Robotics and Jet Propulsion Society of Mahora University. Because of her great intelligence, obssession in her work, and somewhat lacking common sense, she (along with Chao) is sometimes called a mad scientist by her classmates. (VA: Mai Kadowaki) | |
| Student Number 25: Chisame Hasegawa (長谷川 千雨), the grumpy computer geek with a double life. She is serious in public, however in private she becomes Chiu, a famous Net Idol who cosplays and takes glamorous and sexy pictures of herself which she posts to her website. In the manga, she is the most popular of the internet idols. She particularly dislikes Chachamaru, Mana, the Narutaki twins, Ku Fei, Chao, Evangeline, Kaede, Zazie and Negi, considering them to be crazy (as they are quite eccentric-looking). Actually, she is afraid of being crazy because of her own hobby, but denies it herself. The only people who know about her double life are Negi and Kazumi (though in the manga, it seems that everyone in her class knows her secret). Unfortunately, not only does Negi find out about her secret, he even accidentally embarrasses her in front of the entire class by blowing her clothes off. Kazumi is shown holding a cosplay picture of Chisame's in episode 16 as blackmail.
Chisame resembles Love Hina's Naru Narusegawa with her glasses on. (VA: Yumi Shimura) | |
| Student Number 26: Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell (a.k.a. Eva) (Listed as Evangeline A.K. McDowell エヴァンジェリン・マクダウェル), the only Western/Caucasian girl in the class. A cold and devilish little girl, she is actually a criminal witch and vampire nicknamed the "Dark Evangel" and a thousand other names... or so she would have a person believe. She looks about 10 but she's really over 500 years old. She rarely says much in class, and 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 (things?) who can truly say much about Evangeline are be Chachamaru and Chachazero, her dolls. She enjoys playing Go and is in the Go and Tea Ceremony clubs. What little is known about Evangeline is that she was once saved by the Thousand Master and pursued him mercilessly thereafter until he managed to shake her off. Feeling rejected, she finally tracked him down in Japan, but was tricked into walking into an "anti-vampire soup" composed of garlic and leek. Employing the Infernus Scholasticus curse, the Thousand Master confined her to the grounds of Mahora Academy and put in place a barrier to restrict her abilities. Konoemon Konoe, the School Dean, employed her as a security guard, personally keeping him informed about events occurring in the school. With this in mind, it is no surprise that Mr. Takahata wrote "Ask her advice if you're in trouble" in Negi's class roster. Evangeline eventually turned on Negi, claiming that, as son of the Thousand Master, draining his blood would enable her to break the curse, although on close examination of what she actually said, it is questionable about whether she really intended to go through with it or not. Evangeline specialises in ice-based spells and dark magic, and is shown to be incredibly powerful once in her full capacities. This is shown in her easy win over both Fate Averruncus and the demon-god Sukuna. Even without her magical powers, she is still a very good fighter and can easily throw a man twice her size. She becomes Negi's master in magical combat after he sees her true power in Kyoto, and demands high performance (as well as a daily payment of blood for the lessons) from her student. It has been mentioned before that Evangeline is a Shinso vampire, that is, a vampire of the highest order, essentially, a “True Vampire”. Shinso, when literally translated, means “True Ancestor. Because it is a fictional term there are no clear definitions as to what a Shinso is, but in general, a Shinso refers to either a natural-born vampire, or someone who became a vampire in other ways other than being bitten and turned by other vampires. However, in Evangeline’s case, she was not born a vampire, but became one through magical means. Though Evangeline’s origins are obscure, in Volume 12, chapter 109, she eventually revealed to Setsuna and Asuna, after losing a duel to Setsuna, that she was born in the middle ages, in Europe. She lived in a castle, though it is not known if she was royalty or not. When she awoke on her tenth birthday, she had already been turned into a vampire, without her knowledge. After getting her revenge on the man who turned her, she left. It has been said that she suffered through the initial process of adjusting to her new body, since she had the customary weakness of a vampire towards sunlight and so on, as well as not having any powers. (VA: Yuki Matsuoka)
Trivia Along with the Dark Evangel, her other names and titles in translations and in the Chuang Yi version include:
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| Student Number 27: Nodoka Miyazaki (宮崎 のどか), the shy bookworm. A member of the Library Exploration Group, who also helps in the book store, she spends so much time in the library that people outside the Library Exploration Group refer to her as "Hon'ya-chan" (Del Rey translates it as "librarian girl" or "Librarian-chan", and also by the literal meaning "Bookstore", while Chuang Yi translates it as "Bookshop"). 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 and later both eyes can be seen, created by wearing a short ponytail. After Negi saves her from falling down some steps she develops feelings for him, despite having no interest in the opposite sex up to that point. Nodoka is the second student Negi make a probationary contract with, if inadvertently. Her magical artifact is the "Diarium Ejus", a diary that shows the thoughts of any person she speaks the name of.
Nodoka is very much like Love Hina's Shinobu Maehara. (VA: Mamiko Noto) | |
| Student Number 28: Natsumi Murakami (村上 夏美), a sweet yet shy girl who is an actress in the theatrical club. She loves acting but dislikes her own appearance because her body is not very 'mature'-looking. This is made worse by being roommates with Ayaka and Chizuru, who both have mature bodies and bigger breasts. Kotaro, who is also staying with them, assumes the identity as her brother.(VA: Mai Aizawa) | |
| Student Number 29: Ayaka Yukihiro (雪広 あやか), 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. She and Asuna seem to hate each other, with the two often getting into fights, but it eventually becomes clear that they merely have a very weird friendship that neither is willing to admit to. She is the girl most overtly fond of Negi, though she stands by the position that she's only interested in Negi because he "needs a mother figure". An interesting thing is that while she likes Negi, she frequently gets into arguments with Kotaro, who is also of Negi's age. She tends to be aggressive in pretty much everything she does, which tends to wind up with her being misunderstood. However, she is very good at hiding her own past (such as the story about her younger brother who died at childbirth, which may explain her fixation on Negi). She is roommates with Chizuru, Natsumi, and later Kotarō (whom Chizuru introduced to her as Natsumi's little brother), and is in the equestrian and flower arranging clubs. Even though Ayaka is a rich man's daughter and heiress, that did not stop her from being well-versed in several unnamed martial arts, culminating in having a "ryuha" of her own (Yukihiro Ayaka-ryū, Aiki-jujitsu). A fun tidbit about Ayaka is that nearly every time she appears in a scene, flowers appear from behind her.(VA: Junko Minagawa) | |
| Student Number 30: Satsuki Yotsuba (四葉 五月), the gentle cook. She is mainly notable for being somewhat chubby, yet still cute. She enjoys cooking and is in the cooking club. She also runs a nikuman business with Chao, and is the school dining officer. A very nice and hard-working person, Satsuki is liked by everyone in Mahora, even Evangeline (who sees the rest of 3-A as a pack of air-headed brats). Her very presence creates an atmosphere of serenity. Satsuki's dream is to have her own restaurant, as she likes making people happy through her food. An interesting thing about Satsuki in the manga is that she usually talks without the speech bubble, unlike most manga characters. (VA: Naomi Inoue) | |
| Student Number 31: Zazie Rainyday (ザジ・レイニーデイ), the silent acrobat. Nothing much is known about her, as she rarely talks. What is known is that she is in the school's Acrobatic Club, and she is seen directing a group of monsters or spirits when she offered to cover for her classmates during the school festival. 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. A splash picture of the cast shows her with claws growing from her fingers. She is always seen with her pet bird. (VA: Yuka Inokuchi) |
Other Characters
People from Mahora
Konoemon Konoe (The School Dean) is Konoka's grand-father, which likely played a role in his decision for Negi to live with his grandaughter and Asuna. What has been indicated is that he's a kind-hearted man, but extremely strict. He is also the chief of the Kantō Magic Association. The Dean’s hobby is arranging marriage interviews for Konoka to choose a future fiancee. One previous successful arranged marriage was his daughter's marriage to the chief of Kansai Magic Association (Eishun Konoe), which resulted in Konoka's birth and the easing of tensions between the Kansai and Kantō Magic Associations, which has been at odds for quite some time. (VA: Mahito Tsujimura)
Takamichi T. Takahata, or Takahata-sensei, is the teacher Negi is replacing at Mahora Middle School. This is not to say that he is not in the school, however - he has appeared several times throughout, though he has become the new art teacher for the time being. It was Takahata who gave Asuna her bell hair decorations when she transferred into Mahora Academy. It should be noted that Takahata-sensei is close friends with Negi, and fought in the magic war, alongside Eishun Konoe and the Thousand Master. Like Nagi, Takamichi is a magic school dropout, but in his case not for lack of studying but for an inability to performs incantations. To make up for this he trained in a special fighting style called "Kanka" that combines both Eastern chi and Western magic, and a bare-fist version of Iaido, "Iaiken". Both the Kanka and Iaiken techniques were taught to him by Gatō Kagura Vandenburg, one of Nagi's comrades, whom Takamichi regarded as his master. He and Shizuna may be dating.
He is very much like Love Hina's Noriyasu Seta (who is also a calm teacher on whom the leading girl character has a crush). (VA: Norihiro Inoue)
Shizuna Minamoto is Negi's advisor at Mahora Gakuen. She primarily attempts to be a motherly figure while Negi adjusts to the school, slowly leading him into the different aspects of his job. In both the manga and anime, she is aware of magic. She and Takahata may be dating. (VA: Kikuko Inoue)
Nitta (Director of Academy External Activities) is a rather mean teacher who makes sure students do not do anything idiotic. He is so strict that he always punishes the students who misbehave by making them squat for considerable periods of time. Because of this, the students of Mahora Academy have given him the nickname, Nitta the Ogre. Despite his position, he is not aware of the existence of magic, thinking it is either nonsense or tricks made up by the students. In the Del Rey and early Chuang Yi versions, Nitta is named Nitsuta, a mistake made by the translators, since the "tsu" character acts as an extension making the proper pronounciation as "Nitta". Early translations of Nitta as "Nita" is wrong as well.
Seruhiko, a bishōnen teacher who often hangs out with Nitta. He is one of the secret mages at Mahora. During the "Kyoto Arc", he was assigned with the duty to secretly protect the students during their field trip to Kansai. Apparently not that fight-savvy, according to his own words.
Ninomiya, Makie's rhythmic gymnastics coach. Appeared during Volume 7 when she made harsh comment about Makie's perfomance when she felt Makie wasn't skill enough to go the finals.
Tōko, a blonde female mage. At present, it seems that she is in charge of the Mahora mage organization's operations division, ranking second only to the Headmaster. She is speculated to be a Shinmei Ryuu swordswoman.
Gandolfini, a dark-skinned mage, probably a teacher. Uses guns and is possibly a mercenary.
Nijuuin Mitsuru, a proficient but portly mage. Has a funny activation key that includes food in the chant.
Shakti heads the Mahora nun/mage patrol squad. Seems particularly skilled in combat and uses floating crosses, probably an artifact of sorts, in battle.
Cocone, a diminutive ninja-nun who tags along with Misora. Specializes in telepathy. Also spelled "Kokone".
Takane D. Goodman, high-school student and secret mage. She is highly proficient with shadows, her elemental affinity, as she can summon shadow warriors and create a highly elaborate shadow armor. Clothes seem to come off a lot. Seems to have developed feelings for Negi, though it is still in a formative stage. Develops Tanaka-phobia due to her match with Tanaka-san.
Mei Sakura, kohai to her senpai, Takane, whom she refers to as "onee-sama". She is deemed as a skilled Ministra Magi whose artifact is a broomstick. Mei is also a transfer student, sent to study from a North American mage academy before the Mahora Festival Arc. Mei seems to have an elemental magic affinity for fire.
Due to her identical given name and appearance to Naru Narusegawa's half-sister from Love Hina, Akamatsu's previous work, many fans theorize that they are the same person. While Naru's sister Mei was first introduced in the Love Hina anime (where she had an entirely different personality) and thus was not created by Akamatsu, she was eventually mentioned in the manga, and made small appearances in the final chapter. However, this theory has yet to be proven.
Eiko, high-school ace and the leader of the Black Lilies, the championship dodgeball team of St. Ursula High. She teases Negi on the train when he first arrives at Mahora. Later she and her friends had a dodgeball match with Negi's class which decided who would have Negi as their teacher. She and her two friends, Bibi and Shii, make several cameo appearances afterwards.
Naoya, a male high school student that also studies within Mahora and is a member of a dodgeball team as well. Has deep feelings for Eiko, his senpai, but was kept from confessing them during the Festival arc by Mana, who shot him in the side of the head with tranquilizer bullet.
Kaoru Goutokuji, pompadoured fight-enthusiast and color commentator at the Festival arc tournament. A skilled fighter in his own right, Kaoru is trained under the art of "Kenka Sappo" (which translates to Brawl Skill) and is an able ki-user. Kaoru was eliminated by Negi in the battle royale elimination matches of the Legendary Mahora Martial Arts Tournament. Despite his rough and somewhat ridiculous appearance, Kaoru is a pretty nice person (who whole-heartedly admitted his loss to Negi and even encouraged him to go for it and offered him gum) and seems to have an rather extensive knowledge of various forms of martial arts (for instance, he was able to identify and explain both Mana's Rakansen and Takamichi's Iaiken techniques).
Tanaka is actually a robot, probably designed in part by Satomi. Defeated by Takane during the Legendary Mahora Martial Arts Tournament - First round. Mass-produced Tanakas exist in Mahora's underground sewage system, under the control of Chao.
Keiichi Yamashita, a fighter trained under the art of "3-D jujutsu", was beaten by Evangeline in a split second in the first round of the Legendary Mahora Martials Arts Tournament. Named after one of Akamatsu's assistants.
Tatsuya Nakamura, a fighter who specializes in ki projectiles, but has a glaring weakness in his lack of close quarter combat skill. Beaten by Kaede in the first round of the Legendary Mahora Martials Arts Tournament.
Pochi Daigouin, a fighter seemingly skilled in Chinese martial arts. Not much is known about him as he was completely outclassed by Albireo Ima in the first round of the Legendary Mahora Martials Arts Tournament.
People from Kyoto
Eishun Konoe is Konoka's father and the chief of the Kansai Magic Association. Despite his last name, he isn't from the Konoe family as he actually married into his wife's family. Before the Kyoto Arc, both the Kansai and the Kantō Magic Associations had a feud. This was because Kansai mages did not approve of Kantō mages using Western-style magic instead of Eastern-style magic. In order to ease the schism between two sides, Konoemon Konoe, who was the head of the Kantō Magic Association, made an arranged marriage between Eishun and his daughter. With this, the overt hostility ended. But there still existed a few in Kansai who continued in their aversion to Kantō and/or Western mages (e.g. Chigusa Amagasaki). Despite the attitude of Kansai mages towards the west, Eishun became best friends with a powerful Western mage, Nagi Springfield ,the Thousand master. Nagi, Eishun, Takamichi, Albireo (Sanders), Gatō and one other, who were Nagi's comrade-in-arms, fought in a magic war that involved both mages from the East and West twenty years ago. Rather than being a mage himself, Eishun is most likely a pure Shinmei Ryuu swordsman. He has battle scars on his body from that war. Even after Nagi's apparent death in 1993, Eishun has still kept Nagi's holiday house clean.
Eishun never told his daughter Konoka of her magical background because he wanted his daughter to have a normal life. However, seeing that many in the Kansai Magic Association knew about the great (and dangerous) magic potential in Konoka, Eishun sent his daughter away to Mahora Academy under the care of his father-in-law. Several years after sending his daughter away, he sent Setsuna to guard his daughter. Eishun is a kind man with a moderate demeanor.
Eishun resembles a gentler and younger version of Gendo Ikari from Evangelion.
Chigusa Amagasaki (named after one of Ken Akamatsu staff members) is an onmyoudo charm user from the Kansai Magic Association. She was the one responsible for causing trouble at beginning of the school field trip. She tried to prevent Negi from giving his letter to the chief of Kansai Magic Association, because she does not want relations between the Kansai and Kantō Magic Association to improve. Chigusa was the one who tried to kidnap Konoka due to the powerful magic potential that the young girl had. She bears a grudge against Western mages, because her parents were killed in the great magic war that both Eastern and Western mages fought in twenty years ago. She planned to have her revenge against the Western mages by summoning the demon god "Ryōmen Sukuna-no-Kami", and the only way to do so was to gain control of Konoka's vast magical reserves. Despite having the ability to summon warrior spirits and creating shikigami, she also enlisted the help of three mercenaries to help in her plan. She was successful in summoning the demon god using Konoka's magic, but Evangeline defeated the demon easily. As a result, Chigusa's plan failed. She tried to escape but was captured by Chachazero, and is now under the custody of the Kansai Magic Association.
Kotarō Inugami is one of the three mercenary children helping Chigusa. He is a wolf-man, which is evidenced by his wolf-like ears and tail. He has the power to summon of inugami (dog spirits). Despite being hot-headed, Kotaro is a chivalrous person and would never hit a woman unless she was a powerful fighter. He is a powerful fighter and an expert in Ninjutsu and charms but prefers to fight hand to hand rather than using magic from a distance. Kotaro also has the ability to release his stronger hanyō (beast) form to become an InuYasha-lookalike. He was beaten twice in the Kyoto Arc, by Negi and Kaede separately.
After the Kyoto Arc, he went under the custody of the Kansai Magic Association. He later escaped, however, in an attempt to warn Negi (whom he now considers as a rival) of impeding danger, which was the demon, Wilhelm. The two ended up becoming friends after the Wilhelm incident. He is currently living with Chizuru and Natsumi, and has transferred to an elementary school class within Mahora Academy.
Kotaro has a very lonely past, due to the fact that (like Setsuna) being a hanyō has made him, from birth, an outcast of both human and wolf-demon tribes. This makes him value his friendship with Negi even more. He was handed his latest (crushing) defeat by Albireo in the second round of the Mahora Legendary Martials Arts Tournament, leading him to seek training, with Kaede Nagase, to become stronger.
Tsukuyomi, Shinmei Ryuu swordswoman, is one of the three mercenary children that was hired to help Chigusa. Unlike Setsuna who uses a single sword style, she uses a sword and dagger style. She also knows how use ofuda, or onmyoudo charms, the same way that Setsuna can. Tsukuyomi seems like she has a crush of sorts for Setsuna.
Fate Averruncus is the last of the three mercenary children helping Chigusa. He supposedly came to Japan from the Istanbul Magic Association a month before the school field trip to train, but was really hired by Chigusa Amagasaki. Fate is an expert in both Western and Eastern magic, and is stronger and more skilled than Negi, as of the Kyoto Arc. He was the one that almost turned everyone at the Kansai Magic Association headquarters into stone, and kidnapped Konoka when Chigusa failed to kidnap her on earlier attempts. The name he has may not be his real name, and according to Evangeline, he probably isn't human but more of a construct. He disappeared after the summoned demon god was defeated. He specializes in water-based and petrification spells and can also perform Eastern magic such as summoning demons using ofuda. (VA: Akira Ishida)
People from Wales
Nekane Springfield is Negi's older sister. Her gentle personality is largely based on interpretations through disjointed flashbacks, so it is hard to identify precisely what she is like. What has been indicated however is that Negi's sister took on more of a motherly role in his life. As a side note, Asuna and Negi's sister feel similar for Negi. Nekane may not be the daughter of Nagi Springfield because when he was officially announced dead, he was twenty-five years old, which does not make sense as she was still a teenager during and after his death. She may be Nagi's sister or a relative, but if she is Nagi's daughter, the only clear explanation would be that either Nagi married at an early age or that Nekane was adopted. Six years ago, when demons attack the village where she and Negi used to live in, she was almost turned to stone while trying to protect Negi from a petrification spell, but was saved by the Thousand Master in the nick of time. (VA: Masami Suzuki)
Albert Chamomile, or Chamo is a perverted lingerie-stealing (typical manga male stock character!) chain-smoking talking ermine that Negi freed from a trap when he was five years old. Since then, Chamo has been going to Negi whenever he ran into trouble. He was originally thought to have been sent to Negi by his elder sister to help Negi out, though it was later found out that Negi was the only person he could rely on when Chamo escaped from the law for stealing girls underwear (over 2000!) because the law could not arrest him if he were a pet of a wizard. He lied to Negi saying he stole them to keep his sick sister warm, which Negi believed, whereupon Negi made Chamo his pet/familiar. As a side note, being turned into an ermine is one of the punishments that Negi's magic academy gives, which makes one wonder about whether Chamo was once a mage as well. He cares strongly for Negi and will fight to protect him, but he's not above using him to try to make a fast buck. Chamo acts as Negi's trusty advisor in most things, though there are times his judgement and/or advice leaves much to be desired. Chamo addresses Negi as "Aniki" (big brother) and most of the ladies (like Negi's students) as "Ane-san" (big sister, sometimes with slight variations like "Ane-go") even though it is possible that he is older than all of them. (VA: Masashi Yabe)
Anya is the only other student who graduated with Negi that has been named. A year older than Negi, they have been childhood friends for as long as they can remember, and it has been indicated that Anya helped Negi pack for his trip to Japan. She is currently working as a fortune teller in London, so it is unlikely that she will make any major appearances other than in flashbacks. Anya seems like a grumpy girl (often shown frowning), although that could be from the typical reaction of young people towards those they like. (VA: Ryou Hirohashi)
Stan is an old Magister Magi from Negi's village. Despite Negi calling him "grandpa", he isn't his grandfather; he is in fact Nagi's old friend. Stan has always been irked by Nagi Springfield, such that he almost seems like he absolutely wants to kill the Thousand Master. He believes Nagi died from pushing himself too far. When the demons attacked the village, he and Nekane stopped a petrifaction spell from the demon Wilhelm, while sealing the demon along with the Slime Trio, but at the cost of Stan himself becoming turned into stone. He protected Negi because he promised Nagi that he would do so at all costs.
The Magus is, as of yet, unnamed. Yet he is known as Negi's blood grandfather and the headmaster of the Welsh mage academy which Negi Springfield graduated from and is a friend of the dean of Mahora Academy. In Negi's explanion of a Ministra Magi, he is seen with a woman who is presumbaly his Ministra Magi and possibily his wife(Which inturn also means she is Negi (step)grandmother.).
Nagi and his comrades
Nagi Springfield (The Thousand Master) is a legendary wizard who supposedly wields a thousand spells, hence the title, and he is Negi's (and maybe Nekane's) father. The origin of his title is ambiguous; another possiblity is that it came about because he was able to make spells a thousand times stronger (e.g. Evangeline's curse, where he claimed he actually didn't know but about five or six spells), and there is also a rumor that he made probationary contracts with a thousand different girls (though this is almost certainly just a lie of Albert Chamomile's, meant to inspire Negi to make many contracts and earn Chamo-kun a huge brokerage fee with the Ermine Society). Nagi is so strong, in both magical and physical combat, that he does not even need any Ministra Magi to help him. His fighting style was that of a magic swordsman, using both speedy magic casting and hand-to-hand combat in tandem.
Despite what many people thought, he never did graduate from a wizard school, because he was a dropout. When he was ten years old, he became the winner of essentially the last Legendary Mahora Martial Arts Tournament, twenty-five years before the current one. Later, Nagi and his friends fought in a magic war that ended years ago, when he was fifteen years of age. After the war, he became famous for his heroic deeds and received the title of Thousand Master. He disappeared ten years ago in 1993, the same year Negi was born. No one knows precisely what happened to him, but most people assume he is in fact dead. According to some flashbacks, Nagi is a nice and playful man, with a cunning and shrewdness that surpasses common sense.
Nagi also met Asuna when she was a child, just before he disappeared, timeline-wise. The Thousand Master is a mage whose elemental magic affinity is lightning. (VA: Takehito Koyasu)
Gatō Kagura Vandenburg is one of Nagi's companions. While he looks a lot like the adult Takamichi, it is unknown whether they are related and Takamichi referred to him only as "Master". He trained Takamichi in a form of magical combat called "Magic Ki Fusion", or "Kanka", that combines both Eastern chi and Western magic since Takamichi is unable to use spell incantations. While Asuna was travelling with the group as a child she also picked up on some of these techniques. When he died, sometime after Nagi's supposed death, his dying wish was to have Asuna's memories of him removed, and for Asuna to live happily.
Takamichi T. Takahata - see People from Mahora
Eishun Konoe - see People from Kyoto
Albireo Imma is one of Nagi's former companions. He entered the fighting tournament during the Mahora school festival under the assumed name "Colonel Sanders", and went largely unnoticed until he approached Asuna and was recognized by Evangeline. He appears to have information on not only Nagi's whereabouts, but also on Asuna's forgotten past. Albireo appears to be a pretty perverted fellow, as his taste in making Evangeline wear costumes become apparent in recent chapters. He's also a cunning and shrewd man, akin to Nagi Springfield, and is considered as one of the two natural enemies which Evangeline has, the other one being Nagi himself. Albireo Imma has a strong affinity towards gravity elemental magic.
An interesting fact revealed in the latest chapters is that Albireo has his very own Pactio card, which means that he, in addition of being a powerful mage, is also a Minister Magi. His artifact is a series of books, with an accompanying bookmark, that can be used to transform into a specific person, using all their skills and abilities. More information can be found below in the Artifacts section.
This perverted, but handsome fellow is registered as a librarian in the Mahora Library Island.
Others
Chachazero is a magical doll that is Evangeline's Ministra Magi before the Dark Evangel was put under a curse by Nagi. Unlike Chachamaru (Evangeline's current Ministra Magi) who is powered by a minimal amount of magical energy that Evangeline still has and a spring, Chachazero is needs to be powered by quite a large amount of magic, which mainly came from Evangeline. As a result of the curse, she can not move but talk only, which is the reason why Evangeline relies on Chachamaru. While Chachamaru is polite and kind, Chachazero is rude and a whiner. She is always complaining that she can't move and that her master has become too soft and not so evil. This is because Chachazero enjoys killing things AND seeing things get killed. When she fights, she uses two daggers, and sometimes, a giant sword larger than she is. She is sometimes seen riding on Chachamaru's head or carried like a marionette by Evangeline.
Wilhelm Josef Von Herrman A German baron, but, is in fact a high-level demon. He knows Negi because he was one of the many demons that attacked his village when Negi was four years old; he was the one that turned almost everyone in the village to stone. Both he and the Slime Trio tried to attack Stan but were sealed by the old Magister Magi into a magic sealing bottle. During the current timeline, both he and the Slime Trio were released by some unknown organization and consequently given two missions: to gauge the threat that Negi Springfield and Kagurazaka Asuna possess, and to disable Negi Springfield from combat temporarily.
In his human form, he looks like an elderly gentleman wearing a suit and a hat. He is a very strong physical fighter who can use magic without chanting, but whose greatest power lies when he opens his mouth, either in human or demon form, to create a ray of light which turns whatever/whoever it comes in contact with it into stone. His petrification skills are so strong that it is virtually impossible to reverse the effects.
The Slime Sisters aka The Slime Trio Amme, Slime, Pudding were Wilhelm's helpers. Six years ago, they helped attack Negi's village and were also sealed into a magic bottle along with Wilhelm. They were released years later to help Wilhelm in his plans. The sisters, when in their human forms, all have different personalities, Amme is polite, Slime is rude and talks too much, and Pudding is the silent type. Due to their peculiar bodies, which are goo-like and extremely resistant to physical blows, they are excellent fighters.
Rubicante The demon guardian summoned by Fate Averruncus. Rubicante has a personality that likens the summoned being to a trained pet dog.
Character Couplings
 | The neutrality of this section is disputed. |
Due to the nature of Negima, there exist a vast number of possible relationships, especially considering the nature of the Pactio spell.
Negi Springfield & Kagurazaka Asuna - Canon if any of the relationships are, even if only on merit of Akamatsu Ken's tendency to pair the leading male and female romantically. Though Asuna strongly refutes any kind of feelings between her and Negi, going so far as to say that she hates kids in general, her reactions to Negi in various parts of the series bely a deeper relationship, or the makings of a deeper relationship. Oft, she'll blush or stutter, or even openly admit (though only in thought) confusion at her heart pounding at something she said, or visibly getting worked up when another female character pays special attention to Negi. He continues to state that he thinks of Asuna as more of an older sister, and really displays little to suggest he has feelings any different for her than others in the class.
EDIT: This coupling is more brother-sister than romantic in many ways. As of the current chapters, there's no telling that the relationship between these two characters are in any way romantic. It could head to being one, but as of now (Negima-wise) Negi Springfield has shown no interest in having a crush or in any female. He admitted it as well and Yue (who is usually correct in her assumptions in the way the manga has proceeded) has also come to the conclusion that Negi has no interest in any females as of now.
Negi Springfield & Miyazaki Nodoka
Negi Springfield & Yukihiro Ayaka
Negi Springfield & Sakurazaki Setsuna
Negi Springfield & Ayase Yue
Negi Springfield & Sasaki Makie
Negi Springfield & Aizaka Sayo
Negi Springfield & Chachamaru
Negi Springfield & Takane D. Goodman
Nagi Springfield & Evangeline A.K. McDowell
Konoe Konoka & Sakurazaki Setsuna - Perhaps the most popular pairing in the entire fandom, this is one supported by nearly every fan. The relationship is firmly based in the Kyoto Field Trip arc, wherein Konoka and Setsuna are reunited with a newly formed base of friendship, and judging by blushes and stutterings on Setsuna's part, a base of something rather more. Originally, Setsuna was assigned to guard Konoka at approximately the age of seven, and they became each other's best friends. Upon Konoka being transferred to Mahora Academy, Setsuna elected to follow her, despite being called a traitor to the Shinmeiryuu for going to the east. Later on, during the festival, Setsuna openly admits after some well worded jabs from Kamo, that she has feelings for Negi but then of a stronger type for Konoka '(Actually, we don't know what Setsuna actually said since she stopped halfway)'. This fan coupling comprises the largest percent of fan fiction and fan art for Negima, and the largest number of fans worldwide.
EDIT: The popularity of this coupling is not supported by nearly every fan. Logically speaking, what comprises the largest percent of fanfiction and fanart does not equal the largest number of fans worldwide. It only means that the largest percentage of creative members of the Negima fandom community support the coupling, but that is only a mere minority compared to those happy-go-lucky fans of Negima that read the graphic novel for fun, which form the actual majority.
Takamichi T. Takahata & Asuna Kagurazaka
Takamichi T. Takahata & Minamoto Shizuna
Inugami Koutaro & Naba Chizuru
The Anime
The anime version began airing in Japan on January 6th, 2005 and ended June 29, 2005. The anime showed the events of manga volumes 1-6 and ended with an original storyline.
List of Episodes
The official names for the episodes are in Latin with the episode numbers written in Roman numerals. Additionally, each episode name is a Latin phrase.
- I - Asinus in cathedra
- II - Omne initium est difficile
- III - Amantes, amentes
- IV - Nullus est instar domus
- V - Fama volat
- VI - A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi
- VII - Fallaces sunt rerum species
- VIII - Omnes una manet nox
- IX - Te capiam, cunicule sceleste!
- X - Ubi concordia, ibi victoria
- XI - Cum tacent clamant
- XII - Aut disce aut discede
- XIII - Tamdiu discendum est, quamdiu vivas
- XIV - Amicitiae nostrae memoriam spero sempiternam fore
- XV - Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur
- XVI - Amor tussisque non celantur
- XVII - Nihil difficile amanti
- XVIII - Amor ordinem nescit
- XIX - Verba volant, scripta menent
- XX - Nisi credidentis, non intelligentis
- XXI - Nil desperandum!
- XXII - Difficile est tristi fingere mente jocum
- XXIII - Memento mori
- XXIV - Et arma et verba vulnerant
- XXV - Mors certa, hora incerta
- XXVI - Non mihi, non tibi, sed nobis
Songs
All the songs in the series are sung by the voice actors of the girls in Negi's class.
Opening Songs
The Negima anime uses one opening song with six different versions. Each version is sung by a group of five or six of the girls, organized by seat number.
- Happy Material ver. 1 - Original Version
- Used in: Episodes 1-4
- Sung by: Yuri Shiratori (Sayo Aisaka), Madoka Kimura (Yuuna Akashi), Ayana Sasagawa (Kazumi Asakura), Natsuko Kuwatani (Yue Ayase), Kotomi Yamakawa (Ako Izumi), Azumi Yamamoto (Akira Ookōchi)
- Happy Material ver. 2 - More Rock Version
- Used in: Episodes 5-8
- Sung by: Shizuka Itou (Misa Kakizaki), Akemi Kanda (Asuna Kagurazaka), Ai Bandou (Misora Kasuga), Akeno Watanabe (Chachamaru Karakuri), Mami Deguchi (Madoka Kugimiya)
- Happy Material ver. 3 - More Happy Version
- Used in: Episodes 9-13
- Sung by: Hazuki Tanaka (Ku Fei), Ai Nonaka (Konoka Konoe), Sawa Ishige (Haruna Saotome), Yu Kobayashi (Setsuna Sakurazaki), Yui Horie (Makie Sasaki)
- Happy Material ver. 4 - Beloved Version
- Used in: Episodes 14-17
- Sung by: Akane Omae (Sakurako Shina), Miho Sakuma (Mana Tatsumiya), Chiaki Osawa (Chao Lingshen), Ryoko Shiraishi (Kaede Nagase), Misa Kobayashi (Chizuru Naba)
- Happy Material ver. 5 - Electric Version
- Used in: Episodes 18-21
- Sung by: Kimiko Koyama (Fuuka Narutaki), Mari Kanou (Fumika Narutaki), Mai Kadowaki (Satomi Hakase), Yumi Shimura (Chisame Hasegawa), Yuki Matsuoka (Evangeline A.K. McDowell)
- Happy Material ver. 6 - Early Summer Version
- Used in: Episodes 22-23, 25
- Sung by: Mamiko Noto (Nodoka Miyazaki), Mai Aizawa (Natsumi Murakami), Junko Minagawa (Ayaka Yukihiro), Naomi Inoue (Satsuki Yotsuba), Yuka Inokuchi (Zazie Rainyday)
- Asuna (Instrumental)
- Used in: Episode 24
- Happy Material ver. 7 - 31 Girl Version (TV-size only)
- Used in: Episode 26
- Sung by: All 31 girls
- Happy Material ver. 8 - Now and Oldies Version (Full size only)
- Used in: None - Bonus CD included with DVD1
- Sung by: Rina Satou (Negi Springfield), Masami Suzuki (Nekane Springfield), Ryou Hirohashi (Anya)
Ending Songs
There are two ending songs used in Negima. The first one is sung by the four main girls in the series and the second one is sung by the five secondary girls.
- Kagayaku Kimi e (To The Shining You)
- Used in: Episodes 1-13
- Sung by: Akemi Kanda (Asuna Kagurazaka), Ai Nonaka (Konoka Konoe), Mamiko Noto (Nodoka Miyazaki), Yu Kobayashi (Setsuna Sakurazaki)
- Oshiete Hoshii zoh, Shishō (I Want You To Teach Me, Master)
- Used in: Episodes 14-22, 24-25
- Sung by:Ayana Sasagawa (Kazumi Asakura), Natsuko Kuwatani (Yue Ayase), Akeno Watanabe (Chachamaru Karakuri), Hazuki Tanaka (Ku Fei), Yuki Matsuoka (Evangeline A.K. McDowell)
- Happy Material - Acoustic Version
- Used in: Episode 23
- Kagayaku Kimi e ~ Peace (To The Shining You ~ Peace)
- Used in: Episode 26
- Sung by: All 31 girls
Note on Color Changes
The conversion from manga to anime has left several characters hair colors changed, the most radical color changes being Chisame's hair color (indicated to be a red-head in the manga, but has 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). In addition, the Del Rey translation of Negima changed a limited amount of colors, including Asuna's eye colors: Instead of her left eye being blue and her right eye being green, her left eye is a light purple and her right eye is blue.
It is thought by some fans that the color changes may reflect a need of the animators to more easily identify characters.
Anime Revisions
Due to protests against the storyline and animation in Mahō Sensei Negima, the DVD release will be revised from the TV version. The first episode will have several scenes changed as they were improperly supervised; the storyboards will be changed as well. The second and fourth (and subsequent) episodes will be completely redone with proper supervision. The introduction itself will also be changed and edited. Additionally the Fafner team from Xebec will join the animation team from episode 10 and onwards. The DVD is slated for release in May 2005 in Japan.
One of the more obvious errors in the anime: at the end of the second episode Negi didn't go to sleep in Asuna's and Konoka's room; instead he stayed outside for the entire night collecting four-leaf clovers for the "love potion". Going to her job, Asuna finds him outside and allows him to stay in her dorm room. In the beginning of the third episode we find Negi in Asuna's futon (like in the manga) but yet it is still only the second day. This conspicuous clash with the ending of the second episode is probably one of the reasons for the revisions on the Mahō Sensei Negima! anime DVD release.
The Manga
Inconsistences Found in English Version
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.
Haruna Saotome: Pseudonym "Pal"
The conversion from Haruna to Pal looks unusual. To understand this, one must have knowledge of some knowledge of Japanese pronunciation or either hiragana or katakana. Basically, one starts with "Haru", short for Haruna. In in Japanese, Ha, Ba, and Pa are basically the same character, and to the Japanese ear are pronounced fairly similarly. Thus, "Haru" becomes "Paru". Keeping in mind more Japanese pronunciation, when one converts that to English he or she winds up with "Pal".
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 to the translator. The translator in question has been replaced, and future prints of Volumes 3 and 4 will have this correction.
Modified Surnames
So far, the surnames of two characters appear to have been adjusted. 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 not especially uncommon, 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".
In addition, 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.
Another note in most of the class roster sheets in the Del Rey translations Number 7: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. But in several areas (Vol:1/Chapter3 and some time in Vol:4 on one of the chapter pages) Kakizaki-san'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.
Latin Phrases Used in Negima
The second volume of the Negima Del Rey translation 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). (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 didn't 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."
Timeline in the Manga
Interpreting the timeline in Negima! can be a hassle. There are very little and subtle clues that give the date in the manga. In the first volume we see that Negi graduated from the wizard school sometime in 2002, but didn't start teaching until early 2003. On the scroll he received his first assignment on it says 2003-7, however the rest is obscured by a speech bubble, the date could be when he is going to start teaching. (Actually Negi graduated at 2002-7 not 2003, another note Negi is not really 10 yet because he was born in 1993 so therefore if he graduated in 2003, he would have told Asuna about his real age was 10 not 9 at Chp 3 (in the anime, episode 4, Negi states that he uses kazoedoshi, an 'old system' of measuring age, where when one is born they are already considered one and every New Year they age one year.)) In the second volume Negi receives a letter from the headmaster with a date; 2 April 2003. The date actually refers to the date that Negi will start teaching his second year of school. In the fourth volume we see that Asuna's birthday; 21 April, is in one chapter. Also in volume 1 one of the girls states Negi had been teaching them for nearly a week. We cannot guess how long volume 2 is the time at Libray Island only last for three days but the time after the test is only a guess, possibly 1 to 3 weeks. We can also assume that the time between volumes 1 and 2 would be a day or 2 days, and the time between volume 2 and 3 would be at least a week if not more.
However in volume 3 we see Evangeline say that she had waited 6 months for a chance to attack Negi. Now taking that and adding it to the existing data we find that this must be false, most likely a typo or translation error. The actual comment might have been 6 weeks or possibly less, as Negi was only teaching for a few weeks. The events in volume 3 last about 8 or so days, and the events in volumes 4 currently a week, give or take a day. Thus we can safely assume that the time in Negima! the manga is near the end of April to the first week of May.
After reviewing unofficial translations of Negima from volume 1 to 8 and the clues within chapter 1 to 71 and other sources, a proper and accurate timeline of Negima has been made. The so call mistakes mention earlier will be corrected in the text below.
First, many fans first assume that Negi started teaching at July of 2002 by looking at his diploma. However that was a mistake. The date on the diploma was actually the date he graduated. Negi couldn’t immediately go to Japan as he had to prepared himself for his trip like packing his things and learning Japanese. When did Negi came to japan and began teaching left many wondering but thanks to 3 clues, a date has been finally confirmed. Negi actually came to Japan around October 2002. To know how this date is the real date, you have to know the 3 clues. The first 2 clues are from chapter 38 and Evangeline comments in chapter 17. In chapter 38, Nodoka magic diary reveals that the 3rd day of the school fieldtrip is on the 24 of April 2003. With this date we can calculate the days of Chapter 38 all the way to Chapter 17 where our second clue is found in Chapter 17 that is Eva’s comments. In the Del Rey version, Eva said that she had waited 6 months for a chance to attack Negi. Many assumed the information to be false, most likely a typo or translation error from the early data but in fact it’s actually correct. As mention above, as we calculated the date of Chapter 38 to the days till Chapter 17, the date in Chapter 17 is the 7th of April 2003. Now we minus 6 months and the date is now October 2002. Since Negi graduated in July 2002, and was preparing for his trip and taking 3 weeks to learn Japanese, it’s clear he came to Japan at October 2002. The third and final clue is in fact the students themselves. While most might not notice the clues at first, those with sharp eyes and some closer examinations might find the clues. The clues are not what the girls are saying but in fact what they are wearing. You might have notice that the students are wearing their jackets from Chapter 1 to 12 but are not wearing them in Chapter 13 and onwards. The reason for this is the change of seasons. In Chapter1-12 the season is autumn and Chapter 13-71 the season is spring. Using common sense you might know why. The autumn season is cold so the students are wearing jackets and even coats and the spring season is not that cold so the students are not wearing their jackets. When Negi first arrives he is seen wearing a trench coat in Chapter1-12 and he doesn’t wear it again from Chapter 13 to onwards. With these clues, Negi did in fact arrive in October 2002. Of course you might also realized that 3 months have pass from Chapter 12 to 13. It might be because Ken Akamatsu decided to skip the winter season to progress the story quickly to spring of 2003.
(After this explanation you might be already be surprised of the Mahora Academy’s school year. You might be puzzled by the fact the exams are around October-November and the new school year is at April. Here is an explanation. Schools in the US and UK start the beginning of the school year after summer and ends during the end of spring. However, some schools in Asia like Brunei start the school year after New Years and ends at the end of November. Mahora Academy follows the Japanese school year which begins in April, with the second semester beginning in October (though some Japanese schools operate on a trimester system, with terms running April-July, September-December and January-March).
Anyway, another mistake mention before is that Negi recevies a letter from the headmaster with a date; 2 April 2003. It was thought that the date actually refers to the date that Negi will start teaching his second year of school but it was wrong. The date is in fact when Negi becomes an official teacher. When Negi came to teach at Mahora at first, it’s was as an intern because the principal was testing him wheter he was qualify to become a teacher. Negi actually started teaching in the new term at the 7th of April, 2003. In the Del Rey version of volume 1, Makie mention’s that Negi has been teaching them nearly a week. But actually the sentence was actually changed from the original, which stated it had been 5 days since Negi’s arrival.
In addition, the timelines of the game, anime, and manga seem to differ greatly. The anime states that Negi began teaching at the start of the school year in 2002, making the time he arrived some time in April, 2002. In episode 5 (which coincides roughly with events from chapters 15 and 18) he receives a letter from Nekane dated April 21st, while in the Manga that date is Asuna's birthday and occurs after chapter 27. Meanwhilst, in the game, The events of Volume 2 occur between 3 March 2003 and 18 March 2003, and mixes in the events of Volume 3, with the final exam being the last occurrence in the game.
Another Interpretation of the Timeline:
Source: Sushi-Y from Animesuki
2003 Early February - Negi Springfield becomes the Homeroom Teacher of 2-A at Mahora Gakuen, had his true identity exposed to Asuna, and begins to stay at Konoka and Asuna's room at the female dormitory
2003 March - Library Expedition Trip, as well as the subsequent test.
2003 March 25th - End of 3rd term ceremony
2003 March 26th~April 7th - Spring Break, Negi visits Ayaka (Little Brother event), Makie attacked by Evangeline
2003 April 7th - New term, Negi officially becomes a teacher at Mahora, and continues to teach at the now 3-A class, fight with Evangeline begins
2003 April 15th - Negi forms a contract with Asuna, defeats Evangeline
2003 April 16th - School Field Trip being Nara and Kyoto decided, principle entrusts a letter to be delivered to the Kansai magic association to Negi
2003 April 20th - Konoka and Negi shops for Asuna's birthday present at Harajuku, the cheerleaders misunderstood and called Ayaka and Asuna. The day ended with a party for Asuna at karaoke.
2003 April 21st - Asuna's 15th birthday
2003 April 22nd - Day One of school fieldtrip, night, Konoka was kidnapped, fight with Chigusa at Kyoto Station, Konoka returned
2003 April 23rd - Day Two of school fieldtrip, Nodoka confessed to Negi at Nara park, Negi exposed himself to Kazumi, night, kiss operation ended with a contract between Negi and Nodoka
2003 April 24th - Day Three of school fieldtrip, free day, Negi and Asuna heads for the Kansai magic association to deliver the letter, becomes trapped in a barrier, fight with Kotarou, Negi's true identity exposed to Nodoka. Setsuna and Konoka was once again attacked by Chigusa and Tsukiyomi at the cinema village, Setsuna was seriously wounded, but was healed by Konoka's hidden powers. Setsuna and Konoka meet up with Negi and the gang and arrives at the headquarter..... (skip) the day ended with the defeat of the summoned giant demon by Evangeline and Negi's contract with Konoka.
2003 April 25th - Day Four of the school fieldtrip, Chigusa captured by Chachazero, Negi and the gang returned to the hotel and rested until noon, later, the gang that went to tour along with Evangeline was guided by Eishun to Nagi's old house, Negi received a map left by Nagi from Eishun.
2003 April 26th - Day Five of the school fieldtrip, the class returned to Mahora before noon.
2003 April 27th - Negi begins training magic under Eva
2003 April 29th - Negi begins training kenpo under Kufei
2003 May 4th - Nodoka and Yue reports of a clue discovered on the map
2003 May 5th - Negi, Nodoka, and Yue enters Library underground in search of the clue, but due to a guardian dragon, they retreated with the help of Chachamaru, Negi's true identity exposed to Yue
2003 May 6th - Asuna discovers Negi's trip to the Library underground without informing her, has an argument with Negi.
2003 May 9th - Ayaka invites Negi to the southern island owned by the Yukihiro group
2003 May 10th - Negi and Ayaka arrives at the island, half the class came along too
2003 May 11th - Negi and Asuna makes up again
2003 Mid May - Negi begins training at Evangeline's resort
2003 Mid May - Eva's resort discovered by Asuna, Kazumi, Kufei, Nodoka, Yue, Konoka, and Setsuna, Negi's past revealed. Kotarou escaped the Kansai association, lost his memory, collapsed on the side of the road in Mahora, discovered and taken in by Natsumi and Chizuru. Night, Wilheim and the slimes attacks and captured the girls, Negi and Kotarou arrives to rescue them, and defeats the demon.
2003 Mid May (Next day) - Negi decides to become a Magic Swordsman
2003 May 26th - Midterm, 3-A is third in the school, Asuna last in class
2003 June 4th - Negi writes (?) a letter to Nekane, Asuna also makes a greeting
2003 June 5th - Kotarou transfers to Mahora Gakuen and forced (?) to live in Chizuru, Natsumi, and Ayaka's dorm. Negi and the class discusses what attraction to do for the Mahora festival, but ended in disarray
2003 June 6th - Negi and Asuna sleeps together again after a long time, and wakes up in the morning together. In Homeroom, the discussion for festival attaction again ended in a mess, Negi reprimanded. Later, Negi heads to Chao's tram, becomes drunk there.
2003 June 7th - Morning, Negi was cheered by Satsuki, later, "Horror House" was decided as the class attraction
2003 June 8th - Sayo makes an appearance
2003 June 9th - Night, Sayo's appearance creates a huge disturbance in class, a ghost busting team, as well as Setsuna and Mana were dispatched, the event ended with Negi and Kazumi becoming Sayo's friend
2003 June 10th (?) - Chachamaru's love interest revealed
2003 June 15th - Negi in 15 years old form has a practice date with Asuna
2003 June 17th - Negi invited to various events by his students, night, Asuna askes Takahata-sensei out
2003 June 19th - Negi and Setsuna hears about the World Tree's magic from the principle, patrol teams formed. Later, Negi helps out a Chao who's being chased.
2003 June 20th - Mahora Festival Day One Begins
{too many things happened, it involved 3 time jumps: first jump from 20:00 back to 10:00, accidentally, second jump from late night after the date with Nodoka back to 13:30, to do the patrol, boat tour with Yue, and the subsequent tournament preliminary, and the First Night party near midnight, third jump from the First Night party (near midnight), back to 11:30, and makes a round to all the appointments with the students}
2003 June 21st - Mahora Festival Day Two, Negi, Kotarou, Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna rests at Eva's resort. 8:00, Mahora Martial Arts Tournament main round begins
Magic in Negima
The magic in Negima, whilst seeming fairly general, have several things that should be noted. This will be covered in this section.
Western Mages vs. Eastern Mages
One may note that there are many significant differences between the Western Mage schools and the Eastern Mage schools. First, the Western school of mages tends to emphasize the mage as a part of a group: The mage casts spells, whilst the partner or allies provide support, protecting the magician. In this way, many of the spells have a focus on two main sections: support powers, such as magic barriers, healing, and precognition, and assault powers, designed to either fire too many attacks to dodge, or make an extremely powerful attack to break through any magic barriers. Even in this grouping however, many of these spells are designed more for sealing, capture, and disarming an enemy than outright destroying the enemy.
On the other hand, the Eastern school of mages emphasize the mage as a solo operative, with many of the spells devised more to disrupt and confuse more than play a role in direct combat. In addition, the Eastern mage's talismans are highly specific. The exceptions occur when it comes to talisman monsters, such as the assault (zenki) and protective (goki) demons. These talisman monsters last until their purpose is accomplished, or until they are destroyed. An assault demon will thus last until it is either destroyed, or until no more enemies remain, and dissipate. In much the same way, a defensive demon will only last until it defends the mage from an assault. Once again, once there are no possible threats, they dissipate. In the case that no orders are given to talismans, they will attempt to complete whatever task they are first given, and complete that. Once that task is completed, they return to paper.
Also, from previous chapters, it has been revealed that mages, either from the East or West, cannot control time.
Infernus Scholacticus
Infernus Scholacticus is the name of a curse placed upon Evangeline by Nagi Springfield which prevents her from leaving the Mahora campus, a spell normally used to force truants to attend school. The only one who knows how to lift the curse is Nagi himself, but the headmaster was able to allow her to visit Kyoto briefly, since it was an official school activity, although this required the stamping a permission form every 5 seconds. There is an additional element to the curse in Evangeline's case which also restricts her magical abilities, however this restriction is enforced by technological rather than magical means and Chachamaru was able to lift the restriction temporarily during a blackout by hacking into the control system.
Magic Vampirism
Of note is the fact that while Evangeline does not have any of the weaknesses of a vampire, she still makes use of vampirism to empower herself. Before being cursed, she wielded immense magical power, which was likely what prevented any aging. However, the curse placed upon her sealed most of that magic power away, leaving her extremely vulnerable. Judging by her physical weaknesses, it can probably be assumed that Evangeline's magical powers probably boosted her physical capabilities: However, upon losing them, her body, which was now more dependant on magic, became far more susceptible to disease than an ordinary human. In fact, it appears the only thing the remaining magic seems to do is prevent her from aging.
In an attempt to counter this, Evangeline's taken to many different techniques to boost her magical capabilities. The first being the catalysts she uses, reducing the drain each spell cast has on her. The second being the vampirism itself. What actually occurs is that the magical power within the blood is consumed, rather than the blood itself. Thus, Evangeline can keep herself from becoming sick, and allow herself to use stronger magics by drinking the blood of someone with significant magic power. This can also explain why Evangeline is significantly healthier and capable of more impressive magics later on in the series.
Magic Canceller
Magic Canceller is an ability that completely nullifies magic. What this ability does is that any magic that is cast or use, the person with this ability has no effect. In others words it protects the person from magic. However it doesn’t mean all types of magic are nullified. Magic that harms the person is stopped, while magic that helps the person isn’t. It is unclear how does one gets this ability as is it a rare ability. The only person known to have this ability is Asuna, which may have something to do with her and the Thousand Master. In the Anime storyline she received the ability as the result of a pact with a demon.
Magical Canceller does not explain some of the more unusual instances, such as Asuna being able to dispel an onmyō monster in one hit with her Ensis Exorcizans yet not being able to protect herself from Fate's magically produced monster. A possible explanation for this is that magical spells are stopped by magic neutralization but they do not stop physical attacks, so even if the attacker is a demon, monster or a person powered by magic any attack that is physical like punching, kicking or using a weapon will not be stoped as they are physical attacks not magical attacks.
Asuna's weapon is generally a harisen, as stated further below. When Asuna notes it, a flustered Chamo says that on the card is written "Hamanotsurugi" (which means Demon Banishing Blade). Her ability to banish demons and onmyou monsters in one hit is due to her weapon, not her magic cancelling abilities.
Another case which isn't entirely understood is when love potions are used. If another person drinks a love potion which causes anyone that sees them to be affected, a person with Magic Canceller would not be affected. However, if someone with Magic Canceller were to drink a love potion which causes them to fall in love with the first person they see, they will be affected; in chapter 54 when Asuna accidentally ate a chocolate which contain a love potion, which causes them to fall in love with the first person they see, the confusion was that Asuna was falling in love with Negi even though she has magic canceller. What's may be happening is that Asuna is really falling in love with Negi or she is remembering her feelings for Nagi and only thinks it is due to the chocolate.
A possible explanation for various seeming discrepancies: If 'Magic Canceler' is a protective field that surrounds its source, it would ideally be able to hold out any foreign influence trying to enter said source. Also, the source might use it as an augment to physical attacks, allowing it to batter through magical fields, such as Asuna has been seen to do to Evangeline several times, kicking her despite the presence of Eva's defensive shield magics. However, it would not work on forces working outward from the inside. Therefore, if the source willingly (or unwillingly?) ingests a substance with magical properties, they would be affected just as someone who does not possess this power. Potentially, this explanation covers not only Asuna's reacting to the love potion chocolates as if she were undefended, but also her ability to form a pactio with Negi; the minister or ministra magi must absorb some of their magi's essence, be it through blood or, indeed, a kiss.
Pactio
The Pactio system, which is commonly used among Western Mages, has two components comprising it: The Magister Magi and the Ministra Magi.
The pactio enables the magician casting the spell, the Magister, to transfer some of his/her magic power to the other person involved in the pactio, the Ministra, improving the Ministra's natural capabilities. Another advantage included in having a pactio is the ability for the Ministra to summon a "magic artifact". Each magic artifact reflects the Ministra summoning it, and as such, the vast majority of magic artifacts will be quite different.
When a pactio is established, two cards are created, as proof of the pactio. These cards allow for telepathic communication between the Magister and Ministra. It also allows the Magister to summon the Ministra at any time.
If the Ministra should be left on his/her own wits, they can use their copies of the pactio card to borrow magical energy from the Magister they pactio'd with, or, to summon their artifacts cancelling the need for the Magister to summon it for them.
Due to the importance the Western Mages places on having the Ministra Magi, it should come as no surprise that there is a spell designed specifically for forming partnerships. The pactio, also known as "contract" is usually formed by kissing. (The Del Rey version omitted the fact that the Pactio can be done in more ways than just kissing. The "blood swap" scenario made by Del Rey is actually a fallacy in translation, but it can be considered as a possible way to make a pactio.)
It should be noted that there are also at least 3 "levels" of contracts: "Mistake", "Temporary", and "Permanent".
The weakest level, the Mistake Pactio cards, tend to be badly drawn and are extremely specific, providing little real information. Mistake Pactio cards in turn allow for little to no magical effects - there is the possibility of empowering the Ministra with magic much like a normal pactio card, but requiring a great deal of magic power for the Magister. Mistake Pactio cards are formed via the Ministra not completing the pactio ceremony as they should have been done.
Temporary Pactio, as the name indicates, are equivalent to Permanent Pactio in many ways, but only last for a certain amount of time - exactly how long is currently unknown, but currently all the Contracts Negi uses are Temporary Contracts. From what has been indicated, a Magister can have an infinite amount of Temporary Contracts, but only one Permanent Contract. Assumably, it is also impossible to form a Temporary Contract once a Permanent Contract has been formed. Temporary Pactio cards are written almost entirely in Latin - including the name of the Ministra. Information provided on the Temporary Pactio cards are the name of the Ministra, the Ministra's specialization, astrology sign (by planet), virtue, direction, and color.
Permanent Pactio are currently shrouded in mystery - a possible permanent contract card may have appeared though nothing was truly revealed about it. It can be said there is a great possibility the Magister who initiated said contract died. As for any specifics on the card design, effects, completion of contract, or how a Magister's death would effect their contract, it is still completely unknown. It is likely however that if the Magister behind the contract died all powers of the card would be lost.
Magic Artifacts & Items
Magic artifacts are often the result of a Pactio, as explained in the entry above. So far, only three artifacts have shown up in the manga as a result of Negi's contracts with his students.
Asuna (Ensis Exorcizans) - A giant fan, called a harisen, that can exorcize demons with a single swipe. Needless to say, it is a rather powerful artifact. On the pactio card, it is depicted as a giant sword. Why it manifested as a harisen (giant fan) is not certain. Asuna's sword seems to manifest in times of great emotion, at one point it becoms a sword when she believes Negi is in a near death situation, at another point a blinding anger does the trick. There is no indication of why this happens but extreme emotions has, to this point, been the deciding factor when Asuna summons the harisen or sword.
Nodoka (Diarium Ejus) - Upon making the Probationary Contract with Negi, Nodoka gained a magic artifact- a picture diary that can read the inner thoughts of people. A drawback (or possibly a plus, depending on how you look at it) is that in order to read the thoughts of a person, you need to know their name, and be at the same area as the person (if not, Nodoka could have read Nagi's mind, assuming he is still alive.)
- As a note Nodoka does not have to meet a person to read their mind (spoiler ahead) In volume 9, chapter 74, Nodoka uses her book to read the mind of Aizaka Sayo, seat number one and resident ghost of class 3-A. Since Nodoka had never actually met Sayo we can say that she just needs to know the name of who she is contacting, or at the very least, just need to know what they look like (which is possible in Sayo's case since her photo is in the class register).
Setsuna - a complementary shoto, or, wakizashi, is Setsuna's pactio item. However, nothing else known about it, whether it has any special power unique to it, or, that it is just an extra blade.
Other pactio items not resulting from a contract with Negi:
Mana- It is just as likely, as it is pointed out earlier in this article, that Mana's handguns are also artifacts from a contract with a mage.
Mei - A broom. Unfortunately, up to now, no information has been given about what this broom does, though Mei uses it the way Negi uses his staff.
Misora - A pair of sneakers which gives her superhuman speed and agility.
Albireo (To Fyuron To Biographicon) - A bookmark along with a spiralling archive of books. It gives Albireo the power to transform into any being that he recorded in one of the many books that he has spiralling around him. The artifact lacks its usefulness for Albireo as he can only keep his transformed appearance for a few minutes, if the being he wishes to emulate is stronger than him. Add to that the fact that since most beings are weaker than Albireo himself, he does not need to turn himself into them.
Another ability of Albireo's artifact is that it can, for a full 10 minutes, make him become the emulated being completely (thoughts, emotion, personality, etc.), but the price to pay for this to ability is quite high. The book that has the records of the then-copied being would lose all of its power after a single use, and that it would turn into nothing more than a simple biography.
Non-Pactio Artifacts
Other artifacts and items make an appearance throughout the manga. Negi is a collector of antique magic items, and many of these appear during the battle with Evangeline, or at least the chapter page. The most noteworthy of these is a magic gun which appears in both the anime and the manga.
Love potions and magic chocolates are the next that come to mind. These items are actually outlawed contraband in Western Magic societies, we find out later. This is because they modify and alter the free will of other people, and in the case of these love potions- the romantic feelings of the person. Because this, naturally, can be used for malicious purposes, it is illegal. (Chamo really is quite the criminal, isn't he?)
Later in the series, Chao gives Negi a form of pocket watch, called Cassiopeia, which allows him to go back in time. The amount of magic used is the determining factor of how far back one can travel, according to Chao in the manga 24 hours is the limit, and is only demonstrated to allow travel in time, not space, however in the anime it is used to take the entire class to Germany in the year 1993.
Other standard magic items and weapons seem to pop up infrequently, such as alchemic potions, which Negi carries with him in the battle against Evangeline; magic catalysts, which Evangeline uses to boost her magic power while she's under the effects of the curse; spellbooks and scrolls; and a magic ring from Evangeline as a gift to Negi, which acts as a casting substitute for his staff. Again, most of these appear in the chapter art for the 23rd through the 25th 'periods'.
Trivia
Three of the voice actresses, Yui Horie, Natsuko Kuwatani & Yuri Shiratori also performed roles in Love Hina, an earlier Ken Akamatsu work, as Naru Narusegawa, Kanako Urashima & Mei Narusegawa respectivly.
Some real life trademarks were changed to similar sounding parodies for legal reasons. The names that were changed include Starbooks (Starbucks), Somy (Sony), Taitan (Taito), NIKH (Nike), Meider (Weider), Canonic (Canon), Ponda (Honda), Conyami (Konami), Photoshock (Photoshop) and Sax Pascals (Sex Pistols).
Trademarks that were not changed, however, include Sony, Docomo, Toshiba, Microsoft Windows, Nikon, Segway, Adobe, and Kyocera.
External links
Official Sites
- Template:Jp icon Ken Akamatsu's website
- Template:Jp icon Official Magister Negi Magi website
- Template:Jp icon Negima anime website
- Template:En icon Del Rey's manga webpage (Publisher of the manga in the US)
- Template:En icon Funimation's Negima webpage (Licensed of the anime in the US)
- Template:En icon Chuang Yi's webpage (Publisher of the manga in Singapore)
- Template:It icon Play Press Publishing's webpage (Publisher of the manga in Italy)
- Template:Fr icon Pika Edition's webpage (Publisher of the manga in France)
- Template:Es icon Glénat's webpage (Publisher of the manga in Spain)
- Template:Jp icon Konami Japan's Negima webpage (Japanese publisher of Negima PS2 games)
- Template:Jp icon Marvelous Interactive's Negima webpage (Japanese publisher of Negima GBA game)
Fan Sites
- Template:En icon Latinitas Negimaria (Latin -> English translation list)
- Template:En icon Negima Forum (Forum)
- Template:En icon AquaStar Anime Forums (AQS) (Forum and Scanlation Team)
- Template:En icon Coolham23 Anime Forums (CAF) (Forum)
- Template:En icon Ken Akamatsu Forum (Forum)
- Template:En icon Mahora Academy (Forum)
- Template:En icon Mahou Sensei of Mahora
- Template:Fr icon Magical Negima
- (Thai) Negima-TFC
- Template:Es icon Magister Negi Magi España
- Template:En icon The Princess and her Lady Knight ~ The Konoka and Setsuna Fanlisting~