Review and Guide: Negima Volume Six

One of the GREATEST volumes in the Negima. It's consistently good!

Volume 6: (chapter 43-53)

Story: Negi must save Konoka from the Kansai Association's mages! No spoilers, just read it.

Characters: We meet the infamous Fate Averruncus. He is perhaps the best known Negima villain (Evangeline is the most known in the anime) and probably 2nd or 3rd popular. We also see Eishun, an ally of Nagi during the war. We finally see Evangeline at her best!

Things to look out for:
-Fate is a western mage (means he is NOT Japanese). All throughout the volume we learn facts like he was hired by someone other than the monkey girl (this is the first implication of a main bad guy/association that exists in the background of Negima; a very tense mood is shown with this). He also uses petrification magic, etc. He's not human. He's from the Istanbul Magic Council (This seems to be important...)
-Negi truly needs to learn how to be a melee fighter and mage
-Eishun (ally of the great Nagi) LOSES to Fate.
-Asuna can nullify magic!
-Asuna could be a good swordsman
-Mana has worked with Setsuna during other magical jobs, meaning she is aware of magic and quite tough (This is something VERY important to note. She is very strong!)
-Kaede and Ku Fei are tough girls :)
-Setsuna was thrown out of her clan because she is half human and demon.
-Eva-chan is a tough mage! Clearly she WAS holding back on Negi and Negi now respects her magical strength (maybe she will teach him to be badass too [hint: she will but not as soon as you think])
-Takahata is mentioned to be overseas. Why? What is he doing? (You'll find out...much later)
-Photo of Nagi's gang
-Eishun talks about a war (a MAGICAL war). You will want to keep notes because this is very important backstory for where Nagi is and what is he famous for.
-Evangeline calls herself the last or 2nd to last boss. Its seems to be foreshadowing that Negi will have to fight her once again.

Review and Guide: Negima Volume Five

Volume 5:

Negi is now in a situation where he can get a second pactio. He'll need it when fighting against a stronger opponent: the partially demon Kotarou!

Story: Getting better and better, really setting the mood for the climatic finish!

Character: We meet Kotaro and better under Tsukioyomi (the freaky swordsgirl). Yue also becomes an important person.

Things to look for:
-End of chapter 38 (page 80) shows a scene that shows ALL the villains of this saga. You'd be surprised to learn about these characters.
-you should understand how dangerous Nodoka's power is (reading minds?! crap!)
-it would seem Negi will have to learn to combine melee fighting with magic to survive in these situations (foreshadowing of future training)
-Negi knows that his process of finding his father is dangerous and he will fight VERY dangerous opponents. Which means that Nagi might have been taken down by a dangerous foe or is involved with a dirty situation. Foreshadows taht Negi will have many foes to fight and that this is becoming a shounen title.
-Takahata taught him how to fight (that means Takahata knows how to fight too...)
-Negi says that Evangeline was holding back on him.

There are other interesting things but I'm sure you saw them even if you skimmed.

Review and Guide: Negima Volume Four

Volume 4: (chapters 25-34)
The start of the kyoto saga! Negi needs to bring a leader to the leader of the Kansai Magic Association. However, not everyone wants him to bring it so they will be sure to stop him. Also, they plan to kidnap Konoka because it seems she has magical abilities!

Story: Getting better and better. The climatic finish of this saga is to die for!

Character: We are introduced Setsuna, the cheerleaders, and Asakura (using the plot) this volume. Setsuna and Asakura are the ones to focus on.

Things to pay attention to:
-when speaking to Evangeline near the beginning, Negi has a flashback. Nekane is on the ground unconscious. Keep this image in your head.
-Notice those who didn't come (Sayo, Evangeline, Chachamaru, TAKAHATA!)
-Where is Takahata? This should be a question in your mind. He will be mentioned in volume 6 so be aware of it!
-understand the abilities of the pactio card (summoning people, using their unique abilities and artifacts [these are tools], and telepathic speaking).
-start to understand the enemies. Some of them are hired help, which means they are mercenaries working for someone else. Question is WHO that someone is...it would seem even monkey girl is working for someone despite her SEEMING to be the one behind all of this (she might just have a common motive with the brains)
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Review and Guide: Negima Volume Three

Volume 3: (Chapters 16-25)

Ah, finally a great volume. We have a conflict that relates to the overall plot. A vampire who was trapped by Nagi, Negi's father, through his use of a sealing spell attempts to escape. To do this, she must drink Negi's blood. Of course, Negi can't let himself get killed and so he must fend off her attacks.

Story:
The story starts to get good with this volume. It will get better but we can't rush such things! The volume is solely dealing with the issue of the vampire. It does introduce 4 more characters so that's a plus.

Characters: Kaede the ninja is introduced, a very important and interesting character (one of the Baka Rangers too). Evangeline the vampire is also introduced, another important character. Chamo, the ermine, is brought in and he serves an important job of creating pactios. These three should be watched carefully as they are very important as well. Chachamaru is a robot and Evangeline's partner and she makes her appearance as well.
Overall, this a great volume.

Things to think about:
What made Nagi so great?
Why is Asuna immune to Evangeline's attacks?
What are the effects of a pactio/contract?
Is this Kaede person a ninja?!

And with that, we reach a bit of a turning point! The rest of the volumes pertain the issue of the main plot: looking for Nagi Springfield. Future characters are introduced THROUGH the plot or through filler chapters. Pretty much, the series gets better from now on. And boy, does it!

Review and Guide: Negima Volume Two

Volume 2: (chapters 7-15)

Story rating:
Most of this volume is still introduction to characters. Baka Rangers are shown again (so be sure to get to them know deeply!).
The actual story seems very harem-esque but don't worry, it decreases. The story starts looking up but will only get better. But for the most part, its a humorous volume but not intense or exciting. Still, its a favorite for its calm and fine art.

Characters: The only ones we need to really learn about are the Baka Rangers. Of course, Chisame is also mentioned but she won't reign important until later.

Overall:
This volume just introduces to random characters (the twins) and give us some details of minor characters, like the cheerleaders. It has a story unlike the previous volume which was simple introduction but nothing to get too excited about. Still love it though.

Things to watch out for:
What happened to Ayaka's brother?
What mysteries lie within the library?
What is this World Tree?
What is a partner?
On page 159 (somewhere in chapter 15), we see that elder from the first chapter! He has a partner, some blonde lady...it would be best to be on the look for her!
Konoka is good at fortune telling huh? Perhaps she is magical?

These things might not have answers now but I would familarize yourself with these topics.

A Helpful Guide: Negima Volume One

The point of this is to create deep readers. By going into depth, you can see jokes and hints of foreshadowing. I recommend you use a fan-translated version (onemanga.com) as they don't make as much mistakes as Del Rey. Del Rey does have interesting extras though.

Volume One: (Chapters 1-6 for online scans)

This volume introduces the main character, Negi Springfield, and gives us his entire class of 31 girls. The amount of characters is enormous but not over the top. We are shown all of them slowly and appropriately. For the first few volumes, they will be introduced through having a chapter devoted to them. Through this process, we meet about 15 characters. The later characters will be introduced by having them advance the plot. This guide will tell you which ones you should focus on as you read and what kinda of elements to look out for.

Quick story: Negi has a final task before he can be a great mage: teach japanese school girls english. Pretty much, Negi can not allow anyone to find out he is a mage or else. However he is quickly discovered by the worst person ever: the one person who would want him to removed from his position and have him fail his task.


Story rating:
Nothing amazing so far. Good humor but plenty of fan service which might be a turn off for many. An interesting story though not original yet. This volume isn't story related, just filled with introductions.

Characters: This is what this volume is filled up with setting up the characters, not story (though it is set up a bit). We meet Negi, Asuna, Konoka, Nodoka, and Ayaka (each having a chapter devoted to them). These stand out the most and will be important so its best to understand them now. We do see other characters frequently (Paru, Yue, Anya) but they will come into play later. The above 5 are the main characters for the next couple chapters. Watch the minor characters that pop up frequently though!

Things to pay attention to:
-there is a two paged extra near the beginning which shows all the girls, Negi, Takahata, and Shizuna. This a great way to connect character to their hobby. You might want to notice the girl in the middle: Zazie Rainyday. Foreshadowing?
-Be sure to understand what a magister magi is.
-be aware of Asuna's toughness
-there is an early introduction to the Baka Rangers. They as a whole are very popular characters and will be sure to pop up often enough. You'll see them in the next volume though.
-Negi is looking for his very famous father, Nagi, who is a magister magi.
-there is some mention of Negi's backstory (look where he says he met his father). That is important to look at .


See you in the guide for volume 2!