Review of Negima - Magic 501: Magic Outside The Classroom

Introduction

It`s probably one of those psychological things, after all series start and finish at various points throughout the year, but it really feels as if most series come to a close as the winter nights begin to draw in. Consequently, it`s no surprise that the penultimate volume of Negima arrives for review. The harem genre is to anime fans, what Marmite is to the average grocery shopper. Its comedy formula of a protagonist surrounded by several members of the opposite sex, clamouring for his or her attention divides fans most vehemently. I`m strongly inclined to the genre and having enjoyed Love Hina, I`ve been looking forward to another Ken Akamatsu creation. Negima has been threatening us with the possibility of a story for four volumes now, and with volume 5 it looks as if it has finally arrived. As the various romantic hi jinks have played out, there have been murmurings in the background. Takahata has spent much time away from the campus, and we learn why here when class 2A go on a field trip. The magical community in Kyoto is in turmoil, as factions fight it out for supremacy, and guess where Negi and his students are headed…

Negi Springfield is the newest member of the faculty at the Mahora Academy. It`s a girls` school the size of a small city, and would be a daunting prospect for anyone, but Negi is actually a child prodigy, a college graduate at only ten years old. He can`t even reach the blackboard, yet he has to teach English to a class of fourteen-year-old girls. Hailing from Wales, Negi has a secret to protect, he`s actually a wizard, and his final challenge before gaining the rank of Magister Magi, is to teach at the Japanese school. However, under no circumstances must anyone find out who he really is, or he will be recalled back to Wales, stripped of his qualifications, and worse, turned into an ermine.

Four episodes are offered here for your entertainment.

19. Words Fly Away, Those Written Remain (Verba volent, scripta manent)
A day in the life of student #1 in class 2A. Sayo Aisaka is quiet, a little introverted, pale and hardly noticeable. No surprise really, as she has been dead for sixty years. She is an Earthbound spirit that has been tied to that class for longer than she can remember, and no one can see her. But she has been enjoying Negi`s class more than any other, and it`s beginning to awaken long buried memories. Meanwhile her seatmate and class newshound, Kazumi Asakura is beginning to take an interest in the vacant seat beside her, and the perpetually absent student.

20. Unless You Have Believed, You Will Not Understand (Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis)
This year`s class trip to Kyoto was on the verge of being cancelled, what with the confrontation between the Kansai Magic Association and the upstart Hoganji Faction. But with Negi a fully qualified wizard, it`s thought that he can keep his class safe. It`s a typical class trip, with Negi barely in control as they tour the city and indulge in sightseeing. It`s all interrupted by a plague of frogs, and Negi`s suspicions are raised when a letter of introduction is stolen and it looks like student Sakurazaki Setsuna is involved. Then the dean`s granddaughter Konoka is kidnapped.

21. It Must Not Be Despaired (Nil desperandum)
Negi, Konoka, Sakurazaki and Asuna head to the Kansai Magic Association, where Konoka`s father is the head, and where spells of warding will hopefully protect them. It`s a forlorn hope, as the Hoganji Faction is waiting and has found a way to breach the barriers. This time they come with all spells firing, and Negi and his friends are outclassed as Konoka is kidnapped yet again. It`s a good thing that Negi is so bad at keeping his wizard identity secret.

22. It is Difficult to Make a Joke with a Sad Mind (Difficile est tristi fingere mente jocum)
Having returned to Mahora Academy, the girls of class 2-A reflect over their trip and settle back into school life. Negi realises that his magic isn`t up to snuff, and requests help from the unlikeliest of allies. But something is off with Asuna, she`s under the weather, suffering from an annoying and persistent sniffle, and things get worse when she gets a rude wake-up call about the object of her crush, Takahata.

Video

Negima gets a 4:3 transfer that is clear, sharp and full of strong, bright colours. The transfer quality is good, with little to complain about. The character designs are excellent, with a wide variety of designs for the various class members. That said, the animation is the weak point, and when the pace of the story, and the energy of the humour begin to flag, then the limitations of the animation become apparent. Negima looks ten years older than it actually is, and compared to its contemporaries, the lustre certainly fades. It`s all pretty standard stuff, and it does the job.

Audio

You have a choice of DD 2.0 English and Japanese, with optional translated subtitles or a signs only track. As always my first choice is for the original language, and I found nothing to complain about. The dialogue is clear, the subtitles legible, and the music suits the show well, with a couple of toe-tapping tunes accompanying the credits. The arrangement of the opening theme changes every few episodes, and we get another, exceedingly poppy version on this disc. As with a fair number of series, the Japanese voice artists also sing the theme tune, and with a cast as extensive as Negima`s, it`s the only way to get them all involved.

Just like Love Hina, the script has gone through a significant alteration for the English dub. The saucy and ribald humour has been toned down, the character interactions altered slightly, and minor plot points and jokes changed completely. The English and Japanese versions offer completely different experiences, although I prefer my humour on the raw side. Unlike Love Hina however, this dub is actually a good one, with the character voices working well for the most part. That`s with the exception of Negi and his family. He`s Welsh, so he gets a generic Dick Van Dyke English accent. Aimed at the American audience it doesn`t matter of course, but to UK ears it`s Daphne`s brother all over again.

I noticed a brief dropout in the Japanese track 1:34 into the disc, but it didn`t impact the episode proper, and it was a sole occurrence.

Features

Jacket picture, animated menus and multi-angle credit sequences, as per the norm for anime discs. You get the textless credit sequences, and five pages of text offering a brief tour of Kyoto. There are trailers for Beck and the Full Metal Alchemist movie.

Conclusion

That storyline that has been threatening to break comes and goes in this volume, turning out to be… well not so much a damp squib as it is a flash in the pan, a little interlude of drama and excitement that is done and dusted within the space of two episodes. It`s no matter really as Volume 5 of Negima adds more of the same to the series, a nice anime diversion that provides 90 minutes of fun and escapism. But it`s fair to say that I found these four episodes the best that Negima has had to offer thus far.

The first episode is one of those sweet, charming little stories that turn up from time to time, warm the cockles of the heart, leave you a little dewy-eyed, then make you wonder if an angel hasn`t just mugged you. Sayo Aisaka is the class ghost, although she`s no Moaning Myrtle. For the last 60 years she has sat unnoticed in seat #1 of class 2-A, so long now that she has forgotten how she died. Being in Negi`s class has been the most vicarious fun she`s had, and it`s awakening her buried past. It`s a tragic tale from the end of the Second World War that will have grown men sniffling. Then, when her presence is revealed, and Class 2-A learn that they have a new friend, well, hardened serial killers will be blubbing for their mothers. Sometimes anime gets the schmaltz spot on, and this is one such instance.

We then move onto the class excursion to Kyoto, a city about which several hints and clues have been dropped over the earlier episodes. It turns out that it is a city that has a significant magic community, one that is split by a power struggle between old and new. Student Konoka is the ultimate target for the Hoganji faction, being as she is heir to the Kansai Magic Association, and unaware that she is naturally strong in magic. Obviously sending her class on a trip to Kyoto would be as daft as tossing a lighted match into a fireworks factory, but it is thought that with Negi being a qualified wizard, he`ll be able to protect them. With a show about a wizard teacher, you`d be forgiven for expecting some stories with magic in, and these two episodes certainly go some way to filling that quota.

Negima changes tone in the last episode on the disc. It`s a more reflective piece as the class return from Kyoto, focusing more on Asuna. There is an ominous sense about the piece, a feeling that something bad is going to happen. There is a dissonance in the music, images of flame, the out of place sound of the bells that she ties in her hair, it doesn`t look good for her. She obviously isn`t feeling well, and she receives quite a shock in this episode, but as the show ends, I get the feeling that the writers haven`t quite finished tormenting her. Given the levity and light-heartedness of the show, this darker tone seems a little out of place, and I wouldn`t be surprised if it points towards some end of series events to come on the final disc.

Negima is a guilty pleasure beyond what I would have expected when the series started. The story isn`t up to much, the animation is lacklustre, but the characters are all likeable, and the show has a pace and energy to it that keeps hold of the attention. I find that I have been looking forward to each successive volume more eagerly than I have other more critically acclaimed anime this year. Roll on volume 6.