Story by Ken Akamatsu, art by Takuya Fujima
Published by Del Rey
Rating: Ages 16+

I couldn’t tell you how faithful Negima!? Neo is to the cartoon show Negima!? (itself a retelling of the Negima! anime), but I can say that, if the anime featured wacky humor, a large female ensemble, and light-hearted plots featuring magic, then this is probably a good translation. Original Negima! creator Ken Akamatsu is involved, and he keeps the action moving at a good clip, the artwork is bright and clean, and the protagonists are all likeable. If there’s any downside, it’s the considerable amount of fan service, but that seems to be a requirement for any series that takes place in an all-girl school.

Negima!? Neo revolves around Negi Springfield, a 10-year-old who, as part of his training to become a wizard, takes a job as an English teacher at Mahora Academy. He’s the only boy there, surrounded by girls slightly older than him (and based on the artwork, it’s true what people say about girls maturing faster than boys), so he struggles to be taken seriously. As if that weren’t bad enough, there is no shortage of “accidental” moments where Negi walks in on a girl in the shower, or has one land atop him in an extremely suggestive manner.

Luckily for him—and maybe readers, too—the fan service aspect of Negima!? Neo never overshadows the plotlines, which involve protecting the student body from vampires, robots, and ghosts, most of whom turn out to be enrolled at the school. Strangely enough, despite conjuring lots of attack spells, what Negi does generally involves helping wayward souls. As a result, the stakes of any conflict are usually pretty low: for example, when he does confront the vampire girl, it’s not because she’s turning students into undead bloodsuckers like her (she doesn’t), but to convince her to start going to class.

Given Negi’s overarching mission to master magic so he can help people and the presence of such tropes as a talking animal sidekick and magical partnering system (the latter seems like an artificial device to create romantic tension), Negima!? Neo arguably belongs to the magical girl genre. One critical difference, of course, is the main protagonist is a boy. Nevertheless, I can see this title appealing to the same demographic that would enjoy magical girl books: readers who prefer comedy, wacky hijinks, and chaste kissing over revenge, and female bonding over the male sort. Yes, there are more than a few panty flashes, but the creative team‘s attitude is decidedly pro-girl otherwise, and Akamatsu writes girl-girl relationships of all different levels of intimacy.

Negima!? Neo might also interest fans of harem manga, although the affection bestowed upon Negi is, with some exceptions, maternal as opposed to romantic. Meanwhile, the fan service initially struck me as cheap titillation, but upon further review, it actually makes some logical sense. Shouldn’t there be a test of virtue for those seeking to attain the great wizard‘s rank? After all, we can’t have our top magic users getting flustered or tempted to do wrong every time they glimpse ladies’ underwear, now can we?

Okay, maybe that last sentence was reaching a little. But there is a certain randomness about this series that makes it fun; for example, besides the aforementioned ghost, vampire, and robot students, there is an encounter midway through volume two featuring… a Pegacorn! Actually, the creature starts off as a unicorn, but eventually sprouts Pegasus’ wings. It’s the perfect example of something that starts off mildly compelling, then achieves a certain awesomeness by going over-the-top. Pegacorn, in my opinion, is the perfect one-word summation of this book.

Volumes one and two of Negima!? Neo are available now.