Negima Volumes 1-6

 Negima Volumes 1-6 by Ken Akamats, 1226 pages (6 books)


The Negima series follows the academic life of Negi, a young(10 year old) wizard who has one last task to complete before he becomes a master wizard. Oddly that task is being the English task to a middle school class consisting of 31 girls. While acting as a teacher, Negi also is searching for clues about what happened to his father.

Negima is classified as a harem, romantic comedy. In terms of content, or illustrations, it certainly qualifies as ecchi, and possibly even further along that spectrum. Like most manga rated ecchi or higher, I found that it wasted story line development to show more skin. I found this manga to be rather slow developing, but with enough action to still keep it interesting. I eventually gave up reading this series, as one by one, all of the girls Negi is supposed to be teaching, fall in love with him. After that it takes on a really creepy teacher-student vibe that is unsettling to say the least.

I cannot say that I would recommend Negima to anyone, but nor would I try to talk people out of reading it, it is just meh to me.

Dragonar Academy

Dragonar Academy 1-5 by Shiki Mizuhci, 964 pages (5 books)

Dragonar Academy is a school on the continent of Arc Strada. A school that teaches its students how to ride and tame their dragons. Unlike the classic dragon stories, where dragons hatch from eggs, here children are chosen by a “Mother Dragon” and eventually manifest in a semi grown up form. While most students seem to be progressing with their dragons, Ash is having problems. The first being his dragon has yet to manifest. And when she does finally appear she looks more like a girl than a dragon. Will Ash be able to control/tame Eco (what he named the dragon) or will her fiery spirit make him the servant?

I wasn’t sure what to make of Dragonar Academy for the first couple books. It seemed to have a good premise, and I liked the idea of dragon manifestation vs hatching, but I thought making the main dragon in the story a young girl with horns odd. It leads to some weird ecchi moments and some overdone innuendos about how dragon trainers are supposed to be able to ride their dragon. I can see how this would appeal to the teen market I am sure this manga is aimed at, but come on.

Overall though it is not a bad series. While it has its flaws, I think it serves the purpose of a not too serious manga. If you don’t feel like you want to read it though apparently there is an anime series .