Negima: Magister Negi Magi

One of the first of the new series of manga comics from Del Rey via Random House, Negima is a cross between Harry Potter, the Carry On series and St. Trinian's, aimed at mature audiences of 16 or over. In fact it's a gentle (but saucy) comedy, about a 10-year-old wizard in training who goes off to do his work experience teaching English in an all-girls school. Unfortunately, the girls he has to teach are older, worldly wise and more physically developed than he is, leading to more than a few uncomfortable situations for the poor lad. He has to room with the girl who dislikes him the most and, while trying to win her affection by helping her with a crush she has on another teacher, he invariably ends up making things worse.

It's an interesting farce, not least of all because of the whole schoolgirl angle. No excuse for getting a peek up their mini-skirts is missed, and they're often helped into a further state of undress by Negima's allergy to uncomfortable situations, which brings on an enormous sneeze capable of blowing the outer garments off any female in its path.

Akamatsu's story telling is skilful and strong, and fans of his ultra-popular Love Hina manga are inevitably going to love this. What is particularly striking is his ability to create a class of 31 girls and provide them all with different looks and personalities. Although this initially seems like an impossible concept to follow, Akamatsu drip feeds them to us with such panache that it's impossible not to keep up. The art undoubtedly helps: although there's a definite style to manga characters' faces - those wide eyes and little features - he's managed to keep his class of girls looking individual, with differing heights and haircuts. As a technical feat, it's very impressive.

If you're not used to reading manga it's worth mentioning that Del Rey has done a fine job of keeping the book close to its original format. It has Japanese honorifics left intact, which are essential for working out the social structure of the school, and it reads from right to left, so you have to start at what we westerners might consider the back of the book and cast your eye from the top right of the page to the bottom left. It takes a bit of getting used to but is a lot simpler than you might think.

Negima is an infectious title, with smashing drawing, not least for it's large cast of characters, that's intelligently plotted and interesting to follow. The subject matter would really have to appeal to a potential reader, especially the sauciness of the whole project. But if this kind of thing sounds like your cup of tea, and especially if you've followed Ken Akamatsu's work before, then it's a pleasant piece of light entertainment.

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