It was thanks to this anime I even knew what a harem anime was. That, and this was the title responsible for me liking anime with unusual teachers. Negima!: Magister Negi Magi or Mahou Sensei Negima! is under Detective Conan as a personal favorite, and it's the one that introduced me to Ken Akamatsu's style. FYI: he's the guy I spoke about in the previous review of Love Hina.
Negi Springfield is a mage in training born from Wales, United Kingdom. As young as he is, he's is a skilled individual, and the son of the legendary Thousand Master: Nagi Springfield. As the final phase of his training, he is sent to Mahora Academy in Japan, sent there as a teacher. It sounds nerve-wrecking, but he isn't alone, as the dean and Takamichi Takahata, a personal friend, is there to help him. The thing is that Mahora Academy is an all female school overall. The class he is assigned to has 26 of them, one of which he gets a bitter start from early. In addition, he is not allowed to reveal his existence as a mage. A litle hectic for a 10 year-old boy, but he has to make it through somehow...
Negima! is another harem, and the key anime that got me interested in anime with unusual teachers. However, my only complaint is the anime continuity, but I'll address that a little later. The first anime, Mahou Sensei Negima!, ran for 26 episodes, 29 if you include 3 introduction OVAs set before the anime's release, though this was a Japan exclusive. Around this time, the manga of the series wasn't complete, which ended up with a huge contrast between this and the anime. Some things happens out of place, and to a certain extent, it follows what transpires in the manga up until a certain point. Another complaint, by others this time, was the animation itself. In Japan, there were errors seen in there such as one character having 6 fingers instead of 5. After the minor revisions, it came to the US under Funimation licensing. From the latter half of episode 22 onward, the series featured content that were original, as a way to draw the series to a close. As this was so, this content never appeared in the manga.
The second anime, Negima!?, was an alternate retelling, and not only emphasized more on the magical action the original has so little of, but also a radically different art style, courtesy of Studio Shaft. The palettes of the characters and the storyline aside, a key difference, which was seen in the OVAs as well, was that Asuna Kagurazaka, the heroine of the series, had blue eyes, where as in the original, one of her eyes were green. The anime also ran for 26 episodes, and some of the characters undergone voice changes. The anime's first few episodes, while retold in a different way, reenacts the battle between Negi and Evangeline. From then onwards, the plot, the enemies, and the key antagonist differ. Even though this focuses more on magical battles, comedy is involved, and adding to this is the original characters Shichimi and Motsu. Another noticeable difference is the ermine Chamo. Unlike in the original anime, he is less perverse and rarely smokes at all in Negima!?, while these were more prominent in the original anime. The anime had a 7 volume manga accompanied with it known as Negima!? Neo, and even that manga had a few differences from it's associated animation. This would be also licensed under Funimation.
Also made in Studio Shaft were two OVAs: the Spring (Haru) and Summer (Natsu) OVAs. One of the OVAs is depicted in the manga as a filler of sorts, featuring discord between Negi and Asuna. In the manga, the plot is similar, but how it got to such circumstances differ. Alongside this were two exclusive OAD series: Shiroki Tubasa Ala Alba and Mou Hitotsu no Sekai. Both of these were made under Shaft in cooperation with Studio Pastoral. Kotaro, a character seen in the manga, makes an animated appearance. And in the second OAD set, the series antagonist, Fate Averruncus, is seen as the major villain, though he initially appears in the 1st anime series. These were by far never licensed for English release. Shiroki Tsubasa Ala Alba had 3 episodes, while Mou Hitotsu no Sekai had 5 episodes.
Negi is voiced by Greg Ayres in both anime adaptions in English, and the same is true for Asuna and her voice actress: Luci Christian. In terms of opening, the seiyuus of class 2-A, Negi, Nekane Springfield, and Anya sung the opening, "Happy Material Go!" in different versions, and the ending, "Kagayaku Kimi e", was sung by 3 different seiyuu groups before the final version sung by the entire class at the end of the 1st anime. Likewise, the second anime went in that format as well, with "1000% Sparking" as the opening and "A-LY-LA!" as the ending. The latter anime also had another opening, "Eien no Toki o Koete", sung by the seiyuu of Ayaka midway into the anime, and another ending that was used in the first few episodes, "Starry Sky Letter", sung by Asuna's seiyuu. Both openings, as well as the endings, saw English versions when they were localized.
I know, this post took forever, but I felt I had much to point out. Still, the series overall gets 8.25 of 10, not far from Love Hina, and it remains a personal favorite.
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