Manga Review - Negima Volume 2 and D. Gray-man Volumes 2-5

Overall Rating:
Negima Volume 2: F
D. Gray-man Volumes 2-5: A-
Synopsis: It's time for something a little different. I picked up the second volume of Negima at the library and the second volume of D. Grayman, and I'm going to do a follow up review on both series. For my review of Negima volume 1 go here. For my review of D. Gray-man Volume 1 go here.

Negima is a disappointment. I had heard good things about the series, but it turns out it is little more than plot strung together to create excuses to show junior high school girls naked and in various states of undress. I am not reading anymore of this series.

D. Gray-man on the other hand continues to improve. They have introduced more characters (including a vampire exorcist named Krory they keep calling Krorykins!), and the existing characters (Allen Walker, Kanda, and Lenalee particularly) keep getting more interesting. I'm up to volume 5 now and I'm hooked. It isn't one of my all time favorites, but it's a fun read and definitely worth checking out.

Negima!

Overall Rating: ?
Synopsis: 10 year old child wizard/genius Negi Springfield has to teach English at an all-girls boarding school. Magic and fan-service ensue.

The reason I put a ? for Overall Rating is I have no idea what to think about this series. Both the manga and the anime seem to focus more on fan-service involving middle school girls than on plot or magic. I was tempted to rate it a D, but I have only seen the first disc of the anime, and read the first volume of manga, so maybe it gets better. I wouldn't count on it though.

Both seem to be closer to a male's first wet dream than anything resembling plot, with panty shots and barely clad schoolgirls thrown in at every opportunity. I originally picked up the series because I like magic, and I like manga, and I thought this might be along the lines of Harry Potter. It was closer to being along the lines of a bad romance novel. A bad romance novel that makes you feel like a dirty old man.

For example, one novel side-effect of Negi's magic is that it tends to eradicate clothing. When he tries to erase the memories of the female lead, Asuna, he instead erases her clothes...huh? To top it off, one can only assume Negi has a severe allergy problem, because he sneezes a lot. What relevance does that have, you might ask? Well, apparently, his sneezes cause skirts to fly up, resulting in much fan-service.

Fortunately, the manga is rated 18+, so people kind of know what they're in for, but be forewarned, do not read this in a store. The last thing most people want is to stumble over someone in a Dragonball Z shirt that's looking at middle school girls' underwear. Trust me, it's creepy, and you'll end up dying alone.