Negima Magister Negi Magi

A bespectacled young boy magician enters a new school, where he will learn all about life, love and the extent of his powers-which include his ability to remove girls' clothing just by sneezing. Ten-year-old Negi Springfield is a new graduate from magic school who is sent to Japan to teach English to a class of 31 eighth graders. The twist? It's an all-girls school. Since this is by Akamatsu, the cartoonist behind the extremely popular Love Hina, the story includes page after page of sexual innuendo, panty shots and the odd manga convention of teenaged girls who look cartoony with their clothes on, and like Maxim models when they lose them in some embarrassing manner. Negi himself is adorable, as people keep reminding him ("Damn my charisma!" he says at one point). But that doesn't go far with Asuna, a temperamental student who is in love with 30-year-old Professor Takahata (the only adult within sight). To atone for accidentally removing her clothes on several occasions, Negi agrees to help Asuna by brewing up a love potion. Silly, unsurprising situations ensue, but if readers can get past the idea of teenaged girls pawing a 10-year-old boy, they should enjoy Akamatsu's real fondness for his cast and inventive, energetic cartooning, which is as loopy and manic as the story. A tense dodgeball showdown between Negi's class and the dreaded St. Ursula Girl's High School team showcases both to fine effect. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

When ten-year-old Negi Springfield graduates from wizarding school, his mystic diploma says that he must become a teacher in Japan as part of his training. So he sets off to teach English at an all-girl Japanese middle school. The girls don't take him very seriously (though they do think he's cute as a button), but Negi is determined to prove himself. Akamatsu's previous series was the highly popular teen comedy Love Hina, and aside from some Harry Potter influences, this enjoyable book is basically Love Hina redux with even more girls. There's also a look- and act-alike counterpart for Love Hina's Naru in the short-fused girl Asuna, with whom Negi, in the book's most contrived development, is forced to room. The hijinks here benefit from the English adaptation by well-known writer Peter David (Incredible Hulk) and his wife, Kathleen O'Shea David. Del Rey was originally going to alter some panels featuring semi-nude girls, but fan and retailer outcry squelched that idea, so the book was released with a 16-up age rating instead. Despite Del Rey's higher price and inferior paper quality compared with Tokyopop or Viz, this is recommended for most collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.