Negima! Omnibus Vol. 3by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 4 Reading this manga is tedious. It's not necessarily bad, but it is uninteresting and hard to identify with. First, it's a harem-story with tons of extreme fanservice. Second, the guy in question is only ten years old, while the girls are teenagers! Third, this child also happens to be their teacher! It's utterly absurd.I know there are true child prodigies out there, but usually they do not have the maturity to wisdom (or life experience) to act like an adult. In fact, they usually are at least a little socially awkward because they are forced into social situations they would not normally be in for several years (or decades), and they simply can't handle it. Negi (the boy this story revolves around) is a weird mix of adult maturity and knowledge and teenage, romantic awkwardness — neither of which should be in his life at this age. On top of all that, he's also training in kung fu and magic in order to fight some enemy and protect himself, and he picks it all up without any trouble on an unrealistic timeline. It's really too much. You can't be a child prodigy at everything. Most of the girls seem like a pretty standard group of teenagers, with a few exceptions like the kung fu master and the magical girl with the robot servants. However, it's quite strange for them to all have a crush on their child-teacher. Usually people have issue with being taught by someone "too young," especially when that age is younger than the student's. And, teenage girls don't usually crush on "kid brothers," as they are usually looking at older guys. It's a really weird mix. Throwing in a ton of fanservice just makes it worse. Crotch-shots galore. These girls have absolutely no issue flashing their crotch, let alone their panties. Early in this omnibus, one girl even gets wooden sticks of several different sizes caught between her panties and her crotch. No wonder this is rated 16+ … but I don't think the actual story is catered to the right audience. No 16 to 18 year old is going to want to read about girls their own age crushing on a ten year old and pushing their crotch into the majority of panels. It just looks like it wants to be child pornography so badly but refuses to cross a few lines. Some of the girls do get pseudo-raped while in a bath by another girl who is transformed into slime. I don't even know what to say. The art is the only thing that keeps my score on this review in the mid-range. It's well done. Good design, details, body mechanics and action. The pages are very busy with both action and word balloons, which is part of slows down the reading (along with the story making me want to stick a fork in my eye). There are extras at the end of the omnibus. The back cover points out that there's an anime too, and I can't even begin to imaging trying to sit through that. Spend your money elsewhere. Written: January 29, 2012
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