How Well Did Ken Akamatsu's Best Fantasy Manga Age?

The world of anime and manga is dwelling to many ignored, underrated titles which have since been forgotten or by no means received a good likelihood to shine. A few of these sequence had critical competitors of their serialization days, whereas others had a superb manga however no anime, or maybe a poorly made anime, to market it. One instance is the hit sequence Mahou Sensei Negima!.

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Whereas creator Ken Akamatsu’s 38-volume Negima! manga has loads to supply, it additionally comes with some baggage that each new and returning followers ought to consider when studying in regards to the adventures of Negi, the younger wizard hero. To start with, the sequence already has two quick anime to its title, which could discourage animation studios from giving the franchise one other anime run. The unique anime wasn’t that large successful, and that would not bode nicely for a brand new anime to refresh the franchise.

The content material itself won’t have aged so nicely, both. Whereas the characters, lore and setting of Negima! supply loads to new followers, the sequence additionally options gratuitous fan service. The Negima! manga sees match to showcase lewd photographs of junior highschool women, or ninth-graders, and which may be much more uncomfortable than fan service involving excessive school-aged characters. My Costume-Up Darling solely barely received away with that, and repeatedly sexualizing 14-year-olds women, or women even youthful than that, is certain to place a nasty style in any fan’s mouth. For that reason, the unique manga was at one level really offered in shrinkwrap, similar to the Berserk and Elfen Lied manga volumes have been, amongst others.

Final however not least, the Negima! sequence’ largest attracts would possibly really feel dated or routine by now, these being the highschool slice-of-life idea — or junior highschool on this case — and a prolonged isekai sequence that dominates the manga’s second half. Whereas well-written and thrilling, these two story arcs really feel performed out by now, and they’re now not the novelty they have been within the mid to late 2000s. Which may not flip off devoted anime and manga followers, but it surely additionally would possibly fail to impress them apart from the sheer scale of Negima!‘s college and isekai components. The sequence wants a unique approach to attract in fashionable viewers — one thing greater than going to a different world or having an enormous college tradition competition. Fortuitously, Akamatsu had some concepts that helped these worn-out concepts age higher than anime/manga followers might need anticipated.