MAHOU SENSEI NEGIMA! OVA HARU

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ActionMahou Sensei Negima!
ANIME AdventureNegima!?

REVIEWS

• 

  TheRealKyuubey

  70/100
  Fun in the Sun, Babes on the Beach, and Hunting for Chupacabras.

  To say that the first Negima anime series was a flop would be a massive understatement. Produced by Xebec, one of the single worst anime production companies in history, the first major adaptation of this series was a trainwreck that pleased neither newcomers nor established fans of the manga. The animation was terrible, most of the cast had the wrong hair colors, the opening was lazy, and the only genuinely good material to come out of it was the shit that was made up specifically FOR the anime.

  Having said all that, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that Xebec quickly lost the license for the franchise, which was next picked up by Studio Shaft, who still hold onto said license to this day. Much like Xebec, who used the Introduction Film OVA to experiment before jumping headfirst into their big series, Shaft did something similar... Except they went way harder with their experiment, producing two separate OVA episodes based sort of loosely on previously unused material from the manga, and these OVAs were actually kind of a big hit at the time... To this day, the only direct Negima project outside of the two TV series to get an official dub.

  For this review, we’re going to be looking at the first of these episodes, The Spring OVA. This episode follows a brief story from the manga, where Ayaka invites Negi to her private island resort, and somehow, the entire class winds up going there with them. It immediately introduces the conflict that leads into this story... Negi saying the wrong thing, and Asuna being offended by it... But the argument in this version makes less sense and is MUCH more stupid. But then it launches into an awesome opening sequence where all the girls sky-dive down to the island in one continuous shot, so all’s forgiven. From there, it’s nothing but silly, fanservicey beach hijinks as Negi and Asuna try to work out their differences.

  It wasn’t as obvious at the time, but the director of this OVA was the legendary Akiyuki Shimbou, who wasn’t really a big name at the time, but has since gone on to establish his VERY distinct visual style through such titles as Madoka Magika, March Comes In Like a Lion, and the fucking Monogatari series. Yeah, THAT director. There are staples of his work that have become synonymous with Studio Shaft, like that famous over-the-shoulder look, but at the time, he was still cutting his teeth on gag comedies... And he was pretty damn good at it, to be fair.

  I’ve complained before about how repetitive his auteur style has become, and how pretentious I think he is for putting that style in every single project he works on regardless of whether or not it’s warranted, but there are a few titles he’s done where I think it works, and his work on Negima is a particular favorite of mine. Without his visual style, if I’m being honest, this OVA would be pretty mediocre. In the original manga, this was NOT one of the better story arcs, it was kind of just pulled out of Akamatsu’s ass for the sake of a beach story, and it just wasn’t great.

  Shimbou’s approach to the material takes what could have been mediocre and lame and presents it with an approach that’s intentionally disorienting... a trick he pulled A LOT in the Monogatari series... and it puts you off enough that the comedy is way funnier than it deserves to be, and the fanservice feels oddly psychedelic. Outside of the Negi and Asuna feud story, which is handled fine for the most part, most of this episode is just swimsuit fanservice vignettes and short non-sequitur conversations, broken up at unexpectedly random intervals by quick character profiles of all of Negi’s students, which you’d have to pause to actually read.

  He also introduces chupacabras in this episode... I think they might have been briefly mentioned in the manga? But he’s extended them into a subplot all their own, and damn it, they were going to play a HUGE part in the series he was about to direct.

  It’s kind of hard to judge the quality of this OVA, because if we’re being honest, Shimbou’s work is always kinda tough to review. The production values definitely LOOK like a huge step up from any previous animated incarnation of Negima, although Shimbou’s visual style is perfect for hiding the effects of shoestring budgets, so who can really tell? The English dub is slightly better this time around... Maybe I’m wrong, but it sounds like the actors had more freedom to adlib this time, especially Luci Christian as Asuna. There were a few very necessary recastings, which is great, because Cherami Leigh portraying Setsuna’s constant lesbian anxiety is an absolute treasure.

  Ultimately, though, this episode is just really damn fun. I don’t know how a newcomer to the franchise would respond to it, but I love the ambience of it, I love the effect that Shimbou’s direction has on the material, and I always enjoy returning to it. I probably wouldn’t recommend it as your first exposure to Negima, but I’d totally recommend it to anybody who’s already a fan of the franchise.

  I give Negima: Spring Special a 7/10.

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