The Series (4/5)

    You know the whole chicken and egg question? Well, I've been watching anime on and off for 20 years roughly, but when I started watching it was Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, Eva, etc. I don't remember a lot of "magical academy" material at the time. Post-Harry Potter I watch one at least every 2-3 months. I should do the research, what came first "Harry Potter" or magical academy anime. I do suspect Potter, but I'd really like to know. Anyway, I digress. I just dug into Sentai Filmworks series "Negima!" in its Complete Collection form, and while it certainly fell into the "Magical Academy" sub genre, it was at the very least amusing, and entertaining.

    Negi Springfield is a 10 year old boy that finds himself teaching English at a Japanese all-girls school. However, he is really a magician out on a mission, and should he successfully complete it he will become a fully fledged wizard. Along the way he deals with vampires, ninjas, and other assorted challenges. The show itself is broken into vignettes with each episode sort of just wrapping up things neatly until toward the end when things turn darker, and more serious and a narrative that ties into one of the students begins to unfold.

    The show itself has solid animation, it's nothing to write home about it, but it's effective for the material being conveyed here. I had a lot of fun with it,  but at the same time I do wish that the depth it began to show toward the end began to reveal itself much sooner, as it made it much easier to stay interested in the series.  

Audio/Video (4/5)

    Sentai Filmworks presents NEGIMA! in a 1:33:! 1080p AVC encoded that looks solid for what it is. The animation isn't exactly stylish, but the transfer represents the style, detail, and colors quite well with no apparent issues.

   Audio is handled by DTS-HD MA 2.0 tracks in Japanese and English that sound quite decent and I could detect no obvious issues.

Extras (1/5)

 Clean Opening

Clean Closing

Music Video

Trailers

Overall

 A solid magical academy experience with a nice wacky vibe at times, and a streak of darkness at the end. The Blu-ray looks and sounds quite solid with limited extras. RECOMMENDED>