These girls are magic.

Like the set before it, the second half to Negima?! Is littered cover to cover with images of Negi’s students. On the front cover of the slim box is a picture of Negi and Asuna, while on the back are screenshots and the synopsis for this half of the series. The DVDs are packaged in slim, clear cases that have alternate case jackets, all featuring artwork of several students of 3-A on each side. The DVD menus have background art rehashed from the packaging and quirky background music from the show. The English voices for the show leave much to be desired—Negi’s English voice is downright painful. The Japanese voice cast, however, is appropriate to the characters and much easier on the ears. Fans of the original series will note that there is a difference in art style for this new series. It’s not a huge difference, but there are enough changes to be noticeable, such as different hair colors, facial structures, etc.

Class treats.

On disc one, episode nineteen can be viewed with English cast commentary. The rest of the extra features for this set lie on disc 2. You get the standard textless opening and ending animations from the show. There’s also a section called “Notes From the Classroom,” but contrary to how it sounds, there’s little to no information about the actual class girls in there. It’s meant to clarify obscure Japanese quirks and pop culture references, which can be pretty handy. However the resolution is so bad that it’s a little hard to read. There’s also a host of Funimation trailers for shows like School Rumble, the Wallflower, Love Hina, and more. Possibly the oddest and quirkiest extra is called “Go, Mahora Rangers!” It’s a little vague from the title, but this is a slideshow of the English production team and cast at work while playing the song “Go, Mahora Rangers” sung by the English actresses as the slideshow plays. It seems like kind of a lame add-on, but the song is actually pretty catchy.

This could be magic or indigestion.

Negima?! leaves much to be desired from the original Negima series. This “Re-imagined & Uncut” version of Japan’s favorite boy wizard does leave the basic premise alone, but there are some differences that fans of the original and the manga might find a little hard to deal with. For one, in this series, all the girls end up finding out about Negi and seemingly all of them (with only a few exceptions) are all over him. The show also has a sillier vein of humor than its predecessor (which had followed the manga more closely). Regardless of the differences, Negima?! Does have entertainment value for everyone—action, puppy love (some of it bordering on creepy), and comedy. And for fans of the series who won’t be as grudging against the changes, it’s amusing to see the updates made to favorite schoolgirls and other characters in the show. Highly enjoyable and lighthearted, Negima?! is the perfect anime to have on hand for a rainy day.