Ken Akamatsu (赤松 健, Akamatsu Ken, July 5, 1968 -) is a Japanese mangaka from Tokyo.
In his teenage years, Akamatsu failed the entrance exam to Tokyo University, and applied for Film Study instead (it is speculated that this is where he got the idea for Love Hina). Eventually, he became famous as an illustrator featured in Comiket (short for Comic Market, a comic convention bi-annually held in Japan). He used the pen name Awa Mizuno (水野 亜和, MIZUNO Awa). Akamatsu, still in college, then proceeded to win the Weekly Shonen Magazine award twice. His "A Kid's Game for One Summer" was awarded the coveted 50th Shonen Magazine Newcomer's Award soon after he graduated.
After a big hit with A.I. Love You, he finally made a grand success with his new manga, Love Hina. The series appeared in Weekly Shonen Magazine and has been collected in eleven volumes (with fourteen volumes in total), which have sold over 6 million copies in Japan, and received the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen in 2001. Akamatsu had added elements of his own life experiences to the story, and this was said to have induced a unique feeling to the manga especially for Western readers, whose lack of familiarity with Japanese culture for the most part added to the effect. The series, published in America in 2002, was especially well received in many overseas countries - Akamatsu was surprised that even foreign readers found Love Hina to be "cute" and to their liking.
He is now married to his wife 'Kanon' Akamatsu, who was previously a singer/idol. He is currently working on his latest manga series, Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, which is his longest running manga so far. Like Love Hina, has also been made into an anime series. A second independent retelling of Negima was made called Negima!?. Both series were produced by XEBEC (Negima!? was produced by SHAFT).
Upoznavanje je zavrseno tako da se najzad pojavljuje pocetak neke pricice koja ce da daje neki smisao celom serijalu... ili izgovor za gomilu borbi i polugolotinje :P
Lots of laughs in this book, due to the great drawings following the story. I really like this series and its getting more interesting. And still, Negi is as adorable as ever!
Update 7/6/16 I know I read these when I was younger, but I was certainly a lot more forgiving back then. LOL - I was giving these four stars and writing about how awesome the stories are. While they aren't bad, they certainly weren't as great as I once thought and I've knocked my star ratings down to three. I'm still enjoying them, though all the vaginas in Negi's face is a little uncomfortable....since he's only 10. But, Japan. So.... there you have it.
I don't know how many manga I've read that include a school trip to Kyoto or some other destination, but this is the first that conveys the excitement students and teachers feel when embarking on such a trip. A lot of the excitement can be traced to Negi, the protagonist who is 10-years-old. It adds to the fun of this manga.
Negi and most of his girls (minus two) go on a field trip to Kyoto, to find out about his dad and deliver a letter. Konoka Konoe gets kidmapped. A bit confusing, but still a great read.
Negima!: Magister Negi Magi is my favorite manga series that Del Rey Manga publishes. It just gets batter and better and always keeps the entertainment value high. Sure, there is a little nudity in the book, but they never show anything perverted. Unfortunately for Negi, he ends up in some pretty controversial positions. It always makes me laugh.
I also really like when Ken Akamatsu creates long storylines, like this fieldtrip to Kyoto. To me, that is much more enjoyable then lots of individual short stories.
Once again, the artwork is excellent and the adaptation is the best. This series has more dialog in it that any other manga series and you can tell that Peter David is really working hard to make sure the English flows well. I really enjoyed the new enemies of Negi and all of the trouble that he gets into.
Once again, Negima!: Magister Negi Magi - Volume 4 is an excellent manga book and I can't wait to continue the field trip in Negima!: Magister Negi Magi - Volume 5. I sure hope Negi finds the Southern Master. Hmmm . . . I wonder if her will cure Evangeline. Not without a fight, I'm sure.
Ten-year-old teacher/magician Negi Springfield is looking forward to taking his class of beautiful girls to the historic cities of Kyoto and Nara–but there’s a catch! Negi’s student, Konoka, is a kidnap target of feuding magicians in those very cities. Her grandfather, the school principal, orders Negi to protect Konoka–while keeping the fact that she’s in danger a secret from the unsuspecting girl. To add to Negi’s headaches, his sword-wielding student, Setsuna, may be a spy for the kidnappers. With so much on his mind, how is a young magician to see the sights, care for a sarcastic stoat, and stay in the good graces of his hot-tempered magical partner Asuna?
GO NEGI!!! [In this volume, his students get drunk X3 ]
i watch the anime version : it is about Ten year old boy name Negi Springfield who has just graduated from magic academy. He have a dream to be a master wizard. For that he sent to Japan to teach English at girls high school. and the story begin ..
The gang goes on a field trip to Kyoto and meet up with a onmyou sorcerer. Overall it was a fun read--I really liked Sakurazaki and hope she gets a more prominent presence in future volumes.
Reading this really reminded me of how much I'd love to see some Japanese shrines some day!
Maybe it's just my imagination, but it feels like Akamatsu cut back on the fan service in this Field Trip focused volume. This, combined with exploration of the background of some classmates, actually makes for a pretty entertaining read.