魔法先生 ネギま！Omnibus Volume 03
Negima! Omnibus Volume 03

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^_^

For the third omnibus volume of Negima! from Kodansha Comics, volume seven, eight, and nine are covered. Featured are Negi learning Chinese martial arts with Ku Fei, magic training with Eva, Asuna’s and Negi’s fight, Kotaro’s return for Count (Graf) Herrman’s arrival, and the preliminary start of the Mahora Festival arc, including the practice date between Asuna and the “aged” Negi.

It is so much fun reading these chapters again, especially in light of where the story is now. It does make me hope that Herrman can somehow make a return to the manga story before it ends.

As before, the Twins have retranslated everything, thereby tightening the translations and making for a better read.  I was a bit disappointed that the Twins removed the German honorific-title “Graf” from Herrman’s name and replaced it with “Count.” However, I do own the original tankoubon for volume 8, so I went to see what the Japanese said. Well, the title “Graf” isn’t in the original Japanese.  Instead, the Japanese honorific-title “hakushaku” (伯爵) is used, which means “Count” or “Earl.”  So, that means the original Del Rey released just decided to use a German honorific rather than an English one for a Japanese honorific since Herrman is apparently of German origin.  *sigh* So, the Twins are not at fault here because they went with a literal, English honorific rather than insert a German one. Well, that’s what I get for thinking that “Graf” might have been in the original Japanese. ^_~

Did I notice any QC issues on the adaptation?  I didn’t, but to be honest, I didn’t pay that close attention, mainly because something called “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” burns all my free time and then some. ^_^; Oops.

I did notice that the cover artwork, which I don’t think I’d seen before, is pixelated. That means that the master image was too small for the cover shot, therefore it had to be expanded to fit and thus the pixelation. That to me is inexcusable.

Translator notes are pretty extensive, which is always good. All the original extras are included except for the line cover art/notes.  I’m not sure if these would be in the Japanese version or not, but considering that Kodansha Comics has been dropping them from the regular volumes, it made me realize that they are missing here and should NOT be.

Again, because the adaptation is tightened and in line with the current translations-adaptations, it is well worth making a double-dip purchase and buying the omnibus version even if you already owned the Del Rey versions.