Apologies in advance as I will be using the same image for all three parts.
As this list proved too difficult to make into a proper top ten list I'll instead go through all the Students of Mahora Academy whether they are liked or hated. This will be in three parts based on the official seating plan from left seating area to right looking at the teacher. With that all sorted lets begin.
Sayo Aisaka
This is pretty much how I pictured Casper the Friendly Ghost, if he were a Japanese School Girl. She's a cute character with a wasted back story mainly because she died during World War II, which is open to several interpretations, but sadly after her introduction she quickly gets relegated from the cast.
6/10 Score
Kazumi Asakura
Typical hungry journalist character, not afraid to work for the enemy if it means getting that story; beyond the odd scenes where she acts heroic she's really not that interesting.
5/10 Score
Natsumi Murakami
This girl makes self hate seem perfectly acceptable as the more you watch her, the more you start believing she's right. Even when she achieves something no other student does, she still feels the need to pull a Shinji Ikari.
3/10 Score
Kaede Nagase
The ninja girl who looks like Pokemon's Brock (daughter maybe?). For a secondary character she does her job really well and has proven time and time again to be the perfect mentor big sister type, and despite not being book smart she proves to be the most competent character when she learns of everyone's secret just by observation alone.
9/10 Score
Akira Okochi
On the one hand she's a quiet character with surprising strengths and a good heart, on the other hand, she's just as boring as the other sports girls. It's hard to get a grip on this character and would probably have done well as a mute character but sadly more wasted potential.
5/10 Score
Fumika Narutaki
Being there to make up numbers is not easy and Fumika as well as Fuka really lose out badly in the character department. However their epilogue story proves to be the biggest surprise of the series.
5/10 Score
Mana Tatsumiya
It's a bit strange seeing someone of her proportions and background in a Junior High School, but despite being in the wrong anime, Mana is by far my favorite action character, she makes throwing coins look awesome and her ambiguous motives along with her background make for the perfect action heroine. Sadly she loses much of her story in the newer adaptions.
8/10 Score
Misa Kakizaki
It's said that she has a steady boyfriend but is never brought up. Her function is to point out that Negi is hot as an adult. Not much to say on her or the other cheerleaders.
4/10 Score
Zazie Rainyday
Quite the oddball of the class, she either functions as a pun machine or someone who does bugger all. Even her function in the Magic World isn't really well explained. It was implied in opening images that she'd have a big role but it fails to materialize. In fact she had so little to do that her actress botched her lines during a live stage show.
2/10 Score
Haruna Saotome
Haruna is an absolute scream, I've never met such a funny character in all my life. She's the only one who really properly embraces the magic elements of the show and speaks in the same language as the audience. If some characters are meant to represent the audience surrogate like Chisame, then Haruna represents what the audience would actually do in the same situation. She tells it straight and enjoys it.
10/10 Score
