September 7th, 2013 
AstroNerdBoy OK, here are a combination of SPOILER images for chapter 3 of UQ Holder, taken from Japanese and Chinese sources.
SPOILERS!
Β 
Admiral Akbar to the bridge! We have a TRAP on the loose! *lol*
As an aside, I see there is debate on whether this is a true trap, or a clever reverse trap. Considering how Japan seems obsessed with traps lately, I’d bet on that. *_*
Previous spoiler text can be found HERE.
Update: Egad! There’s an English scan out there, but I can’t vouch for how good it is/isn’t. ^_^;
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One thing that i really like about Ken Akamatsu‘s work is his style of cliff-hangers. He really knows how to utilize them properly.
From the looks of things, i would say that Kuroumaru either doesn’t have any connection to Setsuna or else she is directly related to her and might have suffered at the hand of the other Shinmeiryuu’s because of Setsuna‘s connection to undeads like Eva and Negi and hence her hate to them.
One thing though, was it ever mentioned in MSN (or Ken Sensei previous works) regarding the reflection thing of an undead (because i don’t remember reading about it in MSN or Love Hina).
On another note, i really have confusion on how Ken Sensei is portraying his characters. I mean, we have 2 characters introduced so far but there gender hasn’t been confirmed properly yet. I wonder if he wants to make this series the opposite of MSN, by have a group of males instead of a harem of girls.
>One thing that i really like about Ken Akamatsu’s work is his style of cliff-hangers. He really knows how to utilize them properly.
And chapter 3 certainly has one. ^_^
>From the looks of things, i would say that Kuroumaru either doesn’t have any connection to Setsuna…
What I meant earlier is that folks were initially saying about this character is that this was probably the Setsuna-type character of UQ Holder. There are similarities to be sure, but I don’t think Kuroumaru would be related. I could always be wrong though.
>…else she is directly related to her and might have suffered at the hand of the other Shinmeiryuu’s because of Setsuna’s connection to undeads like Eva and Negi and hence her hate to them.
Well, that’s a possibility. I’ve been leaning toward a possible corruption of the original mission of the Shinmeiryuu.
>One thing though, was it ever mentioned in MSN (or Ken Sensei previous works) regarding the reflection thing of an undead (because i don’t remember reading about it in MSN or Love Hina).
Nope. In my review on Wednesday, I’ll be discussing that very topic (I hope). Stay tuned. ^_^
>On another note, i really have confusion on how Ken Sensei is portraying his characters. I mean, we have 2 characters introduced so far but there gender hasn’t been confirmed properly yet. I wonder if he wants to make this series the opposite of MSN, by have a group of males instead of a harem of girls.
My thinking on this is that at the moment, traps appear to be very popular with the otaku scene. Akamatsu-sensei may be trying to capitalize on that.
> My thinking on this is that at the moment, traps appear to be very popular with the otaku scene. Akamatsu-sensei may be trying to capitalize on that.
Plus they make it easier to insert comedy.
I think two possible traps in just two chapter is too much. It feels contrived and forced.
I think Akamatsu is somehow desperately trying to kill his old image as a ‘pretty girl’ artist. This feels like kind of a Take That to the old Akamatsu. I think he’s so insistently trying to sell himself as a pure Action Shonen writer now, even resorting to tactis like ‘Uh, so you liked to see my naked girls, huh? Look at this, I’m messing around with you now, horny Otaku!’, it feels kind of… awkward. I have no problems with ambiguous characters, and I even have felt the ‘I’d tap that regardless’ vibe concerning some male characters in the past, so it’s not like I’m uncomfortable with a trap in the first place. It’s just this new trend feels gratuitous, in Akamatsu’s context. Doing things, traps or not, just because they are popular now and because you want to take a jab at the old Negima and Love Hina just makes me feel bad.
Well if he is trying to distance himself from “pretty girl” artist then he is doing a poor job regarding Eva’s new look.
Personally I think he is just messing with us, it’s not like this would be the first time XD
I suspect Eva is the exception because of Akamatsu’s huge… I can’t say this with an elegant proper word… for her.
By the way, even in sixty years, and after being hailed as a world hero, Negi couldn’t lift the bounty off his beloved teacher? I mean, REALLY?
>Plus they make it easier to insert comedy.
I guess so. It is feeling like the over the top homosexual characters of the 90’s though — overdone. ^_^;
>Doing things, traps or not, just because they are popular now and because you want to take a jab at the old Negima and Love Hina just makes me feel bad.
Yeah, but sometimes, authors go with what they think will generate more sales.
>Well if he is trying to distance himself from “pretty girl” artist then he is doing a poor job regarding Eva’s new look.
Negima had mostly middle school age girls in it. With Eva, he gets the serious “oneesan” look, or maybe even a bit of the “obasan” element since he made her appear older (or to be more blunt, the MILF factor, even though Eva isn’t a mother).
>By the way, even in sixty years, and after being hailed as a world hero, Negi couldn’t lift the bounty off his beloved teacher? I mean, REALLY?
Well, either this is a new bounty, or there are other things at work here.
@OverMaster
>By the way, even in sixty years, and after being hailed as a world hero, Negi couldn’t lift the bounty off his beloved teacher? I mean, REALLY?
The bounty on Eva presently being mentioned in ‘UQ’ is most likely the one she had before the events of MSN.
That’s because unlike the bounty which was placed on Negi & Co. (which was technically a trap). The bounty on Eva is because she is extremely powerful Dark Mage (and an Undead). Plus as she had mentioned before in MSN, she had killed many people in her life-time, some of which may have triggered a revengeful action on her in the form of a bounty being declared on her or in some cases fear from her power.
Also how could Negi have removed Eva’s bounty. Even if he turned out to be politically really powerful, removing a bounty on a 600+ years old notorious powerful Undead Dark-Mage Vampire would not be taken lightly by the common people, even if it was revealed publically that she had transformed and is now a nice person.
This is also the reason why i believe that Negi may have faked his death in front of the world and is now living with another identity (because he had also become an Undead).
There is also the possibility that the nature of Eva’s bounty have been totally different from the start.
Remember, in MSN it was mentioned that the bounty on Setsuna and Kaede were increasing because they were becoming a lot powerful (the bounty on them had totally changed in nature from the start and end of the Magic World arc).
Maybe from the start (atleast around the MSN storyline) the nature of Eva’s bounty have just been about defeating a powerful person than defeating someone evil.
Like we have seen in Fairy Tail, bounties are not always about catching or defeating a evil person. Sometimes they have a different reason as well.
“Maybe from the start (atleast around the MSN storyline) the nature of Eva’s bounty have just been about defeating a powerful person than defeating someone evil.”
“Like we have seen in Fairy Tail, bounties are not always about catching or defeating a evil person. Sometimes they have a different reason as well.”
So, someone out there thinks it’s a good idea to willingly put a bounty on an extremely powerful person who has reformed or is technically unbeatable but would stay out of problems otherwise. Meaning they are, on purpose, antagonizing someone everything and everyone but the Lifemaker himself has been shown to be unable to defeat. Isn’t that kind of mind-boggingly stupid? It’s the equivalent of picking a bomb and kicking it around to try and deactivate it.
I understand this bounty system on the removal of all undead, or having a clan devoted to removing youkai and even mazoku and undead as well, but to have such a massive bounty lasting for years. Who put the money up, or what organization did? Who’s been managing that fund ever since? That’s what comes into my mind. The bounties on Setsuna and Kaede were funded by a government.
I don’t know whether I should compare Kuromaru to Ryunnosuke Fujinami (Urusei Yatsura) or Konatsu (Ranma 1/2)…
I didn’t remember Konatsu, but I certainly remember Ryuunosuke. I’m hoping for a Ryuu-chan route. ^_^
ok, Konatsu is that ninja that physically looks like a girl, but turns out to be a guy…
Yeah, I looked him up. I don’t remember him in the anime (he may have been there), and though I thought I might have read the whole manga, I may not have done. ^_^;
I would expect the Konoe name to be pretty famous among Shinmeiryuu swordsmen after what Eishun and Setsuna accomplished. Of course, I’m assuming after the wedding Setsuna took Konoka’s family name π
Even then … Eishun should be famous within the school, since he’s an Aoyama by birth (hence from the family behind the school) and married into their ancestral leaders the Konoe’s
> Of course, I’m assuming after the wedding Setsuna took Konoka’s family name π
That’s fanon material. It may be true, but Akamatsu-sensei has not established that as a canon event yet. Folks just assume it to be true.
Where did it say Eishun was an Aoyama?
I’m not presently aware of what Eishun’s family name was before he was adopted into he Konoe family.
IIRC in one of the early Flashbacks
In volume 3?
could the sword kuromaru wields be yuunagi? she could of been setsuna’s disaple, after all setsuna is hanyuo so living for 60+ years without aging is not a big deal
It might be.
I’m betting on this being the final series of Akamatsu, so I hope there will be some plot on Hinata House soon, with cursed swords involved…
And I want more flying turtles.
At the end of Negima I believed that Negi’s love choice was Eva, so It is hard for me to really believe that he is dead in this story. For immortal beings 60 years without seeing each other doesn’t seem to be that long.
PD: It’s not a trap. But I’m sure there will be one soon. And I’m biased and don’t have anything to support what I’m writing. Just playing here… hehe…
PD2: Sorry if my english is bad…
>I’m betting on this being the final series of Akamatsu, so I hope there will be some plot on Hinata House soon, with cursed swords involved…
*lol* Well, we may just run into the ruins of a certain Hinata-sou. ^_~
>And I want more flying turtles.
*lol*
>At the end of Negima I believed that Negi’s love choice was Eva, so It is hard for me to really believe that he is dead in this story. For immortal beings 60 years without seeing each other doesn’t seem to be that long.
Well, there’s a part of me that would like it if he were dead, but we’ll see.
>PD: It’s not a trap. But I’m sure there will be one soon. And I’m biased and don’t have anything to support what I’m writing. Just playing here… hehe…
I think Shinobu-2 is a trap, but that’s just me.
>PD2: Sorry if my english is bad…
No problem. ^_^
I wonder if Kuroumaru will be reborn like Touta after that cliff- hanger ending…Also, where is the harem? We’re all waiting! XD
But knowing Akamatsu-sensei, he will have something good up his sleeve.
That first question gets answered next chapter. ^_^