February 26th, 2014 
AstroNerdBoy ユーキューホルダー! Manga Review
UQ Holder Chapter 24
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Touta’s Magia Erebea forces Kaito away from him, removing his hand as a result. As he regenerates, Nagumo says this is Magia Erebea, saying there are only two in history who’ve had this power — the creator Dark Evangel, who’s form of Magia Erebea was incomplete, and the Magister Magi-The Master Mage, who’s form of Magia Erebea was complete.
Nagumo recounts to Karin how in 2065, during the Fushi-Gari’s hunt for the worst of the immortals, the Mage of the Beginning, the hordes of demonic beings eventually overwhelmed the immortal hunters. Before Nagumo was about to be killed, the Master Mage (whom Nagumo calls the most evil immortal) arrived, effortlessly taking out the hoards. The Master Mage’s companions, led by the Dark Evangel, says they are going after the Mage of the Beginning, so they all leave Nagumo to pursue their foe. Nagumo was humiliated at being saved by an immortal, thus his current philosophy that immortals are an evil that must be destroyed, and Magia Erebea immortals are the worst.
Since there’s not supposed to be a third user of Magia Erebea, Nagumo wants to eliminate Touta immediately, asking Karin for her help as someone who wishes to be a friend to humanity. Meanwhile, Touta thrashes Kaito fiercely, but Karin stops Nagumo from helping Kaito, saying that this is a turning point for Touta and that UQ Holder will take responsibility for him.
Kaito is defeated as Touta comes up, so Kaito asks Touta to finish him off as he can be happy if he dies fighting. Touta goes in for a killing blow.
Thoughts/Review:
Heh!heh!heh!heh! Oh Akamatsu-sensei. We old fans of Negima! weren’t happy with its slam the book shut ending without showing how Negi resolved everything (which would have taken quite a few volumes at minimum). We came to UQ Holder, happy to see Eva coming over from Negima! However, since then, many of us have not been that happy with how UQ Holder has gone, despite being a spinoff of Negima! Well, Akamatsu-sensei certainly tossed Negima! fans of all stripes some hardcore Negima! “porn” to get excited about. *lol*
I find it interesting that Nagumo would not use Eva’s nor Negi’s name when talking about them, rather using the titles they were known by (Dark Evangel and Master Mage respectively). I also found it interesting how evil Nagumo describes Negi, even as we see him being his usual, gentleman self as he saved Nagumo from certain death.
It is too bad that Akamatsu-sensei didn’t do Negi’s nor the other members of his team’s faces with any detail, save for Eva, who is a character in UQ Holder. That being said, I like seeing that in 2065, Negi’s team consists of Eva, Zazie (or possibly her sister, but I suspect it is Zazie), Al, Fate, Mana, and Chachamaru. I don’t think that it is much of a stretch to predict that this team is, as some others have already stated, the founding members of UQ Holder. Man, I’d love for those characters to get more screen time, even if it is only to tell their fate. (Al’s place having fallen into ruins may be suggestive, as well as Eva taking on a new appearance and name.)
I suspect that Karin has been briefed, at least in part, about Touta since she stopped Nagumo from helping Kaito. I hope her remark about this being a turning point for Touta is right because I’ve been waiting for this for a while.
I figure Touta will do something similar to what Negi did when Negi was nearly consumed by Magia Erebea and pull up short of killing Kaito. I could always be wrong since Akamatsu-sensei has certainly made this manga pretty dark.
Touta’s “magical” use of Magia Erebea had been mostly eye-rolling to me, but with the highly intelligent Nagumo saying there have only been two Magia Erebea users to date, now, I find myself somewhat interested in how Touta becomes number 3.
I’m hoping that after this part of the story is resolved, Eva is brought back into the story to give us more information.
Finally, there’s the Mage of the Beginning. While I’m sure the popular “fanon” theory about this entity being a body hopper will end up being true, it is still only a theory. As I’ve told others, I’m not a fan of the theory. My problem with it is mainly because there are too many holes in it (IMO). But, my track record on calling some elements of Negima! isn’t that great, thus my figuring fans are right. But until Akamatsu-sensei actually says this is the case, then it isn’t canon. ^_~
Oh, one more thing — not sure what others think of this (and I suppose it doesn’t matter), but I liked that the Twins kept Eva saying “Bōya” that Del Rey introduced years ago. Yeah, that’s one of two ways Japanese pronounce the English word “boy”, but leaving it as “Bōya” always carried sass that I thought was so Eva.
So, we get a chapter that a lot of us were waiting for. I’m hoping that Akamatsu-sensei isn’t afraid to do more and fill in the gaps left by Negima‘s rapid departure.
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Differently from you I’m enjoying UQ Holder a lot, but I’m also would love any Negima connections that were to be made. “Negima porn” like you said, indeed a very enticing fanservice!
I suspect that Karin has been briefed, at least in part, about Touta << actually the way she reacted to Nagumo's story, it does seems to me that she just knew about ME, likely from Eva, but not really about Touta's having it.
I’m hoping that after this part of the story is resolved, Eva is brought back into the story to give us more information. << I'm expecting Eva to be the one to stop the fire in the slums. Ice seems to be under the larger umbrella of Water magic in the universe after all (the LM Water constructs would use the strong water spells, like how the Wind constructs would use the lightning spells). Also as they just talked about ME, would be cool if Eva uses her Queen of Ice so she can go over the slums, cast many Malleus Aquilonis (those big ball of Ice) simultaneously and let them/make them melt and rain over the slums to extinguish the fire.
Correction: the LM Water constructs would use the strong Ice spells
Isn’t is just. ^_^
I got that same sense, but the odd thing was that she wanted this to play out for Touta. So that made me think that maybe she was told a bit more than I thought.
I hadn’t thought about that aspect, but you well could be right there. I was thinking that we might not see her until after they left the slums and returned to UQH HQ, whereupon Eva is sought out for answers.
Great chapter. I loved seeing Negi and some of his immortal companions, even if it was only briefly. It confirms that Al is now able to wander freely away from the Mahora Library ruins. I wonder what his now-elderly mortal friends from Mahora are up to (well, the ones that haven’t passed away yet). I’m also interested in why Nagumo thinks all immortals are evil, even Negi.
As for how Touta acquired Magia Erebea, I’m thinking it was a hereditary thing that normally lies dormant but was unlocked when Touta became a vampire sired by Eva. Right now, the 80-year backstory between Negima and UQ Holder is what I’m most interested in, though I think most Negima fans feel the same as well. We need an entire volume-long arc dedicated to bridging the gap and giving some closure to the events of Negima.
Oh, and it’s “hordes,” ANB, not “hoards.”[/spelling nitpick]
That, and it would seem to confirm that Eva was freed from the curse at this point in time.
Yeah, it would be nice to get a look in on them. I was hoping we’d get more about Misora in this arc, but so far, no go.
It just seems so odd to call Negi evil after Nagumo’s personal experience with him was nothing of the sort. Then again, I suspect there has been an orchestrated campaign against Negi and immortals in general. As Saul Alinsky said, “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself,” and, “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Once branded as “evil”, then no matter what the truth is, the branding becomes the truth in the eyes of the public. 🙁
Amen to that!
GAH! Man, I hate when I know how to spell something, but type it wrong anyway. *_* Thanks for the correction. ^_^;;;;;
As others comments remarked, it’s possible that Touta is Negi’s grandson…. so…. Eva is his grandmother? XD. That could put at work some hilarious scenes between the other inmortals and the “heir of the queen” haha (Karin in particular).
That would be funny. ^_^
Al’s always been able to move freely in Mundus Magicus, which is where the flashback takes place. It’s the real world he has a problem with, which is why he stays under the Great Deku Tree, where there’s a constant MM-level of ambient mana.
BTW, speaking of the GDT, anyone remember which chapter of Negima talked about MotB being stashed under it?
The Negima chapters indicated that Al had been pretty much trapped under Mahora for at least a decade. But, now that I recall, he can turn into a book and be carried to and fro. That would get him from Mahora to Mundus Magicus, whereupon he’d be free to move again.
I don’t remember which chapter it was off the top of my head. At present, I am unable to look that up.
Actually it seems to mean they’re talking about Mars, real world Mars, and not the Magic World. Remember Negi plan is to populate Mars so the magic energy created by the life there would make so the Magic World that exists with it as a base wouldn’t run out of Magic.
The chapter you’re looking for is ch 324.
I gotta go read that.
There were floating islands of rock. That doesn’t happen on Mars, so they were on Mundus Magicus. Either way it had enough ambient mana to allow Al to roam free. That has always been his limit, not Mahora.
[…] SPOILER image from the upcoming UQ Holder chapter 24, courtesy of the VERY gracious Southrop. (My review of UQ Holder chapter 24 should come out […]
“Touta’s “magical” use of Magia Erebea had been mostly eye-rolling to me, but with the highly intelligent Nagumo saying there have only been two Magia Erebea users to date, now, I find myself somewhat interested in how Touta becomes number 3″
it’s the same for me ^^”
I still find it a bit… Weird for Touta to have ME so suddenly and so early, but at least I’m interested in finding more instead of complaining about it ^^;
Maybe Akamatsu should have done that with ME from the start, instead of doing (not very) vague visual hints.
About Nagumo calling Negi evil, I understood it’s related to how Negi was polite to his “natural enemy” and helped the immortal hunters take down another immortal. It’s not logical, but it’s something I’ve seen several times in anime/manga (stuff like calling the enemy who let you live cruel, etc.)
Well, that’s just it.
True that. ^_^ Nagumo’s making a point of saying that there’s only two ME users means that Touta wasn’t using ME before now, or at least, not enough so that it was more widely known. If Touta did manifest ME prior to the memory wipe, that could further explain Eva’s willingness to take on the boy as a surrogate mother.
Hmmmm…I hadn’t thought about that. You’re right, it is not logical. ^_^;
Well, hate rarely is. But I still feel (as I posted on either Aquastar or Animesuki, can’t remember which) that Nagumo does have some personal reason to hate and fear immortals, beyond any propaganda before or bad experiences since becoming an immortal hunter. Negi saving him would only exacerbate that, engendering feelings of helplessness, of uncertainty, of distrust, of indignation at whatever “trick” Negi is trying to pull on him.
Nagumo could have a personal reason for sure. My thinking was (1) Eva still has a bounty on her despite her working with Negi and the “good guys” of what seems to be the founding UQ Holder team. (2) Back during the Magic World arc, Negi had a bounty on his head. So I can still see it possible that for purely political reasons, he was branded as an evil that must be destroyed. So if Nagumo does have personal reasons, then any negative political propaganda against Negi would only be validated in Nagumo’s mind.
HAHAHAHAHA! “Negima porn”…indeed, a 100% accurate expression to how I felt reading the chapter! LOL
1- Indeed, I believe we have a clue to a certain mystery: before Kuro-chan set off to finish (pffff) Eva, s/he was told that Eva was just a “fragment of her former self” now… if she took part in the battle against LM, it would make sense for her to be weakened. That had been on the back of my mind for a while now;
2- During Negi’s last fight with Fate, he still felt side effects from ME for a moment. So it really wasn’t complete back then… but the demonic visage is quite cool!
3- And here we have the other founders of UQ holder (possibly)!
3.1. Chacha-chan, is Negi winding you properly every night?
3.2. Albireo, do you still use the name Curnell?
3.3. Huh? Mana?
3.4. Fate, a gun? Unexpected change.
3.5. … *too cool and awesome to comment about lol*
4- Aw, poor Nagumo! Are you a human? Do you start getting weak around your 50’s? Did you get saved by immortals, which possess eternal vigor and training time? Are you sad because of that? Oh, then just… go f$# yourself, will you? Of course they are more powerful than you! They MUST be! This is reality, so stop whinning! *feels refreshed after speaking his mind. whew*
*lol* You, me, and a whole lot of other folks. ^_^
My thought on that has been that Kuroumaru’s tribe wanted to be rid of Kuroumaru. So what better way than to tell our “cursed” person that Eva’s no big deal these days, even if that’s a lie. If Kuroumaru defeats Eva, the tribe wins. If Kuroumaru dies, the tribe wins. So far, we haven’t seen anything to indicate Eva has been weakened. ^_^;
That’s Mana holding the gun. Fate’s hand is in front of hers, but at a glance, it would be easy to think Fate has a gun.
*lol* Glad you feel refreshed. ^_^
But, your rant did make me think of something I’d not thought of — if Kaito’s a werewolf that can regenerate, it would seem that Kaito has some level of immortality. That being the case, if Nagumo hates immortals why’s he working with one (or at least a pseudo one)?
Nagumo does seem full of contradictions.
Now that read the post and saw how u pointed out karin comment of turning point (which bugged me when I read it) I finally realise what she might be referring to…
Magia erebia has a function that resurrects the corpses of its user by consuming their body and and transforming them into a monster. Then they will burn out and after internal conflict they are resurrected like in negi case (if they have the ostian royal family blood… It was negi bloodline that allowed him to survive and resurrect)
Touta is likely going through what negi went through against dynamis
Hmmmm…that is an interesting observation that I hadn’t considered in quite that light. I did expect that Touta would pull up short, as he did when he started to lose control. We’ll see what happens.
Actually if he does resurrect through magia erebea then it does prove his connection to negi as his descendant as touta must have the ostian royal family blood to resurrect after burning out.
If he revive via his shinsou powers then… Its ‘we’ll have to see what happens next…’
On a side note… Chao lingshen had magia erebea like patterns and the in ability to naturally produce magic… However her pattern was more of a synthetic implant than the natural magia erebea…
Her version likely allowed her to absorb magic and forcefully emit and generate magic for her, chances are it is due to the corrupting nature of magia erebea affecting negi bloodline
That’s sorta what I’m expecting. ^_^
I friggin knew it…
http://i.imgur.com/onTZV3E.jpg
There is one single thing this chapter got me looking forward to. With so many moments of nothing but tedious explanations of different types of immortality, and with this look back at the events of Negi’s time, I think we can expect Akamatsu-sensei to finally explain the Lifemaker’s body hopping abilities in full for anyone who couldn’t read between the lines last time around.
*lol* Like me? ^_~ I still want it spelled out. After all, folks believed that Chachamaru had a true pactio with Eva until Akamatsu-sensei came out and stated she only had a doll contract.
Still, that image of Touta doing the choke maneuver on Kaito made me wonder if this is Negi. Nah, it can’t be.
True, the body-hopping MotB is only fanon, but a lot of those “holes” are as well.
I liked keeping the term as well, but I’m not a fan of the overt translation note. A bit too “keikaku means plan” for me. Better to either keep “Bouya” and just treat it like a nickname with no notes, or just translate it as “Boy”.
I wouldn’t call holes in a theory as “fanon”. They are what I see as potential problems with the theory. But, that aside, I figure you guys are correct in this theory. ^_^
I suspect that was done for folks who are reading UQ Holder but who didn’t read Negima. When the term was first used in Negima, an inline translation note wasn’t done, but there was one done in the translation notes section. I can envision someone going, “We want to keep Boya as a term, but some folks might be confused, so we better explain.” Regardless, it didn’t bother me (the note).
I didn’t remember the first chapters and I’m very sleepy, so if I’m thinking bullsh*t please tell me.
I thought just now: what if Negi, Eva, Touta and his parents were not attacked by someone, but instead all the killing was just Touta’s Magia Erebea’s getting rampant?
That’s certainly a possibility. However, if Touta had rampant Magia Erebia symptoms that would cause him to be targeted, that information wasn’t circulated for some reason since Nagumo only knew of two ME users (Eva and Negi). Now, if Touta was targeted because it appeared he had the ability to use ME and they (presumably the government) wanted a potential problem eliminated before it started, then that might explain why Touta was not listed as an ME user.
Though now that I think about it, if Touta were the target, and Eva didn’t bother to change his name in the official records, then he should have been a target during the two years he lived with Eva and attended that rural school. But, Touta wasn’t targeted then, only Eva was.
Hmmm… Too Dragon Ball…
A theory of mine is that, if Touta is Negi’s biological grandson, that Negi’s descendants all have a corrupted/incomplete form of Magia Erebea naturally. However this comes at a cost: remember how Chao had to use those “tattoo’s”, and how Touta couldn’t use the magic apps?
That would be because the incomplete version interferers with their ability to use magic, but in return they gain enhanced abilities and a lesser form of immortality. The reason Touta is only showing this now is because before, his body simply couldn’t handle the strain, and so couldn’t transform.
That’s possible.
The fact that he drank Eva’s blood and became a vampire (and apparently a shinso vampire at that) may be the factor that allowed him to transform. After all, Eva created Magia Erebea, to taking part of her into himself may have been what the doctor ordered to have Touta use ME.
Of course, I still am not a fan of him instantly getting this power, using it, and leveling up in it so quickly.
So this flashback to 2065, isn’t that the year Negi supposedly died in the timeline when Asune never came back from her 130 year sleep.
Also I’m wondering if Negi is now possossed by the Mage of the Beginning and now he’s the final boss of this series.
Also, he was still a kid 20 years ago so I think that’a a hint that he’s not actually Touta blood relative.
That’s the current, popular theory. There are some who disagree and it is also possible we are in a new timeline, which would allow Akamatsu-sensei to make changes that conflict with Negima.
I’ve seen some folks in the body hopping theory group who’ve wondered this as well.
Well, Negi was immortal. There was some question as to whether he’d be able to have kids or not, but assuming he could, then he could have impregnated his entire battle harem. ^_~ It remains to be seen whether Negi is truly dead and whether he is truly Touta’s grandfather.
While he didn’t exactly look like an adult, Negi did look older in that flashback than he did at the end of Negima. Maybe mid-to-late teens. He doesn’t exactly have to be an adult to “get the job done”, if you know what I mean…
Haha ! Let`s be honest Astro-san , As soon as you immdiately saw Negi and gang , Admit it , You fanboyed , Even just a little bit ( I mean i did too ! )
But anyways , It was a good chapter that got me interested again , I like how akamatsu-sensei gives us negima-fans some love even just for a little bit , But i`m interested to why Mage of Beginning is still alive and Why Nagumo is calling immortals ” Evil ” , Although he might just be exaggerating.
I was doing that as soon as Southrop shared the spoiler images. ^_^
Yeah, this chapter certainly caught my interest and turned the manga from “meh” to “OK, now we’re talking.” ^_^
Regarding Nagumo calling Negi evil, i believe its regarding his power status and his immortality.
From what i got, Nagumo seems to really hate Immortals which i have also previously mentioned before that Societies wouldn’t like to mix with immortals or such.
If we consider our own human history, we would find many people killing others because they believed that the other person was a witch/wizard (aka. Witch Hunting). Similarly many stories also show immortals (whether human or beast) as being really evil people (who opposes god) and had to be destroyed one way or another (without knowing whether the said person is really evil or was just misunderstood).
Similarly, even if a person is good nature and had never done anything wrong. He would still be seen as evil because he is an Immortal.
This reason being one of the reason why i believe that Negi is still alive and faked his death and presently is in hiding.
On another note, this chapter does bring up an interesting point (not sure if this has been discussed before). Negi was supposed to have saved his father from the Life Maker a few years after the events of ch 353 of MSN (if i am right the in-universe timeline would be around 2015-2025, since ch 353 supposedly ended around 2002-2005).
But as based on Nagumo, Negi was still hunting for 2065. So, the question arises as to how did he manage to save his father but still let LM escape and whose body did he take over.
As for Touta, i believe one of the followings could be a possible points as to why he can use ME.
– Touta is actually Negi’s son and has inherited his power (a bit less likely).
– A portion of Negi’s power had been sealed inside him for some reason and there is no relation between him and Negi other than that.
– Touta is actually the reincarnated human form of the Life Maker himself. This was made possible thanks to Negi’s powers and was done so that LM could understand the humanity a bit more closely. This point would also sort of explain why the Konoe family may have been looking after him, and why he was attacked that faithful day when Eva saved him.
You raise a good point on this. This may be part of the personal issue that Nagumo has with immortals. I still think there’s a political agenda at play here as well.
If Negi is in hiding, I presume you think that at some point, he’d emerge again? Just curious.
That presumes the MotB does in fact take over bodies. ^_~ That’s still a theory and while it may be what is happening, it means that MotB is a spirit (or incorporeal). So how do you kill something that is not corporeal? Hopefully, we’ll get answers to all this.
All interesting theories to be sure. ^_^ I’m looking forward to seeing where Akamatsu-sensei actually does end up going.
It was said that there was one hero that had to be sacrificed in-order to Seal the Mage of Beginning and That was Nagi , It was said that he was sealed along with Mage of Beginning under the Mahora Tree and Albiero was guarding it , But for some reason , He could not leave that place , So that`s why he used his Illusion-self to participate the Tournament.
So , If Negi and Ala Alba unsealed Nagi , That would mean Mage of Beginning would`ve gotten out aswell , It would seem that he might have gotten away and stayed hidden for decades , But the real question is , Who is the host of Mage of Beginning ? I was thinking , What If , Arika was the one ? What if Arika was also sacrificed to seal Mage of Beginning ?
Regarding Al, he apparently did not know where Nagi was currently at, only that he was alive.
That’s what he told Negi, but did it ever occur to you that he might be lying? Or maybe using a little of the old Obi-Wan “from a certain point of view” truth?
Actually, that’s what he told Takahata during Takahata’s date with Asuna.
He could be lying , I mean , He knew that Nagi was the one got sacrificed in-order to seal Mage of Beginning , Plus , It could even be that Al was the one who saved Negi during his villaged was under attacked by using his Artifact : Bibliothecarius Ironicus
The problem with “Al was lying” is that he had no reason to lie to Takahata.
That usage of Bibliothecarius Ironica (is it bad that I never “got” the meaning of his artifact name until I started reading UQ Holder?) is a one-time thing. Al was still able to “wear” Nagi in the Mahora tournament, so he couldn’t have already done so back in Negi’s village.
@ANB:
TTT may not have been on the “need to know” list. He was already hiding so much from Asuna, so Al may not have felt it right to burden him with any more secrets to hide from Negi as well…
Maybe, but that wasn’t the feel I got from the scene.
Al withheld information from Ala Rubra before though. Nagi knew that Zecht didn’t truly die during the celebration, but Al interrupted him and motioned him to keep a lid on it. Hell, just about everyone seemed to be in the dark that the Lifemaker was in the dark to begin with, and figured they were just fighting KE’s remnants like what Takahata and Godel would do years later.
Al knows way more then he lets on. Shifty man that one.
That is true. It is just that during the conversation with Takahata, I didn’t think there was a reason to hide anything. I can understand not letting the others know that their former comrade, thought to be dead, is actually an enemy now who’s very much alive.
*That the Lifemaker was alive to begin with* Dammit, I should just slow down when typing.
[…] in 24, I had this […]
Al was supposed to be gone before Nagumo is even born. Oh Akamatsu Sensei
Is this as far as you’ve gotten in UQ Holder? Just curious.