May 1st, 2015 
AstroNerdBoy ユーキューホルダー! Manga Review
UQ Holder Chapter 78
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Eva, speaking a foreign language, is not interested Touta, though she does notice he’s not a normal human. She darts off to the end of the balcony and leaps off to a bridge, so Touta follows her. They arrive at the tower at the end of the bridge, where inside, Dana is in a night gown and cap, sleeping on a large bed. Eva produces two blades, then leaps to kill Dana. However, Dana wakes and stops Eva’s attack immediately, but when Touta screams out the name Yukihime, Dana notices him and immediately, “clocks” all over start ringing.
Touta is being overwhelmed by the noise, then it stops. It is night now and no one is in the bed. Dana, dressed as she was in the mall, appears behind Touta and asks what he wants. Touta protests about being kidnapped and killed, but Dana says she was being nice, pointing out that she healed his eye for him. Touta realizes he’s been feeling pretty good in this sky castle, and when he learns that Dana was the one who taught Yukihime how to fight, he begs her to make him her disciple.
Dana kicks Touta, who avoids a lot of damage by flipping away from the attack, impressing Dana. She scolds him for groveling, so he tells her that’s what Yukihime taught him to do. Since Dana was planning on training Touta anyway, she agrees to be his master. She tells Touta that he’s the only one who can teach Yukihime love since he’s her man of destiny. She tells him that Yukihime will never acknowledge Touta since he is inferior, but Dana will train Touta to watch Yukihime’s back.
After this embarrassing conversation, Touta is relieved that no one else heard it, then discovers that Dana has invited Afro (Laszlo), Kuroumaru, Kirie, and Santa to this floating castle.
Thoughts/Review:
Hmm. Well, Akamatsu-sensei is just not going to go anywhere you want him to go, apparently all in the name of keeping people from guessing where he’s going to go. So randomness triumphs!
That aside, last chapter, I wondered if we were getting a retcon, or maybe we were getting an alternate timeline. With Dana being called the Witch of the Rift, combined with the fact that whatever place this castle is at, it appears to be outside of the normal binds of space and time, we very well may be in an alternate timeline/universe.
Still, it was VERY disappointing that we didn’t get to see more than a tease of Eva in the past. I so want to have her past explored, but Akamatsu-sensei has been VERY loathe to do this since Negima. Of course, the more he reveals, the more trapped he is by his own canon continuity, thus the real reason he keeps us from knowing as much as possible. That way, he can play fast and loose with things if needed.
We may get to see more of Eva’s past though, at least in the very limited scope of Eva’s time with Dana. Dana’s warning to Touta about not going to far after things he might see in this place since this place is “warped” (per the English translation).
I note with interest how Eva’s fighting style in the past is identical to Chachazero’s fighting style. One of my old theories about Chachazero was that she’d been ensouled, thus becoming sentient. After learning that Eva had left a sentient piece of herself in the Magia Erebea Scroll, I wondered if Eva might have put a piece of herself into Chachazero, thus ensouling it, thus being able to make a pactio with a doll since it had a piece of a soul in it.
Man, I’d love to see Eva not only create Magia Erebea for the purposes of trying to kill Dana, but also to create Chachazero, also with that purpose in mind. The rags she is wearing in this chapter are the same as the ones she wore in the flashback in Negima where she’s shown with Chachazero wandering from place to place and fighting for her life. So it is possible that if Akamatsu-sensei wanted to do the fanbase a favor, he’d show this. (And he’d explain what happened to Chachazero in chapter 1 of UQ Holder.)
Of course, I doubt Akamatsu-sensei does anything like this. It is more likely that we’ll get more random events happening ’cause of reasons, and a great opportunity to explore Eva’s past will have been squandered.
Still, it does appear that Akamatsu-sensei is attempting to force-inject a harem element into the manga which really hasn’t been there. He’s shown hints of Karin possibly liking Touta. He’s shown hints of Kirie liking Touta. We already know that Kuroumaru is on the cusp of becoming a lovely girl just to be at Touta’s side. So hey, let’s ramp up the harem trope by forcing Eva into the mix. Then maybe we can have some lovely chick conflict over who likes Touta and who does Touta REALLY like in a “boom-boom” kind of way.
I’ve no idea when the next chapter is coming out. If anyone has heard, let me know. Just to be safe, I’ll start looking for spoilers this weekend. I am curious to see where this latest twist takes us.
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I hope it comes at the weekend
Mmmh. I wonder what will happen next
I loved this chapter. I’d been just about to comment that facial expressions were getting a bit generic and repetitive recently and along came this comedy goldmine. Almost seemed like a different artist.
Dana I highly approve of, she’s fun and powerful.
I feel like Eva/Touta will happen but in a familial way, just because at the end of the second timeline that I’m sure we’re in, Eva goes dimension hopping to find spare Nagis. Some sort of huge build up at the end of the manga, then she whips out an adoption certificate or something and he rebounds on Kuroumaru – would be hilarious.
I agree more training-with-time-travel-back story would be far more interesting than generic training montage, especially with her power. There could even be rifts to his past too.
But Afro, you are out of your depth, I can’t see him keeping up all the way into the tournament.
Yeppers. Sadly, I don’t think this is the way it will go though.
😆 That’s true. But I like the character thus far.
Astro: it seems that the next chapter so on May 13, according to one of my French colleagues, Chapter 79 will release May 13 Which means, no chapters ^^ next Wednesday.
Aside from that I’m surprised you did not notice two very things you consider important:
1. Apparently Tota has FINALLY found his sensei! He even calls Dana “master”.
2. Furthermore, not only Dana implying that it can cross the time-space and dimensions (which would make it a kind of Yuko Ichihara of akamatsuver, and I love the idea! ) but especially at a time … we see the emblem of the Cassiopeia! This is one of my French friends who noticed that! And there it would pave the way complain of interresting theories. We remember that at the end of Negima, Eva crossed the dimensions to fetch and bring Chao Asuna in the past. If it is, was Dana who helped him do that. ^^
And of course, it is not impossible to think that it was Dana who provided Chao Linchen, she donated the knowledge needed to create the Cassiopeia.
With regard to the introduction of Harem elements in the series, you may be surprised but it will not bother me, the better I think it’s fun.
What dérengeais me personally in the harem of Negima, it was firstly the excessive number of girls and the fact that I was Negi who personally a little too young. More importantly, what bothered people to me is that, not liking the series “Pure harem”, the first half of Negima has several times appeared stifling as too focused on the antics of the 3A and it is not Ragna Dommedge which contrediera me. ^^
But here not only the age of Tota seems more reasonable to begin to interresser girls but also the harem has much moin aberrant proportions (the basic harem I mean, after it could increase in the future, but is normal, if we meet new characters in the adventure playground. ^^
Other than the fact that the manga is oriented action allows to introduce a much more digestible romance, which fits better now to a global scenario, simply because it is not necessary to him; while thus offering a perfect complement.
I’ll make a comparison that will surely talk to many here: To aru majutsu no index.
It’s exactly the same. the light-novel is centered around the action priority but, later, various romance and comedy elements are added and this not only without EVER absorb or disturb the main narrative but also in s associating perfectly inside.
So yes, I rather like the introduction of this “harem component” in addition to the main story action / fighting / adventure of UQ holder. ^^
Yeah, that makes sense. It was delayed just a couple of days for this issue, then the next issue isn’t a full two week delay for Golden Week.
Well, this is the first time Touta has called someone “master” (I presume the term “shishou” was used in the Japanese…well, he initially uses the English term “master”, then switches to calling her Shishou. I presume the twins went with the word master because it was used first. In Fruits Basket, they did use the term shishou.)
However, how much training we’ll see is a big question. There’s so much randomness happening at present, they could suddenly be somewhere else in a couple of chapters.
Yeah, I saw that. I was going to make a remark on it, but forgot. I think it adds to the idea that we can be in any parallel universe/timeline. That would give Akamatsu-sensei the most freedom since he could retcon at will, then say, “Oh! Well, we aren’t in the same universe/timeline as Negima, so things aren’t the same.”
Do you think Touta and co will visit Mahora circa 2003 at some point?
I think Akamatsu was hinting at it since it seemed odd that Akamatsu didn’t reveal how Sayoko died especially since she died in 2003 when Negi would have been there.
Also she was 15 so presumably she was in 3-B or 3-C or 3-whatever.
At this point, I kinda doubt it, but who knows what Akamatsu-sensei is going to do with all of his randomness of late.
A magister with time-space warping attributes, and touta a Half fake shinso and magia erebra immortal. Perhaps Chao is touta’s daughter and was made a noble by Dana. She then studies under her, to create Cassiopeia.
The length of the jump causes damage to her memory and the recall is extremely painful.
Thus when she uses magic, the magia enchroment eats at her surface personality. Since using magic is a key part of her real self
You’re both right and wrong I think.
You wrongs because we’re probably NOT in the timeline of Chao and with the latest developments, if Negi was unable to have children, it is likely that Tota will have none either. However it is unclear if the sterility of Negi is due to an intrinsic side effect of magia-erebea where if ellle is because it is stuck at the age of 10 years after immortalization. If the first option is then Tota will also be unable to procreate. If the second is tota then has a chance to have offspring. Indeed a human being becomes biologically fertile at the time of puberty, the physical age of Tota is 14 years is the period.
That said, it is still very likely that even if Chao is the daughter of Tota, as we are probably in a different timeline, so Chao will be different from Negima.
You’re also right because Dana can handle (and presumably travel) in space and time, she may well have to go in the timeline of Chao and serve as a mentor for her ^^.Because Personally I think Dana is “beyond time and space”, much like Yuko in XXXHolic / tsubasa chronicle
I think Chao will still exist in this timeline. There’s a character in UQ Holder, the shadow user who attacked Karin, with the same family name, Chao. I doubt that’s a coincidence.
Maybe he gets together with Hoodie and she gives birth to Chao.
I think I’m probably the first person to ship those two.
Or she is a clone too
That would also be cool.
I don’t think Chao is a vampire of any sort. And Cassiopeia was a creation of technology that required magic for power, not a magical device per se. I kind of find it hard to believe that someone as powerful as Dana is with magic (or whatever ability she’s using) would know future tech to be able teach it to someone. Indeed, the Nobels weren’t interested in human affairs. However, if that’s the case that Chao didn’t figure out how to time travel on her own, then to me, it weakens the notion that Chao was a genius. But that’s just me.
I think your Chachazero theory is plausible. Maybe that flashback scene in Negima happened after Eva left Dana and create Chachazero with the method you mentioned.
For me, Eva’s past in this chapter is enough, as long as more of those are revealed in the next few chapters (not just in 50 or more chapters after this). After all, showing too much flashback in a chapter could hinder the story’s progression.
Oh well, another possible harem.. I’ll just wait until Raku picks a gi.. Oops, wrong manga.
That’s kinda how I see things at present, at least to make the theory work.
If the story is only about Touta going to a tournament, then I guess. However, of the story is about characters being immortals and the effect it has on them and the responsibilities they have, well then a flashback would hurt that. But I forget, this is a shounen manga, so action first, other stuff, maybe.
The thing is, if we don’t get it now, it will be harder to get it later.
I see what you did there..
I’m innocent I tell you. 😉
Touta already is enough of a bad character to also be saddled with the magical gratuitous gift of a harem lead. And this series’ management of ‘romance’ has been horrible so far.
Just keep the relationship with Yukihime strictly mother-son and keep doing random dumb battles one after another instead of also adding banal romance plotlines that, once again, will never have any proper payoff anyway.
That’s true.
I agree.
I’m not sure how I feel about this “love” subplot between Touta and Eva, although I’m assuming it doesn’t mean romantic love.
I agree with Kirie and Kuroumaru showing signs of attraction to Touta but I think Karin is just warming up to him as a friend. Karin only has eyes for her Yukihime.
I’m glad Kuroumaru and co. are hanging around, I was afraid they’d be left behind while Touta went off to train.
Did Dana read Touta’s mind on page 9?
I saw that too, I suspect your right.
I have to say I’m worried little bit about possibility of Time-Space play here. Timeline if anything will get really warped, but I believe this is what Akamatsu-sensei wanted.
He was strong armed from my impression of things, i doing Negima the way it became. He wanted action, he had to do romance/action.
UQ Holder is a second chance, with Dana being the key to tell completely tail with backdrop of something from the past and being free to tell it without writing himself into corner.
Touta may have power unrealized as of yet. I personally don’t want him finding it immediately, Negima took many years write and finish. I’d like same here, but i don’t know if Akamatsu-sensei want invest that amount time into this while he has other stuff he like to dabble with.
I can see why there fear of retrocon, but I don’t want worry about it so much as to let story unfold, and enjoy the ride no matter where it goes. As long as it’s entertaining and still with spirit of series everyone enjoyed. It’s not same, the girls won’t be coming set up harem atmosphere, we’ve been there and done that.
It’s interesting Eve is getting bigger spotlight now, with Dana’s master entry into the story.
I’m no so crazy about Touta becoming a lover of Eve, i would had been happy to see him as son she never would had.
I agree with warped timelines being what Akamatsu-sensei wants. That way, he is free to retcon as he sees fit and say, “We are in another timeline/universe.”
Yeah, the mother-son thing is what I’d like to see since Eva couldn’t have children of her own.
I believe so.
It is certainly being played to go either way.
But if Eva is roped into this harem, then Karin gets roped in after a fashion as well. 😉
Is this really harem? I think this term been over played. Sure, Touta has friends. Maybe some of them are interested in him to a degree, but harem is when people fall in love 1 central or actively pursuing someone. Negima was harem, where all girls adored him. However Touta isn’t in that situation. If anything, it’s more shaping up as a family. I hope the dynamic is going to go that way. I’ve not seen UQ Holder! listed as Harem. Action, Adventure, Comedy, Science Fiction, yes. Harem nope. Romance, nope.
Just teenager, in situation where he’s center of some of the attention. Has a usual mentor who happens to be lolia in her original form, who he loves like mother. He’s even said so, hopefully will stay that way. Touta is less romantic inclined so far entire series.
I agree, the word harem is being thrown around too much. I haven’t really seen any of the characters show a strong attraction to Touta, not to the extent of, say, Nodoka’s and Ako’s attraction to Negi.
Even Kuroumaru, that may develop into something further down the line, but right now I just see that he wants a friend since he was an outcast before meeting Touta.
It isn’t a harem yet, but I get the feeling that Akamatsu-sensei may now be trying to inject that into the series. I could be wrong though.
What will touta learn from dana. Material arts and macig or only arts
Touta cannot use magic and appears to have an anti-mana ability. So I would say he’s going to learn how to fight…maybe.
Pretty “Meh” chapter, honestly. So “Meh” that I decided to read the review before the chapter itself and… Didn’t even care enough about what happened to go read it myself. Honestly, this current arc – I don’t even know if I can call this a solid arc due to the utter randomness and lack of interesting plot altogether – is being realy, really, reeeeeeaaaaaaaaaly boring to me.
Please, just end this “Randomness ’cause Reasons” arc already and move on with the story, Akamatsu.
For the love of Lifemaker.
There were elements I liked about the chapter, but I’m not a fan of the randomness.
Personally I loved this chapter, which is curious because usually I do not like the chapters of “talking shop” where it happens absolutely NOTHING for the development of the plot. But the revelation about Dana being a kind of “Yuko Ichihara akamatsu Version” pleased me. I love the characters that can manipulate space-time and dimensions. ^^
But I guess if it were not for this element I would have shared your opinion about the chapter, Ragna. ^^ I guess why you did not like to chap is different from that of other members blog; You actually hastened the tournament starts eh? As you have already said “you are here for Godzilla”. ^^ As I understand. I also look forward to the tournament starts. Especially Archmage black as class creation, we both enjoy, is strongly suspected to be a participant. ^^
But Strengely, I have patience, I think qu’avent the tournament we will have 2 or 3 chapters of training before Tota does parte face the “S Rank”.
I hope to soon get an update of the “ladder of power,” I would see where is Dana in the power ranking, it could give us a little idea of the true level of the lifemaker. ^^
I hadn’t thought of Dana being like Yuuko, but in some ways, I can see that. Dana is much more sinister though in that she has no qualms killing Touta.
Although to put it lightly I’m not a fan of the nobles, I really do like the space-time element attached to Dana’s character.
I liked this chapter.
I thought that the Evangeline’s past would last more chapters ^_^”
then, Was Dana the master of the Evangeline?
The part of Dana saying Touta about Evangeline, I don’t know now if it will be a mother-son relation or a relationship.
The expressions of Dana, it made me laugh. by example, “never going to happen” XD
“Despite appearances she doesn’t know love” but, Doesn’t Evangeline love Nagi? ._.
I wonder as Dana will train Touta. and I wonder if Karin will appear. (She will have a rival in love XD)
The swords that Evangeline did appear in her hands. It did remember me the swords of Archer of Fate stay night.
I wonder if the giant creature that Touta found, it still is in the castle
PS: Thanks Seimei and AstroNerdBoy for replying in the previous chapter. 🙂
Love, infatuation and puppy love are quite different thing’s, eva’s affection for nagi falls into the latter of the categories of the two and presumably her affection for Karin falls into the former.
Eva’s strong attachment to Nagi, was more handsome rogue, romance dawn, knight in shining armour. He was the first human who didn’t try to attack er or run away in fear. He was also incredibly tolerant of her when she went half cranked stalker and followed him everywhere (while somehow in between hanging with Ala Rubra) After he curses her with school hell, she spends 10-15 years thinking about him and cursing his name.
Eva is forced by her circumstance, to take an active interest in Nagi, because he’s the only one that can break the curse. She also had plenty of spare time to become fixated on him.
So, in reality Eva’s love for Nagi, was most likely an idealist fantasy, caused being alone for so long.
I think that was the first time in a long time that I completely agree with all of one of your comments lol
So it appeared, though Eva apparently never acknowledged her as such.
Akamatsu-sensei is being cagy here.
Probably. That may have been what Dana was warning about when she said not to follow things too far.
” Thanks Seimei and AstroNerdBoy for replying in the previous chapter”
you are welcome, although I do not know why you thank me lol.
““Despite appearances she doesn’t know love” but, Doesn’t Evangeline love Nagi? ”
Ah the famous phrase Dana on the fact that Eva does not know love, some “TV tropees” have yelled about that lol (but hey, it’s not as if the haters UQ did not usually behave well soon Akamatsu that dares touched THEIR conception of the Bible … (uh I mean Negima lol), while he himself wrote this manga, not them! But I digress).
BUT for me the phrase Dana NOT enters into conflict with the development of Eva in Negima. I explain to you why I think that.
For starters, those who say “ah! So all what happened to Eva in Negima was useless! BLASPHEMY!” obviously confuse “love” and “friendship”. We can consider that Eva lerns more or less friendship with 3-A (and even… in Negia his behavior is so cryptic that one wonders if she considered really the 3-A as her friends or just as people for whom she felt a “certain attachment”). However friendship is NOT the same as love!
Yes she “loves” Nagi BUT her love is a kind of love “possessive” and especially, “childish” (proving when the projection Nagi appears in Mahora, she asks him to stroke his head, not even take her in his arms. Eva is in love yes, but she does not KNOW what love is. And it’s the same for education. Some have found the way in which Eva managed the fugue Tota aberrant. And I’m agreements with that, she is, actually, a horrible mother. But it is precisely because she is a horrible mother that makes sense!
Eva’s childhood was seemingly chaotic (remember she was born during war!) And her childhood was brutally stopped at 10 years, with her trensformation in vampire. And this is not the intervention of Dana which chengeed anything I think. As I see it, Eva had been living alone for a few years (1 or 2 I think) when Dana took her under her wing, and remember that clearly, Eva constantly trying to kill Dana, indicating that she probably did not want her help. She remained between 5 and 10 years the apprentice of Dana (enough to learn the basics) and hen she was gone, created the Magia-Erebea and completed her training alone.
Incidentally, unlike some haters, not only I’m not bored by the fact that Eva has a master but I also think it’s much more logical.
Think seriously. Immortal or not, Eva was a child, and especially Eva, suffered early vampiric weaknesses at the beginning (which always made me doubt that she was actually a Shinso, even during the time of Negima and long before the appearance of Dana and with the fact that Tota is immun seemed to most vampiric weaknesses (especially the sun), I began to ask myself: “What if is the Magia-Erebea allowed Eva to obtain the status of Shinso? So it would make her (and Tota) “Shinso artificial” and explain why she said “we are imitations”, it does not necessarily come from the fact that they would be of low caste vampires but rather precisely because they are “Shinso illegitimate” (and probably lower than the real ones, even if they have the same immunities to vampiric weaknesses).
In short at first, she was NOT a shinso, and even though we can imagine that she was resourceful, I can not imagine her, in retrospect, to survive long to experienced mages or even exorcists mages or immortals hunters! Especially as I have already said but I think the Masquerade was a recent systeù (nineteenth-twentieth century) at the time of middle-age, the magic was probably so well recognized even if that severely framed by the Church (which practice its own form of magic we know that through shakti sister, Karin and kaito ^^). But even if we consider that the Masquerade already existed before the end of Neegima, it chenge absolutely nothing since the masquerade never prevent the mages to hunt monsters or making war between clans and otherd magical cabals lol^^.
In fact, the masquerade gave just a totally absurd inability to mages of power (for those who wanted it), help much more effectively and massively non-mages and it maintained the non-mages in a vain and pathetic ignorence because if the proverb says “fear does not avoid danger,” I would add to that old saying “the ignorence does not avoid the danger.”
Besides this “secret mass” (fan name of “masquerade” (even if it comes from a RPG lol) is right, this system had a LIE and a unhealthy deception, whatever could in thinking professors Mahora in Negima) and it would have finished sooner or later burst and the effects were reportedly désastrux Chao Linchen knows a little since it comes from the timeline where Negi did not save the mundus-magicus and where the Magic is revealed by an invasion of Earth by the survivors, which accomplished a war that has lasted 100 years (since according Poyo in Negima, the mundus-magicus would disappear due in 2010-2012 in Chao timeline).
So yes, reveal the magic, whatever may be said was better. But I disgress AGAIN lol ^^
In short it seems to me IM-PO-SSI-BLE that a 10 year old child could have survived so long alone. Negima time I lent any attention because actually I was though “that Eva is alive, is living proof that it is possible” BUT I find that the presence of Dana really makes sense when you think about it. ^^
So she has NEVER had a stable family. So how surprising she does not react correctly in front of her “child”? The opposite would have been a mistake.
So no, I see no error in the treatment of personality and background of Eva far. The only mistake that for me be unacceptable, would be that we learn suddenly that Eva was never adopted by the lifemaker. Here it really would contradict the background and development of Eva. But it did, fortunately, very little chance of arriving since Eva has already mentioned, so cryptic in this event can from her childhood to the end of the slums’s arc.
The remainder of the elements are subject to interpretations and not absolute truths scriptwriting (we do not all have the same vision of the personality of a character and Eva backgtound is sufficiently vague to allow for additions, even the fact that Dana wpuld involved the creation of the M-E would not especially shock me if it was learned, though evidamently I will prefer if to keep it that creation was herself alone
And I think it will. Actually I weigh like Astro that Eva may create the ME to beat Dana ^^. Which would ensure that the ME remains the masterpiece and own cration of Eva herself alone, but give Dana enough knowledge on the subject to enable to guide Tota to master that technique and teach him as well as Eva could do.
Voilà! Sorry for the pavement and disgress guys lol. ^^
i think that
Because of the not able o use magic. It could be that his ability to use magic is sealed
It could be never know
So far, what we’ve seen is that when Touta comes in contact with mana, there’s an explosive reaction. So I think we are dealing with a situation similar to Asuna, who had an anti-magic ability. Touta seems to have an anti-mana ability. Without mana, one cannot use magic.