May 20th, 2015 
AstroNerdBoy ユーキューホルダー! Manga Review
UQ Holder Chapter 80
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Touta finds himself alone in bed as Eva comes in to kill Dana. She speaks Japanese and when asked, tells Touta that she’s going to kill Dana in order to escape this place. Touta tries to ask her if her name is Yukihime, but she turns and leaves. Touta pursues, asking her if her name is Evangeline McDowell. This causes Eva to stop, turn, and put her blades to Touta, demanding to know how he knows that name. He says it is the name of an acquaintance who looks like her. Eva decides Touta isn’t lying, so Touta asks about Evangeline. Eva claims it is a distant relative, whom she has nothing to do with.
Touta is pondering this as Eva walks away and collapses. Touta comes to her aide, where she weakly says she is hungry. Touta takes her back into the castle, puts her on a couch, then finds a giant kitchen full of food. He brings some back and attempts to give her something to drink, but she becomes alert suddenly and begins draining Touta’s blood through his finger. Because Touta is immortal, he’s able to survive the massive loss of blood. When Touta pats her on the head, she gets irritated, but she apologized for drinking his blood, citing the fact that she lost her wits due to hunger. When Touta treats her as a kid, Eva gets tsundere, telling him she thinks she’s older than him. He says he’s fourteen, and she says she’s 16.
Touta asks Eva for her name, so she says he can address her as Kitty. Touta offers his help in going after Dana, but she declines and walks away, around a corner of a passageway. When Touta follows, he finds an anxious Santa and Kuroumaru looking for him since Dana is upset that Touta has gone missing.
After their training session, Dana tells Kuroumaru and Santa that their problem is indecision. Dana tells Kirie her problem is fear of being alone. As such, she sends the three to individual training sessions where they have to face magical beasts. Touta is excited to get his own training, even though Dana says he’ll never reach the top since he’s a shoddy knockoff. She has Touta spin a hula hoop counter-clockwise and roll a baseball around his arms to behind his back. Any time the ball or hoop touches the ground, Touta dies. He has to do this for a week non-stop without food. As he works on this, “Kitty” shows up, asking him about the foolishness he’s doing.
Thoughts/Review:
Hmmmm. It seems as if Akamatsu-sensei is setting things up (retconning) so that Eva knew Touta when she took him in and became his guardian. It also seems that Eva is being set up to take on the name “Yukihime” because of Touta. In addition, it is highly possible that Eva will get her vampire upgrade because she drank Touta’s blood, thus the reason she never needed blood to live in Negima. And finally, it is possible that Eva gets ME from Touta. If that happens, I will scream.
I just do not like this forced romance thing between Eva and Touta. I was fine with Touta loving Eva as a mother, but since Eva of the past is 16, she’s young and is likely to have a greater interest in guys. As such, we get this tsundere moment from Eva when she’s talking with Touta after having consumed his blood. Ugh.
Eva goes by name “Kitty” in the past. I’m guessing that at this point in her life, Eva considers the name “Evangeline McDowell” to be when she was a human, thus her statement that Evangeline is a distant relative she has nothing to do with.
While I am not liking the closer, forced linkage between Touta and Eva, I still want to see more of Eva’s past. I would be OK with Touta helping Eva find a library, whereby Eva learns the Doll Master skill, magic (or more about magic), and ultimately the pactio system. I’d love to see Eva make Chachazero and form a pactio with my favorite psycho doll. I would even love to see Eva NOT gain ME because she consumed Touta’s blood, but to learn about how to do it, whereby she ultimately puts it into a scroll. (Though she did that centuries later, it would appear.)
Somehow, I don’t think I’ll get much of my wishes.
As for the individual training of Kirie, Santa, and Kuroumaru, they get to fight dragons. We’ll see how much Akamatsu-sensei deals with that. If he does, how will he handle Kirie’s abilities?
As for Touta’s training, I’m not sure what that accomplishes or why Touta can never get to the top as a clone.
As for Touta’s shifting through time, I guess we’ll have to wait to see what the explanation for that is, other than Dana setting it up. I can’t believe she wasn’t aware that Touta had jumped back in time, thus the reason he was late for the training session.
I’d like to like this chapter, but I’m in an ugly mood at the moment, which isn’t helped by the thought that Akamatsu-sensei is forcing an Eva x Touta ship from out of nowhere.
Posted in 
Tags: 
Mmh. I wonder what is when this training is that for that touta gets verry angry and use magic
I don’t think Touta will ever use magic, in a way Asuna did not. (She used mana and ki/chi energies, but she didn’t use magic and she canceled magic.) After all, if Touta is anti-mana, there’s no way he can use magic.
When you mention library, I can’t help but thinking about Albireo..
Btw, even if you seem to not like Eva x Touta in recent chapters, all images in this chapter’s review contain only Eva and Touta. ^_^;
😆 Well, I do like Eva, so that’s the excuse I’ll use. 😛
What I’m worried is that the Vampire in the color spread that below Yukihime is the result of this arc…that would be so weird though of course.
I guess we’ll find out.
Didn’t he still realize that Evangeline IS Yukihime?
Well, now I know that the vampires still drink blood and they haven’t lost the habit here. Because I still hadn’t seen neither Evangeline nor any vampire do it. XD
“I never get cravings for blood. Should I?” lol
now he ask himself about it. I wonder myself that question several times XD
Poor Kirie. She must be asking herself several times because she has to confront that demon. And Will she survive?
The training of Touta. The ball and the hoop. It is the more difficult of all training XD
I think that is a training about control of his power or something, like the training that Old Kaioshin gave SonGohan in his planet.
Touta always finds Evangeline. I think that Dana has something to see with it. Because Touta is the only that finds her.
“I suppose it would be rude not to give you a name, call me Kitty” lol the irony… I think that Dana called her “Kitty”. By that, She told him that.
“You are uncertain” But, What will it have to see “uncertain” with the dragon?
If Karin had been there. I wonder where Dana had sent her.
“I just do not like this forced romance thing between Eva and Touta. I was fine with Touta loving Eva as a mother, but since Eva of the past is 16, she’s young and is likely to have a greater interest in guys.”
(Karin doesn’t agree with that relationship XD)
Well, I think that although Touta would fall in love with Evangeline or Evangeline fall in love with Touta. This Evangeline isn’t the “real” I mean, Touta is with Evangeline of the past, NOT the Evangeline of the present time. Although the Evangeline of the past would fall in love with Touta, the real Evangeline wouldn’t feel the same thing, by that, once that Touta would finish the training and they would come back to UQ Holder. He would have to try that Evangeline falls in love with him again.
I don’t know if it will affect in the present time the jumps in time these. lol
And about the age of Evangeline. Has Evangeline 16 years old? But, Dana doesn’t told Evangeline when she saw her “How long has it been, two hundred years? Three?” If Evangeline has 700 years old, She must have seen Dana 500 or 400 years ago. She can’t have 16. can she?
it simply means that the “Eva” that Tota mets, is a version of her, six years after her vampire trensformation
Or she simply lied. :p
But, even if she really is 16 years old, that doesn’t mean this is the last time she met Dana. Maybe she met Dana again 400-500 years after this, separated, and met again in chapter 76.
I suspect this is the case. Eva escaped, then met up with Dana at some future point.
That is my interpretation as well.
Touta is pretty stupid, so…;-)
Eva did it a few times in Negima, but it wasn’t to survive. Initially, she did it to some of her classmates to gain power to try to overcome the curse (in combination with the full moon). Later, she did it as Negi’s payment for lessons, but there too, I think it was less about needing blood to live and more about it energizing Eva’s powers.
Yeah, the whole vampire thing in Negima and UQ Holder has really never been addressed. That’s why I fear Akamatsu-sensei will finally address it and make the reason that Eva didn’t need blood was because she consumed Touta’s blood, and Touta didn’t need blood because he consumed Eva’s blood, which had HIS blood in it. *_*
I’m not versed in the Dragonball franchise, so I’ll take your word for it. After some thought about it, I figured Dana is teaching Touta patience. Touta has always been too quick to leap before he looks.
Uncertainty causes hesitation, which can be fatal. I think that Dana is trying to teach them to think rapidly, then follow a course of action without hesitation. In many ways, they are the opposite of Touta, who is always certain, even when very wrong.
We don’t know how long Eva was trapped at that castle. Even then, Dana could have met Eva sometime in the last few hundred years. Considering how Eva here is using a couple of blades and no magic, I’d say that this Eva is 16 years old.
Astro: I have a VERY crazy theory. You remember the promotionnal image of the manga where we can see Yukihime and anyone like her, like a twin and use knives (Eva/Yukihime NOT uses knives)?
http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131005045600/liberapedia/images/4/4e/Uq-holder-4407473.jpg
If this “twin” had the past Eva that Tota brought with him to integrated numbers? We are in a multiverse after all. What do you think?
On the ME and your own theory (that you do not like) about Tota’s blood creating the M-E, I like it. Not because it is Tota eh? But because I love stories where a character from the future travels into the past and causes (voluntarily or not) of the events that creat his own power in the futur. ^^
For magia-erebea there way to make the blood of Tota has allowed Eva to create the ME without diminishing her merits.
For example: Eva could see that the blood of Tota contains a dark power (a fragment of the ME), perceives that this power corresponds to the one that transformed her into a vampire.
She sees a opportunity to develop a technique that can overcome Dana, then she researched and worked on the theory and used the raisonnance between the dark blood of Tota and her own to create the ME. I find it truly interesting.
In this way Tota would have had a small stake but most of the feat of creating the M-E would anyway Eva.
Your example is basically similar to Astro’s line here:
Yes, but from what I understood from the phrase of Astro, he wants that the blood of Tota plays NOTHING little role in the creation of the ME.
While I’d been interested by the fact that he has served at least a basis for the technique. Not that either is the blood of Tota who has given Eva the ME but what is the effect that his blood produce on her body wich gives her the idea of making aprofondies research on the subject, and then create the ME by herself.
I refer to my comparison with Newton and the apple falls from the tree. I find it more interesting than an Eva who gets up in the morning and says, just like that: “Hmm if I create a black magic that absorbs magic?”
Ultimately would situaion an intermediate between what Astro and hope that it does not hope.
That is correct. I want Eva to develop ME on her own, not because she got it from Touta. That creates a stupid paradox. I have no problems with closed circles, and indeed, I wanted this to be the case with Negima. (Chao comes back to the past, fails to stop Negi, which ultimately results in Negi creating the future she tried to prevent.) However, the idea of Eva getting ME from Touta, who inherited it from Negi, who learned it from scroll-Eva, which was written down by Eva, who got it from Touta in the first place is just irritating.
Are you are talking about the person (whom appears to be a girl) to Karin’s back left, who appears to be holding a blade?
That being said, if this Eva that Touta is hooking up with is from another separate from Yukihime and comes to the present with him…hmmmm. Well, at least it wouldn’t be the same Eva that we knew from Negima.
It is interesting that you mentioned “twin.” I was thinking that based on Eva’s fighting style of the past, which is identical to Chachazero’s, Chachazero might be Eva’s technical twin if she placed a piece of her soul in the doll. It might also explain why Eva is seemingly weaker in UQH, since she discarded Chachazero. But I digress…
WTF a vampire drinking another vampire’s blood? What’s the point of having humans at all? Did Negima ever even attempt to define how vampirism works in the Akamatsuverse (including shinso)?
I thought UQ was supposed to allow Akamatsu to start fresh and do things right, but in its short run so far it’s already had many of the same problems (inconsistencies, lacking exposition, unresolved questions and plot threads) as its predecessor. Please stop introducing NEW, ridiculously OP, and unnamed characters and focus on fleshing out the intriguing ones you’ve already created, Sensei.
I think you’ve summed up the problems of UQ very well. He’s only ever posing questions and when some are answered it’s done in a really tell-don’t-show, forced way. In other series I might be more patient for a big intertwined reveal later on, but he’s already shown he’s bad at tying up loose ends.
I think Touta can’t carry the plot, which is why it’s been best when he’s a side character and suffers when he is central focus. What Negima had all the way through was the single focus on finding the father but in UQ we’re still searching for the main thread – is it Hoodie? Is it Fate pulling strings? Is Touta in a Truman Show situation? (you pass from everyone he meets)
Mainly he seems to forget his (several, fitting) motives constantly and sees himself as still drifting – and we’re really spoilt with very larger than life, super determinator main characters in shounen, so he’s a lot more fitting to his mental/bodily age but he really stands out poorly because of it.
(besides the argument that Negima was a harem comedy transcended to action magic scifi – whereas UQ is slap bang in its genre and sequel ness and can’t be as surprising or subversive due to that).
I definitely think UQ has high potential, I’m just uncertain about it taking another hundred chapters to hit its momentum.
As for this chapter, I agree with Astro that I hope the Eva/Touta relationship has a hell of a lot more nuance than ‘Dana says be together’ – ‘oh look we’re together’. (Still rooting for Kuroumaru too :P. )
Imagine if Dana had said nothing and this whole bonding in the past thing had come as a surprise – it would feel much more intriguing. Instead it’s been signposted to death, just like Touta’s developments.
I hope we’re shown more of the individual training. In particular I want to know if Yatagarasu really have those awesome wings, which would be super useful against dragons, buuut a bit of an anticlimactic way to reveal them.
*wall of text over *
The only exception to this rule would be Arika, but I still maintain she was retconned in. Until the trip to the Magic World, no one spoke of Arika, including Negi. Negi had zero interest in the mother who bore him. He was only interested in his father. Then there’s the Magic World and suddenly, “Oh yeah, I guess I do have a mother. Wow. Never thought about her before.” To that end, we got a LOT of information about Arika.
It is the Fairy Tail approach, though even there, there was the tiny element of Natsu looking for the dragon who adopted him as a kid. In my thinking, Akamatsu-sensei doesn’t want to be constrained by having a real, central plot. That allows him more freedom to do stories he wants rather than stories demanded by the plot. He has brought in some of the Negima baggage (the Lifemaker, but that’s probably because he brought Eva over), but even there, he seems to be doing that as bait for old Negima fans.
I think from Akamatsu-sensei’s perspective, the more information he gives out, the more restrictive things are on him. For example, I want to know about Eva. Akamatsu-sensei let out tidbits of info in Negima. However, even there, how Eva hooked up with Nagi, Ala Rubra, etc. isn’t a clean fit. The only flashback we have of Eva with Nagi is when he’s NOT with Ala Rubra. In all of the Ala Rubra flashbacks, there is no Eva. Yet she intimately knew Al, Jack, and Nagi. But she knew NOTHING about Arika (which makes no sense, which is why I believe Arika is a retcon character). Revealing more about Eva’s past can more easily bring to light these plot holes.
I agree that UQH has high potential. However, writing the series as a collection of action stories with not a lot connecting them makes it weak. That’s why it is not hitting its stride.
Well, Kuroumaru is the best girl for Touta, once Kuroumaru chooses to become one (or becomes one naturally, which is what appears to be happening).
Heh. Well, exactly.
Not really. He skirted that subject quite a lot. Eva not being affected by daylight was explained by her being a shinso, meaning she was no ordinary vampire (though by her own admission in Negima, she initially had the weaknesses of a traditional vampire). Akamatsu-sensei never addressed why Eva never needed blood to survive. He’s never addressed why Touta doesn’t either.
So, apparently we have mulitple Eva’s as well, if “kitty’s” line about Evangeline McDowell not being an uncommon name and Yukihime being a relative are to be taken as fact.
So currently we have French “kitty” Eva and Gay “Yukihime” Eva, may be married to Karin, since Hime is a title when translated into english.; thereby making her name Yuki and Karin is Karins middle name (real full name: Ishuto Karin Ōte) Therefore Karin taking Yuki as a married name, because “Yukihime” has no other names to take.
Next We’ll meet “Magia” Eva, then “Irish” Eva, (only becuase I’d like to see her, do the Irish river dance
Which Hilariously given all the time-dimension usage (crap sensei is using to bend the story to whatever hell he want’s or fits his whims) reminds me of this set-up from doctor who. [spoiler]http://38.media.tumblr.com/1c6f774adfdde0e23bbeaa9afa956716/tumblr_inline_nny3yt75Cw1s4uwpb_500.gif[/spoiler]
Astro, could you be ever so kind and fix the spoiler for me. will not seem to work with Hyperlinks? Or I’m just inputting it wrong.
You just didn’t properly close the tag. You had the slash, but not the word “spoiler”. ^_^
Thank you ever so kindly.
You’re welcome. 🙂
Video link for further amusement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7cX5TdR8iM
Ah, Doctor Who.
What is normal huh? I want say, I believe that if an author can not direct his story of how HE and tell what HE wants to tell, as long as it respects the GLOBAL context of the universe that he put in place (which does not prevent him to question some aspects of certain characters in the pheasants evolve when they are picked individually (and here I speak for those who protest against the treatment of the character of Eva in the last 3 chapters I myself am a hardcore fan of Eva, it was also one of the only girls I cared 3A gift in Negima, With Mana, Chachamaru, Kaede, and Setsua and MAYBE Yue.
So if I can not compredre fanaticism of some towards the 3A as a whole, I can fully understand that for Eva. BUT, even as a fan of the character I find no fault with the latest developments in her characters. I could explain it here but a parenthesis have not the best place for that it is already too long.^^)). That is if he can not do this freely, it is at this point that there is a problem, but is my opinion. ^^
PS: concretely, about Eva’s changed about her is:
1. It is lower than in Negima (we repeat us since the beginning of the manga, nothing shocking for me).
2. She has a master (a master that she wants to kill and that she wants to leave as soon as possible so it is so surprising that she did not speak of her in Negima? Again nothing shocking to my eyes)
3. She is no longer considered a Shinso (to which I reply that even in Negima I had doubts about the fact that she was really one. She said herself in her flashback, as at the beginning, she suffered the same weaknesses as any vampires. I was well before Uq holder, theorized that was the Magia-Erebea who had allowed Eva to BECOME a Shinso, but I have always thought that she was not originally one).
4. What is perhaps the blood of Tota which it served as the basis for the ME (even the great scientists such as Newton, have had need of a “pulse” to start their work. Newtone began thinking on gravity when an apple has fallen on his head. He did not wake up one morning and say “hey, if I worked on gravity?” For me the blood Tota will just “apple” or ” “intelectual pulse” of Eva, it doesn’t necessarly detract from her merits).
In short I have the impression that some, even among the most moderate of the blog, are struggling with the fact that their idol was erpded. But as I said I do sincerely see nothing very inconsistent there Dedan. After it’s just my opinion.
Astro: Where have you seen that Eva had no need for blood after drinking the blood of Tota? She said that no announcement, she is simply satiated for a while but that’s normal lol.
PPS: For those who are surprised to see vampires sucking the blood of other vampires, I suggest you read / see Vampire knight in this manga happens often ^^ As to why vampires suck first. the human’s blood, for me it is simple and it has nothing to do with any limitation. This is simply because in theory, are easier prey in my opinion.
PPPS : In addition I have already said, but I LOVE the story of time travel, multiples timelines, and multiverse. For proof, if someone know Kingdom Hearts here, know that my favorite episode of the saga, is “Dream Drop-Distance”^^
Even in Negima, we knew Eva sought out knowledge and training all her life. However, she never has given any indication of calling anyone “Master.” However, she did delight in having her dolls and those she trained call her “Master.”
I don’t think ME made her be considered shinso. She got to the point to where she didn’t even need it from what we saw. She did go ME to really go all out. If anything, her being a “shinso”, aka a “true ancestor” vampire, stems from the fact that she was made a vampire through the Lifemaker, not from another vampire.
That being said, after taking time to consider things, Eva is likely an artificial shinso vampire. The Lifemaker’s experiment in immortality here would appear to be based on the noble ranked, shinso vampires. As such, the Lifemaker attempted to create a shinso, and Eva is the result of that. In my mind, it would explain Dana’s interest in the girl. No doubt there were other, traditional vampires out there. Picking Eva would seem to be Dana sensing a kindred spirit after a sort.
As for #4, you have a paradox here. Eva was supposed to be the originator of ME. So Touta could not have gotten ME without inheriting it from Negi, who learned the technique from Eva’s “clone” left in the scroll. For Eva to have gotten ME from Touta in the first place is a paradox.
Throughout Negima and UQ Holder, Eva has never had a need to drink blood to live. She has needed blood to increase her power to overcome the curse in Negima. In UQH, she’s never needed a drop, neither has Touta. However, this is the FIRST time we’ve seen Eva need blood in order to stay alive.
I don’t think that’s what is meant here. “John Smith” is a common Western name. It doesn’t mean they are all the same person.
There are multiple Eva’s; we saw that in Negima where two Eva’s were in the same place and time (thought that element was immediately dropped and we never found out what happened to the Eva that traveled back). If Dana has access to all timelines, then this Eva *might* prove to be a different one from Negima.
I don’t think Eva goes by Kitty, Touta brings up the name Evangeline A.K. McDowell first and I think she’s nervous about why this strange guy knows her name so she pretends to be someone else.
Also, I don’t think she’s 16 either, she says she doesn’t like Tota treating her as a child. So when Tota says he’s 14 she just randomly picks an older age, that’s why she hesitates saying “I’m…I’m 16”. Or maybe she can’t tell how much time has passed since she came to Dana’s domain.
I think Dana knows that Tota is going back in time, we saw past!Dana see him the first time she went back. I think Dana sent Tota back to convince past!Eva to let Dana train her. Once he does that his real training will begin, the training he’s doing now is just her trolling him, like a sadistic Al :L
My favourite part of this chapter was the hint of some Kirie backstory when Dana points to her and says she has a fear of being alone. I hope she tells everyone how she became immortal and why she’s afraid of being alone, I think a part of Dana’s training will getting the immortal gang to overcome their fears.
I love Dana. I want anime just so I can get a voice for her.
Yeah I also expect a backstory for Kirie. And I also love Dana! ^^
I had EXACTLY THE SAME REACTIONS Tota that the concernants. ^^
First appearance: “What is the fucking big-mama ugly?”
next chapter: “Oh yeah it is pretty impressive indeed.”
the last two chapters: “Master I bow down at your feet, take me as a disciple!”
lool
And YEAH ! An animated adaptation, Quickly PLEASE !^^
Hopefully the anime isn’t done by studio Shaft, they screwed over the Negima anime.
I pray for this with you my friend !
Personally I would not mind the studio that animated “Magi Labyrinth of Magic” is occupper project.
For ost I would Shigao (the compositing OST Bleach and magi) or so, Yuki Kajura (I must present this genius composer? ^^) Or Akiko Shikata (OST of Tales of Symphonia OVA) .
What about you? ^^
I think A-1 would do a good job with a UQ Holder anime, they do Fairy Tail and Nanatsu no Taizai which are really well done anime based on manga.
I don’t know a lot about composers, but Bleach had a great soundtrack.
No studio has done Negima properly.
Agreed. I may be prejudiced because I thought the Gecko Ending of XEBEC’s version is actually better than the eventual true ending… but I thought they did a decent job on the rest, given what appeared to be some severe constraints of budget and censorship.
In later efforts, SHAFT did a much better job than I expected of redeeming themselves for the horror of Negima!? – but even without the constraints XEBEC was under, imo they still didn’t nail it. Probably because even though they showed much more restraint than usual, they still injected themselves too often for my liking.
I hate Gecko Endings (new term I learned today). Fruits Basket also springs to mind.
The problem with things after the stupidity of Negima!? was that Kodansha went the OAD route to only adapt certain arcs for hardcore fans. Correction — hardcore JAPANESE fans as all of us gaijin were told to get stuffed or buy the LE tankoubons.
Yes, that’s SHAFT’s problem, they can’t help but inject themselves into the stories.
Generally speaking, I have to agree. Out of all the Gecko Endings I’ve seen over the years, I can count on my thumbs the number that didn’t suck. (Kashimashi is the other, if you’re curious. But only if you exclude the godawful epilogue that tried to turn the Gecko Ending into a mutated version of the “true” ending.)
And Fruits Basket *shudder*, or the Gecko Seasons of Kodocha… ugh. Just… no. Generally I love DAICHI Akitarou’s work when he sticks to adaptation, but he jumps the shark every time he starts going out in left field.
And in the case of Fruits Basket, made sure that there was no sequel, mainly because he angered the manga-ka so much over his changes and ending. I wrote a big piece on that years ago.
http://anime.astronerdboy.com/2007/01/why-no-fruits-basket-2.html
I wouldn’t hold my breath. Outside of Santa, we’ve had no real exploration of any character’s backstory. As I’ve written before, the more Akamatsu-sensei tells about a character’s past, the more he’s restricted in the future from being able to run wild all over the place, should he choose to do so.
Akamatsu has been actively developing Kirie’s character though. She was introduced as a glorified plot device but she’s grown in to a really fun character.
Well, we still know relatively nothing about her.
He doesn’t bring up the “A.K.” part of her name, just the Evangeline part.
Initially, I wondered if she was lying just to be older than him, but then I got to thinking that she’s probably been here for a few years. She may have been snagged shortly after being turned as Dana sensed someone very similar to her (a shinso, even if artificially created). Eva’s time with Dana would explain her personality totally in Negima.
Yeah, that is very likely. She did seem to know he’d jumped in time before. I’m wondering if she’s sending Touta back, or if he has another ability to time jump that is enhanced by this place of Dana’s.
Still, assuming Dana is the one jetting Touta back, I don’t think it is to convince Eva of the past to let Dana train her. I think it is part of Touta’s training. In the process, he gets to understand Eva to a greater degree and thus understand himself. (At least, I hope that’s what happens.) At the same time, Dana may be showing Eva the need for a partner, which ultimately leads to Eva creating Chachazero. (Man, I hope Chachazero shows up in the flashbacks since it seems Touta keeps jumping forward in past-Eva’s timeline.)
I agree.
She has proved more interesting than I thought. I never cared much for Jack Rakan, but Dana’s sadistic nature is amusing.
Seeing Chachazero again would be pretty cool, maybe she builds her to serve as a reinforcement for fighting Dana.
I would like to see why Dana picked up Eva, probably interested by the idea of a faux noble vampire.
I know Negima didn’t get good adaptations but I hope Akamatsu is a bit more choosy with a anime studio. UQ Holder starts outs as a shonen straight away, as opposed to Negima taking several volumes, so I hope the studio would make less changes.
UQ Holder has been doing ok, each volume debuts at around 8-12 on the Japan Manga Sales list with roughly 70,000+ copies according to animenewsnetwork. Not as good as Negima but better than most other manga.
You didn’t like Rakan? that’s the craziest thing you’ve said so far :L
Also, those sales aren’t including digital volumes.
I always remember I want to write something after the edit time limit is up :L
That would certainly make sense, and would fit in with Negima and the need for a partner. However, if we see Chachazero, I think Eva will be older and will have learned more things, including magic.
I didn’t dislike him, but I never cared for him as a character either. I think a lot of my dislike stemmed from the fact that he clearly knew stuff, but for “plot reasons,” won’t tell the main character the stuff he knows. I just have a large dislike of stories where characters hold back vital information for “reasons” when logically, they would have told the MC the stuff to help them rather than the MC have to dig it all up themselves.
But you still do not seem to understand that if the characters gave the MC all the information, it would be precisely what would be boring. Personally I, on the contrary I LOVE this intrigue system. It will keep the mystery. And do not answer me “but is a method of artificial suspense!”. By definition all fiction is artifficiale and unreal. So the idea of “natural suspense” is some-thing that seems to me contrary to logic in this case. And then at least to make the characters just as ignorant as the hero (which would be totally absurd to legendary heroes, more than hiding secrets to the new generation! Because this mystery is to enable them to grow and find their own answers instead of opening the ears and get everything on a silver tray just because we asked a question.) How would you do?
A fiction does not have to obey the logic, but to create its own logic. That is my opinion.
I do understand this. That’s not what I’m talking about.
When an MC sets out on a quest to learn something, for a story to flow naturally, the MC uncovers this information over time. Sometimes, that information comes from new characters the MC meets and sometimes from discovering stuff. That makes sense and is believable.
It is NOT believable for an MC to go on a quest for important information that is critical to saving millions of lives, only to have some people with the information say, “Oh, yeah, sorry. We can’t tell you ’cause that would be boring to the story. So we won’t tell you and force you to take the long way around, thus putting MILLIONS of lives at risk because we won’t tell you, but hey, you won’t be bored!” *_*
There was no logical reason for Jack or Theo or anyone else in the Magic World to not tell Negi everything he wanted. The only reason the information wasn’t imparted was because Akamatsu-sensei didn’t want to audience or MC to know yet, but at the same time, he couldn’t avoid the fact that there were ALL these people with the information that could have helped. Akamatsu-sensei tried to mitigate this somewhat by making Jack an arse, so there was a small out there, but once Theo and the others were revealed to have info but wouldn’t pass it onto Negi because “reasons”, then after that, it was all stupid.
Logic is logic. You are correct that within a universe of a story, certain rules are set for that rule. Thus in Negima, we accept that there is magic and that there is an illusionary magical world on the surface of Mars that cannot be seen with modern day technology. Yet even within these universes, there is never any logic in a character or characters with information saying, “Yeah, not telling you even though I’m your friend and support you ’cause it would be boring if I told you the information.” *_*
I mean, yes, those who know all the capitals give information to the hero, would be realistic, it would make sense … but … it would not intérressant; Simply. And do not tell me otherwise, you know what I say is not true.
I mean, you imagine you from volume 1 Asuna tell the director that she is the godlike princess of a lost kingdom and tell Negi that his father is in the world-tree possessed by a black Archmage? Yolololo! Yeah!
Oh well the story ends in 4 volumes yeah! Forget exciting intrigues and epic adventures, we are not trying to dream with adventure, an engaging storyline and fantasy but to obey the tyrannical reign of LOGIC AND REALITY. Which is exactly what the reader seeks to escape when he reads a fantaisy story, seeks the error, lol.
Astro understand me, I do not say that logic should be banned from the story (if it gives rise to Fairy-tail and … no comment). What is needed is: balancing the logic and “mystery” (what you call with a certain contempt “intrigue reasons.” Without this “reasons” the story probably COULD NOT be built because the plot would advance much too fast, especially in a saga fantaisy. We are not trying to do a two-hour movie or a One-Shot police novel, much less a police TV-series where the plot is resolved in a single episode, but to follow a long saga of heroic-fantaisy and space adventures. trying to understand that my friend.^^
Except Asuna did NOT know what she was.
But let’s take this as an example.
Asuna did not know she was from another planet and was royalty. Her memories of that time were wiped. So far, so good.
There were a select few who did know — Al, Takahata, and I suspect the headmaster may have known as well, but that is pure speculation on my part. Asuna was NOT looking for information about her past because as far as she knew, she was an orphan and Takahata took care of her. Since Takahata wanted Asuna to live a life of a normal girl, which is why he erased her memories in the first place, then there’s no reason to tell her anything because that would not make sense.
So this is a case where characters know information about a character, but in this case, the character isn’t looking for that information, and the characters that know the information aren’t going to answer questions that aren’t asked. Logical.
Asuna never started questioning her memories until she had been on the Magic World for a while. And to protect her, when she was reunited with Negi and they briefly talked of her memories, he helped her forget with the pill. (Though at that point, I don’t think Negi actually knew why he was doing it, other than Jack put him up to it.)
Regardless, you don’t have a character with questions meet a character or characters who are supposedly allies and have the answers to your questions not tell you because “reasons.”
Obviously you can also find justifications within the plot, but I merely justifications by the construction of the scenario of Negima and of course UQ^^.
Why am I not surprised with the Training of Touta’s? I’m beginning to get suckered into believing and questioning Dana’s method of training Touta. It feels a bit disappointing to here, that where he stand, he won’t be able to go to the tower, since he’s a defective clone. So the question is, is there any other way for Touta, to get stronger through this training? maybe it is the control and concentration part that I presume, still so far, his training looks like an joke. It’s going to take more than that for Touta to get out of his predicament with his eventual battle against the hoodie girl. So what’s with Dana and her methods with Touta, what’s the point in training him, knowing he’s some knockoff copy, and I know Touta pretty much knows how much it sucks he can’t do much with his abilities to full effect because of lack of control alongside any potential disabilities he may have.
Dana, you’re ok, but you’re this close to making me hit my head with something.
Granted, while it may be true that Touta’s a clone, that doesn’t mean there’s no freaking way he won’t be stronger. There’s got to be something, it’s bad enough he’s weak and at a complete disadvantage unless something is figure out how to use his abilities. I did factor in Touta’s age when he became immortal, and I figured something like that could factor in to his inability to train physically from what I heard. Still there’s still the ME, must be a better way to utilize. Right now, I’m guess I’m getting tired of Dana pull this BS so far. Maybe there’s a point, but I’m beginning to have my opinion lowered, every time Touta gets his butt kicked or does not smarten up, sooner or later, he’ll no longer be the punching bag, but when will that be? It has been a week or two, Kirie, Santa, and Kuro will be fine, it’s Touta I’m concerned about. He can’t use magic, and not even the ME has been used much in terms of how to control it.
And once again he meets past Eva. I’d rather have Yuki/Eva and Touta to be strictly between parent and child. It’s like he’s being used to give Eva a reason to love, either Touta himself (hope not) or someone like him. Nagi seems to fit that description.
I just need to have some faith in Akamatsu’s abilties as an author. HE IS THE ONE WHO MADE TOUTA LIKE THIS and puts him through all this stuff, and he still hasn’t gotten much progress.
Granted Touta’s doesn’t have much intelligence, but I’m getting tired of the MC with low intelligence, who gets into some adventure and for most of the whole time gets his butt kicked way more than he needs to, and seemingly not get much progress training until very much later. I know people like Dana and I won’t stop them, still this waiting for Touta to get some good progress is getting to repetitive and dull. A few chapters ago, was a start.
I’ve been thinking that the ball and hoop training is to teach Touta patience. I’m also thinking that his jaunts back to the past with Eva is also another kind of training. Touta has always gone for brute force to get things done. Dana’s training may be to teach him patience and finding tactical solutions to overcome his own weaknesses.
Although I think Touta’s “weakness” is Akamatsu-sensei’s attempt to address critics like myself (not me specifically), who did not like how nobody Touta suddenly could walk on water and master ME (shutting it off rather than it running away with him), now that he has a “weakness”, I think Akamatsu-sensei is trying to make Touta more balanced. So instead of just going in with brute force, now Touta has to learn patience, tactics, and strategy to win.
As to Dana, I like her because she’s sadistic, and Touta gets the brunt of that. I also like the opportunity to see Eva’s past, but I am afraid of how much retconning will happen before all is said and done.
Honestly, I’m not seeing this Eva/Touta ship.
Eva was always a tsundere, even to those she had no romantic feelings about. She’s tsundere towards Asuna on few occasions, for example.
Basically, too little and too early to say in my opinion.
Then again, this is an Akamatsu-series, so romantic tsundere is more likely than unlikely ^^”
I don’t see the ship in a natural means. I think Akamatsu-sensei is trying to force the ship on us. I could be wrong, and as you say, romantic tsundere is not alien to Akamatsu-sensei. (Love Hina for those not versed in everything.)
Only thing i have problem is the pacing. Right now the story feels unhinged, chapters very short. Am i crazy or it because the chapters makes it feel short.
Once we get out this training, meet Kitty in the past stage. Maybe we can tell whats going on with Eve and Touta. Frankly, i was under the impression this wasn’t suppose to be a romance type manga anyways. They’ve setting other characters as romantic leads, now this happens. I rather not think about it’s too weird. IF anything, if Astro’s feelings come true, thing is Akamatsu-sensei has established that alternate universes do exists, alternate timelines where thing you know have changed. This maybe a variant of the Negima universe we read in the original manga run.
P.S. Astro. Have you tried contacting Akamatsu-sensei through his twitter feed or his main website where he answers brief questions? You could ask if this is alternate universe or not from Negima.
For me it is almost certain that we are in the timeline B (the one where Asuna is sealed and she wakes in 2135).
And I do not think anyone here can contact akamatsu. His site is in Japanese and I’m not sure it takes the teps to read written questions étrengères language. It could use google trad is true, but for the poor qualitée translations from Japanese to English, I guess is the same in the other without so it would not serve much.
Moreover, I am not sure it was a good idea it proposed. I have total confidence in Astro, but I know one or two haters here which I do not necessarily wear my guarantor. I imagine them seriously enough to fill the sensei tweeter, more and varied insults lol. After if I’m wrong I apologize in advance, but in the meantime I must admit I do not know what they would do if they had the means to contact sensei lol. ^^
Well, we have two less pages per chapter in UQ Holder than we did in Negima.
My Japanese is weak (and getting weaker since I haven’t done classes in a year), and certainly not good enough to converse with Sensei. I’m not sure if he’s respond to a question or not, seeing how difficult it is for him to keep his publishing schedule with UQH.
I think that this take place when asuna travels back with Eva and chao. Why would he have asuna still sleeping Thats make no sents to me. What’s the point of negima ending.
for the thousandth time, we are probably NOT in the timeline of the epilogue of Negima.
We are probably in the timeline where Asuna slept for 130. She woke up in 2135 and we are currently in 2086-2087 NOT in 2135. It is therefore quite normal that she still sleeps. ^^
the proof:
Year wake Asuna -> March 26th 2135 : http://www.mangareader.net/mahou-sensei-negima/352/5
Current year UQ Holder -> September 4th 2086
(what is important is not the events that have been canceled by Kirie anyway, but DATE. Knowing that we have to be present in October but nonetheless we are in 2086 and a year later for the tournament we will be in 2087. So no, there is ABSOLUTELY nothing abnormal that Asuna sleep yet , especially as we are probably in the Timeline B, not in the epilogue of Negima’s timeline, I repeat ^^) : http://mangafox.me/manga/uq_holder/v06/c056/1.html
Negima opened a can of worms when they established multiple timeline/universes. As such, we could easily be in another timeline where Asuna may or may not be asleep, or may not even have been alive.
We can probably look forward to a 1-2 week break in July because of this
http://www.japan-expo-paris.com/en/actualites/ken-akamatsu-love-hinas-mangaka-is-the-16th-impact-manga-guest-of-honor_103441.htm
blow me down! You speak the truth.
This my be the closest I’ll ever be to sensei, the only person closer will probably be Seimei.
Also Bless and damn YOU!
I’ve got go to this to this, on a sunday.
Hopefully there’s a Q&A, with akamatsu and the translator knows enough english.
So I can ask about eva’s backstory/nationality.
I’m jealous, I wish he came to Ireland.
Well, it’ll be my first trip on the euro star.
Who else here is from UK? I’m from sunny England : p
Sweet. What part of England? (I’m not from England, obviously, though I do have a taste for British comedies and Doctor Who.)
Specifically, I am not interested in the conventions. SO I have not planned to go there. In addition it is difficult for me to move myself.
BUT I seem to know people who want to go. If you want I can give them a list of questions (at least if I can contact them)?
BUT I give a condition (this is not a threat or blackmail, just to warn you that it is useless to override this condition).
No “questions haters-type”, for exemple, “why you have not made Negima 2 instead of UQ Holder, Hackamatsu (as haters nicknamed him)?”, “Why is your manga centers around a group of “elite immortals” instead of human mages?”, “Why are you doing a pure action manga instead of a romantic comedy or a mix of two, as in Negima? “, “Why you have not done that Negi has marry a daughter of the 3-A? “,” Why did you Tota made this way and not another? “, “Why do not you do what your fans want instead of what you wanted to do as a writer?” ect, you see what I mean.^^
Unless that you were asking this questions without agressivity or insults againist sensei, in this case I can MAYBE reconsider the thing ^^
but otherwise, transmit me these questions will be useless I will not take them into account. If you want to spit venom in front of Akamatsu, buy a ticket aircraft and do it yourself. Thank you in advance for your understanding lol.
So we have for now:
Mattcgw: a request for information on the backstory of Eva, in particular her true nationnality. Right? It’s good, it’s noted.^^ Someone else?
A really good question for him is what this suppose to mean and depict?http://manga.redhawkscans.com/reader/read/mahou_sensei_negima/en/0/355/page/17
Because to me it looks look two people getting married
That just looked like an official function for Asuna, not a wedding.
Thanks for the tip.
I don’t think he’s really going back in time, more like Dana’s place has some sort of ability to allow certain people to experience something that happened before. Kind of like how someone is planting memories or placing them in an illusion of sorts.
Of course that place of Dana’s in actually a place that allows you to meet those who were there already. because, if this is real, then everything about Negima will change. But I doubt it. Dana did say to not follow the shadows.
Except there are clocks present at times when Touta shifts. Also, Touta is interacting with Eva, not seeing things through the eyes of someone else where Touta has no control over his actions or words.
Dana is called the Witch of the Rift, she appears to have a mastery over time and space.
No. Although Tota really time travel, it will not change Negima, since akamatsuvers is a multiverse with potentially infinite timelines, as I recall. The worst that would Tota traveling in time is create a new divergent timeline, nothing more. It would not change either its existence or that of his own timeline, nor that of the timeline of the epilogue of Negima. ^^
However, it is quite possible that you are right and that Tota not really time travel (although the presence of the symbol Cassiopeia strongly indicates that is the case).
Or Dana Castle is a place out of time (similar to “Toki-Toki” in Dragon Ball xenovers for those who have played this game) and thus achieve some-thing in this place, would not affect the space-time and would not create parallel alternative timelines.
do you think UQHolder will ever get a anime or get a anime soon and do you know how many manga sales it haves in total?
I don’t know the answers to those questions. I am told that UQ Holder sales are no where near Negima sales.
Considering how Negima never got a proper anime adaptation (one crappy adaptation, one alt universe series, a movie, and a bunch of limited edition OADs that only adapted selected parts of the manga), I’m not holding my breath for an anime adaptation any time soon.
aw ok thx for the information
Question, was Akamatsu taking a break this week?
Yes. The manga is on break this week.
http://a.mfcdn.net/store/manga/13052/01-002.0/compressed/e023.jpg
We see here that the Solar Olympics will be a massive event help at the top of the tower, do you think the Mahora tournament is one of these events? I don’t think that’s been explicitly stated before.
Also that could be the reason we haven’t seen Ikkuu or Karin in the preliminaries for the tournament, they’re entering the olympics via a different event since Eva only forbid them from entering the tournament.
Also, that would be a good way of keeping the other Numbers in the story.
I seem to remember that Mana said the tournament was a prelude to space olympics, not that they were directly linked.
Ok, I reread the chapter, the tournament isn’t part of the neo olympics, Mana is hopeful that the success of the tournament will help Japan’s bid to host the neo olympics.
I guess this means the neo olympics will probably at the end of UQ Holder, makes sense since Touta’s dream is to sing at the opening ceremony.
Maybe Dana will teach him how to sing :L
I’d think that the two were separate events — one a fight tournament and one a variety event thing, as the Olympics are now, only with whatever events they have in space.
Thanks for the info
You’re welcome. 🙂
Astro why do you think that touta has anti magic like asuna
He doesn’t. Magic apps reject him, but he has no immunity to magic. Asuna had Magic Cancel, itself being a extension to the magic of Creation and Destruction. Remember, Asuna’s MC is sub-conciously selective, in that it’ll only be canceled out if she wants it to. That is unlike anything else in the setting, where items and locations that nullify magic do so indiscriminately. Ergo, she’s a ungodly freak. She probably could learn to use magic and Royal Magic, but she isn’t exactly the studious type.
I wager Touta is more like Takahata in that he can’t string together spells, but that itself might be him being a terrible construct that someone couldn’t get right. Someone deserves to get their money back on that one.
But I’m done with Holder for awhile. This Eva subtext is too nauseating to deal with, and I just flat out don’t like Dana. Holder has yet to introduce any characters that I can care about (Sucks to be you Santa, you’re regulated into the background as predicted), so there’s no point in going on until this mess is over. Let me know when something not terrible actually happens in this series.
It came off to me more as if Touta and mana had an explosive reaction when coming into contact with each other, which is the reason he can’t use magic apps.
Takahata could use mana though. If Touta is anti-mana, then he wouldn’t even be able to use kankahou.
Not anti-magic — anti-mana. Different things.