August 25th, 2015 
AstroNerdBoy ユーキューホルダー! Manga Review
UQ Holder Chapter 91
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Kuroumaru and Kirie are amazed that Touta defeated Ruin Ishkur. He explains how he uses the hoops to control Magia Erebea, but unlike his grandfather, who could absorb his own spells, Touta has to absorb whatever is cast at him. As long as he keeps spinning the hoop, he can store the Lightning Sword he had absorbed earlier. However, he loses concentration and the electrical power escapes, shooting all over the place.
Ruin Ishkur returns, scolding Touta for lack of ambition, but praising him for defeating the Lightning Spirit. Ruin Ishkur assures them that he is not there to fight as he will need three days to regenerate. With that, he produces the package that Dana tossed down. Kuroumaru freaks out since it would let Touta know that Kuroumaru is neither male nor female. Kirie freaks out because she doesn’t know what embarrassing secret would be revealed, and since her companions are immortal, they’ll know it forever.
The amused Ruin Ishkur tosses the package, but before the three have a chance to grab it, Santa comes out of nowhere and snatches it. He apologizes for not helping in the fight and begs Touta to let him have it, after which he’ll return it. Kirie scoffs that Santa believed that Dana actually has a message for Santa from Sayoko. Touta pleads, but Kirie won’t listen and attempts to forcibly take it from him. Santa pleadingly yells that he wants to hear Sayoko’s voice once more.
Touta stops Kirie and despite Kirie’s loud objections, grants Santa the request. Touta states that he has someone waiting to see him, so he’s not going to crush Santa’s dream to hear from Sayoko. Kuroumaru makes Santa promise to listen to the message in private so that Kuroumaru’s and Kirie’s secrets aren’t exposed. Kirie and Santa ask who’s waiting for Touta, but he says it is hard to explain, other than that they’ll be waiting at the castle.
Ruin Ishkur interrupts them to let them know that he is but one of four elemental guardian spirits of the Witch of the Rift’s castle. As such, they still have to face the earth, fire, and water elemental. Since Ruin Ishkur was the strongest of the four, the remaining three attack. Somehow, Santa, Kuroumaru, Touta, and Kirie defeat their opponents and return to the castle, apparently in time for Touta to meet Kitty.
Thoughts/Review:
When the spoilers came out and there was talk about there being three more elemental guardians for Touta to fight, I figured that even though Santa had the book, we’d have a chapter showing them battling the other three spirits. Instead, Akamatsu-sensei seemed to go, “You know, I’m just tired of this already, so you know what? They won.”
It isn’t the first time Akamatsu-sensei seems to have given up on a storyline that previously would have gone on another chapter or two. I think back to the initial storyline with Eva (as Yukihime), Touta, and Kuroumaru taking their journey. Out of the blue, that story was terminated just to get them to UQ Holder HQ. I’ve got no problem with a fast paced story, and I certainly don’t need some dragged out fight that just goes on and on and on (like in Fairy Tail). However, there’s a difference between fast paced and just throwing the towel in because, “enough already. ”
The explanation of Touta’s power is pretty much what people expected. Instead of him casting spells and absorbing them into himself, he’s simply absorbing what others cast at him, then sending it back out at them. However, if Hula Hoop Boy drops the hoop before using the stored spell/attack, then he can’t store it. Initially, I would have thought he would have simply canceled it inside himself, but then Asuna, who had Magic Cancel, didn’t cancel magic within her.
Normally it is Touta that irritates me the most, but in this chapter, Touta is not the irritating one. Indeed, he’s the noble one as Kirie irritated the crap out of me. I couldn’t believe that she’d tell Santa that hearing from Sayoko was just a lie, yet had no trouble believing that her own dirty secrets would get out. Now I hope all of of the group gets to hear her secrets and while at it, somehow she gets a good punch in the face as well.
As to Santa, I hope he gets to hear Sayoko’s message. I hope Akamatsu-sensei lets us in on that as well. During the Sayoko-Santa story, I would have liked it if Sayoko had been kept alive and joined UQ Holder. That didn’t happen, so I would like an opportunity for us to see her again.
Considering where the group emerged at Dana’s castle, and considering that they appear to have made it in the time frame mentioned by Eva, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Eva, as Kitty, appears before them all. In this way, the others have their answers as to whom Touta was meeting, and it would provide Eva with a future motivation to found UQ Holder and bring in Touta’s companions.
In the end, the chapter was an interesting and entertaining one, though things were unexpectedly cut off to move the story along.
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I wonder if touta will overcome his weakness
I think you know the answer to that. 😉
The water spirit looked more like shadow to be honest, the shading for the water was too dark.
For the future I suppose Touta could have a smaller hoop rotating around his wrist, perpetuated by a spirit, since Touta’s & Asuna’s magic cancel never subconsciously harmed ethereal magical beings, unless they were summoned, Therefore Touta just needs a small hoop like à la russian nesting dolls, and he can about 8-10 Elemental Armaments to use at any given time.
As for the 1 second duration, that’ll change when plot demands it.
Euh… The water spirite is probably the woman (who is class if you want my advice^^), my friend lol. The black spirit is the fire god I think^^
when the fact that Tota eventually increase its duration in ME, bah I want to say is obliged if he wants to use it effectively. Without counting-that will probably lead to improve it, so obviously its duration will increase ^^.
Left fire, middle earth and right is water.
Hoop not important… Important thing is the stance and movement
Yeah, I agree about the hoop. I figure it will be gone quite soon.
I figure in future, Touta won’t need a hoop at all. He’ll just do the do with his mind.
Crunchyroll why do you make my browser crash? I was actually looking forward to the other fights more but skipped 🙁 Ken really needs to give his other chars some attention
Yeah, Crunchyroll can be tetchy at times.
That would be nice.
Astro: Usually we are certain points of agreements and no agreements with other, sometimes we are not at all Accors. Here we are in complete agreement! ^^
1. I too would have like to see the fight against the other three spirits. Especially because for the constraints of the ME of Tota, he could not beat theme alone. In this way, it would have been a chance to see the progress of the three other group members.
However I put a small downside to this part of your analysis. In fact I think the choice of the ellipse is justified. Firstly because, having seen Ishkur at work, there would have been no big surprises to wait of the three other spirits I think. Each mastering spells, its own element, end of the story.
On the other hand I think Akamatsu wants to keep the revelation of the group’s progress in the tournament. And finally, the fact that the fight is hidden, has allowed to show that the fight was tough (they have five hours to defeat one elemental spirit!).
Moreover, it is supposed to be training, so there is no need to go after every detail of the fight, as in a battle for capital intrigue as was Negi vs Rakan, Negi vs vs Fate Fate or Tota. After this is my opinion.
2. Regarding Kirie you all say I have nothing to add. Incidentally I found Tota really mature to accept to renonce to his book for Santa, because he had already discovered a secret technique and he wanted to work alone for devllpe it. And also because he understands the feelings of Santa.
3. I also really hope Santa will contact Sayako. However, even if I would, I do not think we will see their discussion. Perhaps in a flashback later in the story, who knows? Moreover, from the beginning I even hope Santa learn necromantic techniques of Sayko. Would be cool if she becomes his sensei. ^^
Glad to hear it. 🙂
I have to agree, i like how this chapter came to close despite us being robbed of nice fight scene. Rushed schedule? *shakes his head* I don’t know, i hope that doesn’t happen too often.
It was nice to see Touta have some growth as character, be able show he more than accidental super hero.
He’s been the nice guy before, but him showing maturity is nice.
This just suddenly comes to mind, but what if the one appeared before them turns out to be the 700 y.o. Eva instead?
Other than that, I agree with the “enough already” part. That’s what I feel too.
Eva 700 years (that of UQ, so Yukihime) not, for against Tota is likely to encounter … Eva, from the era of Negima! !
If you do the math, Eva was sucked by the lifemaker around the 15th century (about 1400), the court of his first four meetings with Tota it took 200 years if I remember well, which brings us to the 17th century (1600), if you add 400 years to the meeting will happen now you EXACTLY falls on the period of Negima!
It would be really cool and fun!
“Tota: Yo Kitty “Whew”, sorry for the delay, has a long story
Eva: will not matter, you’re here now.
Tota: Then you become what?
Eva: I am prisonner in a school because of a silly magician very annoying!
Tota: WHAT th FU ** !!!?”
Would hilarious !!!
That’s not what I mean. For me, the one you’re talking about would be 600 y.o. Kitty. By 700 y.o. Eva, I mean UQH’s Yukihime appearing in her 10 y.o. form.
With different timeline and different dimension stuff existing in this story, I’m treating Yukihime/Eva from UQH as a different existence from Kitty/Eva Touta meet in Dana’s castle. At least until we got confirmation that they’re actually the same existence.
Btw, where did you got that 400 years from? From what I see in chapter 86, Kitty said it should be 287 (maybe plus 40?) years for her after their last meeting, which I think shouldn’t even make her 400 y.o. yet.
You were right to think Touta wouldn’t meet what he expected, if the new spoilers are to be believed. 😉
I just find the last page of this chapter suspicious, although according to the spoiler, it turns out to be even worse for Touta.
Bad for Touta, but possibly good for us. 😀
I feel like he is doing this for the purpose of bringing it up to magic world arc level…
It seems more or less hey lets have the strongest boss first then the cannon fodders second and lets not give the fodders any fight scenes.
I read the chapter at last.
So Touta can improve his variant of Magic Erebea… but for now it requires Revolution and last only one second.
The part where Negi can only hold Raiten Taishou II for a few minutes seems a bit meh… it seemed like he held it for about an hour or more lol XD
The bit with the three gaurdian spirits was hilarious though and it took 5 hours to defeat one of them… when it took 1 second to beat Ruin Ishkar.
Naja. He suprised the thunder spirit and the othe saw them so they know it what is his technic
Touta’s powers? I agree. I’ve thought that for quite some time. Touta is the Negi replacement without being Negi, but to get there, he needs to get there at warp speed.
Well, after I see the fight Touta Vs Thunder Demon, the power of the Hula Hoop is super effective… XD
Seriously now, when I saw Touta in that form, I remembered Negi, although he still have a long road ahead to reach him. Then, Can he absorb any power? (Then, I imagine that when he finds Fate again, Will he be able to absorb the ability of Fate? Won’t he? I want to see that moment to see the expressions of Fate and Evangeline, although I think that in some way Fate would win the fight)
But the fact that he can do that. I don’t know… I would like that he could have his own strength without have to use the powers of the others, I think that it would be against him. One time in Negima, Evangeline told “Besides, if he fights with the techniques I taught him, there’s not way he would be able to win against me” (Chapter 92) then, what I want to say, if Touta makes the same techniques that his enemies, it can that someone, by example Fate, he would be able to dodge the attacks, already that it is their own technique.
(Maybe I’m wrong and Touta defeats Fate that way… I don’t think that, but, who knows…)
About Santa, I was wondering where he was. “I want just to hear her voice one last time” lol Poor Santa. I felt sorry for him. In this chapter Kirie was something egoist…
Then, What will happen to the next chapter? Will Evangeline be in her form adult? (How it passed so many years already) Will she be in her form of child? Will Dana be there? Will Evangeline be of the present time with Dana there? Will there be nobody? XD
Never underestimate the power of a hula hoop. 😉
As an aside, since I’m writing this tired, when I saw “Thunder Demon,” for some reason, my initial thought was “Thunder Dome.” 😆
That’s the implication.
I would suspect he could absorb any offensive spell sent at him.
Still seems like a wasted opportunity on Sensei’s part, to have Touta legitimately become immune/highly resistant to Earth based Petrification spells.
I think he will be able to absorb Fate’s personification spells and turn them back on Fate.
It would have been great see the 3 elements fight with the group, but i guess there deadlines to meet.
I’m glad we’ve gotten a insight of Touta’s powers. To me that’s helps clears stuff up.
He essentially different from Negi. He can’t generate his own spells, even with a “Magic App”, since his anti-magical abilities he trouble controlling, but he can control them.
Touta is so far story told us a magical reflector, As long he able to concentrate, use hoops to focus his “channeling abilities” lack of better word for it, he can dish out as much as someone attacks him. If he survives the blow that is. Lifemaker who billed arguably as the final boss of the series, dishes out a disruptive magic / elemental attack against him, he could channel that killing blow back to him and use it as long as he’s channeling that hoop or what ever he will be using by then. I think the magical hoola hoop is a “bicycle training wheel” to allow him be able to use this new found ability of his.
Least it’s not all powerful, he not wizard like Negima was, he can’t go super sayian he blow up stuff. Question remains is if his dark magic abilities will allow him to more power. So far he barely used it. So far, it’s only able to channel power and give him beastial / demon powers which can get out of control.
I’m pretty much giving up trying see him revolve socially, he seems to be locked on to destiny with Eva. Least either companion or parent. Everyone else of his friends no matter if they have interest in him or not are window dressing if comes to a relationship.
Story evolving and telling good overall tale is all i care about. Too bad there no role playing game / online game thing to play in like MMO.
Deadlines and having to try to design a fight with three other elementals for Touta to absorb and use was apparently a bridge too far. Since Akamatsu-sensei has already done the air (lighting) elemental fights in Negima, I’m guessing those may have been easier to lay out.
Well, not yet at least. 😉
I too am kind of bummed that we didn’t see Team Touta fight the other elemental spirits. But I guess Akamatsu wanted to go ahead and advance the story instead of dedicating most of the next month to another fight. Oh well.
Touta still looks silly shaking his hula hoops in battle, and I hope he can eventually reach a point where he won’t need them anymore.
And finally, Crunchyroll finally had the chapter up and working at the scheduled time. Yay!
I think we’ll get a lot of this, especially if this thing steers back to a tournament.
I suspect that will happen sooner rather than later. 😉
Yay for the small things. 😀