March 8th, 2017 
AstroNerdBoy ユーキューホルダー! 魔法先生 ネギま！2 Manga Review
UQ Holder! Mahou Sensei Negima 2
UQ Holder!: Magister Negi Magi! 2 Chapter 134
UQ Holder Chapter 134
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Asuna arrives and nullifies Negi’s attack on her. Asuna frees Touta, then turns to Negi-MotB to give him a hug. Asuna greets Yue and Nodoka. She explains to Touta that the two of them stayed with Negi to give humanity more time. Asuna announces that she will now be joining them to put off the inevitable a little while longer. As such, she leaves things in Touta’s hands. Negi-MotB agrees to retreat, then tells Touta that he will wait for Touta at the top of the tower. Negi emerges to tell Touta that he awaits his answer.
With the group gone, Karin emerges from the rubble, lamenting the destruction. Jinbee and Gengorou help her, revealing that they evacuated everyone from the building, thanks to Mana and Zazie, who both show up. The two women reveal that they reacted to a telepathic message from Yukihime.
Back at the battle site, Kirie informs Touta about the lack of casualties. Touta is amazed since this had to happen within a second of time. After discussing Kirie’s health and the fact that Touta grows a tail when he uses Magia Erebea, Touta acknowledges Kirie’s love confession to him. Kirie gets embarrassed and tries to deny it. However, Touta’s praise for her actions in the fight cause Kirie to run and hide. Touta follows and gives her a kiss on the cheek, really throwing her off.
Yukihime arrives, followed by Isana, Honoka, Ikkuu, Mizore, and Shinobu. Mizore demands to know what is going on, but shuts up when Kirie reminds her of who won the race. Yukihime congratulates Touta on a job well done, but he doesn’t think he did so well. Fate joins them, wanting Touta for his plan. Yukihime, Santa, Kuroumaru, and Karen move into attack positions. Fate decides to retreat as well, but agrees to Touta’s request to visit for more information.
Later at the UQ Holder HQ, the guys are relaxing in the onsen, unaware that Cutlass is spying on them.
Thoughts/Review:
And so this arc ends in a rather anti-climactic way. However, I think I know what is going on here and so I’m OK with how things went in UQ Holder chapter 134.
The Real McCoys
One thing this chapter put to rest is the notion of whether Yue and Nodoka are the real McCoy or not. Some had theorized that Yue and Nodoka might be recreations, and certainly that was a valid theory. My thoughts on the two of them is that because everyone, including Eva, treated them like the real thing, and they had the real Artifacts that Yue and Nodoka had. To date, doppelgangers can only produce faux Artifacts. So it was nice having Asuna explain a bit about what happened to them. As I thought, they willingly joined Negi and thus bought more time for humanity.
Although Asuna didn’t mention Al and Jack, I figure they are are the real deals as well. Their long life is due to being non-human beings from the Magic World. We don’t know why Yue and Nodoka still look young, but Kirie’s theory may hold the answer.
Kirie theorizes that the apostles with Negi (Al, Jack, Yue, and Nodoka) are chained to Negi-MotB. Through Ialda’s power, I figure Yue and Nodoka are now immortal. If this chain theory is correct, it is a way for Nagi to still be alive. I know the implication is that Nagi died, and that certainly is a real possibility. However, I can’t believe Akamatsu-sensei would kill Nagi like that. So I’m still going to retain the thought that Negi took Nagi’s place, but then Nagi became chained to MotB in a manner similar to the others. We’ll see though.
To the Tower, March! But Just Not Right Now
With UQ Holder chapter 134, we have the third reset of the goal for getting to the top of the Tower. Initially, Touta just wanted to do it for reasons. Then Fate was supposed to be the boss at the top of the Tower for Touta to take down. Now it is Negi at the top of the Tower. As such, Touta now has the best reason of all to get to the top of the Tower, just not right now, of course.
Right now, UQ Holder is in limbo as to its ultimate fate. Kodansha is going to wait and see what the anime does for sales of the manga. If sales do good, Akamatsu-sensei will be allowed to do more stuff before ending the manga. If not, then I suspect we’ll see some kind of time jump in the manga, after which Negi and company return for the final showdown.
With Fate also retreating in the chapter, does he too return to the top of the Tower? After all, Touta has an open invitation to visit Fate and learn Fate’s story. If so, does Fate just hang with Negi-MotB?
So What Now?
For now, I think we will see two things. First, we’ll have a return of the Touta harem and the comedy hijinks that come with that. I think this was evidenced by Kirie and Mizore getting into their conflict, to say nothing of the conversation between Touta and Kirie. I suspect that we will see Isana and Honoka hang out with the UQ Holder crew as part of the Touta Harem Project.
Second, we’ll have the serious story with Cutless and whatever that leads to. Cutlass could become a member of UQ Holder, especially if the manga series picks up in sales. Otherwise, Cutlass could be the key that gets the story to rapidly return to Negi-MotB. We’ll see.
As an aside, I do like the idea that Cutlass is supposed to be the hooded figure in the early promo artwork rather than Santa.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
Time to wrap up my review of UQ Holder chapter 134 with some final thoughts.
- I’m glad to see Jinbee and Gengorou return. I think it would have been nice to see other UQH folks around int he rubble.
- Glad to see Mana and Zazie not forgotten. Too bad Sayo wasn’t around.
- I laugh at the deus ex machina method of magically saving everyone so that no one dies. I don’t have a problem with it per se, but it is a stretch and a half and then some.
- The reason I think Kuroumaru didn’t show up in the onsen with the other guys is because Kuroumaru’s gender dial is now in the female range. 😉 😀
- I liked seeing Isana flying with her own wings. Makes sense since she appears to be the clone of Setsuna.
In the end, UQ Holder chapter 134 gives Touta his latest and final reason to get to the top of the Tower and appears to be returning things to the way things were. Personally speaking, I liked what I read.
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Not a bad chapter if a bit anti-climatic. I wish Kirie would be more open now that she’s confessed but status quo I guess. I really feel like this pairing is being pushed even more than Touta/Eva. Kinda weird, really…
Yue and Nodoka seemed surprised to see Asuna, and once again Asuna re-affirms that they are her friends and the real deal. I would love to see an oldschool hangout with members of 3-A, especially since they’re on opposite sides (something that made the MahoraFest arc so good), but apart from maybe some Baka Ranger hijinx there likely won’t be much. Asuna seemed to imply that they were keeping Negi from going off the deep end.
Interesting to see what happens with Cutlass. The power to stop time is indeed one to be reckoned with and she definitely is far less humourous than her compatriots. I assume she might be “forcibly recruited” especially since Evangeline is far less compromising when it comes to people messing with Touta.
I hope the story progresses with some perspective from both sides. Some light-hearted fun might be called for (but keep the harem stuff to a minimum).
Gotta keep that harem going. 😉
I wasn’t thinking surprise, but you could be right. I was thinking Asuna’s anti-magic powers were lessening the linkage to MotB and thus creating an effect.
Remember that Santa was thought to be a murderer and he did do some bad stuff. So Cutlass could get a redemption arc.
Ken has always been a fan of the “Defeat means friendship” trope, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we got some serious Cutlass development. She’s got some Asuna in her so she can’t be completely heartless. I suspect that her disdain for Touta stems from jealousy because he was a successful experiment and she was not.
I think back to how Yue said that Asuna was “no longer with us”, so that’s likely why they’re surprised to see her again. Perhaps they’ve been looking for her the entire time? Nodoka and Yue were not present when Asuna was put to sleep, but I’m sure they would’ve found out one way or another. According to Asuna, their “defection” was for the greater good, and likely they have a secret or two about what’s really going on. Negi referenced them in chapter 132 as well. Eva seemed to think they were both directly opposing her, so it’s apparent that something deeper is afoot. I like to think now that the two of them acting like bitches to Touta and Eva were just a mask.
It sets up an interesting next chapter, though I hope the entire thing isn’t devoted to Cutlass.
Yep, especially since Cutlass has an artificial arm and leg.
They should have known that she was on Mars, right?
before you crashed that Building with your fat ass lo
😆 True.
I suspect Nodoka and Yue being real is a way to leave the door open for the possibility (which may cristalyze or not) that later, when UQ Holder has improved/trained/powered up/gained more members, showing more Ala Alba members who also stayed with Negi to further challenge the protagonists. You could explain their absence here as several of them not being fit for face to face confrontations (like Chisame or Asakura), or because they couldn’t all be manifested at once yet or whatever. But it’d be a way to push sales up later if more Negima fanservice is needed, not to mention pulling new, seemingly long discarded foes from the past is hardly new for Akamatsu– it happened in the final confrontation with Cosmo Entelecheia, after all.
Besides, if Yue and Nodoka stayed, why wouldn’t most of the other girls, who are just as loyal to Negi in their own ways, do likewise? Would Haruna ever let Yue and Nodoka go into that without following them herself?
Rakan being real, however, is troubling, not only because this really didn’t act much like Rakan, but because he still blew buildings full of innocents– he had no way of knowing Mana, Zazie and UQ would buttpull a save like that– for all he knew he still was killing scores of innocent people. I hate the idea of Jack Rakan being a cold blooded mass murderer, ‘villain’ or not.
Also, once again, Mana and Zazie are cheated out of being shown actually DOING something cool on-panel, especially Zazie, who by now I’m doubting will ever get a break.
Based on what we saw in Negima, Jack can be controlled by the power of MotB. Both he and Al have been chained to her via Negi for a very long time. So such considerations are probably beyond them at this point.
Yeah, that does suck.
Also, random Japanese terminology with translation note?! WTF, they’ve been bending over backwards to avoid them, but Honoka calling Touta Brother in polite manner is a mandate for such?!
Are you talking about avoiding translation notes? Well, that has been a Kodansha thing. However, the Twins are great and understand honorifics and terms are used as literary devices. So I’m glad they included that because it announces a shift for Honoka.
I’m little worried about Kodansha’s wait and see thing. They did put money up for Anime to advertise UQ Holder. However, i won’t be the same as manga. I’ve yet to see many animes that do better than the original. Sage of Tanya Evil one the few that keeps that going along with the Drifters kept up with spirit and quality of the manga source.
Chapter 134 could been the end, but end of arc that stretched for a while. It nice wrap up episode, Nice character building part.
Does Asuna’s return only to become anchored and “slaved” to Negi-MOTB is bit disappointing. Does this mean her disappearance is something completely different than saving Inverse-Mars? That’s another sign of difference in the time-line franchise started from and “corrected” one Asuna came back to. Note: She still young. Her school mates without magic are old. Yue and Nodoka somehow are still young-ish 20s.
Is the Manga really going be on hold until anime coming out or is it going drift awhile until the Blue-Ray sales come in?
Asuna is joining Yue and Nodoka in trying to control Negi-MotB and delaying plans to destroy Earth, and probably include destroying Inverse Mars too. So in a way, she’s still saving Inverse-Mars. The time remaining and as Fate said is limited, may depend on how long the manga has to exist.
Regarding Kodansha’s strategy, no matter what changes in the anime (or not), if it results in increased manga sales, it will be considered a win.
As to Asuna, it is a bit anti-climactic. I read somewhere that Akamatsu-sensei supposedly stated which timeline UQH was in, but I can’t verify that. I’d kinda like this to be a different timeline, but that’s just me.
BD sales will be a key component, as I understand it.
Wow – Tota is getting better as a leader. I was impressed when Tota asked Fate to meet and talk to tell something about himself, instead of his usual confrontational – wanna fight stance. Tota is now willing to take the initiative to engage conversation dialog, and a good first step to probably get some understanding about Fate. Tota is also regretful seeing the damage to innocent people and property, and glad no one was hurt, as the result to the quick actions of Eva (example of her leadership of UQ). Would have been nice to include the UQ black shirts in moving people out of harm’s way..but it would be too much to draw.
Touta has certainly improved as an MC.
A whole bunch of questions….and I don’t have any answers.
So Asuna is now chained to Negi-MotB? Or Asuna will try to control Negi-MotB to delay him a bit longer from destroying Earth and Inverse Mars and not chained to Negi-MotB? Or does it mean Asuna with her power and abilities will now be controlled and used by Negi-MotB the same way Yue and Nodoka, just so that Negi’s fall to the ‘dark side’ is delayed longer?
Didn’t Negi need Asuna to defeat Nagi-MotB? IF so, as Rob C is asking, what happens to Inverse Mars that Asuna was sealed away and protecting if Asuna now goes or sides with the MotB who is trying to destroy everything – it defeats why Asuna was locked away to begin with?
Whats with the fancy formal dress Asuna is wearing and not in battle gear? Noticed that earlier with Nodoka and Yue when they first appeared on the tower were also dressed in formal evening wear, instead of how she appeared in the illusion, which was a school uniform.
I also don’t understand the dialog between Asuna and Negi-MotB:
—-
Negi: hmph… foolish girl. You know you don’t have any answers.
Asuna: No, I don’t. Is that so wrong? That’s why I’m letting the youngsters take care of it
—-
So what was the question? To join Negi-MotB and for what? Or was it possibly how to stop the suffering of past human souls in the head of the MotB without destroying Earth? We still don’t know why Negi-MoB wants Tota, and would help the audience to know so we can see where this manga is heading.
A thought is just maybe… its that research Negi was doing and alluded to Tota…. but come out and state it already…instead of this vague crumbles of information that we have to assume to figure it out.
Translation: Negima is over. Long live UQ Holder. 😉
Found this in the UQ Holder reddit.
“I just downloaded the raws for the 15th weekly shonen issue. wtf? I can’t find Negima?”
… don’t tell me they couldn’t even deliver the oneshot in time after advertising it worldwide one week before. Akamatsu, what are you even doing?
Then again, later I found what seems to be the first page.
http://natalie.mu/comic/news/224727
Thanks. I need to stay on top of comments.
I learned that there is a special edition version of the magazine. I now understand why there was a joke about not getting the right manga magazines in Hayate the Combat Butler. It is a way for the Japanese to get extra money out of the otaku. Sell them the regular edition AND the special edition.
So hopefully, this isn’t indicative of the Art for the UQ Holder Anime. If so, this series is deader in the water than Berserk.
http://uqholder.jp
Also the anime has a twitter and maybe a November air date.
A addendum, HOLY SHITHOLY SHITHOLY SHITHOLY SHITHOLY SHITHOLY SHITHOLY SHIT
JC Staff is doing the UQ Holder Anime, (this changes everything) my top choice came true.
UQ holder may get a a second season. And Akamatsu-Sensei may very well see success with UQ Holder as well as not be destitute past 65.
The artwork for Monster musume was fantastic.
Hopefully, given the the filler nature of railgun, we can get some meaningful UQ holder content, that allows it to stand by itself and not be a glorified manga ad.
I’m so overjoyed, at this moment in time.
Akamatsu-Sensei, if your reading this. Get Kana Hanazawa for Karin and Marina Inoue for Yukihime (presuming that Eva will have 2 different voice actors for her persona’s)
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-03-17/uq-holder-tv-anime-reveals-october-debut-visual-cast-staff/.113593
J.C. Staff has done things I’ve liked. I certainly plan to watch it. Thanks for the link.
That’s almost certainly the character designs for the series.