1ユーキューホルダー! 魔法先生 ネギま！2 Anime Review
UQ Holder! Mahou Sensei Negima 2
UQ Holder! Magister Negi Magi! 2 – 05
UQ Holder Episode 05

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

Xinxai is enjoying running a knife through Karin’s chest, causing her pain. He recounts what he knows of her past from 1492. Xinxai then vows to love Karin forever after he breaks her spirit. She kicks him in the balls and activates her Holy Light power, freeing her from the shadow binds. Karin tells Xinxai that she’s not cursed, but loved, which is why she doesn’t like using this power. She devastates Xinxai  with a massive physical attack before leaving him barely alive.

Outside, Kuroumaru manages to save Ruki from death by Kaito, despite not having a lower half. Touta emerges with his arms covered in a black, claw-like substance. He easily sends Nagumo and Kaito back and is joined by Karin, who states she’ll handle Nagumo. Since Touta recognizes Kaito even in his werewolf form, Kaito reverts to human form. Touta does good, but Kaito’s superior experience allow him to shundo to Touta and punch out his heart. However, rather than dying, the Magia Erebea power of Touta expands to reform his heart and remove Kaito’s arm in the process.

Nagumo recognizes the power of ME, citing Eva and Negi as the only two known wielders of this power. Karin stops Nagumo from helping Kaito, as she feels this is a test for Touta. If Touta loses control, UQ Holder will destroy Touta. Touta easily defeats Kaito, but forces ME back within himself rather than kill Kaito. Karin is proud of Touta. Kaito decides a final arm wrestling battle will determine the final winner. Touta agrees and wins. Yukihime arrives and puts out the fire. Nagumo and Kaito escape. Meanwhile, a man observes Touta through a camera and confirms him to be the one.

Thoughts/Review:

As happened before, UQ Holder! Magister Negi Magi! 2 – 05 covers a ton of ground, losing some stuff in the process, including a second fight.

What Was Changed?

Because of the massive amount of compression done with the anime, a lot of stuff got cut again. Initially, things for the fight followed the manga pretty well. However, after Touta recovered and beat back Kaito, he grabbed Kuroumaru and fled with Ruki. That actually makes more sense as Kuroumaru was in no condition to flee, as the anime set up. Also, it allowed Kuroumaru and Touta to have a character moment together.

In the manga, Kuroumaru is sent with Ruki to get help, whereas in the anime, Kuroumaru is just a bystander. That also goes for Karin, which was weird to me. Yes, she mostly observed Touta’s fight with Kaito as a way of evaluating him and coming to start respecting him. But she and Nagumo initially clashed in the manga. Further, Nagumo was massively freaked out by Touta using Magia Erebea in the manga. In  the anime, he’s just spouting exposition.

This biggest thing missing is the second fight, where Nagumo is forced by his client to fight again, whereupon he ends up sending Karin to the moon. Touta gets to play Super Touta battling a version of Doomsday all so Eva can come in for a deus ex machina moment. Now all of that is gone, leaving Nagumo to pretend to be Sesshoumaru-sama from Inuyasha, whereby he uses his sword to open a crescent path to escape. I actually laughed out loud at that moment.

What Else to Say?

I’m glad the bloody stupid Chamo censorship markers were gone. That was such a massive distraction in the last episode. Now, Karin’s naughty bits and “very naughty bits, indeed” are blocked by a combination of her towel, energy, and convenient positioning of the hand. That’s a MUCH better solution than the bloody Chamo thing.

I rather enjoyed seeing Karin defeat Xinxai. The scene had a more comedic feel in the anime than the manga, but in a good way for me. It is a shame that Sentai screwed up the subtitles and put 1942 instead of 1492 as the year. It is possible that the script Sentai’s translator got had an error in it. (My understanding for simulcasts is that the translator is sent the script from Japan, but if the Japanese make any changes or the like, the translator won’t know it ’cause they won’t have seen the episode.) But the audio clearly has Xinxai say 1492 in Japanese.

Touta’s fight with Kaito was fine for what it was. In terms of epic nature, it felt about the same as the manga. We see a glimpse of Touta’s irritating aspect in how he dealt with Magia Erebea and his general attitude. But it still isn’t as bad as it was in the manga.

Finally (and I could say more I suppose, but I’m in a rush), considering how desperate UQ Holder! Magister Negi Magi! 2 is to get to Negima! content, I was surprised that Nagumo’s flashback to his encounter with Negi didn’t show Negi clearly. The moment carried more weight in the manga than in the anime.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

With viewing UQ Holder! Magister Negi Magi! 2 – 05, I’m all but caught up with the simulcast. Yay. Hopefully I can keep caught up. That aside, UQ Holder! Magister Negi Magi! 2 – 05 continued its rapid push to get us to Negima! content. Watching the episode made me think of what might have been had the source manga had focus.