September 5th, 2018 
AstroNerdBoy Here is some SPOILER images for the upcoming UQ Holder Chapter 152, courtesy of 2CAT. (My review of UQ Holder Chapter 152 should come out as soon as they appear on Crunchyroll, depending on when Crunchyroll publishes the chapter.)
Update! Click this link to see my chapter review!
UQ HOLDER Chapter 152 SPOILERS
The UQ Holder Chapter 152 goodness begins. It is time for some Karin-chan love! ?
Well now, well now. Karin fails on a pactio with Eva. Depressed Karin makes me sad, but I’m REALLY hoping that she somehow ends up with a pactio with Touta, despite her previous protestations.
That aside, I’m really happy that Akamatsu-sensei is exploring Karin’s past. I honestly didn’t think he’d do it, but this chapter and the next one are Karin chapters. So here’s to hoping that Akamatsu-sensei does it good. UQ Holder is a manga that can easily support giving other characters space to have their backstory explored.
So, what do you guys think? Excited for the new chapter? Let me know in the comments. ?
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I’m interested in Karin’s past less because of Karin herself, but for the potential world-building. If Karin is this world’s equivalent of Judas does that mean the God of Christianity exists? Is he an actual God or a God-Mage like Ialda? I find it curious that Karin’s power she got from “God” are purifying/destructive and Light-based. Where have I seen that before?
The part of me that likes to give Ken too much credit wants to believe that Karin’s existence and its possibilities are no coincidence as Gnosticism always had the biggest ties to Christianity over other religions.
Also, Dark Evangeline is best Evangeline. Not for the first time has it occurred to me that Evangeline and Ialda have several similarities; darkness and puppets being the obvious ones.
If I had to guess, I’d say that God exists in this world created by Akamatsu-sensei. And I would say that he would be “God” insomuch as Akamatsu-sensei (and the Japanese in general) have whatever limited knowledge of Christianity. The Japanese sometimes like to use Christianity when it comes to fantasy works, but they tend to lean toward Catholicism and treat it as another form of magic. I suspect that is what will be the case here.
Possibly the A Certain Magical Index series (franchise) or one of the many Fate titles. Those are the ones that spring to mind off the top of my sleepy head.
I always wanted Eva’s past explored in Negima. There was all of this talk of how evil Eva was and all of the bad things she’d done. But we were never shown any of it. UQ Holder has given us glimpses of this, first with Touta’s seeing Eva in the past and now this flashback with Eva and Karin. It is a welcome change for sure.
Light powers often have effects along this line in many stories yes, but I actually meant to say that I found it strange that a similar power already exists in the same universe, namely the White of Mars.
Could they be two different branches of the same path of Magic?
Funny you should mention Index as in that universe even divine miracles fall into the Magic category and aren’t some sort of divine extra class. In fact, humans can even surpass gods with magic in that setting but that’s another story entirely.
I just can’t help but overthink these things, knowing full well I’m bound to get disappointed. It’s not like Akamatsu isn’t capable of depth, he just doesn’t use it most of the time for some reason. Especially in UQ “Shallow as a puddle” Holder.
Hahaha! Well, it is still a fun manga though. 😉
Choo Choo, M’fo’s. Twenty gayteen ain’t finished yet. (There’s also, some very credible rumours about Disney, in this regard.)
Finally, gay Karin. I wonder how the translators will handle this, they’ve been downplaying the homo between them.
But, again this could’ve been done ages ago. But I’m never the less, very ecstatic; about this development.
I don’t think Karin is actually gay. Maybe bisexual, but then only limited to Eva. We already know that Karin has feelings for Touta, though she denies this to herself. And from the start, Eva has suggested to Karin that she consider Touta as the two might end up being the last people standing based on their immortality types. Actually, that was when the seed was first planted in Karin’s mind. ?
Yeah, it could have. But I’m like you, very glad to have this development at all.
Better late than never IMO. I am super happy about Karin development and this despair is probably necessary to force her to realize getting a Pactio with Touta is the best option.
As for why it didn’t work, the only two reasons a Pactio should fail is if it is interrupted or if one of the people involved doesn’t have a soul.
So did her immortality curse/blessing step in to prevent the Pactio from going through?
Yeah, I think that’s part of the goal — steer Karin to Touta. We already know she has feelings for him, though she represses them greatly. Now Karin’s thoughts of staying at Eva’s side as an official pactio partner are crushed. I suspect we’ll see a situation to where Karin is forced to pactio with Touta in order to help get them out of a tricky situation.
I suspect that here, we will have a third reason. Karin’s powers are supposed to be light-based and pure. And so it may be that her powers negated the pactio as Eva’s powers are darkness. Since Touta has both the light and the dark, I think he would still be able to succeed in a pactio attempt.
Ch. 152 focuses on some of Karin’s past. Like Ch. 151, Ch. 152 is a necessary filler which serves as a prelude to the next arc. Ken A, has started the next arc. While I do want the next arc to focus on a critical point where the past, present, and future meet, I will have to let Ken A. to tell us what is going to be the plot of the next arc.
While I do want to see a cameo of Chao, I need to focus on Chao’s role being limited to her visit to the past. If Ken A. allows Chao to have a cameo, her purpose must be focus solely on the prevention of a dangerous time paradox. Even the Mage of the beginning is aware of what can happen if she tries to stop Chao’s visit to the past.
I’m not sure what the next arc is going to be. I am glad we are getting two Karin chapters. I’m still hoping for a lengthy Kuroumaru chapter.
Even Kirie is aware of how much of a jobber and loser Karin has become, it’s great. Of course, this being Akamatsu lampshading the problem will ultimately result in nothing to fix it, but still.
Further reading, got it all at last.
Best chapter in a very long while, actually. Once again, Holder is at its best when it’s not about trying to ape Negima and being as much of its own thing as possible. The Eva in the flashbacks finally feels like Evangeline, and Karin’s drama is actually decent and her declaration of friendship to Touta feels honest and true. Those two work much better as friends than they do with forced romance.
But boy, were this a more attention grabbing manga, there would be a controversy about the Christ stuff as long as this were brought Westernside officially. I don’t mind, but I doubt this’ll make Ken popular at all with some circles, including the Muslims (for whom Jesus was a prophet too, and they don’t look favorably on graphical depictions of them).
The only part I don’t like, other than the nagging feeling all the nice Karin buildup will ultimately sizzle into nothing in the long run, like it happened with most of the Negima cast, was the Fate Grand Order gag. It felt kind of forced, and considering Negima and UQ have their own gacha game which failed to achieve much global recognition at all, it even comes across as a slight case of sour grapes, maybe.
Whoa! Thanks for the tip that the chapter’s already up. IN theory, this is when it should always be up as it is the 8th in Japan, but usually, CR doesn’t post the chapter until it is the 9th in Japan.
As to the Christianity stuff, Akamatsu-sensei is trying to have his cake and eat it too.