September 9th, 2020 
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 175
UQ Holder Chapter 175
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Touta crashes to Nigeria, naked and missing his right arm. A space elevator tower is nearby and in ruins. Further, Touta has no memories. Four months later, Touta is working on the construction team that is rebuilding the Nigerian tower. He goes to bed with a nagging sense of urgency. He has memory dream flashes of the past that wakes him up with his memories restored.
Touta recounts the events of the past, where he trained with Dana and Yukihime for 72 days. He’s able to pass their test, so Kirie breaks the time loop and the group gets ready to depart. Santa discovers some research from Sayoko, which he hands to Yukihime. On Earth, a new disease is breaking out that is causing people to go into a trance or coma. However, UQ Holder decide to leave it to Earth officials and head to the space elevator tower.
Mizore and Shinobu see Touta off. He renews his promise to go to college with them, causing consternation with his battle harem. After a 3-day trip, the group make it to the East Asia Geostationary Orbit Station, where a massive fleet has gathered. Yukihime lets them know that they have two weeks of classes on space travel and combat in space.
UQ Holder is met by a large group from Inverse Mars, who throw a party for them. During the party, Touta joined Kirie and Kuroumaru. They notice a light glint in the distance, soon followed by an explosion on the geostationary orbit ring. Kirie passes out with suspected poisoning. The explosions rip the station apart.
Thoughts/Review:
Well, the advertised, plot twist, time jump happened in UQ Holder Chapter 175, but I suspect the reason could be a logical one.
Training
Akamatsu-sensei gave us a glimpse of the intense training Touta went through in UQ Holder Chapter 175. And frankly, that was all that was needed. Even if Akamatsu-sensei weren’t ending UQ Holder sooner rather than later, we didn’t need a lengthy number of pages dedicated to Touta and the others training.
What I didn’t get was how Kurobo could turn into Asuna’s sword, Ensis Exorcizans. I don’t remember Touta having this power, but I’ll admit, my memory isn’t what it was. So if one of you know, let me know.
Time Jump
We knew from the spoilers of UQ Holder Chapter 175 that there would be a time jump. I have a couple of theories on this. The first theory is that it took Touta 43 years to fall from orbit and land on Earth. That makes a logical sense. Touta is immortal, and he did fall from the sky, so that fits. And Touta mentioned he’d never really talk with Shinobu and Mizore again. They may have died in the destruction of the space elevator system.
The only problem with this theory is why the Mage of the Beginning hasn’t done her thing and finished off Earth. Also, 43 years seems a long time for rebuilding work on Earth to not have made much progress. Even considering a global destruction of the entire space elevator system, one would think more progress would have been made.
Theory 2 is that maybe Touta is in a kind of Cosmo Entelecheia fantasy realm. True, CE usually creates a pleasant world, but Touta is whacked, so his tower dream could have created this. Further, Kirie wasn’t resetting time. Granted, she was knocked out, but on death, she resets time.
I only cite CE because of the news reports of folks going into comas. I suspect those people were shifted to CE. But I could easily be wrong.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
Let me wrap up my review of UQ Holder Chapter 175 with some final thoughts.
- What was in the Sayoko research that Santa found?
- Why was Touta missing his arm (assuming this is the real world)?
- Where the two leaders from Inverse Mars the same ones from Negima!?
- We got confirmation that there are at least 132 parallel worlds, not just the three mentioned in Negima!.
- Kuroumaru does make a lovely girl.
In the end, UQ Holder Chapter 175 took an unexpected plot twist. And it wasn’t as bad as I thought. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
Posted in 
Tags: 
I don’t think it’s a dream, the date chosen is too important.
2131 is 4 years before Asuna woke up and it’s been a long time that we suspect that the manga ends around this period.
Ah… beat me to the punch. I just pulled out my Negima vol 38 and flicked to the Asuna awakening. This is 4 years before she wakes up. March 26 2135 is when she returns. If this is the same timeline, then we know Eva at the very least, will have survived in some shape or form… Also now that it’s 2131, Chao Lingshen is likely to be around and has the dimension hopper.
Also a part of me is kind of happy this turn of events did occur, because it means that it’s not a stright finish where Touta just butt pulls Magic Cancel and Magia Erebea on Negi and curb stomps him. Side stick turning into Asuna’s sword was a surprise but I guess that could do with Cutlass’s old weapon?
The current changes have made the story unpreditable and that is a good thing. What’s concerning is that Cosmo Entelecheia didn’t activate, Touta had scars and a missing arm and no one else seems to be around and Kirie being offed introduces a whole number of issues.
Then again… their opponent is half Negi Springfield… there was no way he would make this easy… like you have to literally outsmart him and well… we know he can outsmart Eva and Fate.
Maybe.
I don’t disagree there.
Yeah, for sure. It will be interesting to see where Sensei takes things.
The story is unpredictable, sure, but when that relies on going against solid, smooth narrative and logic for the sake of shock value that’s not “a good thing.”
Depends… the problem with Sequel production is the attachment to the old cast and the difficulty of producing a story that’s different from the original.
Right now Touta serves as nothing more than a tool to get Negi back because both Eva and Fate believe that only Negi can defeat the Mage of Beginnings. So effectively what it turns into is, massive fight… Touta seperates the two… Negi goes all out, Magia Erebea’s the mage and Negima 2.0 is finish and that really isn’t much of an ending… it’s too predictable.
Negi HAS to be dealt with for the story and the character arcs to get closure, though. You can call that ‘predictable’, but it’s a necessity the plot has set for itself and it just shouldn’t be skipped over.
Good point.
I think Kurobo turning into Ensis Exorcizans happend because Touta channelled his White of Mars through it. I mean this would also explain why Kurobo transformed into that huge rock-hammer he used to beat Genshin and Zankurou, only this time Touta channelled his Black of Venus.
But Ensis Exorcizans is an artifact. Even if this is a replica, I don’t like how it is introduced. Had Asuna given him the artifact, OK, maybe. It would then draw power from Negi-MotB, which would be an interesting thing to me.
Yeah, Touta pulling Asuna’s artifact out of nowhere except “lol training” is beyond lame. At least give him an obvious knockoff like Cutlass had, instead of the genuine article.
What’s more frustrating beyond that is that, in almost every given fight he’s gotten in, he gets a new power or transformation that’s relevant when its introduced, and then gets shoved off for something else. Just stick to something, dammit!
That’s the problem with writing stories on an arc by arc basis rather than having a plan for an entire story. Sometimes authors get away with it, as Fujishima-sensei did with Ah! My Goddess. But here, while I’m fine with a lot of the nostalgia stuff, some things cross the line.
That said, I ultimately suspect that some of this story stuff was originally planned for Negima!.
Like the other comments, I was wondering what year it was that Asuna woke up. Whether the two tie together remains to be seen, but the tower is broken in Touta’s time whereas it is fine in Asuna’s. Lapis also refers to multiple timelines and I got to thinking that while Negima/UQ focus on two main timelines, there are still others, such as the one where Chao succeeds in her plan. I was a little worried when I read the spoilers but I also wanted to see the context of it and I feel a little better, though I will have to read more. Touta did mention that it was the last time he saw Shinobu/Mizore so that’s important to keep in mind as well.
I didn’t mind Akamatsu cliffhangers when he was doing weekly but now that its monthly, it’s a little painful having to wait that long for answers.
Hahaha! There’s truth in that. But it is the curse of all monthly series. 😅
You know… I’m giving Negima’s Magic world arc a quick skim…
Negi vs Rakan just reminds me of how broken some of these characters are…
We have Rakan who is literally unbeatable, Alberio Imma, Yue and Nodoka and maybe Asuna in their clutches?
Honestly, no matter how immortal they are… these aren’t characters that are easily defeated… Fate was taken out of the Picture and even if they can hold Alberio Imma, Yue and Nodoka in place… Rakan is literally undefeatable, it’s going to be a fight where Touta either ties with him or a brokenly long … fight. Eva could try to freeze them but I doubt Negi-Ialda will allow it.
Then I’m reminded of the fact we have Rainy Zazieday and a few other characters… like Setsuna, Kaede, Ku Fei, Tatsumiya, Kotaro etc that could come back?
I feel like sensei is now trying to buy time to figure out a comprehensive battle, because no matter how you cut it… the sub bosses are too difficult to beat…
There’s truth in that.
… so what if they are ‘too difficult to beat’? Nobody is too difficult to beat (except Dana, who is even more broken a concept than he is, and Dana is in his side) for Touta as long as plot says he can, then he’ll just pull another transformation or powerup out of his butt and overpower whoever he’s fighting at the time, unless plot says he’s not to yet.
But by now I’d say he’s surpassed even Rakan’s bull. By a mile, even.
Nodoka and Yue aren’t really all that special for UQ Holder standards… in theory, if Karin weren’t such a jobber she SHOULD be able to take them out at once by herself just on the power set, experience and skills she has. Have Nodoka read her mind as much as she wants, that way she’ll just get an image of Karin’s fist caving her face in right before it happens. Theoretically they could throw everything and the kitchen sink at her and she should still power through it, it’s just she’d still find a scripted way to lose because God forbid she ever wins a battle despite having a power menagerie that should pretty much make her unbeatable.
Albireo is tricky, but seriously? By now, with the new members, UQ Holder has so much haxx even he should be down for the count, against the likes of Mr. I Cut Concepts working with the rest.
And that’s if Dana doesn’t just feel like joining in, as she’s pretty much an automatic ‘We win’ button for UQ Holder. The main reason why most conflicts aren’t solved in two minutes is because Dana doesn’t feel like joining in, except when she wants, and that makes it all feel hollow. When you have a character who can fix almost everything and the only reason why they don’t do is ‘they don’t want to get involved, except when they want’, that steals all the interest away since for all you know that ‘I want, now’ is reserved for when the author writes himself into a corner.
Except Dana won’t assist. She helps train but unlike Rakan, she has no obligation to interfere as she exist beyond the boundaries or parallel worlds and time itself. So for her… if they fail, no biggie… there is another world for her to enjoy because she exist beyond the boundary.
Rakan on the other hand, only interfered because Chisame had a point. Fate is a problem left behind by Ala Rubra and as a surviving member, he should help them clean up the mess.
Rakan did go down to Negi’s Raiten Taisho, Raiten Taisho II, his god slaying lightning spear, point blank thousand thunderbolt, a point blank raika houken and being hit by his very own chi power. He just got back up and smiled… Not to mention Rakan is near gag character status so they are literally unbeatable, chances are he will brush off Touta all out mode and just ETERNAL NEGI FEVER!!! him… at best it will end in a draw unless a technicality was involved and even then… the darn dude willed himself back into existence and dodges Eva’s eternal ice prison.
Nodoka and Yue aren’t much of a threat on their own, but bare in mind, Nodoka’s mind reading powers are so dangerous that Fate etc all tried to kill her (over 10 petrification darts on Nodaka)… in a sense he is like the old model of Kirie, a character with a dangerous ability that had to be neutralised. Though not much on her own, she is now a more experienced and with team work she can help her team counter UQ Holder. Even Asuna commented that Nodoka now, can keep up with high pace battles, meaning she now has the reflect to react and at the very least, the ability to fight with martial arts against a fake Eva (Ikku) going in for the kill
Yue on the other hand is a mage in her own right and somewhat of a indirect apprentice of Negi’s. Not as strong as him but none the less she is a strong mage in her own rights. Like right now the problem is that you have favouritism for both sides… you don’t want to disrespect the old cast by having them easily picked off and then you don’t want the new cast to be utterly useless. Not to mention they are now part of the Life Maker meaning they are going to be boosted to a degree or at the very least… respawnable.
Like the problem with UQ Holder is the fact that Negima’s cast is as likeable as UQ Holders cast and when you have fan favourite vs fan favourite it becomes favouritism to just have UQ Holder team curb stomp Ala Alba with no resistance… If it was so easy, they would have won it the first engagement… even when a planned counter, Negi just reverse countered them.
Even if you beat or hold off the sub bosses, you have an issue with Negi himself. Alberio Imma as a gravity mage on par with Eva is a bane to immortals as he can effective counter and kill them. Even with concept cutting, Rakan can just step in and duel Juuzou and even if Jinbei and Gengorou step in to assist with dealing with Rakan, they are going to have their hands full.
Karin vs Rakan ended with her only buying 30 something seconds, she went for Rakan instead of Yue or Nodoka because she needed to buy time. If Gengorou, Juuzou or Jinei fought him, it will either be a draw or a temporary hold, not to mention he can learn their techniques so Switcheroo and concept cutting is likely no biggie for him… Gengorou probs don’t have enough lives to last against him, even if they aren’t killed he will still knock them flat.
Alberio Imma has been stated to be on par with Evageline, Santa more or less held him back but he just brushed him off as he wasn’t serious. His black holes are a problem for the immortals so even Karin can’t deal with him.
Nodoka and Yue also have shared perception and even Kuromaru was only able to hold them temporarily.
Negi reverse countered Eva and Fate in 0.03 seconds despite being frozen and petrified. He bodied Raiten Taishou 2 Touta with with Raiten Taishou II. He also played with Touta long enough for Rakan, Alberio Imma, Nodoka and Yue to finish their fight to come and 5 v 1 him.
Not to mention Ialda also brough Nagi back and other minions too… a Magic Cancel Touta might be able to save Negi, but I doubt he is going to be strong enough to fully defeat Negi without some major form of injury.
It’s insulting to actually curb stomp the old cast… the UQ Holder members are strong, but that is thanks to their ability as immortals.
Oh, please. Dana has been all “I don’t interfere” and then she (sometimes) interferes anyway when the characters need a Deus Ex Machina (and when another Deus Ex Machina isn’t available) all the time.
The whole thing with Nodoka… well, that just brings another problem with the time gap. Nodoka was never an offensive powerhouse, when you bring her as a frontline fighter without bothering to explain and show how she changed from one thing to the other, then all you do with her as a frontline fighter falls apart. Same thing with Yue, to a lesser degree. Yue had some valkyrie training and a Pactio but that was it, even compared to Setsuna, never mind the Cosmo Entelecheia members, she still was weak.
Had they just put, I don’t know, Kaede and Ku Fei instead of them, I’d have less of an issue because, well, Kaede and Ku Fei were always physical members you could buy in the fore of an attack, and ‘they grew stronger while you weren’t looking’ would be less of a stretch. It’d be a logical continuation of what happened before, while Nodoka and even Yue were always the kind who would blow down as soon as Fate slapped their way.
BUT, Akamatsu operates on fanservice and shock value rather than narrative logic, and Nodoka and Yue are more of a reader hook than Kaede and Ku Fei, so they are here mixing it with superpowered immortals instead, even if they have far less of a logical role to be fighting UQ Holder.
Don’t get me started on the ‘Fate was a problem started by Ala Rubra’ as a defense of why Rakan could act here but the new gamebreaker can’t act here. Because then, technically, now Negi IS a problem left behind by Ala Alba and Class 3-A, and going by your logic then Mana, Zazie and Chachamaru should be throwing in instead of just twiddling their fingers contributing nothing behind the scenes. Fair is fair, what was logical then SHOULD be logical now. But, again, the issue remains; Akamatsu just wings it clumsily and he leaves plot, logistics and motif holes everywhere, and there’s no real way to excuse that.
On one hand, I like the idea that villains just say no. It’s so refreshing to see one after all the cookie cutter villains who just like to monologue needlessly. From an in world perspective, this is a good thing.
However from a story telling perspective, this is a pretty bad one. Is it a nice twist? Yes it is. It’s nice to see the heroes fail every now and then and we have to see them pick themselves up. Was this carried out properly? Not so much.
I suspect that it’s impossible to use Kirie’s power to time travel. It seems that the villains are smart enough. If we can’t kill her, we’ll just put her to sleep…forever. In Code Geass the movie, that’s how they beat the villain who has the exact same power has Kirie. Either that, or they mind control her.
I think next chapter there’s going to be a fight which shows the group getting defeated. I see Touta has a scar over his face that isn’t healing. Showcasing that the fight was rather intense and the enemy probably has countermeasures for whatever abilities they might have.
Oh…I let the word “poison” cloud my mind. But you are right. If they put her to sleep, no reset. Man, talk about me missing the bleeding obvious. 😅 But someone would have needed to have grabbed her since the station blew up, presumably killing her.
As to a fight, I suppose they could have had one. Akamatsu-sensei did cut the flashback off at the point of the explosion. So yeah, next chapter could continue the flashback.
For the 43 years why it was not activated, maybe tota could dealt a huge damage in her
That’s a good question.