Here is some SPOILER info for the upcoming UQ Holder Chapter 138, courtesy of 2CAT.ย (My review of UQ Holder Chapter 138 should come out as soon as they appear on Crunchyroll, depending on when Crunchyroll publishes the chapter.)
UQ HOLDER Chapter 138 SPOILERS
The UQ Holder Chapter 138 goodness begins with the images shared thus far.
As expected, it does appear that Chisame turned him down, then when the rest of the class appeared, Asuna bailed him out of the situation to do her oneesan thing. I’ll talk more about this when I have the whole chapter in context, but I do think that initially, Akamatsu-sensei was setting up the Asuna x Negi pairing, then when we got to the Magic World, he shifted it to Negi x Chisame.
Anyway, more updates as warranted.
Update #1: Here are a few more images. First up, Judge Asuna comes in to lay down the law.
There’s some heartbreaking stuff with Yue and Nodoka in the chapter. And I strongly suspect that this event of Chisame turning Negi down impacted him greatly. But we’ll see. Here’s the surprise stuff.
I think this is the first chapter without ANY UQ Holder folks showing up in any form. Akamatsu-sensei really is looking to resolve the biggest plot thread from Negima (which in Negima was given the, “good guys won, but that’s all the details you get” treatment). I’d love it if my theory about Negi not actually killing his father comes true.
You are truly a bitch, Chisame. I hope the 3-A girls gave her a what for afterwards. I mean we all knew this was going to happen anyway but jeez. Then again it still begs the question of what Negi saw in her in the first place… But I think post-MW arc flanderization really kicked in for most of the girls and derailed their characters. Chisame was always a stable rock during the MW arc and she was never too harsh with Negi, verbally or physically. Then afterwards she became Naru-levels of violent and unaccepting. I guess from an author standpoint this is the best conclusion to the Negi’s feelings arc because it doesn’t have him end with anyone either way, as we all knew. I guess it’s nice that even though it took about 6 years, we finally got to see the part we were all waiting to see and never did.
Still, you could always circle back to the Library Threesome, Negi. I don’t think there’s a fan on the planet that would blame you for doing so. Or maybe he dabbled in the Konoka/Setsuna relationship and gave them kids… Even though the sequel said that’s impossible.
It still makes me wonder though… We all know Nodoka and Yue are incredibly loyal… But why are they still at his side even 80 years after the fact? I hope this chapter goes into that to some degree. It’s still weird how Touta fails to recognize them yet he recognizes almost every other 3-A member he’s met, or their ancestors in the Konoe case.
I didn’t mind Chisame as a character but Akamatsu has a terrible track record with MCs pursuing violent, moody girls. Naru, Chisame, and now Kirie. All cut from the same cloth. At least in Naru’s case you could make the argument that she was very physically attractive. You could sorta apply that argument to Chisame as well. Kirie… I don’t know.
Anyway, the chapter comes out in a few days and I eagerly await what else we get to see.
Good point there. I guess he has a thing for them. I was OK with it for Naru, but even then, it got a bit much at times.
Even though I wasn’t fully on board with it, Touta/Eva made sense on some levels. Touta/Kirie will likely never sit right with me. As for Chisame… If this came out before the post-MW arc I’d honestly be okay with it because their relationship did grow a lot during that time. After that arc though… Ugh, none of the girls really were all that great but Chisame took her violence to another level.
Anyway, it is what it is. An easy solution that doesn’t complicate the story. Based on Negima’s ending this makes the most sense. Chisame would’ve likely been the only girl to flat out reject him and her ending being the only one without any happiness reinforces that. I know it won’t happen but if he re-thought the Yue/Nodoka duo I’d like it a lot more. I won’t hold my breath and the sooner we move on from this plotline the better.
I’d rather gave Touta x Kirie than Touta x Eva. Actually, I want a Touta harem, sans Eva. Leave Eva for Negi.
Well Kuromaru has more or less retired as a love interest and Karin seems dead set on setting those two up. I would like to see the others as well because it would reduce Kirie’s screentime but I think they’re basically a set couple now. Still would like to know where Chao fits into this equation.
Well, only ’cause Akamatsu-sensei is forcing Kirie to the forefront. But the fact that Kuroumaru apparently wore panties for Chamo to steal says Kuroumaru holds onto hope. ๐
Karin being dead set on setting Touta up with Kirie is to deny her own feelings, IMO. ๐
I agree on both counts. I like Kuromaru as a pairing a lot more than Kirie…
I will never feel hope or happiness again.
Because of what Chisame did?
All these flashbacks make me forget UQ Holder exists. I almost feel a twinge of happiness from seeing characters I can give a fig about. Don’t let it end.
Will wait on the text, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Though to be honest, its probably for the best. A teenage girl saying yes to a ten year olds advances would’ve been weird. Not as weird as, oh, I dunno, minors pissing all over themselves. I still can’t believed that was a thing.
It’s a flashback to a past from long ago in alternate timeline. Akamatsu could have just have had a scene of Negi ending up with someone, anyone really, as long as it’s someone we know, at some later point in his life, when he was legal and age gaps weren’t so much of a problem, but apparently sinking ships and breaking hearts is more important than actually supplying closure.
I mean, if he wants to explore grief, sorrow and heartbreak for Negi, okay but that’s what the Negi of the UQ Timeline already is for. We don’t really need that emo crap all over every version of Negi and Ala Alba we are shown. Let those people catch a break already. They deserve it.
At this point I only feel Darkness Induced Audience Apathy, because despite all the forced gags and badly done ‘light hearted’ moments that don’t work like they used to it looks like everything is ultimately fated to fail anyway. Negi won’t ever end up with anyone, everyone will end up rejected and their love unrequited, the Mars versus Earth will always happen killing millions. And if that’s the way, why to care about what’ll happen to either generation anyway? It’s all doomed one way or another.
I’ve been liking it as well, since Negima’s ending sent me through the windshield despite my wearing a seat belt. ^_^;
Well, he should be older than 10 by this point. He should be at least 11, but the point still stands. That said, I do recall being 11. Boys started “going out” with girls then. Heck, some of the popular boys reportedly already had sex by then, which is possible considering there was a tradition of certain high school girls “educating” boys back in those days.
The problem is we can’t stack Negi to normal standards of not being able to go out with girls yet while at the same time the story holds him to be able of saving the world, leading complex plans of planetary terraforming and space development, and outfighting 90% of all fighters on either world before he’s even twelve.
Why is it okay for Negi to sacrifice his humanity, a decision no child should ever make, to become an immortal fighting machine doomed to unlive any normal human around him, but it’s not okay for him to be old enough as to carry a relationship? Because one thing is a shounen power fantasy trip and the other isn’t? The story just isn’t consistent on whether we should think of Negi as a child or not: he is when it suits Akamatsu, he isn’t when it fits Akamatsu better the other way.
The story should be consistent: either Negi is a miniature adult who can take control of his own life (and pretty much everybody else’s, through kickstarting world changing developments WITHOUT consulting the majority of Earth or Mars first), which pretty much invalidates his being a child in the first place, or he’s just a kid who still needs maturing a lot. But you shouldn’t let a kid who still needs maturing a lot in the position Negi has been allowed into because adults around him were too useless to save the world without a child doing it for them.
If you want the blunt answer, ‘Because he’s 10’. Or 11.
Even the Japanese would find the idea of a kid barely in his double digits having a proper relationship with someone in their mid-teens highly questionable.
Oh, but it’s okay placing the weight of the world’s future on that very same child’s shoulders after submitting him to brutal, life threatening training and battles, effectively making him lose his humanity, instead? In what kind of world that’s any less morally reprehensible than a young person dating around? Why the double standard?
Even if you argue Negi chose his training and battling, and setting aside the fact a child shouldn’t be allowed to take such decisions (since I get otherwise there’d be no story), Negi chose to pursue a relationship with Chisame, too.
Carnal matters have always been their own matter of concern on a moral level, as I see it. Almost everything you mentioned doesn’t matter to them because it’s just shounen fare, or takes on it. The idea of a 10/11-year old having a serious relationship with someone several years his junior is, frankly, rather off-putting.
Is it not the same to you?
You either go realistic all the way or don’t go realistic at all, but you can’t take a middle ground where only the things you are comfortable with should be the ones that get a pass. ‘Standard shounen fare’ like submitting a child to the Training from Hell trope would be just child abuse in real life, it’s just the genre idealizes it and glosses over it.
In the meanwhile, an early romance is… depending on how it’s taken, it may be actually far more harmless than repeteadly hitting a kid with deadly force. I mean, in this case, it’s Negi and Chisame. It’s not like they’d be having early sex and premature pregnancy before any long, that’s not the kind of people they are. Even with the bolder members of 3-A, I still would trust Haruna, were she be chosen, to NOT rape Negi before he’s fourteen.
Either way, by now Negi is as believable as a child figure as my ingrown toenail. He’s the genius teacher who died and came back, becoming immortal, saving the world, becoming more powerful than everyone without ‘Nagi’, ‘Dana’ or ‘Evangeline’ in their name, and he’s probably more mature than the whole lot of us put together. By this point he’s more of an emotional miniature adult than a child, even if that doesn’t excuse the abuse 3-A often heap on him (abusing anyone is wrong, period).
I’ve been corrupted by too much manga and anime. ^_^; That said, I had theorized that the girls were attracted to Negi because he was actually Nagi in disguise (which explained Negi’s unnatural maturity for his age). But since that isn’t the case, I figure it is Negi’s massive magical power (and his unnatural maturity) that they are attracted to.
I am half right.. I knew Chisame was going to be Negi’s woman, but she turned him down. Well she’s dead now lol, she doesn’t need to worry about relationships in an afterlife.
Haha! True.
No need to worry about relationships in an afterlife? Sayoko sure should have heed to that wisdom and it’d have saved everyone a whole world of ache.
Welp, guess we will never know who’s name was on the Dreaded Family Tree Chao has…
I only will look at it this way, he confesses, she freakes out and tells him something about being to young and a brat going a little troo far. I can see she started to freak out when Negi cried so she worded it wrong because of embarrassment.
Asuna would more than likely explain the whole thing and that negi shouldn’t give up or whatever, since she knows Negi likes Chisame anyway.
But that damn family Tree Chao has that obliterated Class-3A in seconds should still be existing anyway. Kinda. Maybe?
I mean, in every timeline so far Negi ended up being hailed as a hero in some way so yeah.
But Dana’s mention of Chao means Ken might be bringing her back to explain things as well.
The family tree was revealed to be blank, so chances are it means squat.
I’m more and more convinced that Negi is Chao’s ancestor only by technicality, and she’s closer to Touta as a attempt at replicating him.
I suspect Akamatsu’s plans for the family tree when he was writing the Mahorafest arc are very different from his plans when he was writing Negima’s last few chapters. Remember, by that point the ending had been changed (the original ending was supposed to stray closer to the movie’s).
The original end for Negima had no Space Elevator or terraforming project, so it seems a lot of Negi’s role as a savior and guide for mankind wouldn’t have been there (which I’d have welcomed, as I feel that made him too unrelatable and unbelievable). In the original end Negi kept on being 3-A’s teacher (especially since Fate was dead– again an improvement in my opinion since Fate has never done anything remarkable or not cringe inducing since the Mundus Magicus arc) and he didn’t have to stick working on any time consuming secret project. He also wasn’t going to sacrifice Asuna (a third improvement!)
What I’m getting to is, Negi’s future semed to be very different back then. Even the Magia Erebea scenes shown in the movie are so fleeting and gratuitous I can’t help feeling they were shoehorned in after the fact to better mesh with the published Mundus Magicus arc. Under that light, I’m of the opinion Chao was originally intended to be Negi’s actual blood and flesh descendant and the blank tree was just some crap that was retconned in later.
There’s no doubt Akamatsu’s plans change and shift as the series goes on (which is blatantly obvious with UQ Holder), but given info we’re supposed to work with now, that’s my gut instinct. My being skeptical of Chao actually being directly related to Negi even during the Mahorafest arc doesn’t really help with that though.
But yeah, its pretty obvious at this point that what was intended way back when and what we actually got was contorted to hell and back during the MM arc, where Akamatsu then decided to shunt the whole thing to hell and is now trying to Frankenstein all the pieces back together through Holder like the shambling horror it is. How well its working (IMO, not well at all) is up in the air, and I’m not convinced that anything that’s going to happen is going to be remotely satisfying in anyway, shape, or form. I wouldn’t put it passed him to jettison the entire cast into the void and leave everything a mess similar to what happened with Negima.
But since wer are in the timline that Asuna overslept and they are watrching the other, it’s safe to say Chao is still related to Negi.
And the namedrop i think might mean she’s returning at some point since aside from time travel she can go to different timelines also.
Are we? Asuna is up and going right now, at least with Negi. To be honest, I think we are in a completely new timeline. The advantages to Akamatsu-sensei is that he can then make any changes he wants to the narrative, including the use of Touta.
The blank family tree event occurs before Asuna was sealed, so there’s no divergence on that happening here.
I feel bad for Sayo.. Kazumi dies.. So Kazumi can’t be a ghost, because ghost can’t ascend since they carry and earthly burden in their life. Sayo might be alone and friendless and only has Kazumi’s grave to keep her company.
Sayo is still at the school. Touta met with Sayo, Chachamaru, Zazie, and Mana in chapter 112.
I’ve got an image of her here.
https://anime.astronerdboy.com/2016/02/uq-holder-chapter-112-manga-review.html
From time to time I have wondered why he did this radical shift across the board.
Yeah, Sensei did a very radical shift all across the board in the manga. But that’s why he is so careful to do as little character exploration as possible, especially when it comes to a character’s past. That way he can change things as needed without having to deal with continuity.
I could buy that, to be honest.
I do figure we’ll see her at some point.
Okay, I saw the full raws, they can be found at the UQ Reddit.
SPOILERS:
After this anyone would have to wonder why Negi wouldn’t end up with Asuna.
Time after time, she’s the one who ends picking him up after everybody else fails him, backstabs him or makes him feel awful, she’s patient with him, she doesn’t mind he was willing to sacrifice her without consulting her opinion first. She’s loyal to a fault, she always keeps bailing him out, she’s gorgeous, she may have the lifespan to keep up with an immortal, she’s his best partner at the battlefield with the most consistently useful skills, she has a vibrant actual personality with flaws but mostly virtues, making her well rounded as a person.
The only downsides to her as a romantic interest are she can be hot tempered and impulsive (but still treats him far better than most of the rest of 3-A) and she’s related to him, but so distant and vaguely it shouldn’t matter at all. What else can he ask for?
That being said, and while I don’t begrudge Asuna for any of this, she’s been pretty much the only consistently awesome character through Akamatsu’s last few years of creative output, I have to wonder why the author feels the need to paint the rest of the girls badly to make her look better. Asuna doesn’t need it. Between this, the Sports Festival, the extra chapter from a few months back, and even the recent Mage of the Beginning incident to some degree, it seems Asuna has to keep doing it all for Negi, while the rest of 3-A proves being completely useless or even harmful.
This shouldn’t have been solved by Asuna once again taking away with Negi. In a way she’s enabling the other girls’ immaturity and Negi’s own inability to stand up to them by himself through acting like this over and over (Sports Festival, Extra Chapter, this). The key conflict here was between Negi and Chisame, and ultimately it should have been settled for good, one way or another, between Negi and Chisame.
The rest of Ala Alba needs to grow up and step up to the plate as well. Even in the UQ timeline all Nodoka and Yue are really doing is enabling the Mage of the Beginning, the entity who took over the real Negi’s personality, and her plans, making that ‘loyalty’ more harmful than good for Negi. Chachamaru, who should be both nice and protective, and both perceptive and skilled, just keeps standing back away, sitting things out and doing jack and squat every time Negi is harassed, and then when UQ Holder are fighting him, making you wonder what is the point of keeping her anymore anyway (not to mention, again, for some reason she has lost all connections to Evangeline whatsoever).
I think the problem is more Akamatsu more or less reducing 3-A to a hive mind incapable of anything then harem hijinxs then characters with any sense of…sense, to them. Kind of like the problems with Negi and Setsuna, he doesn’t let the entire group grow passed a certain point where them being overly hyperactive is the only thing that can happen when they’re all together.
The usual suspects (Asuna, the library gain sans Haruna, KonoSetsu) on the other hand were usually set apart from the rest of them and seemed to be more individualized in response to everyone elses craziness, so I see this as more of the same. Not that its a good thing, but its been a precedent since the first chapters.
Not that I know what’s going on yet. Either they heard everything and unlike the Sports Festival are acting out of good intent, or are being normal and…well, I have no idea what they’d be on about then. We’ll see.
I totally understand your point. In my mind, I’ve always excused it ’cause these are just idiot teen girls. Considering how dumb I find real life college girls in their late teens/early twenties to be, in my mind it seems natural that girls getting ready for their first year of high school would be even worse. And within the Akamatsu-verse, the girls have always been shown to have a hive mentality for the most part. But I still see your point. ๐
Had Negima continued and the girls entered high school and such, it would have been nice to see them mature. However, given the apparent popularity of the harem hijinks, I kinda doubt anything would have changed.
The “these are just idiot girls” excuse flies for people like the cheerleaders and the twins who sat the Mundus Magicus arc out. But people like Haruna and Yuuna have witnessed firsthand the incredible stress and hardships Negi has undergone, they have been through times far more difficult and dangerous than those had by any average modern schoolgirls, Yuuna even learned of her dear mother’s death because of her proximity to that world.
There’s no real excuse for those characters to remain static other than ‘well, they’re just obtuse and kind of awful people who haven’t changed an iota’ and if that’s right, what’s the point of rooting for a character like that? Why should we buy they get better from then on? They’ve had the fodder for what it should be serious Character Development by now, if they haven’t developed as a result that means Akamatsu has failed as a storyteller. Their circumstances aren’t those of normal girls. ergo they shouldn’t act like normal girls anymore.
Even so, ‘being stupid average youngsters’ doesn’t excuse doing things like hunting Negi down and mindraping him like what happened in the Sports Festival. That’s not something a simple stupid youngster does, that’s what a sociopathic ungrateful jerk does.
Well, and the fact that they are kids. As a Doctor Who fan, I often hear the cliched stuff about kids “hiding behind the sofa” and being afraid. Yet despite this, they continue to watch the show week after week. Why?
Another analogy is one of health. I know someone (an adult male) who was sent to the hospital ER because of diabetes. That scare caused him to clean up his act for a time, lose weight, exercise, etc. However, a year later, the fear of death was past and he started gaining weight again and quit working out. He ended up in the hospital again, but despite this, he hasn’t lost any more weight or changed his eating habits. ๐
Immature kids being immature despite all of the things they’ve seen doesn’t feel unrealistic to me. Negi is the “weird one” in that he is way more mature than his 11 years of age (which is partially why I believed he was actually Nagi in disguise). Ayaka should be more mature acting based on her upbringing as an ojousama, but her obsession with Negi overrides that. Ku Fei should be more mature in my mind. The others though make sense, including Paru, who loves causing problems.
But they’ve been doing this since the first chapter of the manga. So it is still in character for them. They didn’t act this way during the terrors of the events of the Magic World arc (those who went there), but once those terrors were in the past and pushed aside, it doesn’t surprise me that Paru and others would return to being out of control regarding Negi.
But I understand your issues with this though.
Read the chapter, on Amazon kindle, it’s a good one. Decent per a page panel with meaningful dialogue.
So weird that they put it out on Amazon before it is released in Japan.
Not, if it’s intended to put money in Akamatsu-Sensei bank account
Which is what Cruchyroll does. ๐
No near as much as ‘direct item sales’ would. That 6 dollars has to be divided by 20+ titles, and there’s little clarity as to how per a view pays or even if it’s just a flat fee. Or even if it’s YouTube esq. Also, consider that if it is per a view, then it wouldn’t be any where near the big shounen titles or MangaStream or a decent patreon.
Also for sole title viewers such as yourself, UK works out cheaper because UQ holder is only one chapter a month; thus is lesser that the manga subscription.
In addition, the per-acquiring of the individual chapters, means that a volume is no longer a mandated purchase, in actuality it’s cheaper since UQ holder went monthly, with 4 chapters a volume vs 11. Ergo, 4x 1.00 vs X 11. Although, it should be noted that Amazon retroactively divided the cost of a volume adjusted into individual chapter cost, but chapters when UQ holder went monthly are not upscale to the price per a volume, at least in the UK.
That could once the volumes are out.
Also, the chapters are of a better image quality than on crunchyroll, (when downloaded) I assume servers and compression, which crunchyroll had an outrage about its video encoding that relate/correlates to.
I believe Crunchyroll pays a licensing fee up front, but I’m not sure how it continues to work on a chapter by chapter basis after that.
It is a moot point though. I don’t have a reader and reading manga on my phone isn’t happening.
Seems we are now beginning to be shown the connection beginning with the post Negima! story. Officially now considered another timeline which is the end of Negima, which we already have been briefly shown, is Nagi and Negi are freed (happy ending) from the MotB. This video may give a idea how Negi freed Nagi, which can give ideas on how to free Negi-MotB in the UQH timeline, and to find out why Tota was created somewhere mixed into this. Wondering also if this is the timeline there are also two Evas, based on the end of Negima. If so then one can pursue Negi, and the other Tota.
What surprised me was Chamo actually is the one to get everyone, sans any Negima! characters including Eva together. Speaking of Chamo, I was delighted to see him. He’s still out of character for he was a chain smoker. I hope Dana infuses magic into Chachazero so she can be back to life so she can be herself and not how she is now. Then again she can be a scene stealer away from Tota. It would be fun to see Zero come back to herself and give Dana a piece of her mind after being handled so badly by her.
If Cutlass is around, she is getting alot of historical intell on her boss. I think in the end, she will side with UQH, and why she may be in the original group pic.
We are also seeing how Nodoka and Yue become involved. Devotion and love to Negi, and to follow him unconditionally. Japanese value pushed maybe? They would be valuable against the MotB. But how they join Tota is unknown.
The only one in the most current promo pic and story not told is Makie. Chisame wasn’t in the promo pic, so at some point she isn’t a major character. It would be far fetching if Kirie is somehow related to Chisame…heh both wear glasses. But there are still two more characters drawn in the original promo that have yet to make their appearence.
I felt sorry for Mizore, but in that way Dana is very much someone who would discipline Mizore. Dana claims to have used the back of a sword? Looked like a karate hand sweep/chop and I was looking for the back of a sword… didn’t see a sword.
Yes, but smoking = evil, so… ๐
I’d love for Chachazero to be restored to form, but I suspect the real reason she was “shelved” is because she’s so awesome and a scene stealer.
I’d sorta forgotten about her, but I like your thought process here.
Yep.
There was no sword. It is an ongoing joke in manga/anime where someone viciously attacks another, usually with a sword, but the attacker assures the others that they only used the back of their sword. I don’t know where this joke originates from though.
It’s not a joke, just a common metaphor for holding back. It wasn’t supposed to be funny.
Most anime and manga use it as a joke. And even in UQH, it was used as a joke. Yes, it is a metaphor for using restraint and not doing serious damage, but that doesn’t negate the fact that it is always used in a joking fashion in the various manga titles I’ve read or anime titles I’ve seen.
It being used to transition from a joke to more serious matters again (as the characters’ reactions were the ACTUAL joke, not the metaphor) doesn’t mean it was used in a joking manner or as a joke.
I’ve also never seen it used as a joke in any of the manga or anime I read, personally.
Woah.. It’s been a long time.. I dropped UQ holder long ago but when i heard Negi’s love was finally being revealed in this chapter i was so happy, and quess what! “REJECTED!!!” What’s wrong with you Akamatsu! Aren’t you the creator of Love Hina?! You could’ve done it better than this!!! AND CHISAME IS MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER TOO! This is just too sad, so unfair ๐
But it is not unexpected. ๐
Yeah, by now it’s hardly unexpected to have Akamatsu just ruining relationships and character arcs instead of giving them any proper closure.
Yuuna offering a heartbroken 10 or 11 year old to fondle her with a grin was just repulsive, by the way. Does Akamatsu just want us to hate these characters now?
I don’t think that’s his intention. The girls in the class all fit various sexual attraction tropes. I think he felt adding a sscene having the cheerleaders and Yuuna seducing Negi was not only sexy, but funny. But I agree with you — it wasn’t sexy nor funny to me and was totally inappropriate. If anything, it just showed how immature they all were.
The Chapter is out now.
Heh! It makes me embarrassed that I was so irritated with Crunchyroll for being 2 days late, then I couldn’t even get a review out when I wanted. Still, had they gotten it out on the seventh or the eighth, I probably would have had the chapter review up immediately.