(L) UQ Holder! Anticipation

[abhjetgon]

Looking at the poster I feel like being transported to last decade where every average J.C. staff series looked like this, lol.

[Alf]

Well, it's Hayate no Gotoku 2nd season style, same character designer, so I would say it's okay. I'm not sure about the ability of this director on longer series, but since Akamatsu is participating series composition himself it may not be a problem. Let's see could Akamatsu escape the anime adaptation curse this time

[MisaoFan]

The artstyle is a lot similar to the one Xebec did in the past albeit accentuated with the color palette used in the manga. There's one slight difference in new characters visually as it is especially obvious for little not!Chisame on the bottom right of the key artwork. I'm pretty disappointed that King Records won't produce this anime after what happened to the movie which I heard it was a disaster and seeing Egg Firm in the credit strongly suggests that Warner Bros will most likely produce this anime considering their relation with J.C Staff lately (Food Wars, Prison School, Heavy Object, Schoolgirl Strikers to name a few).

[Alf]

From Akamatsu's tweet: OAD will be produced by same staff with same budget (as single episode), coming with manga vol. 14 limited version. Dana will not show up in TV series but will be in the OAD.

Which means OAD is likely Kitty's story at Dana's home....

[TnAdct1]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

SHAFT was supposed to have adapted the worse adaptation of Negima based on previous recommendations I received long ago.

At least SHAFT kept the basic spirit of Negima that got me into the anime, whereas Xebec assumed it was another harem show and butchered the one arc where things really picked up.

[MisaoFan]

Originally Posted by TnAdct1

At least SHAFT kept the basic spirit of Negima that got me into the anime, whereas Xebec assumed it was another harem show and butchered the one arc where things really picked up.

Funny how the writer of that adaptation I highlighted boldly is none other than...Ichiro Okouchi.
He does take some liberties in adaptations after all.

[Kuroageha]

Good thing Shaft won't rape the manga.

[RDNexus]

Still, we're not safe from the Anime ending up shafted...

[Team Rocket Elite]

The OVA Negima episodes Shaft did were well done and largely stuck to the source material. The problem is those episodes are just some episodes from the middle of an arc so you can't really watch them unless you already read the manga.

I'm not entirely sure why JC Staff decides on those characters to promote UQ Holder but I remain optimistic. I'll definitely follow the anime while it airs.

[TnAdct1]

Originally Posted by MisaoFan

Funny how the writer of that adaptation I highlighted boldly is none other than...Ichiro Okouchi.
He does take some liberties in adaptations after all.

It's one thing to take liberties to a story, and honestly, it's not all bad, as Xebec's take on Sayo's story is the best version overall, and I'm perfectly fine with the twins Pactio'ing with Negi before the mass Pactio in the SHAFT version. The problem here is that someone at Xebec didn't realize that Negima became more shonen fantasy around volume 4 and, rather than doing a proper adaptation of the Kyoto arc, the following was done:

-The subplot that's harem related (Nodoka's love confession) is not only moved outside of the arc, but Xebec also decided to have the "Kiss Negi" contest, which is crucial to the arc, take place BEFORE the confession, thus turning a an event that is meant to be the major turning point of the manga into 100% harem fluff.

-The arc itself is cut down to two episodes, with almost all the best part of the arc being cut from the anime version (which was the last straw for me when it came to the Xebec anime, as I actually started to read the manga after the "Kiss Negi" fiasco and was pissed when Xebec cut all the parts of volume 5 that doesn't involve the "Kiss Negi" contest).

-The final arc not only felt like Xebec burning all bridges (especially with a mass Pactio that upset those who felt that certain students should have received proper Pactios earlier in the series), but also had some elements that kinda insult some manga readers.

Originally Posted by Kuroageha

Good thing Shaft won't rape the manga.

SHAFT didn't rape the manga (that's what Xebec did). Their TV anime of Negima was basically its own original story that featured elements from the manga, with their version having a better idea of some of the more important elements when compared to the Xebec version.

Originally Posted by xrick

Still, we're not safe from the Anime ending up shafted...

That really depends on if JC Staff has any additional productions going on the same time as UQ Holder (especially if one of said productions involves Ume Aoki, my scapegoat in terms of the poor quality of some of the SHAFT versions of Negima).

[MrTerrorist]

Yes! It's going to be an anime series done by JC Staff.

[dmaxzero]

Can that poster be any more generic?

[MisaoFan]

Originally Posted by dmaxzero

Can that poster be any more generic?

It does follow Ken Akamatsu's artstyle very closely with a color design reminiscient of mid-2000s era, are you expecting something more?

[dmaxzero]

Originally Posted by MisaoFan

It does follow Ken Akamatsu's artstyle very closely with a color design reminiscient of mid-2000s era, are you expecting something more?

Yes.

Not being generic.

[TnAdct1]

Originally Posted by dmaxzero

Yes.

Not being generic.

...and more in style with the SHAFT version than the Xebec version.

[Stark700]

Cast announced

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...-satou/.117117

[LAboy 456]

Spoiler for spoiler:

I wonder if some of the prominent secondary characters of the manga like Ikkuu and Santa will appear in this adaptation - given the fact that some of the returning cast doesn't appear until later in the manga. And one of them hasn't yet appeared in manga (apart from a flashback)...

[Stark700]

Preview:

[MrTerrorist]

The characters look great.

[NapoleonDeCheese]

Plus:

The character designs and animation are okay. Not mindblowing, but... okay. The real test of fire will be seeing actual action scenes animated instaed of quiet moments with no flash.

The Negima cast at least aren't kidnapping the promo away from the UQ Holder cast.

Minus:

No voices, no way to judge how the seiyuu will fit the characters yet.

The music... utterly failed to impress me, at least this snippet was very bland.

The continued lack of any male characters original to UQ but Touta and the tight promotional focus on the four main girls (Kuro included) keep selling this as The Touta and His Harem Show rather than an action series, which is... troubling. It's like the lesson of Negima's shows failing because there was too much generic harem and not enough action was not learned at all. Hoping the actual series isn't like that again.

If you're doing a fanservice heavy series, maybe you shouldn't go for the half-baked 'the girls are naked all the time but we only see them from the shoulders up or covered in steam or sitting into obscuring water' routine. I mean, either get off the pot or crap. You should try focusing on the action and adventure instead of the fanservice gags if you're doing a story about powerful immortals, but if you're going the fanservice route at least commit yourself all the way out. Something like To Love Ru may be kind of contemptible in a lot of things, but it's at least honest and open in its intentions.