(L) UQ Holder (Ken Akamatsu's new series)

[Endscape]

Most of the Numbers either had personal reasons to want to deal with Ialda and/or Baal, or they had personal reasons to follow the ones who did. The only exception was Ikkuu.

[Dargor]

To me Eva's biggest sin here is that she's dull, which is honestly the worst thing you can be in a series like this.

Come to think of it, all the major characters in Holder I find to be kind of neutral all around. Like, Karin had personality to her when she first got introduced, but her development kind of axed any interest I had in the character once she stopped trying to pass off Touta for someone else that's not discount Eva.

Pistols. In the field of honor. At dawn.

I'll be honest, after thinking on it I'm not actually sure why I don't jive with her. Weird. I still like her more then most of Holders cast.

In Negima Fate had an actual emotional link to his girls so it wasn't the same thing, and even so he always was shown as having issues being human, yet also overcoming them in his own way.

The character that ran around picking up war orphans as opposed to murdering them with glee like his psychotic predecessor despite his devotion to his master, to pumping out child soldiers BECAUSE of his devotion to Negi will always be one of the most jarring things this series has done.

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by Dargor

The character that ran around picking up war orphans as opposed to murdering them with glee like his psychotic predecessor despite his devotion to his master, to pumping out child soldiers BECAUSE of his devotion to Negi will always be one of the most jarring things this series has done.

I mean, he ended up with child soldiers both times though, he just skipped steps the second time.

[Dargor]

I feel like there's a small difference between educating the majority of said orphans and keeping the most devoted around because they won't leave your side otherwise, and selling off your poorly designed Negi/Asuna clones to actively blow themselves up in other peoples wars.

[NapoleonDeCheese]

All of the 'reasons' of the Numbers for going against Ialda and Baal felt undercooked because of the terrible excuses for character exposition and development they had, and it doesn't help either that Baal is an awful character on his own, so playing off him won't do any other character any favors.

Originally Posted by Dargor

To me Eva's biggest sin here is that she's dull, which is honestly the worst thing you can be in a series like this.

As the rough sketches for the UQ Holder prototype (which can be found in Ala Alba Weebly) show, Akamatsu originally didn't even want to keep Eva around. He was just going to kill her off in the first chapter. No wonder he wouldn't put much effort in her personality (or any other Negima character's, actually) nowadays.

I don't know what caused him to hate the Negima cast so much, but Jesus, he wanted to have every last one of them dead and done for without concluding their stories and now it feels like he's going through the motions of it badly and out of obligation.

[TnAdct1]

Originally Posted by NapoleonDeCheese

My point? Akamatsu, I think, has trascended beyond not caring about any single character. He doesn't care about any of them or giving them closure.

I think the big problem with Negima was that Ken Akamatsu bit off more he can chew in terms of the story. For the first 36 volumes, he clearly had an idea of where the story was going. Unfortunately, he also incorporated way too many elements that couldn't be resolved by the end of the Magic World arc. As such, it does feel that between that and the idea of wanting to get the story done before a possible law that granted ownership of Negima to the publisher was passed, the quality of the writing definitely took a nose dive in the final two volumes (don't get me started on the Sports Festival arc).

Originally Posted by NapoleonDeCheese

I don't know what caused him to hate the Negima cast so much, but Jesus, he wanted to have every last one of them dead and done for without concluding their stories and now it feels like he's going through the motions of it badly and out of obligation.

It really does feel like Ken wanted UQ Holder to be its own story set in the Negima universe, only for possible executive meddling and the need to attract readers resulting in the unnecessary incorporation of the Negima cast.

Quite frankly, there's a good reason why I don't consider anything after Volume 36 of Negima (including UQ Holder) to be canon.

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by TnAdct1

It really does feel like Ken wanted UQ Holder to be its own story set in the Negima universe, only for possible executive meddling and the need to attract readers resulting in the unnecessary incorporation of the Negima cast.

I think the same myself. I knew some element of Negima would be explored here because Touta was billed as Negi's grandson, but I think Akamatsu wanted to explore them with newer characters.

[NapoleonDeCheese]

The incorporation of Negima into UQ Holder was something that neither series needed.
What Negima needed desperately was a proper continuation to wrap up, and what UQ Holder needed desperately was being its own story.
There needed to be two different series, but Akamatsu made the key mistake of trying to leave Negima unfinished, then sew it and UQ Holder together into a hideous Frankenstein's Monster.

[Diluc]

Originally Posted by NapoleonDeCheese

The incorporation of Negima into UQ Holder was something that neither series needed.
What Negima needed desperately was a proper continuation to wrap up, and what UQ Holder needed desperately was being its own story.
There needed to be two different series, but Akamatsu made the key mistake of trying to leave Negima unfinished, then sew it and UQ Holder together into a hideous Frankenstein's Monster.

Quoted because this is the truth.

[Hata]

We now know what Ken will do once UQ ended in two months

https://twitter.com/KenAkamatsu/stat...57701758922757

Google

“As mentioned in some reports, we had an interview at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters.

I am determined to run for the Upper House election next summer in order to protect my freedom of expression.

We are currently in the process of selection, and if there is a formal announcement from the party, I would like to reiterate my intentions.”

IMO

It is bad the involment with politic mess up UQ, if that is true.
Is is good he will fight for manga free expression.
It is bad there won’t be a new title from him anytime soon if he won.

[NapoleonDeCheese]

... politics...

... politics, ugh...

(Starts grinding teeth).

I'll be frank, I have a default low opinion of anyone dabbing into politics. By its mere nature, it's a morally compromised battlefield and one prone to corrupt people even from the best starting intentions. If I had a dime for every politic I've seen turned away from its originally stated intents and betraying them, I'd be a millionaire now.

All I can say is that if he delivers on politics as he's delivered on manga over the last few years, God protect Japan.

[Shippuu]

Considering everything he has been involved in since the end of Love Hina has been half-assed or an outright failure I'm not exactly optimistic about his chances. And despite it being a good cause I have too much resentment towards the man to really support him, anyway.

[TnAdct1]

Originally Posted by Shippuu

Considering everything he has been involved in since the end of Love Hina has been half-assed or an outright failure I'm not exactly optimistic about his chances. And despite it being a good cause I have too much resentment towards the man to really support him, anyway.

I wouldn't call Negima half-assed, as he obviously had plans for up to the end of the Magic World arc.

[Shippuu]

Originally Posted by TnAdct1

I wouldn't call Negima half-assed, as he obviously had plans for up to the end of the Magic World arc.

Well, it's literally half a story but he already started phoning it in some 10 volumes before it ended.

[NapoleonDeCheese]

UQ Holder is writing the 191st episode just before the final episode.
The progress of the manuscript is going well, and it is currently the 24th sheet. Actually, after this, there are about 4 pages without characters, and I have 12 remaining pages. All the mobile suits (Ashi and others) have already been released and it has become a total war. I want to settle to some extent by Saturday.

4 pages without characters.

4 PAGES WITHOUT CHARACTERS!

Oh my God, this, this, I just have no words.

4 pages in blank, surely with some dialogue over nothingness or something like that? I assume there's some big vague explosion or something and the universe ends briefly over some fauxlosophical rumination so Akamatsu has less pages to draw before retiring to political mediocrity?

This, I don't even know what to say.

4 pages with no characters.

This is the way he thinks a manga finale with tons of baggage from two series can be solved. It's like he's trying to set a record for how badly a mangaka can shit the bed before leaving it.

**** this guy, now this made me actually angry.

[XFire]

I'm genuinely curious why some of you people are still here. You understand that you can stop reading the series that is upsetting you, correct?

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by NapoleonDeCheese

4 pages without characters.

4 PAGES WITHOUT CHARACTERS!

Oh my God, this, this, I just have no words.

4 pages in blank, surely with some dialogue over nothingness or something like that? I assume there's some big vague explosion or something and the universe ends briefly over some fauxlosophical rumination so Akamatsu has less pages to draw before retiring to political mediocrity?

This, I don't even know what to say.

4 pages with no characters.

This is the way he thinks a manga finale with tons of baggage from two series can be solved. It's like he's trying to set a record for how badly a mangaka can shit the bed before leaving it.

**** this guy, now this made me actually angry.

...It could literally be a double spread of say Mahora, but sure.

Originally Posted by XFire

I'm genuinely curious why some of you people are still here. You understand that you can stop reading the series that is upsetting you, correct?

I've had the same thought. I suppose there's no other way to signal how much they hate the manga.

[Dargor]

Originally Posted by Shippuu

Well, it's literally half a story but he already started phoning it in some 10 volumes before it ended.

I dunno, hindsight of it ending now withstanding, I felt like things only really started to collapse in on itself once they went after the Gravekeepers Palace.

I'm genuinely curious why some of you people are still here.

Legit only reading this for the Negima breadcrumbs. Sunk cost fallacy and unwillingness to let things go and all that.

[NapoleonDeCheese]

The art still is gorgeous and I want some closure to the Negima characters I grew to love. Something better than the badly done rush job we got for the Good Timeline flashback, before anyone points that out.

"Don't like don't read" is a terrible refutal to criticism because it does nothing to address the problems pointed at themselves.

Also, a double spread of a landscape is STILL a terrible way to waste pages when you've still only 80 pages left to address a major final battle, tons of character arcs from two series left unfinished, the salvation of the world, and so many questions still unanswered.
Seriously, would that be supposed to make anything better at all?

[XFire]

Originally Posted by NapoleonDeCheese

The art still is gorgeous and I want some closure to the Negima characters I grew to love. Something better than the badly done rush job we got for the Good Timeline flashback, before anyone points that out.

"Don't like don't read" is a terrible refutal to criticism because it does nothing to address the problems pointed at themselves.

Also, a double spread of a landscape is STILL a terrible way to waste pages when you've still only 80 pages left to address a major final battle, tons of character arcs from two series left unfinished, the salvation of the world, and so many questions still unanswered.
Seriously, would that be supposed to make anything better at all?

I'm not attempting to refute criticism, I'm expressing concern over the fact that several people here appear to passionately despise the series and yet continue to subject themselves to it.

I'm not trying to make this a "gotcha" moment or anything, it just seems like reading this series genuinely makes your day worse and there's really no reason to do so. Speaking from experience, when a show consistently heads down a direction you don't like the best thing is to shrug and jump ship.