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

[OverMaster]

Originally Posted by Dargor

The fact that I find this series as a whole to be vastly disappointing (In regards to Touta mostly) aside, seeing rehashed plot elements making a comeback when it should have been sorted out in Negima sucks immensouly. This is seeming less like the action series Akamatsu always wanted to do and more like Negima without those silly little girls weighing things down. Joy of joys.

Hear, hear. How do I miss the girls. You know, the RELATABLE HUMAN BEINGS. But I guess immortals are KEWLER AND LIKE SUPER AWESOME AND STUFF. Sigh.

Does he even know his current client is an immortal though.

Yeah, since immortals are apparently hated now, I doubt anyone in a position of power will go around with an I am a immortal sign hanging from their neck.

Spoiler for That guy...?:

You know, at this point I wouldn't be shocked if this 'Fate' is just a completely unrelated recycled character design like Jinbei.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

sorry forgot to post the 2nd half of my question

Spoiler:

are we sure it is Fate and not one of the other fates?

Spoiler for chapter 29:

He looks just like the adult version of Fate (via age pill). My guess is it is Tertium (he has the same hair), but his demeanor does seem a bit darker (in the one frame we see him), so it could be a different iteration. He might even be a newer version, since the LifeMaker survived to at least 2065 in this timeline.

I don't know exactly what he's saying until they translate it (can't make it out), and that should give us a better idea...

[chaosprophet]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

Spoiler for chapter 29:

I don't know exactly what he's saying until they translate it (can't make it out), and that should give us a better idea...

Spoiler for c29:

He's saying:
まちがいない…彼だ (There is no doubt... it's him.)

[Homura7]

I see some here can't still get over the fact Negima ended, and all they can do is despise an enjoyable series from the same author. Too bad, you would be better if you spent your time doing something more productive rather than waste saliva in this thread with useless rant the rest of us don't give a damn.

[Tenzen12]

Finaly someone, who see it same way as me. Welcome

[EvI]

it happens in the same universe and shows some of the same characters, even the protagonist is the grandson of negi that was the proganist of the prequel even the same powers, so for me is the same thing only with different history and perpective.

for example, accel world and sword art online, even though it's in the same universe the author managed to make two different things, in my eyes it's the opposite of this one....

[Dargor]

Originally Posted by K. Shiruto

I see some here can't still get over the fact Negima ended, and all they can do is despise an enjoyable series from the same author.

Generally speaking, complaining about a difference in opinion on a forum of all things is in poor taste. By all means, I don't consider UQ Holder to be a disappointment because its not Negima 2.0, but rather that it is in fact trying to rehash old plot threads that were poorly done in Negima to begin with. I mean, we already saw the whole issue with Magia Erebea play out through Negi, and all that did was turn him into a Crystal Dragon Jesus that could do no wrong and jack the action scale up so high that there really was no room left to go. And to top it off we're getting the mysterious amnesia angle again, and in Asuna's case we still know next to nothing about her and it only served to give her a giant martyr complex.

I'd be a lot more forgiving if UQ Holder actually tried to be its own thing rather then depending on plot elements from the previous series as its main pull, or the hero playing almost every shounen cliche straight as a board. It'd be bearable for instance if it actually gave Touta qualities that don't come about because the plot demands it, or that while his design his generic as hell, he doesn't act like you're normal idiot hero arch-type.

[Homura7]

Why it should? Akamatsu already said in his blog Negima ended, but not the entire story. Considering this it's logical UQ Holder would re-introduce characters and elements from Negima as well as new ones at the same time. It was bound to happen, almost everybody saw it coming, and pretty much the 99% of the users in this thread knew Evangeline would make a comeback because of her inmortal nature and the hint the author laid down in the last chapter of Negima.

As for Touta, you just happen to have the same problem some like you developed towards him: you can't bear his character, that's all. Well, I don't have this kind of problem. Kill me verbally if you wish to, but I find Touta a lot more likeable than Negi, because like me he doesn't give a damn to this or that, nor he cares for what others may think about him or the way he behaves. IMO Another Negi-like protagonist would have been boring for my taste.

The fact the plot doesn't build around getting your own harem of hot girls is another point in UQ Holder favor. That doesn't mean I didn't like that concept in Negima, all the opposite, I love it, because Akamatsu executed it well without letting the story fall apart.

Anyway, back to the topic.

Spoiler for spoiler:

If that translation is correct, is Fate implying Touta is Negi's reincarnation or something?

[SoloPanda]

Originally Posted by K. Shiruto

Why it should? Akamatsu already said in his blog Negima ended, but not the entire story. Considering this it's logical UQ Holder would re-introduce characters and elements from Negima as well as new ones at the same time. It was bound to happen, almost everybody saw it coming, and pretty much the 99% of the users in this thread knew Evangeline would make a comeback because of her inmortal nature and the hint the author laid down in the last chapter of Negima.

As for Touta, you just happen to have the same problem some like you developed towards him: you can't bear his character, that's all. Well, I don't have this kind of problem. Kill me verbally if you wish to, but I find Touta a lot more likeable than Negi, because like me he doesn't give a damn to this or that, nor he cares for what others may think about him or the way he behaves. IMO Another Negi-like protagonist would have been boring for my taste.

The fact the plot doesn't build around getting your own harem of hot girls is another point in UQ Holder favor. That doesn't mean I didn't like that concept in Negima, all the opposite, I love it, because Akamatsu executed it well without letting the story fall apart.

Anyway, back to the topic.

Spoiler for spoiler:

If that translation is correct, is Fate implying Touta is Negi's reincarnation or something?

not sure where you get that reincarnation implication. what he says is まちが い な い 彼 だ Machigai nai Kare da

which I'm pretty sure is "there's no mistake that was." There are about a thousand things he could be referring to with this sentence. it could also mean "there's no mistake it's him." I take this as Fate has been looking for Touta for a long time for some reason.

[Dargor]

Originally Posted by K. Shiruto

Why it should? Akamatsu already said in his blog Negima ended, but not the entire story. Considering this it's logical UQ Holder would re-introduce characters and elements from Negima as well..

Not the issue I have, because characters reappearing and some parts of the setting pretty much goes without saying. But to take major ideas that we've already seen in Negima and setting them up as a driving force again? I'd rather not read the same thing twice.

Well, I don't have this kind of problem. Kill me verbally if you wish to, but I find Touta a lot more likeable than Negi, because like me he doesn't give a damn to this or that, nor he cares for what others may think about him or the way he behaves. IMO Another Negi-like protagonist would have been boring for my taste.

There's no accounting for taste, but its the same tired arch-type that we've seen a hundred times in different series and for Akamatsu, the guy known for subverting and twisting your standard tropes into something quite interesting, to do that is immensely disappointing. You could still have a idiot hero without resorting to the by the book action series that we've all read a hundred times. As it stands, Touta's character is as wide as a ocean and deep as a puddle.

The fact the plot doesn't build around getting your own harem of hot girls is another point in UQ Holder favor.

I don't think anyone here particularly cares about that. Its more off putting seeing characters I enjoyed reading about being shoved under a bus and getting ones, as of right now, are fairly uninteresting as it stands.

That doesn't mean I didn't like that concept in Negima, all the opposite, I love it, because Akamatsu executed it well without letting the story fall apart.

This is YMMV territory here, because Negima did pretty much implode when Akamatsu decided he felt like aborting the series all together. Not because of the harem itself, but still.

[OverMaster]

Originally Posted by K. Shiruto

I see some here can't still get over the fact Negima ended, and all they can do is despise an enjoyable series from the same author. Too bad, you would be better if you spent your time doing something more productive rather than waste saliva in this thread with useless rant the rest of us don't give a damn.

What a silly post. You can't waste saliva with a written message!

Now seriously, you obviously gave a damn if you bothered to write a personal attack just because of it. Also, whatever gave you the apparent idea we don't do anything productive with our lives out of the few spare minutes we may take every once in a while to criticize the series you like?

UQ Holder. Enjoyable. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure it is. EDIT: Well, I guess there are tastes for everything. We live in a world where Naruto and reality shows are enjoyed by many, after all.

I'm not ashamed of feeling strongly over the characters we were lead around to follow over nine years just to have them dropped, settled down with a few meager one panel epilogues, and then we were basically told "By the way, they're dead now, and if they lived enough, they were there to see the world go down the pipes". Why should I? It's not like I spend every waking second thinking about it, and it only means they were good enough characters to endear themselves to me (unlike Kid Mary Sue here). Let's see if you feel the same way when Akamatsu does it again to the UQ cast the next time he grows tired of the story, or writes himself into another overpowered corner (which looks more and more likely with each chapter) or has another fallout with Kodansha.

The fact the plot doesn't build around getting your own harem of hot girls is another point in UQ Holder favor.

Leaving aside the strawmanship in that argument since Negima was never solely about that, and the plot, if anything, was mostly built around Negi's quest with the romance as something that quickly became just a side addition (a step above, I think, the typical Fighting Shonen where every meaningful relationship boils down to 'fighting buddies' or 'fighting rivals'), UQ can't exactly boast on being lacking or shy on the eye candy, either male or female (and Negima also had plenty of female oriented fanservice, ranking from Older Negi to Rakan and many others in between).

[chaosprophet]

@SoloPanda

The Kare there does mean "him", but the him can be referring to almost anyone. Him as Negi, Lifemaker, Negi descendent, someone Fate was looking for, the guy who stole his wallet the other day, etc etc.

[XFire]

Originally Posted by chaosprophet

@SoloPanda

The Kare there does mean "him", but the him can be referring to almost anyone. Him as Negi, Lifemaker, Negi descendent, someone Fate was looking for, the guy who stole his wallet the other day, etc etc.

Goddamn, someone who could do that would need a skill on par with Rakans panty-flipping wind.

I vote we go this route

[SoloPanda]

Originally Posted by XFire

Goddamn, someone who could do that would need a skill on par with Rakans panty-flipping wind.

I vote we go this route

If his wallet were stolen it would probably be by Jack Rakan demanding payment for something absurd like a catch phrase or something.

[Hiss13]

Originally Posted by chaosprophet

@SoloPanda

The Kare there does mean "him", but the him can be referring to almost anyone. Him as Negi, Lifemaker, Negi descendent, someone Fate was looking for, the guy who stole his wallet the other day, etc etc.

Yep. The CR Translation says 'him' so it's still very vague who Fate is referring to.

On another note, I like the fight between Jinbei and Nagumo. It was nice to see the interim leader of UQ Holder in action and he kicks ass.
Jinbei was just too much fun this chapter.

[SoloPanda]

Heh funny seeing Nagumo address Jinbei like an elder, he is by a long shot but that's not the point. While I was reading the chapter something kinda came to me and it had little to do with the actual story. I hope we get to see those kids grow up throughout the course of the story. be funny if they're still calling him Touta nii-chan when they are in their 30's and Touta still looks young for 14.

Favorite quote this time "10,000 years from now i'll still be human."

[AlphaDragoon]

Okay, there's no goddamn way Jinbei isn't related to Negi in some way. He looks like him, fights like him. Maybe he had multiple children and Jinbei is one of them?

[Dargor]

Fights like him? I don't know, Jinbei seems to rely far more on brute strength then Negi ever did, who instead opted on creating a mix of spells in conjunction with his kenpo. He has more in common with Nagi if anything.

[chaosprophet]

If Jinbee is related with Negi, my guess would be just that he had a family before he became immortal, and hundreds of years later that would turn into the Springfield family.

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by Dargor

Fights like him? I don't know, Jinbei seems to rely far more on brute strength then Negi ever did, who instead opted on creating a mix of spells in conjunction with his kenpo. He has more in common with Nagi if anything.

I believe he's referring to Jinbei's martial arts, which resemble Negi's, not that that actually means anything. Anyone can learn kenpo.