UQ Holder

Touta asked Yukihime offscreen and got such a complete and thorough answer that the reader would probably just be bored if it was all repeated, so it will never be mentioned again.

I really got the impression last issue that this entire mess was stage by Eva and Fate, so I doubt she would be willing to say much.

x3 It seems like we are indeed going back to Mahora, for some reason. The 'last of' thing appears to be the introduction of another immortal, that white-hooded kid from the group picture at the start. I've no idea why he's referred to as confusingly as he is, though, given that we haven't been properly introduced to the others from there.

So it looks likeKuroumaru being "cute" is him wearing a Mahora schoolgirl outfit, which means that they might be going to Mahora after all but undercover for their investigation mission.

Poor Kuro, you will never, ever catch a break about looking girly. And going to Mahora to find immortals...makes complete sense, actually.

Zazie and Mana are seen once in the background playing hopscotch while Touta laments being unable to find anyone.

I'm half surprised Mahora is still there, given that it looks completely derelict by the time Asuna wakes up. Could be a new building though, and its possible its operating under a new name entirely.

Still not exactly what I want to have happen. Its a distraction to keep us from wondering why no one is asking Not!Eva about basic shit that went down a few years ago. Its not like she has to give the whole story, but come on. Show some initiative you useless twits. But this might finally be an arc where some of the basic characterization issues can finally get tweaked.

edited 18th Jul '14 12:24:17 PM by SkormSnow-Strider

Not to worry. It seems that Touta asks Not!Eva more about Fate and his plans at the beginning of the chapter. Not sure that's what you were going for but at least it's something. Also, it doesn't look like they're going to Mahora after all about somewhere called "Amanomihashira Academy City". Meh, it's probably a Mahora Expy. Can't say I'm all that surprised.

Its the same uniform, so it has to be Mahora with a new name if nothing else.

So we immediately jump to introducing new guy, eh? On one hand it means less Kirie, on the other... eh. Not sure if I'm fan of this formula.

Kuromaru in a schoolgirl uniform. Because that's what we wanted to see. :/

edited 18th Jul '14 1:14:40 PM by Shlugo_the_great

Kuro does look adorable, but I lament the fact that no one wants to take his assertion of being male seriously.

And Astro continuing to say "just become a girl already" is only a itty bitty annoying.

Not really. I wager hes going to appear at the end of the chapter looking all omnious and stuff, and will actually get to him next chapter. A new immortal every arc is a little dry, but I can deal with it since its the actual execution that's been abysmal thus far.

edited 18th Jul '14 1:29:55 PM by SkormSnow-Strider

Well, personal feelings aside, it's easier for Kuro to pass as a girl than a guy. Karin found him out pretty easily after all.

edited 18th Jul '14 4:46:57 PM by Chaosjunction

According to new spoilers, its moot because Karin gave it to him in hopes to pair him off with Touta, and Kuro goes as far as to call it disgusting. He eventually chooses a male one over the girls uniform in the end. Still think the whole thing lost its novelty a long time ago. Oh! But Ikaku is on the scene too, which is nice. I kinda like him. Actually, he's the only one I like at this point.

edited 18th Jul '14 11:17:48 PM by SkormSnow-Strider

I suppose this is the definitive confirmation that this takes place in the sealed Asuna timeline. I wonder if we'll ever get to know why the elevator was built near Mahora rather than at the equator as originally planned.

IIRC, Kirie states that the elevator being built in Japan as opposed to somewhere along the equator was something Fate had a hand in deciding. No clue as to why though.

EDIT: Raws out. Yup, Mahora. And the World Tree is still there, surprisingly. And the Dynamis lookalike seems to be touted as the strongest member of UQ Holder.

Half surprised Akamatsu re-used the UQ Holder promo image for some of the characters in one panel again. Are you that strapped for time that you couldn't draw anything else up there instead of reusing the same models? Ah well, that's what happens when you go 100% CGI.

edited 22nd Jul '14 1:21:22 PM by SkormSnow-Strider

Chapter is out:

The biggest surprise of the chapter is that It was actually good for once.

Touta is finally doing reasonable thing, acting important questions and requesting training. I'm not expecting it to stick but it was nice not having to bang my head on the wall for a change.

Unfortunately "Eva" is not very helpful as she basically talks in slogans that seem to be taken straight from UQ Holder website. Though we do learn few interesting things about UQ holder such as who the strongest member is (Not-Dynamis) that there are other branches of the organization

New arc starts. Karin is still the best character, putting Kuromaru in a girl uniform was hilarious.

Akamatsu, that's Mahora. Like, seriously why do you even bother pretending it's not. There must not be a single person who is fooled.

We get a glimpse of the new immortal and he looks like an ass already.

Mostly agreed, this isn't a terrible chapter. Yeah, while its not a stretch that the town could be renamed in 80 years, changing the name doesn't seem to mean anything worthwhile and is Akamatsu's way of making it akin to 3-A's blank faces. Bluh.

I'll disagree on Touta though. Despite the fact that hes finally taken some interest, "Lets forget that complicated stuff" despite it being sort of important is annoying, and Not!Eva was actually willing to talk about it. Not!Eva being as reclusive as possible for no other reason then she can is annoying as hell. Touta actually noting that Kuro is cute in the Mahora uniform is kinda funny. And Karin being...well, Karin.

Ikkaku is still my favorite.

edited 23rd Jul '14 12:18:04 PM by SkormSnow-Strider

He said that?

....

Oh yeah, he did. Must have missed it the first time.

So you are right, I take back the nice things I said about him. Though he still wasn't as annoying as Eva.

edited 23rd Jul '14 12:22:07 PM by Shlugo_the_great

I will say that I like the chapters where Touta isn't the sole focus or effectively hogging the BIG IMPORTANT BATTLE, and after re-reading it, I actually liked the beginning of the Kirie arc. Here's to hoping that we'll at the very least shift away from the kid and move on to something...anything else for more then three chapters.

This arc looks more promising than the last by the mere fact that Kirie isn't around.

I'm not too hopeful for that, she was shown on the splash page. If anything she'll appear out of the blue for whatever reason when Mysterious Immortal curbstomps them or blows up Mahora or something.

That's some weird logic of Touta's: he wants to improve his combat technique but he doesn't want to "get stronger".

There are other branches of UQ Holder? Let's read about them instead! They can't be worse than our cast right...right?

And yes, this is what I was hoping UQ Holder was about: a gang of immortals sticking together and policing their own kind. This is a better start for a story than just "poor people need help and nobody else looks after them".

And crap, dipshit finally asked questions—but Evangeline has no intention of sharing answers. Of course.

Oh hai there "According to keikaku! *Keikaku means 'plan'".

Kuro gender jokes. Meh, no real opinion.

I wonder if there's a reason this academy looks so much like Mahora, complete with a world tree.

edited 23rd Jul '14 12:50:33 PM by Rotpar

Well, of course Touta can't say he wants to get stronger, that would be admitting he's wrong and stuff. That said, there's a certain logic to not bothering to think about the complicated stuff right now. After all, Yukihime won't tell him anything right now anyway, but if he goes and completes the job she might offer up some information. Probably not, but Touta knows her as a sort of mother figure and trusts her word.

I would have liked at least an answer to something. Just throw us a bone Akamatsu, before we're neck deep in fighting again. Christ, at least throw Touta a bone for actually asking. I wouldn't mind her explaining "ME is my ultimate power, your grandfather learned it, go on your mission and I'll try to dig up my old slides explaining it while you're gone" to Touta, even if I already know that information. That's better than Eva just troll-facing the cast and reader.

Catching up after having to go off-radar for a while, Ch. 42 was surprisingly underwhelming for me. I mean, it's technically a good chapter - it does what it's supposed to do, Karin definitely got a chuckle for continuing to be Eva-crazy, etc. - but it didn't quite resonate with me as much as it should have. Maybe it's the way the arc just sorta ends, maybe it's my partial agreement that Touta's dreams should've been brought up more (add another check to the "List of Things to Add for an Adaptation"), but yeah.

This chapter? Definitely hitting the right notes. Touta is definitely taking the right steps to improving as a character (asking questions, gaining something to actually strive for, actually being shown practicing with the Gravity Sword, etc.), Karin is now making me laugh with her antics, and there's definitely some nice details established, such as a potential mentor in Jozu, UQ's international presence, and a mission in immortal recruiting/management (I definitely agree with Rotpar that this should've come up sooner). Like the other arcs, this one is starting off rather strong, but now it's just a matter of if it can maintain it.

One complaint I will give, though, is the time stamps. It's currently August, only a day's passed even though the last arc mentioned being in April, and the group arrives at the Academy in September. Timeline, go home, you're drunk.

Also, blatant Mahora expy is blatant, though there is like a 2% chance it's intentional. Mahora could've definitely been rebuilt/renamed/whatever after the flooding.