UQ Holder

Let's remember he doesn't want to be doing manga; he wants to be an editor. Although given Jcomi's performance, I doubt his skill with managing as well.

Apparently, according to ANB, Akamatsu delivered the chapter one day past the deadline. Oh, ho ho,ho, wow. It seems it'll get published in time all the same, but whoa, this doesn't fill one with hope for the future.

First spoiler images.

Touta apparently goes back out of the flashback before the chap's over, since he isn't in his spiritual form anymore. He's now confronting the female Lifemaker instead of Negimaker (??????) who apparently has made a real number on a loli looking Evangeline (not sure if that of the past or future.

Fate is seen doing another weirdo creepy horrible face, but does that need to be spoilered? It's like what he's been doing in every other panel for a while now.

Unless that's really Femalemaker's face. Hard to say, it looks like Fate's, but it's a very tight closeup.

Oh, and Touta has a really damn fine ass. Just saying.

Yeah, I don't really get what's going on from those spoilers. Will have to wait for the chapter.

Apparently, 'Albireo' was actually Femalemaker in disguise. For how long, or why she was right next to Negimaker before, I haven't the foggiest idea.

edited 5th Oct '16 8:35:50 AM by NapoleonDeCheese

Yeah, I'll keep waiting. Its hard to tell what is what right now.

EDIT: I will say this though, the jump from Negima antics to incredibly creepy violence is very jarring.

edited 5th Oct '16 10:22:16 AM by SkormSnow-Strider

Yeah, I can't even tell what the Negima flashback is supposed to show, beyond fanservice and Eva being a 600 years old child molester.

We have to wait till the chapter is released.

It's an obvious bait point. I don't think it has any real narrative usefulness, it's just meta fodder for Negima and fanservice fans to start the new stage.

Unless the rest of the class shows up in between those pages and the fight, or those characters are fleshed out a bit more, but otherwise... eh. Especially considering this doesn't even seem to be a real flashback, but some sort of weird illusion trap set by Lifemaker-Albireo.

If that's all we'll see of the Negima cast minus Evangeline, the Japanese will probably be disappointed after months of wait and hype.

edited 5th Oct '16 11:41:09 AM by NapoleonDeCheese

So you are saying that he ended the last chapter finally showing Asuna just to hype things up for the break and it will have nothing to do with what happens next? Yeah I could see that happening.

The sequence of the raw images seem to go from the stripping sneeze to Past! Eva showing up, then to a montage of recycled Negima images showing Eva and Negi's relationship from Kyoto to their kiss at the resort during Mahorafest. Then Evangeline actually sees Albireo, Al stabs Touta from behind, turns into Femalemaker, and goes to town on Eva and Touta. At least that's what I'm getting until now. And Hata says the chapter ends with everyone back into the future. So yeah, it seems so far Asuna doesn`t show up after that opening, but there are still many pages left to see.

There's a 'Negima 2' announcement in the opening text, apparently. In 4-Chan, some are saying Akamatsu added that as a subtitle to Holder, some say it's the title of an alternate anime project Akamatsu is working on for the next year. I have no idea myself.

At this point, all I'm waiting to see is what the Negima Box and the purported Mahora World is.

I really wouldn't get my hopes up.

At this point it could be a pair of commemorative socks, and it'd still be less disappointing then Holder.

I think we're seeing the whole resonance thing at work here. Seemingly during the entire time Touta is there, Al is quite affable and his normal, cheery self. Next thing you know, his personality does a 180, gives enveloped in the same stringy shadows that we saw cover Nagi and Negi during the bullshit zombie arc, and proceeds to torture Touta. Now arguably, this makes the Lifemaker into a stupid "Look how evil I am" villian that'll try and get the sympathy treatment like every other half assed antagonist in this series, but at this point QUALITY is the only thing UQ Holder is capable of.

edited 6th Oct '16 11:39:24 AM by SkormSnow-Strider

I'd say the Negima ending (all of them) is still one of the few things more disappointing than UQ.

Not that high a bar, since UQ Holder is basically just an extended cut of everything that made Negima's ending bad to begin with.

...I'd still rather have the commemorative socks, tbh.

edited 6th Oct '16 1:27:01 PM by SkormSnow-Strider

Hopes? What is that? It sounds vaguely familiar, like something I once must have heard about.

Chapters out.

Starts out with harem hijinks & Negima nostalgia, ends with blood & gore.

Ialda Baoth = Yaldabaoth.

So the Lifemaker is the Gnostic Demiurge?

Well, he is the flawed creator of an illusionary world in which his creations are trapped (unless they get artificial bodies), even before Kosmo Entelechia doubles down on that sort of thing.

When the last chapter ended up on showing Asuna for the first time in the series, I actually got excited about UQ Holder for the first time in a long while. Heh, how silly of me. Turns out it was just a bait, and the chapter actually focuses on... surprise, surprise... Evangeline. Really it's just abriged recap of her dealings with Negi. Seriously, that's what we get after three month long hiatus. A fucking recap that is there to push the worst part of UQ Holder -Touta and Eva relationship - along. Fucking A Akamatsu.

Oh yeah, And Lifemaker shows up, again with completely different characterization than before. Now he's just being a dick for the sake of being a dick.

And then Touta makes a constipated face and a snappy comeback... badass.

Well, now I feel stupid about getting excited about this chapter. Should have know better.

The Lifemaker as a psuedo-deimurge is...not half bad. Wasted potential because Akamatsu, but I'll applaud that if it gets noted.

Welp, looks like you need a subscription to read it. That's probably for the best I guess.

edited 8th Oct '16 4:34:10 AM by SkormSnow-Strider

I'm not sure if it will go beyond Genius Bonus reference. Touta tackling gnostic demiurge would be.. something else.

And seriously why is Lifemaker making those eeeevvviiiilll face suddenly?

What the hell us a Gnostic Demiurge?

This

So, have we shifted from a Pensieve Flashback to some form of time travel? Any thoughts on this?

edited 8th Oct '16 8:17:58 AM by waterwalker

God dammit, why did this topic have to be resurrected? Why are there things that I like that die and this goes on?

Reading a few pages, it almost feels like Akamatsu realized UQ Holder was so goddamn terrible that he gave up and started writing Negima staring ghost-Touta. And after a few pages...I just don't give a fuck about this fanservice parade of "look, it's ____". I haven't gotten beyond the flashback yet.

Is this longer than the 18 pages or so beforehand?

This did a good job of wiping out any doubt that the primary focus of this manga is Touta/Eva. I suppose we can always count on Akamatsu to think of the dumbest scenario he could write, and then come up with something worse.