Forum - View topicREVIEW: UQ Holder! GN 2
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Misopup
 Posts: 57 |
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Why is vol. 2 only being reviewed...now?
It's been on the market for over a year. If this were a review of, say, vol. 6 (or even 7, due out in March), I could see that. But, vol. 2? Really? |
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Yogshi
 Posts: 21 |
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Having been dissapointed by the abrupt and overly tidy conclusion to Negima 3 years ago (still one of my favorites despite itself), I've been hesitant to try UQ Holder out. I guess I can wait a little longer. (Although as a side note regarding Negima, that final anime film did give me some closure.)
As for the timeliness of the review, I assume no one on ANN Staff is current/interested in UQ and Creamer will review them as he gets to them. Personally, I appreciate back-reviews, helps highlight when a thing "gets good" rather than say just reviewing Berserk vol. 39 apropos which would only be relevant to people who were current with the series. Here's hoping Tota becomes an interesting character. |
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haer
Posts: 6 |
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Though not quite a 'review', the later volumes get better! Old characters return and i think more of what was supposed to be in negima! will get closure now. I don't read the online volumes, but I have up to volume six now, and i think it's really good!
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Sly05
 Posts: 26 |
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I think Nick nailed the issues with the series. I was a big fan of Negima and really wanted to like UQ Holder, but it is so uninspired I gave up on it around volume 5 or so.
Touta was a big issue for me as well. The only interesting thing about him is his connection to another character. He's not struggling to achieve anything that would make the audience cheer for him. I also found the jump to the high power level battles that characterized the later parts of Negima unearned here. Touta gets way too powerful way too quickly. Sure he spends some time doing training, but even the training arcs were dull and presented little challenge for him. Akamatsu's characters were one of the strengths of his previous works so it's surprising he dropped the ball so much here. |
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Merxamers
 Posts: 720 |
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(Sorry, accidental double post)
Last edited by Merxamers on Sat Feb 06, 2016 12:25 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Merxamers
Posts: 720 |
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Oh man, this is a pretty harsh review! Understandable though; UQ Holder doesn't really hit its stride until the next couple of volumes.
Let me make some points in defense of this series. To me, this is the series I wish Negima! had been all the way through- Negima! had great writing, interesting characters, and spectacular set pieces, but held itself back with clothes-dissolving tentacle monsters, numerous scenes of girls assaulting the 10-year-old Negi, and unending harem subplots (to the point where I'm convinced that's what Akamatsu likes to write, rather than being forced to). To me, UQ Holder is all the stuff I liked about Negima!, without most of the negatives. Yes, Tota is a rather simple character so far, but I actually like this. He feels like a 'classic' Shonen protagonist in a way that makes him feel refreshing. He's not too dissimilar from Soma in Shoukugeki no Soma, and I don't hear people complain about him. Tota had a lot of great moments later on, and I'm sure he'll get some complexity later on as we learn more about him. I have to disagree vehemently with the complaints about the artwork. I love bombastic, stylistic poses as much as the next guy, but in my opinion there are few artists who can match Akamatsu in drawing action sequences. Reading the crisp, easy to follow, anatomically consistent art is like watching a top tier Kung fu film, and I love his style. Most other series rely in the old staples of "flurries of punches" or "a big punch/sword strike done really hard", and I like that Akamatsu does something different. I agree that volume 2 isn't the best showcase I this series, but I encourage everyone to stick with it and give it a chance. In my opinion, based on the last year of chapters on Crunchyroll, this has potential to be Akamatsu's masterpiece. I'd say that while My Hero Academia may be the best Shonen series running right now, UQ Holder! Is without a doubt my favorite. |
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brucepuppy
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Never heard of the title because I'm not Akamatsu's fan (I read Love Hina & Ai ga Tomaranai, and disliked them) and surprised to see the cover artwork. I think it's anime instead of manga. It's kind of disappointing. I always expect manga artworks to largely consist of handdrawn image instead of relying heavily on digital drawing.
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AksaraKishou
Posts: 1414 Location: End of the World |
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final someone with the same opinion about his Art and storytelling...now and then.
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Thatguy3331
 Posts: 1799 |
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Hoo boy... It's one thing to say I kind of agree with this review but a whole other thing to know that things probably won't be getting much better... Probably.
I wasn't as in love with Negima as I see a lot of other people (hell I have a friend in real life who friggin worships it.) but it was an enjoyable series that pulled off some interesting stuff and for the most part was fairly well handled. Some times that "well handled" bit made things feel too mechanical, but what ever it still shits all over anything Fairy Tail does. Ok when I think about it that's not saying much since I consider FT to be as bottom of the barrel as you can get in terms of this stuff, but while Negima wasn't at the top for me, it was still on a much different level where I considered it good. UQ holder kind of feels like it's around the same level, and sadly I'm saying this while being caught up. As far as volume two is concerned, I actually didn't quite mind the jump to absurdly over the top battles so soon, but that was only because I haven't been reading a lot of action manga period at that time. And while I definitely agree that Akumatsu's art can lack personality (though I love his color work.) it gets the job done in keeping the action consistent. Thing is a lot of newer manga are kind of making this a moot point. All that needs to happen if for Ohkubo's new series to get licensed and suddenly I'll have a much better popcorn action manga to read (in spite of THAT series's problems but that's later.) |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4447 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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well he kinda is. for one thing,he's the opposite personality of his grandfather negi (which i have my doubts) which is a good thing. i'm sure no one here is gonna call him a negi clone at the slightest other than the " I can do almost everything" stich.
Not quite. i have seen up to the latest volumes and its definitely no over the top harem unlike its predecessor negima. sure he does have the carrying for the completely oblivious and dense male lead that you will see in every harem series, however for one thing tota have no girls that have a thing for him at the slightest and neither does he other than yukihime/evangeline. the only way it would be near that is that if kuromaru decides to become a girl and karin start to have a thing for him.though that is highly unlikely since she's probably one of those men hating lesbian types, and she's basically that series version of setsuna. and the whole lesbian thing gets pretty obvious since she's heads over heels for yukihime and in this vol spoiler[ "advises" kuromaru to become a girl so there wouldnt be any competition ] and in vol 4 spoiler[ she actually asks fate if those two are an item. ] Can someone say obsessed much? sure she's cool & all BUT her obsession for yukihime reminds me way too much of Index/Railgun's Kuroko Shirai and if the later volumes still have her like that,dont be surprised if she's just as disliked as kuroko. some people even wonder if akamastu have used her as inspiration for karin's personality. Last edited by jr240483 on Tue Feb 09, 2016 10:00 am; edited 1 time in total |
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GhostStalkerSA
 Posts: 425 Location: NYC |
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Count me as another person who was disappointed by the way Negima ended. I know why it had to end that abruptly, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth.
I collected most of Negima, skipping over a bunch of the beginning couple of volumes because harem shenanigans weren't my idea of a good time and the original translations of those books were pretty atrocious, but once the action kicked in, I grabbed all I could. Main exception was the last volume, because that's more harem shenanigans that I looked to avoid, plus that terrible ending. I had really high hopes for UQ Holder when it was announced, and so far it hasn't really disappointed me too much. The first couple of chapters of setup were pretty slow although the first one grabbed me immediately, and this second volume feels a bit like that as well, though things really pick up in the next arc in Volume 3, and then the next couple of arcs after and they just keep going, albeit with a pause for breath in this current arc. The current arc in the manga is back to harem hijinks and stuff like that, but it seems to be moving back into battle shonen soon enough, and I'm really looking forward to reading that, hopefully with the new chapter tomorrow starting it off. I started collecting Holder beginning with Volume 3, and am not disappointed with that decision to being my purchase at that point in the story. Have Volumes 3-5, and am waiting for my regular animu and mango store to restock on 6 to grab that as well for my collection, and do not expect to be unsatisfied. |
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Wrangler
 Posts: 1346 |
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I think there some things that were not explored in this review.
Touta is more a unformed clay, still being molding, while author still trying figure out what he will be. Trying everything doesn't mean he will be good at everything. I'm not entirely sure how long the series will run to be honest. latest volume is posed for Touta to enter the tournament that will lead him to space confront spoiler[Mage of the Beginning who kidnapped Negi Springfield, touta's "grandfather" and Negi's dad Nagi. The situation between Eva "Kitty" and Negi needs also to be cleared up as well. I think Touta has some room for him to grow into his own man and hopefully have flaws that will help him be more rounded character. He certainly has a amazing assortment of support characters with him. Good and bad.] |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4157 |
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Three years on and we're all still complaining on how Negima ended... which is about the best you can say about UQ Holder! (Look, I'm not ending the sentence on an exclamation point, it's the title)
I have no interest in UQ Holder! but I'd love to see a continuation of Negima, just not because I liked the overwrought shounen storytelling. Akamatsu was married to the idea of Negima being a comedy- harem or otherwise though I'm sticking with harem from beginning to end- until the endless ending and it's that comedy I go back to. Romantic, slapstick or parodic, it's all good there and he was good at it. With Love Hina, I was really into the whole "love triangle" plot and skipped, faster and faster, all that pointless shounen filler he was so proud of. *Ahem* He's not good at it. He can build up a scenario and he can even pull off a well executed climax but he can't do a relatable main character to save his career. It's fine if the situation is absurd or at least comedic but serious drama or the most basic of its categories, mortal danger? Not happening. Negima's excuse was that it was a comedy but then why do something like:
There's something about this he just doesn't get. So that just leaves Negima tie ins and questions {I can't even say "answers" because the real questions never came up} and I can get that from the various wikis after they're done. |
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