The wheels begin to turn, I think
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Ken Akamatsu
Translation: Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley
Lettering: James Dashiell
What They Say:
Tota meets Kirie Sakurame, a mysterious member of UQ Holder. Kirie looks like a little girl, but is apparently the wealthy patron of UQ Holder. Tota accompanies her on a trip to the tower to meet Karin (returning from the moon), but the trip appears to have another purpose. The powerful wizard Fate Averruncus, former ally of Tota’s grandfather Negi, wants to take possession of Tota for reasons unknown. Despite having Karin, Ikku, Kirie and Kuromaru with him, they stand little chance of stopping Fate, who possesses unfathomable power. Why does Fate want Tota? And can Kirie’s secret plan succeed in stopping him?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
It is UQ Holder’s motto to do right for the people. If it isn’t good for the people, then UQ Holder isn’t going to do it. They also can’t harm civilians and swear not to kill mortals. It’s part of a code that probably keeps the myriad of immortals sane. They have to cling to something in their undying life.
After their visit to the slum-ish area and finally successful defeat of those trying to take the land, UQ Holder has expanded beyond their isolated island. It’s here where I begin to suspect that UQ Holder, up to this point, has been a lot of wheel turning. The first volume was set up of Tota’s character and the premise of the entire manga. Since then, though, it’s been side stories. Teach him some new moves, give him a larger motive, and make him prove himself on a grander scale.
This volume seems to finally have some substance, albeit in the form of shonen fight scenes, but that seems to be indicative of the series. In this volume, the main antagonist of UQ Holder and one of the most powerful mages in the word is met, so it’s safe to say we’ve reached a point in the series where things will begin ramping up.
The benefactor of UQ Holder is also introduced, in Kirie, an immortal in her own right. She probably bets on sports or plays the stock market to make her presumed billions. That’d be kind of annoying though because you basically say, “I need another few billion bucks, let’s kill myself.” Which is a confusing sentence to make out of context.
The volume seemed content with setting up those two things though: UQ Holder’s benefactor and their main antagonist. There were bursts of brilliance from the five (Tota, Kuromaru, Karin, Kirie, and Ikku) fighting against Fate (ha!), but there’s nothing too everlasting, or at least things that won’t be done again later probably better.
In Summary:
There’s a lot of complaining here, but I did legitimately like the volume. It just feels like it took a while to get here is all. But what are you going to do, it’s a shonen. It did the set up quite expertly though and showed off its main villain with masterstrokes against the protagonists, whom we already know have the skills to fight. Absolute dominance over an established fighter is always a good way to show just how powerful someone is. It also gives the manga’s purpose a physical form, which is lacked earlier. It didn’t really need it, but this also gives the relatively single-minded Tota someone to strive for, not just in fight but personally. He knew Negi.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B-
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: March 24th, 2015
MSRP: $10.99
