10 Second Anime - UQ Holder! - Episode 10

Touta enters the preliminary Mahora Martial Arts Tournament, but his opponent has more in store for him than a contest of skills.

Episode 10 - "Welcome to Mahora Academy"

Hmm.

This episode was all about wistful nostalgia for me. Not only are there characters from the original story reminiscing about Negi in his classroom at Mahora Academy, and some are on the opposite side of Eva's UQ Holders, but we even got a taste of the martial arts tournament that was never animated in the original anime adaptations.

We've definitely come to the point in this story where it's a true sequel to Negima! now. Negi himself is back, although he's possessed, or is he? Central supporting characters are also back, with some having aged and others somehow maintaining their youthful forms.

Lots of questions get raised for me seeing Yue, Nodoka, and Jack Rakkan on Negi's side. These are supposed to be the good guys! These guys would never be on the same side as someone with such a petty attitude as Cutlass. It will be interesting to see how they ended up following Negi, why they're still so young looking, and to whom exactly Cutlass is related. She looks like Kuu or Zazie, uses Asuna's antimagic sword and techniques, and calls Touta her "brother."

With only two episodes left in the season, the fast pace of this adaptation has also almost caught up to the manga, short of about 20 chapters of the current 142. They cut a lot of fluff and certain expendable characters to get us here.

Heh.

Well, that explains why Touta has no memories before being rescued from his "accident." He literally had no memories yet.

Oh ho! The Mahora Martial Arts Tournament? Do we have time for more than one match?

We're just at the preliminaries. The real main event is at the top of the tower next year. Hey, that's where Negi and Fate are supposed to be. How convenient!

kiriE got it right. This whole plot line was supposed to cheer Touta up, but it only worked because he's easily distracted.

Ha! That is not the face of someone "sharing a secret between men." Kuromaru is too pure to be a boy...

Mahora uniforms still look the same, which confirms what Karin has been wearing this whole time.

Ah. Ayaka is Mizore's great-grandma. She old.

Chachamaru is here too. Are we going to have a class reunion?

Wow! Mana the bounty hunting demon girl looks great all grown up. I guess demons age slower. She's the head mistress of Mahora too. What happened to the Konoe family?

Yay! Sayo is still haunting Class 3-A.

Negi is well-loved by all the girls. You will be too, Touta!

Ha! Iinchou oh hohohoho! I love it!

No fair! Everyone wants to hug Negi, er Touta! Ah man, this is too much.

Fight! The Eternal 14 Year Old, Touta Konoe!

That guy looks familiar... duh, Touta. That's the person who marked you in the sky elevator station. Named Cutlass.

This Cutlass person knows a lot about Touta and doesn't like how "brother" is an "inferior copy."

Chachamaru has a bad feeling. That's how you know things are bad! Kuromaru says the same, but it's because Cutlass has bloodlust.

Whoa. Asuna's sword!

Touta had Negi's battle instinct cloned into him.

Oh well, yeah. Cutlass just had to be a girl. Now she's going to fall in love with Touta too.

That's enough of a show. Time to complete the mission. Negi appears to take Touta away.

Oh. Those Negi ghosts were just some of the projections by the evil mage to Negi's descendants. That's an interesting tidbit. If the Life Maker is winning against Negi's body, why does she need another one? Is Negi trying to gain enough control to kill himself in isolation?

Eva doesn't like Negi's face doing Negi face things when it's not Negi himself doing those things. That sentence is totally coherent. Stop looking at me funny!

Oh my! Jack Rakkan! And Yue and Nodoka! Why so young? Why are they with the bad guy? Fooled? Brought forward in time? This universe does like to mess with timelines a lot.

Cliffhanger on a villainous smile from Negi. I sense a long flashback coming up next week.

Battle episode deserves a battling Kuromaru in the end card. I'll allow it.