Mahouka [LN/M] - Character Speculation/Theories: Lu Gonghu

[Kokus]

guy's i don't want to crush your delusions to hard but LU a talanted mage ??? this guy is the same as leo ... we never saw him use anything other then steel quigong and a barrier magic. you all seem to overrestimate the thing with the one of the best 10 cqc magic material artists don't you ? yes lu is strong in cqc against other cqc/middle range personal but he never used any offensive magic illusion magic or what ever... the only problem somebody fighting him would have is to break his barriers and doge his fists and legs (lu is fast so that might be hard ) but you don't need mutch talent for 2 spells and he dosn't even use them in a creative manner all his battles where more or less like my barriers will hold up i just need to smash them down muhaha.... (well exaggerated but you get the gist of it don't you ?) no real planning just plain head first through the wall ... as long as his barriers hold up he got no problems but once they fail he is done for .
its not like i hate lu or anything but this guy is if you just masure the magic he has used not mutch of a talented mage .

[Guest2]

Originally Posted by Echizen777

Naotsugu's switching make him able reach top speed and stop completely while creating afterimages. He could have fled or dodged attacks more easily , Lu resisted to her shots but Mayumi raised her shots's power, he was also victim of oxygen deprivation after being shot a few times, decreasing the power of her barrier one of the advantage of her magic is that she can control the speed and power of her shots.

The reason that I doubt Nao could do much better against a powerful magic sniper like Mayumi is because Mayumi can literally Rain armour piercing crossfire from every angle. What I doubt is Nao's ability to flee or dodge simultaneous 360 degree armour piercing fire.

The only reason Lu wasn't immediately defeated or harmed by Mayumi, was because his armour blocked all attacks he couldn't dodge. Due to this she had to reduce the number of her attacks to increase the penetrating power. But he dodged all those as well.
　
　

Originally Posted by Jirachier

She is not more talented.
The way it works is that if you take two talented magicians and they have a child, the child will probably be more talented than either of them, but this method will not keep working forever at one point it hits the limit of talent possible to achieve.
Second Mayumi is talented but she's not even on the level of talent of the BEST teenagers, Miyuki and Lina for example are on a different level. Finally this thing works when you take weaker magicians and try to keep making their children stronger and stronger, it's not some rule that say that EVERY single new teenage magician is stronger than EVERY adult, that makes absolutely no sense. Lu is CURRENTLY, in the presence of all these supposedly super talented teenagers, he is considered one of the top 10 close combat specialists in the entire world. He is more talented.

And in the novel Mayumi was stated to be one of the worlds top magic snipers. She did not beat Lu in close combat magic. She beat Lu by being out of sight and by using long-range magic sniping, which she is more talented than him at using.

Neither Lu nor Mayumi are more powerful in raw magic than Lina or Miyuki, But Lina and Miyuki would also lose to Lu in close combat and both would lose Mayumi in sniping. But raw magic power like Lina's and Miyuki's can overturn magic CQC and magic sniping by pure reality-bending speed.

Mayumi's raw magic power was great enough to overturn her odds against Lu. Since she couldn't beat him using direct attacks, she used raw magic power to turn her solid attacks into gas, faster than he could react and attacked him from inside his body.

Originally Posted by Jirachier

It doesn't matter how he did it, every overpowered character has his own way of doing things, this isn't anymore impressive than what Miyuki/Katsuto/etc can do just because it's barehanded considering he is clad in magic.

Ofcourse it matters how he did it. Its my whole point for everything I have been saying. We are talking about him being one the world’s best close combat magicians, not one of the world’s strongest magicians. Close combat means he uses magic to aid him beat, slash, crush, stab or pummel his opponent to death with his limbs.

Originally Posted by Jirachier

Being the world best means when facing people of lower power you should either defeat them or leave them in an extremely bad shape.

Well my definition is different. Being world best close combat mage only means you have defeated everyone you have fought and are considered the best at using magic in close combat. The injuries your opponents received whether serious or light have no relevance. And a person would not lose their title simply because when they defeated a beginner opponent, the opponent only received a scratch. The only thing that matters is if you win in close combat.

Originally Posted by Jirachier

And why are you making it sound like it's either they're gonna die or be completely safe, why isn't there a middle ground where they're injured. Random fodder fighters were able to give Isori and Kirihara serious injuries yet one of the top 10 close combat specialists in the world couldn't do it.
...
You make it sound that in a magic battle, you either die or get out of it COMPLETELY unharmed, that literally only applies to Tatsuya because he has Regrowth. For example Erika was sent flying and lost consciousness, couldn't the author just make her hit the wall harder an break her bones or something ?

You've misunderstood. I pointed out Lu is stated to be able to tear flesh, limbs and armour apart with his bare hands, and that I don't believe Mari, Leo and Erica would have survived having their limbs and flesh torn apart. Which is what would I believe would have happened if they were were not shown as using magic and tools to defend themselves. My point was that if they didn't have the author's hand of luck, useful magic defenses and Mayumi deflecting his attacks, then due to his overwhelming ability and ferocity, they would have been torn apart or broken into pieces from single strikes.

I mentioned I understood the author could have added more battle damage. They all still easily got knocked unconscious, so I feel it would have made no difference to the debate about Lu's ability, but it might have made a more impressive scene.

Originally Posted by Jirachier

I'm not denying magic talent, on the contrary. My point was that Lu is actually MORE talented than Erika/Mari/Mayumi/Leo(if you're gonna ask how do I know he's more talented, it's because he is one of the top 10 specialists in the world, is any of them gonna become that ? they have potential but not that much potential, especially not all of them), and not only is he so but he also has more experience and more time to polish his talent. Talent doesn't ignore age, it's just that if you're more talented than an older person then it makes sense to better or such, that's how these teenagers win against adults. But when facing a more TALENTED and OLDER person then it's a different story, they're the ones at a massive disadvantage.

Then once again I believe you are missing my point. I never said they wee better than Lu at fighting. I made an abstract example of why someone who is talented at sniping could successfully take out someone more talented at martial arts, at long distance. Especially if the person is stated to be one of the world's top Magical snipers.

You keep on repeating that Lu is one of the world's top specialists, but seem to conveniently ignore that this is when it comes to close combat matches, and the fact that except for Naotsugu, he beat every other student he met in close combat easily. Where is there a problem?

Originally Posted by Jirachier

As for the students, what you're doing is just explaining how they won, if you're one of the 10 best in the world you should have a way out of such a predicament. What Lu did against them would have been impressive if he was just another strong fighter, but when he's called one of the 10 best, it changes everything.

No, you somehow seemed to have ignored parts of what I wrote. I pointed out 3 things, Nao was the only student who matched him, they are the same age and Mayumi finished him while in hiding.

Lu is a person known worldwide for beating the best magicians in close combat. Martial Arts. It is different to being called one of wold's strongest magicians like Maya, who can kill at close, mid or long range easily. And it is different to strategic magicians who would be committing suicide if they used their most powerful spells at close range(except Lina), but can obliterate things at long range easily.

There was only 1 student that matched him in his world renowned specialty close combat. That was Naotsugu.

The one who defeated him in the end was Mayumi, stated to be one of the world's top magic snipers. Someone he had no way to see or reach.

My original question to Ultraviolet X, but to you again now was, on what basis do you feel that the world's top close combat magician, a person who is the best at defeating people in close combat, must be able to deal with a long range magic attack from someone they cannot find? Since there is nothing in the novel indicating that was a given, e.g. Tatsuya got sniped by a regular sniper and had to take cover before counter attacking with ES and long range magic. And since even in reality, a close combat expert would also be taken out by a sniper unless they dodged, had armour or took cover. All of which Lu was able to do except taking cover, which is useless against someone who can shoot you from any angle.

[Astraeia]

Whether we can find reasons for it or not: it remains a fact that his losing thoroughly twice in a row is extremely anticlimactic after all that he was built up to be. Maybe it would work better if the scenes were better written, imparting a bigger sense of tension, danger, despair even, so that we can feel an epic struggle, but as it is... yep, anticlimactic.

Come to think of it, it was probably after this fight that I stopped expecting any kind of tension from Mahouka.

[Jirachier]

The reason that I doubt Nao could do much better against a powerful magic sniper like Mayumi is because Mayumi can literally Rain armour piercing crossfire from every angle. What I doubt is Nao's ability to flee or dodge simultaneous 360 degree armour piercing fire.

The guy is one of best close combat specialists in the world, at that level you'd know you're susceptible to sniping and have countermeasures for it, it's not like outside of CQC he'd lose.
Also it's not 360 degrees since Mayumi isn't gonna attack from underground, and you've seen his level of speed, good luck to her trying to hit him with her magic.

And in the novel Mayumi was stated to be one of the worlds top magic snipers. She did not beat Lu in close combat magic. She beat Lu by being out of sight and by using long-range magic sniping, which she is more talented than him at using.

Being one of the top 10 magic snipers in the world means you're extremely good at long distance, emphasis on HITTING your target, not beating them when the hit collides with a powerful armour.

Mayumi's raw magic power was great enough to overturn her odds against Lu. Since she couldn't beat him using direct attacks, she used raw magic power to turn her solid attacks into gas, faster than he could react and attacked him from inside his body.

Mayumi did not win in a contest of raw magic power, the author just conveniently made it so Lu wasn't prepared for that type of attacks.

Of course it matters how he did it. Its my whole point for everything I have been saying. We are talking about him being one the world’s best close combat magicians, not one of the world’s strongest magicians. Close combat means he uses magic to aid him beat, slash, crush, stab or pummel his opponent to death with his limbs.

You don't get the title of the world's best because you can defeat a bunch of fodders, you get it depending on how well you can fight other powerful opponents.

Well my definition is different. Being world best close combat mage only means you have defeated everyone you have fought and are considered the best at using magic in close combat. The injuries your opponents received whether serious or light have no relevance. And a person would not lose their title simply because when they defeated a beginner opponent, the opponent only received a scratch. The only thing that matters is if you win in close combat.

When you're the world's best and you face a bunch of teenagers and lose to them while all they get are a few bruises, that makes no sense.

You've misunderstood. I pointed out Lu is stated to be able to tear flesh, limbs and armour apart with his bare hands, and that I don't believe Mari, Leo and Erica would have survived having their limbs and flesh torn apart. Which is what would I believe would have happened if they were were not shown as using magic and tools to defend themselves. My point was that if they didn't have the author's hand of luck, useful magic defenses and Mayumi deflecting his attacks, then due to his overwhelming ability and ferocity, they would have been torn apart or broken into pieces from single strikes.

Yes his abilities are capable of inflicting enormous damage. But the students not surviving the attacks is only if they take the full brunt of the attack, not if they are simply grazed by it or something, it's not like in a magic battle if you face an overwhelming attack you either die from it or you get out completely unscathed. YES they don't have the power to oppose his attacks if they receive them completely but again, the author could've made them barey escape the attacks but part of it hit them and injured them, which did not happen.

Then once again I believe you are missing my point. I never said they wee better than Lu at fighting. I made an abstract example of why someone who is talented at sniping could successfully take out someone more talented at martial arts, at long distance. Especially if the person is stated to be one of the world's top Magical snipers.

Again, the best magical sniper doesn't necessarily give you enough destructive power to finish off your opponents, the hits of Mayumi should've continued to hit him but without doing much damage.

Lu is a person known worldwide for beating the best magicians in close combat. Martial Arts. It is different to being called one of wold's strongest magicians like Maya, who can kill at close, mid or long range easily. And it is different to strategic magicians who would be committing suicide if they used their most powerful spells at close range(except Lina), but can obliterate things at long range easily.

Yeah it is different from Maya or Tatsuya but when you are at that level you should still have ways to deal with things outside of your speciality, he would've been dead a long time ago otherwise.

There was only 1 student that matched him in his world renowned specialty close combat. That was Naotsugu.

Again, I have NO problems with Naotsugu matching him because he is ON his level, the rest of the teens aren't.

The one who defeated him in the end was Mayumi, stated to be one of the world's top magic snipers. Someone he had no way to see or reach.

He had no way of seeing her but he could see her attacks coming.

My original question to Ultraviolet X, but to you again now was, on what basis do you feel that the world's top close combat magician, a person who is the best at defeating people in close combat, must be able to deal with a long range magic attack from someone they cannot find

You have to keep something in mind, even though Mayumi is hiding far away, she actually starts the action of the magic just a few meters from Lu, and he can see the attacks coming, so yea he shouldn't be able to attack Mayumi but destroying her attacks is a different story.

Tatsuya got sniped by a regular sniper and had to take cover before counter attacking with ES and long range magic

Tatsuya didn't have to take cover, he did so because he doesn't want to show the world AOE decomposition, had he wanted to he could've simply stayed in his original position and protected himself, but that would result in more trouble when trying to erase the traces of his magics later on as well as maybe scare off the sniper before he can kill him, not to mention the possibily of someone seeing what he did.

a close combat expert would also be taken out by a sniper unless they dodged, had armour or took cover. All of which Lu was able to do except taking cover, which is useless against someone who can shoot you from any angle.

Again, I'm not saying he should've been able to kill Mayumi from that distance, but he should have had ways to deal with her attacks.

[Sinarblood]

Originally Posted by Jirachier

Being one of the top 10 magic snipers in the world means you're extremely good at long distance, emphasis on HITTING your target, not beating them when the hit collides with a powerful armour.

Again, I have NO problems with Naotsugu matching him because he is ON his level, the rest of the teens aren't.

Yeah it is different from Maya or Tatsuya but when you are at that level you should still have ways to deal with things outside of your speciality, he would've been dead a long time ago otherwise.

Again, the best magical sniper doesn't necessarily give you enough destructive power to finish off your opponents, the hits of Mayumi should've continued to hit him but without doing much damage.

He had no way of seeing her but he could see her attacks coming.
Again, I'm not saying he should've been able to kill Mayumi from that distance, but he should have had ways to deal with her attacks.

Taking a few of your points...

But he did deal with all of her physical attacks, the most she could do with them is set him a bit of course, it is only when a gas attack is used that she wins, so she didn't beat him by overpowering his armour, all of her normal hits hit him without doing much damage just like you argue they should have been doing. Her attack that beat him didn't do it because of destructive ability, and succeeded precisely because it was an attack that didn't require force to win.

Also it was those physical shots by Mayumi that made his attacks a bit off course that made it so that some of his attacks didn't outright kill people, but that is about all her physical attacks did.

I think you are over-estimating "top 10 CQC" and underestimating "top 10 long range percision shooting". Why on Earth should a person who is in a top 10 in close quarters fighting be superior in battle then one of the top 10 snipers when it comes to combat where they are at a distance from one another? Surely your arguments could be made in reverse here- why wouldn't one of the top 10 snipers have come up with ways to get around the defences of equal powerful soldiers from a distance?

That puts them in the same level, just adept at different things and different situations. Naotsugu wasn't the only one at Lu's level, Mayumi was, just not in close quarters, which she wasn't in when the battle started.

On the subject of dodging her attacks, her shots move at supersonic speed and can come from enough angles that it is quite impossible to dodge, since if you dodge in one, 10 or more could be coming at you from varying directions at supersonic speeds.

As much as you say you know those levels are different then Tatsuya and Maya, I really don't think you do. He dealt with this multiple-on-one situation with a near equal (Mayumi, whether you admit it or not) on the opposing side quite well but was unprepared for a disguised gas attack by Mayumi. If it wasn't hidden as a physical attack he might have been prepared but he was caught off guard. He is not Tatsuya who can be expected to be prepared for almost any attack and defence. He is not Maya whose attack happens at light speed and is unavoidable. It would be utterly silly for him to be expected to even with his top 10 in close quarters combat, because he is not in the top 10 in all distant combat like Tatsuya and Maya are. He was prepared for basically all physical attacks, be they magical or not, and could strike down anyone who got close to him, which rightly ranks him as a top 10 in CQC, but it is silly to imagine him being able to ignore gas attacks when he is not wearing gas proof armour, or armour with a Filtration system. Why isn't he wearing one? One because even in war situations, soldiers don't wear them. They might have a gas mask, but Mayumi's disguised shot didn't given him time to get one on even if he had brought one with him. The second reason is because he was wearing an armour designed for enhancing his fighting style, which is in most cases a worthwhile trade-off, and the armour was designed from before such gas attacks were viable or popular in open areas. Third is because, even if Mari used gas attacks on him before and he should be "prepared" for them, he was told by Chen to not go out for revenge and didn't expect to run into them in a war situation like that, and the chances that he would in reality is extremely small. Also Mari was shown to abuse situations where people had dressed to deal with gases in volume 2, so even if he did, he would have been even more sunk, by Mari this time instead of Mayumi.

That he can ignore gunfire, high impact weapons, and most physical magic is more than enough defence for anyone in this novel regardless of his position as a person ranked in the top 10 of CQC. The only people with higher defensive capabilities is Katsuto, which is reasonable considering that Phalanx is basically the ultimate in defensive magic, and Tatsuya, whose anti-magic, ability to decompose anything in his way, and healing factor are ALL possessing the #1 spot in the world and so lead to frightening defensive capabilities. Saying that he should somehow have avoided Mayumi's attack when it looked like a physical attack instead of a gaseous one is all together a little to much.

Without relying on strategic magic, Lina probably would have been defeated much earlier than he was in this situation and she is the number one soldier in the USNA.

You evaluation of top 10 close quarters combat sounds like someone only Tatsuya or Maya, or lina with HMB could defeat, which would lead to even more anti-climatic fights because when Tatsuya, Maya, or Lina use their full abilities to kill, the battle is over in an instance.

[Jirachier]

But he did deal with all of her physical attacks, the most she could do with them is set him a bit of course, it is only when a gas attack is used that she wins, so she didn't beat him by overpowering his armour, all of her normal hits hit him without doing much damage just like you argue they should have been doing. Her attack that beat him didn't do it because of destructive ability, and succeeded precisely because it was an attack that didn't require force to win.

The guy is at the top of the world, how the hell does he not have countermeasures for gas attacks ?

Also it was those physical shots by Mayumi that made his attacks a bit off course that made it so that some of his attacks didn't outright kill people, but that is about all her physical attacks did.

I didn't say they should've died, but being severely injured would've been enough.

I think you are over-estimating "top 10 CQC" and underestimating "top 10 long range percision shooting". Why on Earth should a person who is in a top 10 in close quarters fighting be superior in battle then one of the top 10 snipers when it comes to combat where they are at a distance from one another? Surely your arguments could be made in reverse here- why wouldn't one of the top 10 snipers have come up with ways to get around the defences of equal powerful soldiers from a distance?

Because of how magic works. Even if they are called snipers, the reality is that the magic starts activating near the opponent, not like RL snipers where the bullet starts from where the sniper is positioned. The truth is, the biggest difference between what Mayumi did and being near Lu while using the same type of magic is the fact that he can't hit her back. What puts her in the top 10 is that she can use magic from long distant as well as if she was near her target, on the other hand being one of the top 10 close combat specialists in the world means in close combat you'd actually defeat your opponent.

On the subject of dodging her attacks, her shots move at supersonic speed and can come from enough angles that it is quite impossible to dodge, since if you dodge in one, 10 or more could be coming at you from varying directions at supersonic speeds.

Sure but he doesn't have to dodge he can just block them, plus why is dodging not possible for magicians who specializes in it ? And why is dodging impossible ? If that was the case guys like Yakumo would die in one second against Mayumi.

As much as you say you know those levels are different then Tatsuya and Maya, I really don't think you do. He dealt with this multiple-on-one situation with a near equal (Mayumi, whether you admit it or not) on the opposing side quite well but was unprepared for a disguised gas attack by Mayumi. If it wasn't hidden as a physical attack he might have been prepared but he was caught off guard. He is not Tatsuya who can be expected to be prepared for almost any attack and defence. He is not Maya whose attack happens at light speed and is unavoidable. It would be utterly silly for him to be expected to even with his top 10 in close quarters combat, because he is not in the top 10 in all distant combat like Tatsuya and Maya are. He was prepared for basically all physical attacks, be they magical or not, and could strike down anyone who got close to him, which rightly ranks him as a top 10 in CQC, but it is silly to imagine him being able to ignore gas attacks when he is not wearing gas proof armour, or armour with a Filtration system. Why isn't he wearing one? One because even in war situations, soldiers don't wear them. They might have a gas mask, but Mayumi's disguised shot didn't given him time to get one on even if he had brought one with him. The second reason is because he was wearing an armour designed for enhancing his fighting style, which is in most cases a worthwhile trade-off, and the armour was designed from before such gas attacks were viable or popular in open areas. Third is because, even if Mari used gas attacks on him before and he should be "prepared" for them, he was told by Chen to not go out for revenge and didn't expect to run into them in a war situation like that, and the chances that he would in reality is extremely small. Also Mari was shown to abuse situations where people had dressed to deal with gases in volume 2, so even if he did, he would have been even more sunk, by Mari this time instead of Mayumi.

Yeah I know Tatsuya and Maya are all rounder, which means they can deal with any situation from any range. But Lu as one of the top 10 specialists in the world in close combat should be able to deal with this kind of situations if it's just 4 teenagers.

You evaluation of top 10 close quarters combat sounds like someone only Tatsuya or Maya, or lina with HMB could defeat, which would lead to even more anti-climatic fights because when Tatsuya, Maya, or Lina use their full abilities to kill, the battle is over in an instance.

I refuse to lump Lina together with Maya and Tatsuya.

[Rava]

Originally Posted by Jirachier

The guy is at the top of the world, how the hell does he not have countermeasures for gas attacks ?
[...]

He did have a countermeasure. He has to use it ahead of time, before it gets to him. He got trolled because he didn't know Dry Meteor was a gas attack and thought he was safe from gas attacks after knocking Mari away, since Mayumi hadn't done anything except pound him with various Hale Particles, so he got suckered into blocking it instead.

[Echizen777]

When I read some of your posts I have the impression you are overrating Lu too much. Being among the top 10 martial artists do'nt make him able to deal with every situations.

[IceHism]

Not to mention, most magicians don't even practice in defense a lot. In a magic battle, Offense is WAY better than defense. This is stressed many times in the novel. Lu Gonghu is really fast and perceptive, but i don't think he can compete with multiscope, an esp power.

[bietchie11]

Oh wow, one-time mini-boss even get a whole thread about him.

This guy is sure popular. I wonder if he is dead yet?

[Rava]

Originally Posted by bietchie11

Oh wow, one-time mini-boss even get a whole thread about him.

This guy is sure popular. I wonder if he is dead yet?

Horses are more dead than he is.

[pampz21]

Its so funny why you guys compare Mayumi and Lu while there specialty lies in different fields....only reason why Mayumi defeated Lu is because the other 3 bought time for Mayumi to run her ass; and hide to snipe him. Done!discussion ends; close the thread pls. Takes space for a guy that we wont ever meet again.

[aspadodell]

is'nt the 3 defeats of lu was with multiple enemies in with at least one world ranked magician???
And also none of those fights that lu was overwhelmed in CQC .. as I read he was the one who overwhelmed his enemies in CQC except for naotsugu who is also world ranked in CQC

[Echizen777]

Originally Posted by pampz21

Its so funny why you guys compare Mayumi and Lu while there specialty lies in different fields....only reason why Mayumi defeated Lu is because the other 3 bought time for Mayumi to run her ass; and hide to snipe him. Done!discussion ends; close the thread pls. Takes space for a guy that we wont ever meet again.

I wonder why he is mostly compared with Mayumi while Mari was his principal opponent in all the fights excepted the first one, he even hold a grudge against her. They are more comparable.

[pampz21]

Originally Posted by Echizen777

I wonder why he is mostly compared with Mayumi while Mari was his principal opponent in all the fights excepted the first one, he even hold a grudge against her. They are more comparable.

Then wanna ship those 3?~
Iam sure a big guy like him can handle the threesome or foursome or lets make it fivesome>?

[Echizen777]

Originally Posted by pampz21

Then wanna ship does 3?~
Iam sure a big guy like him can handle the threesome or foursome or lets make it fivesome>?

Genius!

A love triangle between martial artists. Lu was also captivated by her legs .

[Ultraviolet X]

Originally Posted by Kokus

guy's i don't want to crush your delusions to hard but LU a talanted mage ??? this guy is the same as leo ... we never saw him use anything other then steel quigong and a barrier magic. you all seem to overrestimate the thing with the one of the best 10 cqc magic material artists don't you ? yes lu is strong in cqc against other cqc/middle range personal but he never used any offensive magic illusion magic or what ever... the only problem somebody fighting him would have is to break his barriers and doge his fists and legs (lu is fast so that might be hard ) but you don't need mutch talent for 2 spells and he dosn't even use them in a creative manner all his battles where more or less like my barriers will hold up i just need to smash them down muhaha.... (well exaggerated but you get the gist of it don't you ?) no real planning just plain head first through the wall ... as long as his barriers hold up he got no problems but once they fail he is done for .
its not like i hate lu or anything but this guy is if you just masure the magic he has used not mutch of a talented mage .

That's basically the source of the debate. Lu's reputation was hyped up, with descriptions being thrown around such as his nickname (devouring tiger, I think it was), ranked as an S-Class individual by other counties, Lu being a top 10 CQC magician and most CQC kills, then Lu gets thrashed 3 times with Lu arguable being completely useless and nothing seen in his performance showing he deserved his rep.

Personally, I found Mari to be more impressive. I found Lu to be a disappointment, for the reasons you have mentioned. The fights even lacked the tension, that you get the sense that the people fighting Lu were in real danger.

I'm looking forward to seeing Lu's fights animated, to see whether this impression I got from Lu (that the character doesn't fit his description) comes down to how lu's fights were written.