Magi
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

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When I first read Magi, I assumed from the cover that it was of a cute little boy doing cute things, something to read to pass the time between weekly updates of other manga. However, Magi has been a charming surprise with the depth of its storyline and the efforts it puts into its setting. While it is, to some extent, a manga of a cute little boy doing cute things, Magi ambitiously tries to reach out on social issues such as politics and slavery while maintaining some humanity on every side of the issue.

=Story (9)=

Magi begins as an episodic story ... of the individuals affected or touched by Aladdin, an enigmatic child with a headless djinn/genie and an omnipresent childlike innocence. Yet author Ohtaka Shinobu's ambitiously aims to weave the characters of these short stories together on a setting that ranges from the Middle Eastern Coast of what is clearly an allegory of the Roman Empire to Arabia, the Central Asian Steppe and as far East as the Chinese Kou/Huang empire. Characters present in each story remain present, returning to later relevance far later into the story. The main focus of the story, though, is on Aladdin and Ali Baba, a boy who starts out as a low-ranked merchant but slowly discovers his potential as Aladdin's candidate for the Heir to King Solomon. Based loosely on the Thousand and One Arabian Nights, Magi's story is primarily based in Arabia and Persia, but explores locales such as Balbadd (an allegory for India), the nomads of Central Asia and hints to later inroads into Africa and the Chinese Huang Empire, exploring issues such as imperialism, internal politics, economics and slavery. The strange thing about Magi is that many of the issues are not in fact resolved through fighting. Though many of the plot resolutions can be shounen-esque, there have only been one or two truly Shounen fight scenes, with many conflicts resolved through politics, mediation or economics, all of which play a role in the many nations of the continent. Plot strings seemingly left behind are in fact picked up later, and Magi's narrative flows smoothly and logically while providing an ample amount of humor. If there were any problem to the story, it would be simply that the mangaka seems to be either too afraid or unwilling to sometimes let go of characters, even when their death would be expedient for the plot. Overall, Magi's plot, while stereotypical in one or two instances, is gently surprising and shows a shounen manga that nevertheless does not always try to resolve every insurmountable problem with hot bloodedness and fighting.

=Art (10)=

Magi's artwork comes off as deceptively cute on the onset. The characters are drawn gently in a style that comes closer to that of a slice of life manga than an anime that seeks to confront serious issues. Yet Mangaka Shinobu has demonstrated the ability to draw out a darker tone while preserving the overall artistic integrity of the text. While Aladdin always retains his usual adorableness, the increasing grimness of characters such as Ali Baba serve to show not only their increasing maturity but also the results of the crises that they have been forced to confront. Magi's Art is endearing and charming when it wants to, but serious and grim when it needs to.

=Characters (10)=

Based loosely on tales from A Thousand and One Arabian Nights, the characters of Magi are, while outwardly similar, quite different in execution. Aladdin, the cherubic "magi," comes off not as either the confused boy of the original narrative or the mildly immature man-boy of the Disney adaptation, but a talented boy whose initial lack of skill never affects his immovable faith in the goodness of humanity. Ali Baba, meanwhile, changes from a greedy boy who exploits Aladdin for his gifts to a tortured individual both haunted by the past he has left behind and inspired to improve the futures of those around him. Other characters, such as legendary hero Sinbad, stick slightly closer to their original counterparts, with Sinbad's tendency to lose whatever he gained in his last adventure sometime before his next illustrated in a comedic light. Author Ohtaka, however, bolsters her story with a host of original characters, all of which have their pasts and motivations, from Balbaddian street urchin (and Ali Baba's childhood friend) Kassim to the two aesthetically similar but ideologically divergent princesses (the highborn, idealistic pacifist Hakuei and the politically unsteady and pragmatic Kougyoku) of the Huang Empire. Furthermore, the mangaka makes an effort to humanize even those who are clearly in the wrong, keeping them from simply becoming caricatures--a slave trader is revealed to once have been a slave him/herself (I really couldn't tell); a cruel master whose innocence was once subverted by his master; the Dual Salujas, kings of the oppressed citizenry of Balbadd. Each individual in Magi's narrative comes off as their own character, with stories that the average reader can sympathize with, even a little bit.

=Enjoyment and Overall=

I was absolutely surprised by the depth of Magi's narrative and characters and liked it immensely. After reading realistic seinin manga full of grimdark suffering and gore and reading idealistic shounen stories of hotblooded (but improbable) problem resolutions, Magi's idealistic tone but realistic mindset was a welcome alternative that really allowed me to keep smiling from chapter to chapter. I do not often rate 10s for enjoyment, but Magi definitely deserves this praise. An underrated manga that is willing to confront real issues without giving up its optimism.

*Note*: I watched the first season of Magi before I got into the manga. While the anime is very good, aside from the Balbadd arc, it is very different and much more rushed than the manga. I highly recommend both, but the manga is definitely the one I prefer.

Magi Labyrinth of Magic is something unique in the popular long-running shounen manga category alongside such renowned works like One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, and Fairy Tail. None of them come anywhere near being as intellectual as Magi is. Despite not being a psychological manga, Magi still manages to look at what is right or wrong and what ... is good or evil through a historical perspective. In my mind it stands alongside psychological manga and anime such as Death Note, Shinsekai Yori, and Shiki by asking the real important questions about humans and society. This is not a story about who can beat the shit out of who by becoming the strongest in the world. It uses social issues from human history such as discrimination, slavery, monarchy vs. republicanism, and many more topics. This manga does not have a clear end in sight, but it sure as hell knew what it was trying to accomplish right from the first few chapters even before the central conflict was ever mentioned.

Story – 9/10

Wait, this is a shounen/action manga with no end in sight, how can it earn a such a high rating in the story category? Magi is all about the story. Characters come together from all across the known world (and even farther) to join together in this ever-growing tale. Characters who seem to be just be there for filler end up serving a purpose and even show up later (the trio of thieves in the Balbadd arc for example).

The story of Magi begins with Aladdin, who is a Magi which is a human who can draw in the Rukh (the energy that creates everything in the world) from around him and use it as magic. Normal humans can only use the rukh from within themselves to use whatever powers they have (magic, the power of metal vessels given to them by Djinns, etc.). Aladdin meets a boy, Alibaba, who is working for an oppressive boss. Alibaba dreams of one day being able to capture a dungeon (these mysterious “buildings” that began appearing in random places all over the world a little over a decade ago) and becoming rich. But Alibaba does not want to be rich just to become rich unlike most of the people who are wealthy and greedy. He has personal reason that I won’t give away involving his home country and his childhood friend. At first Alibaba just wants to use Aladdin’s amazing Magi powers to achieve his goal, but, along with the Fanalis (red-pink haired people with incredible physical strength) Morgiana who was a slave that the two of them helped free from her sadistic master, they eventually become friends and agree to travel the world together (yeah that plan still hasn’t really happened because of a lot of stuff that gets in the way). But that stuff that gets in the way is all very interesting and is really what the story is all about: how the main characters Alibaba, Aladdin, and Morgiana come together with everyone they meet in order to protect this world that is being threatened by a mysterious group known as Al-Tharmen. Al-Tharmen is causing chaos all around the world by influencing people and helping struggling countries either by offering them weapons, money, power, or all of the above.

From there, the world unfolds and the great story that Magi has only just begun becomes a fantastic tale of rebellion, magic, war, and friendship (well it is a shounen/action manga of course it has friendship as a strong aspect).

Art – 10/10

One great thing about Magi is the emotions, whether comedic or dark. I really love the way the art portrays the characters during the humorous scenes (they get scarcer and scarcer as the story progresses though if you’re looking for a lot of comedy then try Fairy Tail not Magi). This manga (as well as the anime) really do an amazing job with the darker aspects of this story, and trust me there are a lot. This manga is actually pretty gruesome at times (Morgiana can kick straight through huge mutant animals and come out the other side). This manga has plenty of blood and the author is not afraid to show it all. The action scenes are also very well done, but of course with any action manga suffer a little in ways that the anime can portray a bit better. Still it’s not a problem at all and I am definitely not saying they are poorly drawn by any means. Most characters (especially Aladdin, Judal, Cassim, Jafar, etc.) have really great and unique characters designs. Some characters look a little similar, but mostly just because of the lack of color. The only ones I can think of (like Sinbad and Mu Alexius) have not actually appeared together so far so it does not pose a problem.

Characters – 9/10

Alibaba, Jafar, and Aladdin are my personal favorites so far, but the character cast keeps expanding and amazing characters are added into the story. Magi does have a damn large character cast, but one thing this manga does well is not focusing too much on the main trio. In fact, only a couple arcs have even had all three main characters (Alibaba, Aladdin, and Morgiana) all together. In most arcs they go their separate ways and it is their interactions with the people they meet that is really important. Do not expect Alibaba or Aladdin to be like Luffy or Natsu and just steal the show and defeat the main villain in each arc, because that’s not how this manga goes. It’s a joint effort from everyone that wins. The minor characters in this manga are great: Sinbad and his eight generals (Jafar is in them and I love how he keeps Sinbad, one of the most overpowered people in the world, in check and actually scares Sinbad), the Ren family (aside from Hakuryuu there are several other extremely powerful men and women who have all captured dungeons), and the people of the many other nations like Reim (obviously based off the Roman empire), Magnostadt, Balbadd, etc. This manga gives an equal amount of time to all of the minor characters whether they are recurring or not, allowing you to connect with all of the interesting and unique characters that this story has in its vast world.

Enjoyment – 9/10

This manga is just amazing. It’s amazing to me how it can deviate from the usual shounen/action genre and become so intellectual (it’s not deviating to the point where it becomes something like Evangelion in the mecha genre but still…). All of the characters are intelligent and unique, and the art allows the deep emotions they are feeling through loss and despair, as well as happiness and success to be shown to their fullest. Magi the Labyrinth of Magic is something I recommend to anyone who enjoys intelligent manga about society or anyone who enjoys shounen/action manga as I don’t think most people from either group will be disappointed. If you like things like Fairy Tail, One Piece, or Blue Exorcist or if you enjoy things like Shiki, Code Geass, or Shinsekai Yori, then I fully recommend Magi to you, and you may want to check out the anime as well.

Arguably no genre in manga or anime suffers more from an ill-fated combination of cliche reliance and a basic premise than action shounen. Whilst it is not inherently bad for a show to skilfully execute well-trodden territory (for which there are plenty of shounen that do), Ohtaka’s “Magi”, true to its adventurous spirit, treads beyond the boundaries of its genre without ever losing the heart-racing excitement that all shounen lovers yearn for.

An allusion to the Middle Eastern folk tales of “One Thousand and One Nights”, the world of Magi is unlike most we’ve seen in that it neither draws its main inspiration from the ninjas, ... folklore and mythologies of Japan à la Naruto, Bleach etc., nor from the superheroes of the West (e.g. BokuAca). The premise is that of a world in which mysterious towers have spawned across the globe, that if overcome, supposedly grants the conquerors of these life-threatening dungeons the magical powers of a djinn. If this were a typical shounen, the story would not expand beyond this premise and we would be presented with a small cast of characters who will inevitably face fierce rivalries, powerful friendships, slapstick comedy and action.

Magi guarantees you all of this, especially at the start, but the story truly shines once the initial worldbuilding is established as Magi uses its premise as a springboard for exploring socio-political, economic and ontological issues. The conflict in the plot arcs of Magi are grounded upon one of these issues which makes for a more powerful experience that relates to our real world but connecting each and every one of these arcs is a story about a boy whose search for his identity, beliefs and ideologies on the social and political issues in his world are constantly challenged. It frustrates me beyond belief when in shounen our protagonist has such inherently strong convictions and sense of justice that they are only “weak” in terms of their physical abilities and powers because that narrows the storyline and character development to merely the acquisition and development of their combat prowess. Shounen protagonists almost never truly engage with the complexities of the issues they face, if there are even any at all in the story. Alibaba and co. are not fight bots who merely beat people up into magically agreeing with their ideology nor is he a paragon of wisdom whose words convince anyone he manages to speak to – that is more along the lines of Sinbad but even he has plenty of depth. Magi’s world and characters may be wonderfully supernatural but they are also a reflection of our own world and people.

My only issues with Magi are that its ambitious storytelling means that the balance between action and politics is at times compromised. Certain arcs can be very focused on the politics and others on the fighting. For many shounen readers, if the action is the only aspect you want to observe, there will be times when you may find yourself losing interest. Magi does not achieve the absolute pinnacle of storytelling that sees a perfect transition between the two but nonetheless it still achieves this better than the vast majority of shounen. Regarding the ending, although the series concludes excellently with regards to the main issues at hand, it felt slightly rushed and further attention to the vast cast we met along the way would've very much been appreciated.

One of the main benefits of having a manga have its premise set in Middle Eastern folklore is being able to have art that shows the dazzling designs and drawings of fantastical beings and creatures that most people have probably never come across. The character expressions and designs are memorable and fun but Magi’s art shines the most in its action scenes. When our warriors fight and djinns are released, the manga sometimes requires you to spend a couple minutes per panel just to marvel in the designs and as the series progresses, the sheer scale of the battles and wars that we observe. Combined with Ohtaka’s panelling, which excels in constructing fluidity between scenes in a medium where images are still, Magi is rarely ever a visual bore to read.

Magi, the manga, was not what I expected after having watch the anime. Whilst certainly, Balbadd and Magnostadt arcs certainly give you a glimpse of its potential, the anime did not adapt far enough to see what Magi is truly about. If the political aspects of Magi and its universe appeal to you, I recommend reading it entirely. Even if Magi is not as surgical in its exploration of these issues as manga who dedicate themselves towards "deeper" themes, the fact that it is also an equally amazing adrenaline-rushing and heart-pounding action, should convince you to read Magi and for those aforementioned reasons, I would wholeheartedly recommend this manga to both shounen lovers and shounen-sceptics alike.

I have been reading this manga for 8 whole years and it is my favourite manga since then but still as a devoted fan I can't be more honest when I say it has let me down.
First, the story is the base structure that makes Magi unique, seeing as it benefits from its inspiration, the Arabian Nights stories. The world Ohtaka created is marvelous, it is incredibly complex and you must pay great attention to fully understand it. The art helps on this aspect, there are panels in this manga with incredibly detailed artwork which gives the environment the arabesque feeling borrowed from original source. ... Even the magic in this world is something completely new, the Djinns might have been borrowed from its Arabic counterpart but in the Magnostadt Arc we get a new look into the Magi's magic.
While the world is uniquely beautiful, the characters are the most complex part of the Magi series. Most people would concentrate on giving Alibaba, Aladdin and Morgiana (the main trio) as an example of complex characters, but I believe each and every character in this manga is complex. Ohtaka has this great ability of giving even the most minor character an ever expanding personality.
Now as I praised this series thoroughly, you might be asking yourself "but you just said you have been let down". While I have enjoyed this manga greatly and yes, I hold it to heart even now, the third part of the story is a complete disappointment, because all the strong points I have just listed completely disappeared. For some unknown reason (at least to me) the creator rushed the story by the end of the series and it started to make no sense, the characters didn't get a proper resolution and some mysteries remained unresolved.
But even so, I STRONGLY recommend the Magi series, don't let the ending (or the third part of the story) let you down, if you're here for a great journey you will get the best one you've ever seen, in a complex, beautiful world full of magic, accompanied by some of the best characters you'll ever get to know.

It honestly felt like the author was writing one manga, and then at some point midway through, had an idea for a completely different manga and just stuffed her ideas into the world she had already established (debatably even like four different series). (It's also possible she had some conflicting ideas with her editors so who knows). It ended up having a case of constant whiplash for me until the very end of the series.

While I'd like to blame the lackluster finale on the lack of a defined endpoint, there's plenty of examples of manga with no defined endpoint that had good endings (usually more-so ... seinen or SoL) and manga with clear endpoints with pretty bad endings, it basically all comes down to the writer's skill.

But outside of the finale and tonal whiplash, the focus on Djinn Equips led to a lot of power-up designs that left the characters looking nothing like themselves, and sometimes made fights really hard to follow as a result and everything just becoming a mess.

Though for the positives, the main cast was likeable and their interactions really kept the manga going, especially early on. The final arc, while jarring at first, set the story into an interesting direction. And the initial final villain was way better than how it was described to me by someone else.

Overall, I started this manga really impressed and surprised I hadn't considered reading it before, but by the end I was just hoping it would get better or at least all be worth it in the end, but I just never got that.

40/100

-=SPOILERS=-
(I just couldn't write this without expressing what I Disliked & loved about it.)
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The start of this manga, is the part I loved. The old times theme (What era would it be? ;o), the characters, adventures, and the comedy they chucked in with the rest. Below is spoilers from Final Arc (Suggest not to read unless you like spoilers... yeah)
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I personally loved this manga, all the amazing fights and whatnot. The thing that I disliked though was the final arc. It turned into a world a lot like ours, and I though that was going to be how it end. But instead it went with the fact it was like ours, and in the end it completely changed again! This manga and series will always have a special place in my heart, I love this manga and would love to see season 3 of the anime :D

This is my 2nd review and grammar nazi are not welcome here bye bye. I first looked into Magi when it was recommended by a friend and i thought at the beggining what is this but after a few manga chapters i was amazed by the depth of the characters, emotions and compelling story.
Story:9
the first chapters are kinda surprising because we are introduced to this world where slavery is a common thing. it also taught us a lot about the cruelty of humans toward this slaves but then the story becomes so much more and begins taking big depths. the manga is very original. The ... One Thousand and One Arabian Nights are a unique source of inspiration and, as such, Magi brings forth new ideas to the table. These ideas include the types of magic used, new ways of fighting, and unique creatures
Art:9
The art in the manga often takes advantage of the good and evil conflict by using contract between black and white. This theme is prevalent throughout the manga. The excellent use of shading to relay emotion contracts the lack of detail that is, unfortunately, common in the artwork. I have often seen half drawn characters in the background, some have arms in strange, unnatural positions while others are simply missing an arm but its still easy to forget and it isn't that noticeable.
Character:10
This is where Magi shined for me in the great characters that it has. first we have Aladdin a cheerful main character that at some times can also be a super awesome badass. then Alibaba a boy with a dark past who can be weak but can also be strong at first a coward then a person with a brave heart also filled with royal blood. Then we have Morgiana the only badass tsundere that i've actually liked a character that is pretty original and can kick some serious ass you'll always be happy when shes shown in the manga and shes not the tipical tsundere trust me. the antagonist fits the role perfectly. The other characters are quite good and the other girls in the story are badasses and quite awesome.
Overall
Ill give magi a perfect 10 one of my favorite manga of alltime. Read it i promise you wont be dissapointed. Its probably one of the most underatted series out there you could also check out the anime but it has skipped some parts so i reccomend more the manga. pardon me for my bad english if i spelled some thing wrong.

Well, I knowed this one, but the first sight, I wasn't really excited. Cause, I thought that the story is just like arabian night.

well, it's true that many of character's name is from 1001arabian nights.
I guess some of you would think like that too.

And then, I forced myself to watch this.

First eps, two eps, and finally you'll see the different from another anime.

It has their own characteristic.
... from the story, art, character, etc.

And for me, this one is the best anime with arabian background, I ever know.

This is my first review (: here goes.

So i came across Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic on accident, or maybe fate haha.

I love the quirkyness of this manga, the use of gags and comedic input is always well timed, I dont really enjoy watching anime of manga i have read, but this i just had to see! The characters work well together, and the setting of the alternate world works well. I found the story all loops in together and pieces itself together later in the manga which i quite enjoy where you start in the dark and everything makes sense in time.

Definitely under rated! ... I wish I had heard about this sooner, and i hope to find more manga like this, Waiting for the next chapter!


Tay (:

Magi. Oh boi were do I start. Its starts off pretty childish, builds strong characters and keeps going for around 250 amazing chapters and horribly crashes and burns to the End. Id honestly recomend against reading the manga. Spoil yourself in the character Bio's and be done with it. There are some interesting things that happen with the setting later but the story also becomes literaly one asspull per chapter, it turns into the most generic muh friendship garbage, and honstely, I woudnt have read the last 30 chapters if it not for completion. The Anime covered the best parts of magi, and just ... stick with that
Story:____6 (per ~250 9 the closer it come to the end 1)
Art:______7 (characters are suprisingly hard to keep apart in monochrom due to the high saturation)
Character:_8 (would be 9, but the last third screws with it, like with everthing)
Enjoyment:3(dont force yourself to finish it, just drop it once you dont like it anymore)
Overall :__ 5 (had it at 6 OG, but it realy did leave a lingering bitter taste.)
--IF you insist on reading as much of the manga as is enjoyable till right were it goes downhill HARD read till
chapter 318

Well Magi... When I heard from a friend about Magi, I wasnt very impressed, sadly. all I saw was a little chibi boy with a flute from the way he spoke about it. BUT God how was I wrong. Eventually I decided to pick it up and honestly, was amazed by it. I've been reading some of the more mainstream mangas like Bleach, Naruto, One piece, Toriko etc. and i was relieved to find such breeze of refreshment in this one. The setting is somewhat different from what I've experienced so far as it is stationed to a land similar to those of the Middle ... East somewhere in the Middle ages, I guess. If you have seen Aladdin or Sinbad as a child, you'll see where Im aiming.

STORY 10/10

The story follows a young boy named Aladdin and his mysterious adventures alongside his Djinn in the flute named Ugo. By breathing into the flute, Aladdin is able to summon his Djinn who appears to be somewhat of a giant-like creature with a fair amount of power. He finds out that he is a Magi, a person stronger and different from normal magicians, with a task to find ''The King Vessel'', a person suitable to be the king of the world. His flute is a so-called metal vessel, which can only be found in dungeouns, buildings that randomly appear all over the world and are very difficult to conquer. On his way he meets Alibaba, a boy working for a greedy boss who has an ambition of conquering dungeons and becoming rich and wants to use Aladdin to suceed. Later on, they meet a girl named Morgiana, who is a slave, and help her escape from her sadistic boss. Then, the three of them decide to explore the world, but thats not all fine and easy because a lot happens during their journeys, and I wont say anything more for the sake of not spoiling it.
The story is really deep and psychological, always questioning right and wrong, because it is filled with slavery, coup d'etats, wars between countries and similar as the protagonists are sucked in it. It gives that deep questioning of rigtheousness as we see in Death note or Code geass.
This is where it gains its strong story with great plot twists, and I mean really great plot twist, inovative powers and good fight scenes


ART 10/10

One thing I love about the Magi art is that its clear. I havent found myself wondering what is this and what is that during a fight, drawings get to be quite detailed sometimes, and the mangaka is not afraid to draw blood as most shounen mangakas do. But the best thing about its art are facial expressions, emotions and ambient. Whether its good or bad, you will find it hard to take one side because of the way the mangaka presents the emotions of two or three sides in a problem. Is slavery right? Is it wrong? Maybe those rebels are indeed the good side? Of course that I know that slavery is wrong, but that questions come to your mind when both sides are represented with their problems and desires as they are in Magi. Havent seen the anime yet, but the fight scenes are pretty good in the manga.

CHARACTER 10/10

Characters are, hands down, handled really great. As I said before, every side has its own problems and desires, and very often you get to see gaidens(flashbacks) and background stories, but nothing too exagerated, just enough to get you to experience what you need to experience. Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana have quite a strong background, really developed in a way to get you to see what comes next. An that is when the three of them are around, as the story is set up to follow different sets of characters and very often Aladdin is not in the middle of it. Thats why there is a big aspect of characters, very big, and they are all very likeable in a way, I just hope that some of them return in the later arcs. Names of most characters are borrowed form The stories of 1001 nights, if you have heard about it, and the moves are not in Japanese or German or something, but in Arabic, which I find pretty awesome and cool-sounding ;)

ENJOYMENT 10/10

After all that I have said and been through with Magi, its hard not to give it a 10 for enjoyment. Its funny how I havent heard about this great manga like until two months ago. Manga is so interesting that I litterally read without any thoughts about the passing time or remaining chapters. Sometimes I read about 40-60 chapters in a row because of how interested I was at the time. Its amazing how it can rotate from a shounen manga to a psychologically intense action to a historical reading. Its filled with diplomatic wars and coup d'etats, which i find very enjoyable. Its really intelectuall and nicely paced, especially amusing and fun, be it bad times or good times, you must see that Magi greatness. I really suggest that you check it out and find how awesome it is. Especially if you are a fan of Fairy tail, Ao no exorcist or One piece, then its a must read :D

Magi is a rare manga that managed to grab me less due the writing and art, but more due to gaining admiration for the author and my desire to see good parts of it through while looking what went wrong and why. Sadly I don’t have the answer to that, but I’d still like to talk about what makes Magi great/bad while looking forward to her new manga, Orient, being an improvement.

The beginning of Magi might give people a wrong idea of what’s to come. It seemed plain and in some ways, generic. You got yet another fantasy world, though this time with a huge ... focus on Asian and Arabic regions instead of the usual Europe which is somewhat refreshing. You got a power system not too different from the others, with magic and magic items and weapons with special abilities. Initially there’s even a pretty straightforward seeming plot progression of traveling across the world and capturing dungeons and beating up bad guys.

However, Magi quickly deviates from its peers towards political conflict and moral dilemmas. This is at the same time its biggest strength and downfall. When it works, the manga presents you with some genuinely fair arguments and intrigue. Characters get to have real debates, instead of right side and wrong side it’s more often about people doing morally reprehensible things for a good cause, or retaliating after they were wronged themselves. One such example are the ruling dynasty of Kou empire. Even though their unrelenting conquest of other territories seems aggressive, and their homogenization of culture disrespectful, behind it is an effort to prevent future strife under the premise that much conflict is born through disagreement and under one ideology they’d be able to instill peace. This is not the most realistic solution but this is not the most realistic world so I think it’s interesting regardless that even villains seem to have real reasons behind their actions.

Same way when it comes to politics it feels like Magi takes a note from real world history. This makes countries almost feel like characters in and of themselves cause there’s an organic relationship between citizens and government. Some of the best examples of that is Balbadd, one of the first cities we see. Incapable leadership by a corrupt monarch leads to bad relationship between rich and poor classes of society, eventually it all leads up to a revolt, bloodshed, and a new ruler. Yet, troubles don’t end there. Since last monarch managed to get country in a huge debt it falls under control of Kou empire who forces Balbadd to accept their culture, way of life and government yet since this doesn’t sit well with some of its older citizens and political figures, it promotes yet more conflicts down the line. There’s a whole lot of stuff like this, especially during the later parts of the manga where for the longest time, conflicts tend to center around politics and economics rather than actual fights.
On top of that, while this is not much more than reference, I really like how seemingly every country in the world of Magi has a real life alternative. It’s obvious that plenty research went into this and I wonder how much more a history buff would get out it.

Unfortunately there are always exceptions. Being fair an argument can lead to some interesting dialogue but when that fairness is unwarranted it just leads to some stupidity. For the first time this really annoyed me during the part where our main character Aladdin opposes mages who keep normal humans under their city in terrible conditions as they sap their magic energy (which is also what everything is made out of in this world so if you get drained you die) top mage man explains to him the story behind this all and why he thinks it’s justified. That’s nice and all but then time comes around the argument of “well they don’t mind it/like it so why would you free them” when talking about people who were forced into conditions they live in and beaten into submission until they convinced themselves to enjoy it. Aladdin just accepts this as fair and doesn’t reply and we just ignore that from then on. This example was bad to me but worst one is right near the end of the manga. It’s slight spoilers but basically there’s a point in the story where everyone in the world is convinced that dying and blending together in the great flow of life as pure energy (rukh, the stuff mentioned above that mages siphon). Main characters for a while wonder if it’s really okay to save people since they’re all so happy about it and it’s just wild. You’re not being fair to anyone, you know they don’t want this, why are you doubting this? It’s like watching someone get hypnotized and being told to jump off the roof and you watch as they walk towards the edge thinking “well they’re seem really into the idea of jumping off the roof, who am I to judge?”. I try to be fair too and this is obviously an issue of personal view more than anything but I think most people will agree with me on the point mentioned above.

Overall Magi’s message becomes loud and clear as you follow the story. It’s narrative about what’s right and wrong. It is right to control people for peace? Is it fine to kill if it makes the world better? The questions it asks are vague but answer is generally the same. Magi consistently rejects any kind of moral system by pointing their flaws or hypocrisies, instead going for a much more idealistic answer of doing what you feel is right and dealing with consequences. It celebrates personal will and diversity of thought instead of any sort of constrictions for the sake of pragmatic results. This might seem a bit too basic cause “just bee yourself” is such a cliche and generalized thing to say but I think Magi’s way of getting to it through difficult moral problems is interesting and engaging cause for once instead of the usual “I AM RIGHT AND YOU ARE WRONG, BY BEATING YOU WITH MY FISTS I WILL PROVE THIS TO BE TRUE” followed with “YOU BEAT ME WITH YOUR FISTS OF JUSTICE, NOW I KNOW THAT YOUR WAY IS THE WAY OF TRUTH” we get something more human to chew on.

Buuuut, there’s a caveat to that too and it’s one of the biggest I have with Magi. This caveat is plot focusing on the moral message so much, that they forget to do anything else. Moral dilemmas are interesting for some time but that has a limited appeal. I need to relate to characters or at least care about them to engage with what happens to them and wish to follow it but in Magi there’s no time for that. Even when it comes to some of the most important characters you get to know fuck all about them! For example Alibaba’s entire character is that he’s upbeat, fair and nice but also wants to date a girl and be loved. Doesn’t sound too interesting does it? And two lasts points only pop up during gag segments if I recall. Even less could be said about Aladdin, a person with no eyebrows is more interesting and the only thing a person with no eyebrows has going for them is minor lack of hair on their face. Aladdin is just a nice kid who likes meeting friends, learning stuff and other shit. That’s it. This is who you follow for the majority of the manga. All because there’s so much focus on repeating the same basic structure and same type of argument instead of doing something new and expanding on your universe and characters.

What makes this such a travesty is that there’s short bonus chapters at the end of each volume and they bring more life to characters than the actual main chapters! They all revolve around quirkier aspects of these characters that aren’t seen or used enough otherwise. When I finally finished reading this manga I kinda wanted to see more of these characters but then realized I just want more of those bonus chapters. Ohtaka’s got a sense of humor too and you don’t need to see bonus chapters for that but maybe if she was daring to put more lighthearted and SoL segments in this manga we’d be able to get better feel for the characters and maybe care just a bit more when they face real danger.

Don’t have a good segue for it but the universe had a lot of potential too. Since they’re all vaguely based on different countries, you already got the complex culture for future reference and since the manga takes place in roughly medieval times, yet with heavy presence of magic, there’s SO much ground for exploring different possibilities. What would occur if certain cultures got their hands on certain type of technology or magic ahead of others? How would they use it, how would the others respond? There’s a moment like that in the manga that I enjoyed a whole lot. It happens in the later parts of it and concerns a militaristic country reforming into one focused on business in accordance with the new world order set by one of the characters. To reform their country they take many steps but they face a big problem. Their country is so big and their business partners are so far apart that transportation is difficult and costly. They get screwed out of access to technology more sophisticated than a wagon and resort to magic. In the end they come up with mobile magic circles that teleport goods and people to points setup across the map. This revolutionizes trading but doesn’t go as smoothly when countries they want to trade with start raising rather realistic concerns. If only there more of that. Instead the world is only able to come out ahead of characters thanks to the story focusing on politics so damn much.

I avoided talking about what Magi is actually about for so long and that’s not because I forgot or don’t want to spoil it but because at the end of this negative section I only have a little mention for it. The plot of magi is fucked up, unfocused mess with no weight or intrigue. It’s hard to even talk about it because there’s no proper structure to it. It’s just a series of things happening over and over for some reason until big bad escalates it to the max and we get a final conflict with a final resolution and a flaccid “everything was fine” happy ending.

At last I’d like to talk about art and end this on a positive note. I think the art of Magi is great. On a purely technical level it’s not the most impressive thing you’ll see in WSJ but Ohtaka’s sense of style more than compensates for it. More than once throughout the manga you’ll see pages dominated by a single panel with some intricate designs that depict magical formulas or symbolic and religious imagery. Spreads with a lot of detail that don’t fail to convey sheer scale of combat between large armies or simply beautiful scenery. Even on smaller scale it’s an enjoyable manga to read cause of how lovely and energetic everything is. The multitudes of expression on faces of characters helps dramatic scenes and sometimes serves as a punchline for comedy. When it comes to combat Ohtaka usually puts emphasis on powerful and expressive forms. I think it’s somewhat weak at the beginning but at some point she’s gets really good at this so even plain, uninspired action scenes become a pleasant sight thanks to the amount of impact, momentum and general power that comes through the art. It helps that a lot of the manga seems to be drawn using a brush pen that always leads to some delicious nuance in line art. Overall this was a good chunk of why enjoyed the manga.

That’s about all I have to say. This turned out rather ranty but there’s a lot of things I wanted to say. I hope what came across is that Magi is a manga with both great highlights and weaknesses but in the end, I feel like the strong points of it are good enough to warrant some appreciation. Orient, please be good.

Magi was honestly very captivating at first. I really enjoyed the sense of wonder and excitement that the author was able to write into the setting accompanied by well written characters. It brought back a sort of Hunter x Hunter feel for a while. Aladdin and Alibaba are a loveable duo, and one's who you root for throughout the entire story. I honestly really enjoyed the (most of) the story, especially the first couple of arcs, but the later arcs of the show did not really make the best decisions story-wise. I understand it can be difficult extending a series and planning a long plot ... spanning over 30 volumes, but my gosh does the writing just really fall off towards the last third of this adventure.

Story: 4

I liked up until the last third or so. My problems exist with how Sinbad's character was handled, it really felt off, and the entire thing seemed very drawn out. The way the last chunk is set up just feels a bit like the author was struggling with how they wished to end the story. I just got tired of the twists because half the time they wouldn't amount to much. It just clearly wasn't as well thought out as previous arcs, and the pacing also becomes much less enjoyable in the last third too.

Art: 7

The artwork in this manga is very enjoyable, there were definitely some stand out panels in this one. Sometimes battles seemed to get almost too clustered, but overall Magi's art has a nice, and very shonen feel to it. The character designs are also very diverse and interesting, as are the designs of the monsters. It does honestly have a very distinct feel to it, but it does feel a little lacking sometimes, as the author does sometimes have panels that are naturally much less interesting than others.


Characters: 5

I liked most of the characters, though none really didn't feel all that profound, save for maybe Alibaba and Morgiana (though she is missing or MIA in many parts of this story). Aladdin was nice but he was just sort of a typical, "Be nice to save the world," sort of main character. Hakuryuu honestly just didn't really do it for me, especially in later parts of the manga. Sinbad shares Hakuryuu's fate but it is much worse, he is written very poorly in the final arcs. I'm honestly just not a fan of how the characters in this manga have so much wasted potential.


Enjoyment: 5

I enjoyed this manga. It was not the best I've ever read, but Magi is not a bad manga by any stretch of the imagination. It is a fun shonen with very unique character design, and an interesting world. It has it's short-comings but I still liked what I read.

Overall: 5

Magi is a decent shonen, but not something I can necessarily recommend to everyone. If you like shonen like One Piece or maybe even Hunter x Hunter than give this one a shot, but I'd be lying if I didn't say there are definitely shortcomings in this one. The story flucuates in quality, half of the cast gets written so very poorly in the last arc, and the plot is rather predictable at times. But there is something good here, it's just not the first thing that I would recommend to someone when discussing shonen manga.

This is one of those manga that really surprise me, i have heard good things from my friends i gave it a go, at first i didn't like the set up of the story, like the environment and the name of the main characters, but due time i began loving the story more and more has well with characters. The characters had their unique characteristics that make them special in a good way with cool power up and funny personalities. Every arc of the story has it funny moments and memorable parts, the enjoyment that i get while reading this manga was one of the ... best i ever had, there are some moments with a lot text but the art makes it enjoyable to read. I can say that one of the biggest features this manga has it to be the art, for me it was one of most beautiful weak to weak manga art i ever saw. I really enjoy 100% the experience of reading this manga and i will recommend to anyone who really enjoy a adventures manga.


-Shinobu Ohtaka you are one of the best mangaka i had ever know, love your story and work to the max-

The first time I saw this manga, I was like; wut? 1001 nights theme? Aladdin and Alibaba combined? Looks interesting. And I started reading it. The story began with Aladdin, a young boy that traveled across the desert to find a 'metal vessel' for his 'friend'. In his journey, he met many friends and learned about his fate as a Magi.

Story: 8
The couple of chapter in the beginning made me laugh, and stunned. It taught us about the meaning of human rights and slavery in the country. The Baldadd arc made us saw the government from the eyes of the slums. It'll make you pity ... the poor people and how they struggle from their current economic problem and fought the royalty, to the point of risking their own life. The reason I gave it 8 was because the story is a bit out of the first plot and sometimes the plot ran too fast.

Art: 9
I totally adore the art. It’s really cute, for a shonen manga. The details for the backgrounds are also stunning, and it’s not rare that there are a whole page displaying the view of a city or a dungeon that filled with details and stuffs. Ohtaka Shinobu-sensei (Sumomomo, momomo) also able to make the characters from super cute, too the beyond ugly figure. The expressions of the character are also hilarious, and the clothing of the character matched the theme very well.

Character: 10
Because hard-boiled main character is too mainstream. Ohtaka-sensei made the main character (Aladdin) a cute little boy that can be ridiculous, yet being a gentleman at the same time. Alibaba, being Aladdins first friend, is a man with a dark background, yet can still being cheerful at all time. He’s not the type of a strong man, and yes, he could be really weak. But there are also time where he can be helpful and strong. Morgiana, the manliest girl from the entire series, is a total badass with a poker face. She’s really strong and not the type of clingy, tsundere, and all-talk girl like a typical shonen manga heroine. The other characters had their own unique personality, the antagonists can be a real jerk and fits the role. The girls are badass, and not the weak type princessess who always seeking for help.

Overall, I’ll give Magi a 9 out of 10 for being epic. It’s a really worthy manga to read and you wont dissapointed. Go read it eventhough the chapters are keeping up. Or go watch the anime. Last, I’m sorry if my English is bad.

The only thing I can say is:

FVOIEVJOEIVMEOVOEVIMOIVMRIVMEROIVNEOIRVNOIERNVEIRVNOEINVOEINVWOIEN

If you don't know what that means, then you won't. If you do, then you do.

To anyone looking to read something to pass the time, to feel like you're on an adventure of a lifetime, I think you came to the right place. I came in not expecting much, and what I got in return was very fucking worthwhile. I mean, my ass is here commenting and telling you to read this. That might not mean anything to you, but it speaks volumes to me.

Or someone rewrote my rukh to tell you this (Get it??) (I thought ... it was pretty funny)

And thank you Oz for recommending this!!

I don't generally look for manga to read, and again with this one I only became aware of it due to its anime. Being the impatient guy that I am once I saw it, it took me a couple of days to read through all 160 releases. And I say it's a time well spent.

Magi begins as a cute series that tells us the story of Aladdin a magi who doesn't know anything about himself as he travels the world to discover the world and himself. His only companion a musclebound djinn who doesn't have a head and lives in his flute.

At first the ... episodic looking series slowly begins to show us an overreaching arc, as we see that there is more to magi, djinn and rukh. Though the series a shonen manga through and through doesn't shy away from the fact that the Magi world has its fare of darkness. With its amazing character depth and development I need to say that the anime could easily reach the level of Fairy Tail or One Piece if done right. And so far it seems to be going in that road.

If you have the time and want to have a good time, this series is for you. Especially if you're into mystical stuff.

I always saw this being updated quite often but had no intentions to read it until recently, what an idiot I am for not checking it out sooner.

Welcome to Magi!
We follow the adventures of Aladdin who's quest is find out who he really is and what his goal in life is about, it's that simple.... plus the dungeons that appear round the world that hold huge amount of treasure, magic, djinns, action, polictics, slavery etc etc.

Throughout the series Aladdin comes across other characters that soon become major players in the series as well, like Alibaba and Morgianna. The world is very rich in ... detail where we start off in the deserts, then towards more greener highlands, tropical islands and magical kingdoms.

The characters are very likeable and unique to boot, where you have the shy and quiet Morgianna who's stronger then 5 goriallas, to Alibaba who loves women but always manages to fail. Their development is shown throughout the series while facing their murky pasts to become stronger physically and mentally, and it's done very well.

Artwork is your standard but very rich, especially the colour pages or spreads.

It took me a few chapters to get into it at the start, but when I got into the first dungeon and the story unfolded, that when I was hooked and kept reading like a small pebble rolling down a mountain to finally become a huge boulder. Right now I'm like a blood hound waiting for the next chapter, it's that good!

9/10 Lackluster for the first few chapters but after that it's down the yellow brick road.

Note: Currently there's 159 chapters released but only 153 chapters have been translated, so there's usually a new chapter out everyday until it catches up.

It doesn't happen very often, but through enough searching you can eventually find a diamond in the rough, and that is what Magi is to me. It is rare for me to get into a series and not find a "flaw" in it, but that is what Magi is. I have never seen a series before where there are literally no bad characters in it, but Magi is just that. Magi is a unique and mesmerizing experience in an expansive magical world that can be as frightening as it can beautiful. The story flows extremely well for the bulk of the manga with the only ... questioning areas being early in the story and very brief. Also, despite it seemingly generic and "goody two shoes," themes, the story does an excellent job of surprising the reader by going in the complete opposite direction at the most exciting times. I never once found the story to be boring, lacking, or repetitive. On top of this, Magi, is at no loss for interesting, loveable, and hateable characters (Hating in a good way). There are all different characters with all different personas, goals, methods, and abilities. The development for these characters isn't lacking either, especially in the case of Alibaba. Overall, I'd say the only real problems with the series are some personal problems that others may have with the art. The art can be a little "much" at times. The author enjoys using a very huge lighting effect to symbolize happy emotions, but it can seem a little garish to some. The author's personal artwork may also not be to some peoples' liking. However, if these are the only flaws in the story, then it's strength more than make up for them. Magi has become my all time favorite manga, and I hope that you give it a try.

In my opinion, Magi is one of the best manga that deserves applause. Before I started reading the manga, I had watched the anime first and unexpectedly I really liked it. Although the popularity of Magi is much lower than other shounen manga, I personally think that magi have much more originality and an interesting concept than other shounen manga.

What I like most about Magi is the world-building itself. It’s very rarely found in shounen manga which is set in a fantasy world that takes references from the Middle East, China, and medieval Europe. One of the most prominent is the Roman, Chinese, and Abbasid ... empires. Apart from that, there are many other medieval kingdoms that are used as references in this manga.

With a setting in a fantasy world with various kingdoms competing with one another, Magi presents political conflicts that are very tense and interesting to follow. In this manga, we are shown how each kingdom competes with each other either through economic competition or military operations.

Like other shounen manga, Magi also has a power system, namely magic and djinn equip. At the beginning of the story, we were told that the world of Magi is a world where people can use magic. In addition, it is also told that in this world there are towers called dungeons in various places. The tower can give power and wealth to anyone who can conquer it. Since the emergence of the dungeon, people have been coming and competing for the power contained in the dungeon.

Previously, I thought that magic would only tell the story of Alibaba and his friends in conquering every dungeon in the world. However, my prediction was wrong. Even the dungeon that has been conquered by Alibaba is just one. The conflict in this manga is much more complex than I thought. In addition to political conflicts, there are other conflicts such as conspiracies carried out by secret organizations in which the organization is responsible for various kinds of conflicts and disasters that occur in the world.

Another aspect that made me love magic is the characters. There are many characters that appear in this manga, and each of them has its own uniqueness and role. Alibaba, the main character is a character who is not so strong in terms of strength but has intelligence that can be superior. The other main character is Aladdin, who is a magician who is much younger than Alibaba. Throughout the story, we will be shown the growth and development of Aladdin as a character. There are still many other characters who are only side characters but have a very big influence on the storyline such as Sinbad, Koen, and Hakuryuu.

My only complaint about this manga is that the final arc feels rushed and dizzying. Too much information, dialogue, and flashbacks that actually made me confused about what happened in this manga. However, thankfully Magi can end up with a pretty good ending.

Overall, I really enjoyed this manga so much. It's unique, original, captivating, and thought-provoking. I recommend this manga to fellow shounen fans who want to try something new