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Dec 13, 2012
In a world where labyrinths, heroes and slavery exist side by side, Magi attempts to create an understanding of this sphere while bringing to life my childhood favorite characters.
In some ways, Magi is absolutely brilliant. Its music is gorgeous and I regularly feel dreamy while watching the show thanks to its spectacular background music. The character designs are adorable, and for someone who regularly complains about the lack of strong female characters in a show, Magi has turned out to be something I can point people towards should they want to see strong female characters.
The main story line seems to be following one that would
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appeal to both younger and somewhat older audiences, it has both a childish enthusiasm and a rather slow but definite development of characters in it.
Some of the themes it deals with, 'betrayal' seems to be a strong one in the current arc (I'm on episode 10), can get grating at times. However the show tries to show everyone as characters of their own, and has developed starting plot lines for each of them. Given the fact that it has only been ten episodes, that is an accomplishment.
However, not everything is perfect. Like all shows, this too has its weak points. The pivotal one among them being the inability to understand what exactly motivates a character to do what they are doing. This has happened at least thrice to me now, and even so, I am wiling to bypass that part and hope that there will be some clarification in the future which doesn't imply that it was done simply because the character was being 'eccentric', or to put it more simply 'one dimensional'.
Another part of Magi that irritates me a lot is how they deal with the societal conditions prevalent in the background of the premise. It somehow comes of as lackluster and badly researched. Perhaps it could have helped if they either avoided bringing up the subject completely, or handled it more effectively. And I'm absolutely convinced they could have done the latter, the way Morgiana's story was handled shows much of what they could have done. Though it was barely brought up, par a few episodes, she remains one of the most sympathetic and strongest characters in the show.
So, to sum up-
Story: 8/10. It's a very new twist to age old stories and I love what they have done with it. It's refreshing, makes me want to go back and read my childhood books again and when I do, trust me, I will probably see everything in a different light.
Art: 8/10. Light, vibrant, and full of energy. That is how I see the artwork behind the series. The desert backgrounds and locales are beautiful to look at and there is a lot of attention given to detail.
Sound: 9/10. Here, when I talk about the sound, I strictly mean the background music. The opening and ending themes weren't to my style, but that in no way implies that they weren't good either. It's simply that I love the background music far too much.
Character: 7/10. Here is where I was a bit disappointed. Some characters left me surprised and wanting to see more, while others made me want to throw a shoe at my screen. However, each character in their own right is brilliant, and I'm sure if they were given a chance to shine, they would do just that.
Enjoyment: 8/10. When I have a love-hate relationship with a series, and I still go back to watch it every week, I know I enjoy it. The series has a good balance, it gets somewhat tipsy at times, certain scenes such as Aladdin's umm... fondness... for certain... female body parts made me cringe. Simply because he looked too young for it. I don't care what his age is, he just looks too young for that. O_O But thankfully the latest episodes don't feature many scenes of said fondness. Overall, the series is pleasant to watch if you take it with a grain of salt.
Overall: 7/10. When a series has so many things I both love and hate - this happens. However, I would encourage anyone and everyone to at least give the series a try. :)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 6, 2012
If you could - would you choose to save everyone? Especially if there was no guarantee they would save you?
Moral questions I couldn't instantly find the answer to present themselves again and again in this manga. And each one is more disturbing than the one before it.
Starting from the creepy masks right down to the reason why they all find themselves in that room. It all seems like a twisted game, and to be honest - that is exactly what it is.
Added to that is the question of the 'crimes' these people have committed. Given the hero's crime, it isn't exactly sure what
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kind of a 'Judge' selected these people.
The story seems to focus more on the interactions between the characters. Everyone reacts the way strangers who wake up in an unknown room would, that is until the judging begins.
Caught in a survival game, a group of strangers are forced to 'Judge' each other in a manner making the group seem more like a jury where everyone is on trial. And these decisions, as expected tend to follow the pattern of 'I want to survive, so what should I do?'
Lies, deceit, betrayal and twisted thinking follow as everyone tries to find out ways to survive, and this includes forming groups among themselves. But even then, the question of whether everyone in the group is loyal or not, remains uncertain. This manga tends to make you question every decision, and at points I found myself staring into the pages and screaming, 'No! Don't do that! It's obviously a trick!'
The one thing I learned from this manga was that it was foolish to trust anyone, and I mean just about anyone in this story. I tend to find myself cocking my eyebrows at the lead himself sometimes. But in so far, it has been played spectacularly. The author does a good job of showing everyone's desperation, and the lead's plea to try and save everyone is a breath of fresh air in a story where everyone seems hell bent on their own survival.
Being the sequel to the manga 'Doubt', I sometimes wonder how the two will match up with each other, or if at all. The art style is similar to 'Doubt's' and for those that haven't read either - The art style is good. I would give it a 7/10. And the author does a brilliant job of expressing everyone's emotions. At times, it makes me honestly feel for the characters.
The sense of isolation, the desire to survive along with the knowledge that your life depends on a stranger who probably cares for nothing more then their own survival; plot twists that make you question what which character knows and has kept hidden - and the overriding question of their crimes. The range of the characters is vast - you find the typical hero trying to save everyone, an overtly 'bad guy' character, the sneaky one, a school girl, a glasses character, the apparently 'good' character among others. In essence, it tends to bring together all the stereotypes and plays them against each other spectacularly.
The characterization is nothing I can particularly speak about at this point. Not all the characters have been dealt with in depth, and some of them seem far too obvious. I hope this will change as the manga continues. One part I find somewhat interesting is the way the lead himself is ever so slowly changing, though how far that will go I cannot say yet.
If you're a fan of horror/gore and like to keep guessing - this is a manga you should definitely try out. Though the most gripping part in this manga is the moral dilemma which every character faces. Exactly what is the right thing to do? And who should get to decide and why?
At this point, I'm up to chapter 15 in the manga, and honestly I'm impressed. Though I have to say that certain things could have been played better - like maybe humanizing some of the characters that seem to exist just to create tension. What really gripped me to this tale was the part which got me thinking of what I would do if I were a character in the game. I wasn't really happy with the answer I got, and that kept me reading.
Go on, what would you do?
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 6, 2012
I started watching this series yesterday, and so far I'm into the ninth episode. Usually, I tend to back out from stories like this, but there was something about the mystery in this story that made me sit down and watch it through. I literally couldn't take my eyes off the screen until I had finished all I had.
The story pulls you in from the very first episode, and it keeps making you second guess everything, only to find yourself mind-warped once the story starts to finally tell you what's going on. I found myself staring at the screen, my mouth opened wide some
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episodes into the anime - and this hardly ever happens with me.
The story, art, music, voice acting - you name it and everything is perfect. At times, I found myself so into the anime - dark emotions evident in the characters felt so very real, that I could find myself almost as scared as them. The whole idea behind every plot progression in the story is so well thought out and placed, that it becomes difficult to dislike anyone.
The treatment is what surprised me the most. The basic story behind this is not all that unusual to me. I have seen plenty of animes where a new character comes to live in a new place and strange things happen once they arrive. But this story is different. Everything is brought into question, and anything can happen - and all the while you'll be kept thinking 'So that was what that meant!' The hints are all there, but spotting them can lead a watcher down a path that breaks off into a million different roads. But don't worry, once the story finally tells you what's going on, you'll be saying, 'Oh. Now I get it... Why didn't I see that before?'
For anyone who likes watching unpredictable, gripping and ever so slightly disturbing stories - this is the one for you. Just don't jump to conclusions once you start watching, 'Another' will probably prove you wrong.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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