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Dec 15, 2015
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As per usual, this is part of a video review on youtube, and I'm proud how this turned out, so go watch/listen to it over there ~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i260HcpLSE
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Like „The Labyrinth of Magic“, this is a fantasy-adventure borrowing themes from all around the world. Again, it was animated by studio A1-Pictures and directed by Masunari Koji. Obviously different is the original date of airing, which is now Fall 2013, and it adapts chapters 111 to 196 of Ohtaka Shinobu's manga.
After the events of season 1 and successfully conquering the dungeon Zagan, our heroes stand before the question of what to do next. Stay in Sindria with
...
Sinbad or journey to another country? While befriending Dunya, the corrupted princess they fought in the dungeon, Aladdin decides to travel to Magnostadt, country of magicians and apparently source of the dark metal vessels. Much to Alibaba's dismay though, the wants to go there on his own. Morgiana decides to travel to Katarr, her homeland, and Alibaba still has problems with his full Djinn-Equip, for which he travels to the empire of Reim in the west, while Hakuryuu is called back to Kou.
With the main cast parting ways, the focus of the story shifts, following only Aladdin with two episodes exception dedicated to Alibaba and Morgiana respectively. We do learn a bit more about Hakuryuu, especially what his reasoning for hating the current Kou empire is, but all 3 are as good as forgotten for the bigger part of the show.
Generally though, there is not as much focus on any of the characters, except Mogamett, the director of Magnostadt's magic academy, which is basically Hogwarts, and Titus Alexius, a magician from Reim introduced after the first half. We also learn about many new characters, like the leader of Al-Thamen, the rest of the magi, and Kou's royal family, all with distinct characteristics and features. Sinbad also finally proves what a terrible person he is.
The focus taken from developing the main characters is set on developing and explaining the world instead. There's a lot of exposition on how magic works and the different empires. Sadly, that exposition is mostly dumped on the viewer and with the exception of the climax, there's as good as no action present, making this more a show about being told stuff, rather than an exciting adventure.
The missing action makes the first half at least passable to look at, as a drop in quality from the first season's start is already noticeable from the beginning, but at least doesn't hurt yet. The show does spend a lot more time in this chibi-style though, which I didn't appreciate. In contrast to its predecessor, I did notice a lot more bad CGI, and even a lot of it at unnecessary parts, like an army of soldiers looking all the same, but not moving. And there's a creature that's half drawn and half CGI, which looked absolutely terrible. Like season 1, the second half is incredibly lazy in terms of animation and wasn't fun to watch.
The soundtrack is mostly taken over from what we know of season 1, I personally hoped for more new stuff, but as it wasn't bad before, I won't complain.
And now, once again, we pose the final question:
Is „Magi: The Kingdom of Magic“ worth the watch?
If you're a big fan of season 1, this works well as an extension to the universe, but it's not a good show in itself. If you already struggled during „The labyrinth of Magic“, you won't get anything out of this. It's not just a build-up to a third season that doesn't exist, but at least a finished arc, so I won't say „wait for the next one before you watch it“. To sum it up: If you're interested, why not? But if you aren't, just ignore it and end your relationship with the franchise at this point.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Nov 23, 2015
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This is the script for my video-review of the show over on youtube, so if you don't wanna read it, listen to me talk about it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn7Wk9_TudM
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Magi is a shounen fantasy adventure, but this time, it's one borrowing not only themes from the arabian one-thousand and one nights, but many other countries as well!
It is based on an ongoing manga by author Ohtaka Shinobu and was adapted as 2 TV series spanning 25 episodes each.
The adaptation by A1-Pictures contains the first 110 chapters of the manga, staying mostly true to the source material, was directed by Masunari Koji and aired in Fall 2012.
...
In Magi's world, several so-called dungeons appeared throughout the lands years ago.
Filled with tons of treasures and magic items, the strongest being "djinn vessels", many young adventurers tried to conquer them, with only a handful of the strongest ever returning alive.
In the desert city of Quichan, our protagonist Alibaba works hard earning enough money to one day conquer the local dungeon "Amon", fulfilling his wish of becoming rich.
Here, he meets the young and mysterious boy Aladdin, who doesn't understand how the world works and therefore gets Alibaba in all kinds of trouble with his boss, all while having to swallow his pride.
When an accident happens while transporting wine to another city and a big desert monster threatens to eat a child alive, Aladdin gets impressed by Alibaba, who can't just stand by and watch.
The two of them then decide to venture into the unknown, as they are responsible for the loss of the wine and in big debt, and go to conquer Amon!
From the beginning on, the series shows us that Alibaba isn't your usual shounen protagonist who's just brawns and no brains, as he knows what he has to do and seems knowledgable in a few uncommon territories, recognizing the monster in the desert or being able to decypher a foreign language.
The anime's third arc, which focuses more on his background, makes perfect sense of all this and places Alibaba somewhere far up near the top when talking about good shounen characters.
Aladdin on the other hand stays mysterious for a long time, and while he isn't a well-rounded character from the beginning, he gets to learn quite a lot from the people he meets and has pretty good reasoning, even though many of his actions only motivation is "For my friend Alibaba!"
Then there's Morgiana, a red-haired slave girl from the very strong, southern tribe called "Fanalis", designwise seemingly inspired by the egyptians. She is hands-down the best thing in existence.
While the show is generally missing a few good female characters, Morgiana would take the place of best girl no matter how perfect the others could be! JUST LOOK AT THAT FACE!
In the beginning, she follows our male protagonists only out of thankfulness for freeing her, but soon, she evolves into their friend, making these 3 characters a really good team.
As for other important characters, there's Sinbad, also called "Sinworst", which is true.
He's introduced as a pretty laid-back, but powerful man, having conquered not one, but seven dungeons in his life-time.
He's not having that much of a formed character during this season, but he is more important for the future of the franchise.
Similarily, Judar, a black-haired mage working for Kou, a big empire in the east inspired by chinese history, seems like a normal "bad guy", but does have some signs of there being a reason for why he is how he is.
Hakuryuu, a prince of that Kou empire, is important for the future of the series as well, but already has relevance in the second half of the first season, where he's getting a decent character, not on the level of Alibaba and Aladdin, but by far enough to impress me.
The secondary characters sadly go nowhere out of the ordinary, with the only ones worth mentioning for me being the grandmother of the Kouga tribe and Hakuryuu's sister, Hakuei.
The first serving as a mentor for Aladdin, teaching him what life means and how you have to deal with putting your life on the line in a fight.
The later mostly introducing the Kou empire and showing that it isn't full of bad people and that their goal isn't just to conquer the world, but to actually unify it and create one peaceful country.
The several antagonists introduced in each arc have some reasoning behind their actions, but are generally more mid-tier, but the important ones are really not bad characters.
The animation is really the thing that makes me completely disappointed of the adaptation.
The quality drops so hard that the second half wasn't really enjoyable anymore, and after having read the manga, I wanted to watch the show just to see Morgiana dance.
Yes, I am salty because it didn't look like shown in the second opening, but still, the animation has no positive points, and except for a few scenes, the first half doesn't stand out either.
The actual artstyle though is kinda interesting, as the different influences are really fun to see and observe.
It ranges from the already mentioned "1001 nights" and imperial chinese over to the mongolian plains, where the Kouga clan lives.
And Sindria is apparently based on India.
Regarding the character designs, I can just say that -quote- "all the characters are cute" -quote end-.
No seriously, like the world, the characters with their different nationalities are all interesting enough to make me want to see more.
And Morgiana is cute.
No objection accepted!
The soundtrack centers mostly around the thematic of "1001 nights", with most songs straying a bit in different directions, which is interesting, and there are definetly a few in there I listen to outside of the show.
If I had to mention my favorites, they'd be #1 - "Enfin Apparu", #6 - "Faut il Saver" and #13 - "Valse Hot".
Then there's the voice acting, in which my second big problem with the show lies, even though it is heavily influenced by my knowledge of the manga.
It makes perfect sense to let a woman voice the 10 year old Aladdin, but it just quickly doesn't feel right anymore, with him soon stopping to act like a kid and his appearance remaining the only childish feature he has.
The other characters fit their voices pretty well, so I won't complain about any of them.
I've been saying "For the future" a lot in this review, so I'll need to get this out of the way.
The show is not finished, but the manga just entered its final arc not too long ago and I predict the announcement of a third season towards its final stretch.
This may take a few more years, I'll just unknowingly throw "Summer 2017" in the room, but keep in mind, I don't know any more about this than the next person.
Now, that's it, but is „Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic“ worth the watch?
The thing is: You should give the franchise a chance!
If you like manga, I'd actually prefer to recommend you giving that one a read.
If you don't want to read the manga, try watching the anime.
I can't say the show is good, especially because of the problems in animation, but I dare say the story and characters are on par with something like Fullmetal Alchemist, which is commonly reffered to as a masterpiece.
So to sum it up with one simple question:
Would you watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, if the animation sucked?
If your answer is yes, then go watch Magi, if the answer is no, give the manga a read!
If you don't want to read the manga, definetly go for the anime, you'll just have to sit through the enjoyment-killing parts.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Nov 18, 2015
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This review was written as a script for a video-review, so it may be a bit weird to read for some people. You can either ignore that and read it, or watch it and listen to me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxFm3S640zA
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Ga-Rei: Zero,having aired in 2008's fall season, is a 12 episode prequel to Hajime Segawa's manga „Ga-Rei“. It's an action-drama with a bit splatter,
though giving of a SoL-like atmosphere at times, was directed by Ei Aoki and animated by studios AIC Spirits and Asread.
Ga-Rei: Zero is a story about two girls, Isayama Yomi and Tsuchimiya Kagura, in a world, in which so called vanquishers fight against phantoms,
monsters invisible to
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the normal human eye. After Kagura's mother dies in a fight against those phantoms, and with her father not having much time to bring her up, she is sent to live with one of his close friends and his daughter Yomi. Over the course of 3 years, these two girls become not only best friends, but sisters, sharing a deep and seemingly unbreakable bond.
But, due to the structure of the show, which starts at the end of these 3 years and then goes back to when the girls first meet, we know that Yomi turns evil at some point, and the show is full on set on explaining why that happens.
If you didn't know, for me personally, characters and their relationships are important. Like really, really important. And Ga-Rei does that really well.
In itself, the characters aren't that special. To be honest, the only two worth mentioning may as well be Yomi and Noriyuki, her fiancée, but Yomi and Kagura together are just one of my favorite teams in all anime I've seen.
Yomi is great. She's a fun older sister, giving her best to crack open Kagura, who's timid in the beginning, but is also a really hard worker and has her fair share of problems. All in all, I'd say she feels the most like an actual person, and not just a character.
Kagura on the other hand, she's nowhere near Yomi's level.
She's sad about her mothers death, she had a very strict upbringing by her father, and is incredibly talented, but there isn't really anything genuine in these features. What feels genuine though, is her admiration of Yomi.
She idolizes her big sister, which makes Kagura's shock of her going rouge on their team of vanquishers that more understandable.
The rest of the characters are one-dimensional and bland, Izuna Noriyuki being the only one with more importance, as he's got a bond over the ordinary „being colleagues“ with Yomi, being her fiancée, but still, there's not that much more.
Sadly, this is just about everything hugely positive I can squeeze out of the show, but I want you to understand, that if you value character relations as highly as I do, this is amazing. The posed question of „Would you kill someone you love, because you love them?“ made me really invested in Yomi's and Kagura's bond.
Of course, it also handles the task of „being a prequel“ pretty well, with most of the show taking place in the past of the first two episodes. We basically know that Yomi's got something going on before we really know her or Kagura at all. This is great, as readers of the manga already know of their relationship, putting both returning fans and new watchers on about the same level of knowledge.
Animation is on a level just above average. There weren't any panning shots over still images I could notice, but often, only mouths would move during dialogues. Something is always in motion, but there's not too often a lot of it.
Next, I have to mention monster and weapon design, as this is one of Ga-Rei's weaknesses. Except for the metroid-like latchers and Byakuei, the spirit beast of the Tsuchimiya-family, I didn't like any of the phantoms. Many of them seemed off, or just boring. Same goes for the weapons, there's a character fighting with suitcases or one with a drill, which annoyed me whenever I saw them. Kaguya's pressure-powered sword and the naginata that can turn into an umbrella were pretty cool though.
In the OST, we have a pretty decent selection of different soundtracks. From action-rich to sentimental, I think there's something for everyone to like. Personally, the best one were #3 -“Megalocytic shadow“ and #5 - „Execution“, because they reminded me a bit of „Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann“, and #8 - „Reincarnation“, just because I like it.
So, all this talk may have seem a bit messy, but as always, the final question posed: Is „Ga-Rei: Zero“ worth watching?
To be honest, I'm really sad that I can't recommend this show to everyone. I'd like to say yes, but only if you really care about characters, and if you find yourself not liking Yomi after a few episodes, it's fully understandable if you'd drop the show. That said though, the first 2 and final 3 episodes were really cool and with its decent fill of action, I can see people enjoying those, if not the rest. Also, it's one of my favorite shows and too few people have seen it, but I don't want it get forgotten over the years, making me really thankful for every person deciding to watch it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 18, 2015
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I've just recently started doing reviews on Youtube, and thought I might as well share them over here. They were written for video-form though, so either read it or give it a watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX84r7k6vNM
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Tsuritama is a 12-episode show full of quirky fun and sympathetic characters. It was produced by Studio A1-Pictures and aired during 2012's spring season.
While directed by Nakamura Kenji and written by Oono Toshiya, it is most likely best recognized for its character designer, Uki Atsuya.
In this kinda SoF, kinda sports and kinda sci-fi anime, the headline is “You can't catch fish if you don't go fishing, and you can't
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make friends if you don't at least try.”
The story follows Sanada Yuki, who just had to move to the island of Enoshima with his grandmother. His problem is, he's really bad at talking with strangers, can't handle pressure and therefore has problems making friends.
Then there's Haru, who just out of nowhere declares four things:
1. He's an alien.
2. He's now Yuki's friend.
3. He's now living with Yuki. and
4. He wants to learn fishing with Yuki.
“Why fishing?”, you may ask. Well, there seems to be one of Haru's kin living in the sea around the island and threatening all of humanity, and he chose Yuki to help catch him.
The dynamic between those two boys make out a great chunk of the show, as Haru really easily befriends just about anyone with his open and funny nature, and Yuki as the contrast, an introvert who usually prefers not to talk. Due to Haru having no clue of common sense from Yuki's perspective, they often clash with each other, but through that, Yuki can grow and become a better person making some friends on the way.
One of these friends is Natsuki, an experienced fisher in their age, called the “prince of fishing”, who's constantly in argument with his father after his mother died, but cares deeply about his little sister. And believe me, he and his problems get their time to shine.
Then there's Akira, an indian agent for a secret organization called “DUCK” with the mission to find, observe and capture aliens. He's also a big fan of fishing and therefore combines his hobby with Haru's observation. He also has a duck called Tapioca.
In the supporting cast, every character has their clear role and fulfills that without problems, Keito, the aforementioned grandmother, for example, who acts as a mentor for Haru or Koko, Haru's sister who doubts Yuki's ability to catch fish and puts even more pressure on him. And Tapioca is there as well. Just saying.
All the characters, be it main cast or a supporting role, are extremely fun to watch and likeable.
Like many other shows from A1-Pictures, Tsuritama's visuals seem gorgeous at first, especially in this case, as the unique artstyle full of blue and many light colors, really supports both the quirkyness and lightheartedness of the show. The animation though has some drops in the later parts from its usually pretty good standarts, but in this case, they aren't so major they'd interrupt your enjoyment of the show.
Tsuritamas soundtrack by a band called "Kuricorder Quartet" simply fits the show perfectly.
And while that may seem totally random, some parts reminded me of the music for the “lost woods” in “ocarina of time” and “kirby air ride”s OST, two of my all-time favorite videogames, so that is cool.
Most of the sound is really soothing and calm or supports the shows quirky atmosphere, but even when for example Natsuki's story arc reaches its dramatic climax, the OST can adapt to that. That said though, there aren't really that many pieces I'd listen to outside of the series, and in these more dramatic parts, the opening and ending can really easily feel out of place if you marathon the show.
My personal favorite tracks would be #1 – “Tsuritama March” and #19 - “Hajimete Tsuru”.
I can't really say anything about the japanese dub though, as I have no complaints whatsoever, but also can't crown one of the voice actors for doing a job out of the ordinarily good you find in any well made show.
As for the english dub, well, it's passable. If you don't tend to like dubs, this won't convince you otherwise, but if you don't feel like reading subtitles, you might as well consider it as long as you're not too picky.
Now, the only question left: Is Tsuritama worth the watch?
Yes, definetly, go for it. I wouldn't define it as a must-watch, but if you have the opportunity to see it, you'll most likely not be disappointed, as I think just about everyone can get something out of the show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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