Magi: Wealth, power, and even immortality if you wish. Tell me what it is you want?

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Magi is an anime from studio A-1 Pictures that has started airing as of today and is based on a manga from Ohtaka Shinobu.

The young boy Aladdin is proclaimed a Magi, one with the power to guide a king. Living in a continent filled with strife, harsh class structure, and slavery, he meets the young man Alibaba, who wishes to have enough wealth "to buy an entire country". This would seem difficult for young, penniless, and powerless Alibaba, except for one thing, the world's Dungeons. Mysterious structures that have appeared from the ground, they are dangerous to all but the strongest, but the strongest will emerge with untold magical treasures. Alibaba is certainly not the strongest, but Aladdin and his djinn Ugo could possibly qualify for that position.

And so their journey unfolds~

Of particular note is that Magi is not only being directed by Masunari Koji, who you could potentially know from R.O.D, Kamichu!, or Welcome to the Space Show, but it is running in the 5 PM Sunday timeslot. Something of the golden hour for anime, it has run such past shows as Fullmetal Alchemist (and Brohood), every post 2000 Gundam, Star Driver, and Ao no Exorcist. Additionally, it is a 90th anniversary project for Shogakukan. These two facts pretty much guarantee that this thing will be pumped full of money, and indeed, the first episode looked great. If you saw Ao no Exorcist and enjoyed it until the dumb anime original ending, I wouldn't be too worried about that here because Magi has about double the material out that AoEx did when it started airing, and also runs in a weekly magazine, which means about double the pages per month.

I'm pretty sure you've all heard of One Piece, but I'm sure many of you are daunted by the gigantic length of it. Magi, while far from a carbon copy of it (much better fights), reminds me a lot of One Piece and I think if you can give it a chance you'll get swept into the ADVENTURE and FRIENDSHIP of it. Because really, I think deep down most of us want to like shonen adventure.

Airs on Crunchyroll on Wednesdays.

[goldenspines]

Magic turban go!

I was thoroughly impressed by the first episode. It was a lot of fun and had a great spin on the Arabian Nights setting.

But Aladdin, why do you look five years old? XD;;

[skreyola]

He's not 5 years old?

[Maokun]

*sees "Magi" in the title*

*is asked what my wish is*

*runs away like hell*

[mechana2015]

I checked out the manga on this a while back and I'm thrilled to see it animated. This'll be a must watch for me probably.

[Falx]

The little kid's... fondness... for boobies is a little odd, that aside it was pretty darn good.

Edit: And I'm sorry but that pants is really stupid looking. It looks like he's pooped himself to an unseemly degree.

[blkmage]

I like the cut of this show's jib

[Cadence]

I think I've made it quite (obnoxiously) apparent that I'm a huge fan of this manga...so I will be definitely be following this as long as I can before I leave in November.

About the episode itself - I'm glad that they warned us ahead of time they would be changing the first few chapters quite a bit, otherwise I think I would have been pretty annoyed. As it was, I thought the shifting of events worked pretty well as an introduction, though I was a bit disappointed with the way they handled Alibaba's personality and some of my favorite bits from the early chapters of the manga had to be cut. Oh well. I enjoyed it regardless.

Also, though I've been stalking all the updates of the key visuals/character designs/PVs etc. since the anime adaption was announced, I somehow missed (I guess I'll put this in a spoiler just in case - it's about a character who hasn't appeared in the anime yet) [spoiler]Judal's (Judar? I don't know what the "official" romanization is) ~fabulous~ purple eyeshadow until I noticed it in the OP. [/spoiler]It made me laugh pretty hard.

[GeneD]

The little kid's... fondness... for boobies is a little odd, that aside it was pretty darn good.

Yeah that was weird. I must admit that when he jumped Alibaba's boss in the beginning I sat in shock for a second and then cracked up and laughed for ten minutes.

It also took me a while to get used to Aladdin's voice since he sounds like a girl every now and again. Yes, I know he's voiced by a lady.

I am curious about why the djinn's head is missing.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

I am curious about why the djinn's head is missing.

It's stuck inside the flute.

[mechana2015]

Yeah the Djinn is shy and doesn't let his head out of the flute because he doesn't want to show his face.

[blkmage]

That's adorable.

[mechana2015]

At least, thats what the manga said... not sure how the anime is doing it yet because I'm trying to wait on CR.

[goldenspines]

Yeah the Djinn is shy and doesn't let his head out of the flute because he doesn't want to show his face.

:'D

I am loving this series more and more.

[Atria35]

I'm honestly having a lot of fun with this series. My only thing is how Aladdin is obsessed with the boobs (though yes, I also cracked up when he was fondling the boss). Other than that, I'm digging it!

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

This week: Aladdin is Mihashi levels of moe~ (seriously, listen to his voice), Alibaba is the best friend you could want, and we learn how the Japanese pronounce the title (Maggie).

[goldenspines]

This week's episode reminded me of the Cave of Wonders! I did grow up with Disney after all. ._.
Either that or a LoZ dungeon with the spirals of fire and stuff.

I'm glad we got to see more of Morgana, though. =D

[blkmage]

why didn't they take the lady with them :<

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

why didn't they take the lady with them :<

She wouldn't come because she's too conditioned to obey her master, even if she wants to.

[Cadence]

Wow, the animation quality dropped quite a bit this week. I'm a little disappointed by how quickly they are rushing through this, since it necessitates half of the humorous bits being cut, but it is still pretty fun. I like how they are retaining a significant amount of the reaction faces from the manga. Aladdin is adorable.


(◎_◎)

┗(◎_◎)

[Cadence]

Episode 3: Ballerina Alibaba! Amon is blue?! His voice was the greatest thing ever. Also, dat purple eyeshadow. I really like the music in this.

I think this was the best episode so far - looking forward to next week.

[blkmage]

friendship yay ヽ(　ﾟ∀ﾟ)ノ

[GeneD]

The music was great this episode, especially during the sword fight. And the ending song, it's super uplifting.
[spoiler]I'm glad that city ruler guy is gone, half way through the episode I was literally wishing a giant rock would fall on him, so the end was very satisfying.

I'm surprised about how dark the slavery stuff is, considering how silly some other parts can be. I think it was very effective that none of Alibaba or Aladdin's words got through to Morgiana, but a fellow slave and someone who understands the things she's been through can set her free.[/spoiler]Really liked seeing more Alibaba being freaking awesome and the djinn conversation was hilarious.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

[quote="blkmage (post: 1594268)"]friendship yay ヽ]This so much. Show of the season.

[Neane]

I'm was somewhat bothered by the fact that a man from pre-10th century Arabia is using a rapier, a weapon from the 16th century, other than that it is a fun show and I will keep watching.

[GeneD]

I'm was somewhat bothered by the fact that a man from pre-10th century Arabia is using a rapier, a weapon from the 16th century, other than that it is a fun show and I will keep watching.

I've seen you make similar comments about other shows, so honest question: Why do you expect (or want) historical accuracy in a fantasy anime with magic, flying carpets and people with borderline superpowers?

Without checking up anything on the series, do we know that it is, in fact, supposed to be set on Earth?

[Cadence]

Episode 4:

So all of the major political players in the story have been at least been mentioned by now...I forgot this occurred so early on. The pacing of the adaption is still incredibly fast and there was some pretty wonky animation, but I'm really enjoying this. Nana Mizuki as Hakuei was perfect. Seishun is the cutest thing ever, though he seems taller than I remember. Granny is still awesome. I want a hug from Aladdin, too!

According to an exciting tweet from the official Project Magi twitter, next episode will have some changes from the manga, specifically [spoiler]they will show Hakuei's djinn equip!!! Or at least I'm assuming that is what it is...it is referred to as 白瑛の○装 バージョン[/spoiler] This actually hasn't been shown in the manga yet, and the mangaka designed it herself for the anime, so I'm really looking forward to it.

[blkmage]

everything was going so well, too :<

[blkmage]

well that's an, uh, interesting character design

[goldenspines]

Understandable character design for a djinn, but er, nudity warning for this episode. >_>;;


Otherwise, great episode, loved the fight scenes with Princess Hakuei. =D