A shounen friendship and fighting show with an Arabian Nights motif.
I was quite enamored with Magi when it first aired. In fact, it led me to go and read most of the manga. Unfortunately, this led to me losing my interest in the actual show.
Still, I did enjoyed the first half, where Magi dealt with slavery and the politics between different countries. Even if all of the more serious topics were vastly oversimplified. What do you expect from a shounen battle show, though?
I lost my interest in the second half, when Magi turns into the Adventures of King Sindbad’s Merry Men. All the parts that interested me in the first half are ditched in favor of more battles, more characters and more powerups. These problems aren’t specific to the anime adaptation: when I read the manga, I lost interest in the same part as well.
Overall, Magi’s a decent entry into the genre of shounen fighting shows, and starts off with an interesting setting. Unfortunately it rapidly crashes into the traps of too many characters and endless fighting. Of course, if that’s your cup of tea, your mileage may vary.
- Storytelling – D – Starts off decent, descends into lots of fighting and powerups.
- Voice – C – Cool Arabian theme going on.
- Characters – C – Morgiana and Alibaba are cool. Aladdin’s a bit dull, but ok. Sindbad’s friends are kind of pointless.
- Attention Grab – D – Completely lost interest in the second half.
- Production – C – Interesting visual style, although I’m not sure how to describe what’s different about it.
- Overall – C-
Recommendations – Hunter X Hunter, The Law of Ueki, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Nice review, you should consider reviewing Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure sometime.
Yeah I will… I’m a bit behind, got distracted by the new season, still have to do that, Love Live and AKB0048.
I get where you’re coming from, but don’t you think a ‘D’ is a bit harsh? It kind of lost its way in the final arc, but before that it was far better than your average shounen adventure. If they had more time to flesh out some of the side characters, I’m sure it would have been a huge improvement too. Maybe next season will give them the time they need.
It’s possibly a bit harsh. The thing is, I have a very low opinion of average shounen adventures in the first place. Magi was certainly better than average but that unfortunately doesn’t help with the fact that it was a shounen adventure in the first place. 🙁
what are your favorit shounen fighting animes?
Probably Hunter x Hunter and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Partially because both of those are more than just action.
Man, I agree. A “D” is quite harsh.
Personally, I feel that at least a C would suffice if it was bad. D to me seems like something I would never want to pick up and only watch if I were passing by on my way to the kitchen and it were already on the TV.
I rarely comment here too. Only really comment on things I feel that need to be commented upon. Kinda feel like this post is one of those things. lol
You know what? You guys have convinced me. I’ve changed my mind and raised the score to a low C. While the fighting caused me to lose my interest later on, the start of the series was really quite good and deserves better.
Uh, a “C-” seems still quite harsh to me.
I would have appreciated less fighting and powerups in the second half, as well. In particular, it seemed that there was always yet another, more powerful overlord and another hidden technique to defeat him.
But what sold me here were the epic proportions of the storyline. Not since FMA, I think, did I watch a series w/ such a vast number of places and characters involved. Admittedly a considerable number of them was fairly one-sided, e.g. Sindbad’s generals. But there were quite some forces which kept just enough shading to stay interesting. E.g. Kougyoku (the Kou princess, my fave in this series btw!) – she’s obviously not a bad person but still the Kou empire seems to be a huge and expansive force which intends to conquer other places (perhaps like China seen from Japan?). Or Sindbad – what are his true plans?
In any case I’m looking forward to a second season of Magi, hopefully w/ less fighting and more politics and character development. In particular, I would love to see more of Koukyoku x Sindbad!
I had a D before the other commenters convinced me to raise it to a C-. 🙂
The Kou empire and Sindbad himself, as you mention, are in this morally gray area which is really interesting. But unfortunately that wasn’t much of the focus of this series, particularly the second half. If they’d focused on those aspects instead of the fighting I would have enjoyed this show much more.