Magi

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 REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Magi is good, could’ve been great, but Shinobu Ohtaka rushed the ending like crazy. Instead of announcing the an arc being the final arc, it should just end whenever one can see the ending. What we ended up getting was a convoluted plot with elements that came out the bootyhole and it splattered all over the first 2/3 of the manga. The art also became a lot less clear towards the end since so many things were happening. However, overall, I’m glad to have finished Magi because it really is one of the best shounen manga out there. It’s one of those series where you can look back at it in retrospect and appreciate the level of detail that went into each panel (up to the final third).

It's frustrating when a series can be consistently good for 250 chapters goes to horse poop in the last third/quarter. How can such a beloved work, with an interesting fantasy world, with interesting characters, on top of it being shounen, drop the ball as much as Magi did? I'll tell you why, I'm gonna blame a character that has no reason to be a staple in Magi when hes a staple in his own damn Manga. No doubt the weakest link in this whole latter third of Magi is Sinbad, who has some contrived reasons for creating conflict and has really disengaging dialogue to read. I'm more into Alibaba's style of being boisterous and naive, and Aladdin's reactions and jokes. Magi really dropped the ball after XXX kicks the bucket, because the world building, which Magi did a decent job of pretty much transitioned into something new that wasn't particularly engaging. I say that because it's so vastly different that I have to forget that old world and accept the new one, and to add to the problem, it wasn't even used to its advantage.

That’s enough about the latter third of the manga, which is the real reason why I’m making this review to begin with, but lets focus on the whole picture. Besides the sour aftertaste of finishing this manga, I would overall still recommend reading it, simply because it is one of the better overall shounen manga out there right now. The combination of good art, decent characters, enjoyable dialogue and banter, and execution makes the journey worthwhile. I also recommend watching the anime, as I feel the seiyuus used in it created a good depiction of the characters. It wouldn’t be the same without reading Alibaba’s dialogue in his stupid, nonchalant voice and Morgiana’s deadpan reactions. It’s not often you see an anime adaptation complement the manga as well as Magi does.

Original review:
To be fair, you have to have a high IQ to comprehend the inner workings of Egyptian culture present in this piece of art. It’s not everyday you come across luxurious fine details depicting what the middle eastern lifestyle is. I have no doubt Shinobu Ohtaka went through existential nihilist crisis whilst creating this piece of work because of the subtle references to Egyptian culture and Djinn myths. Not every scholar can follow the Quran to the letter like ol Ohtaka did, and her personal philosophy is extremely apparent, the way she can write Alibaba to symbolize every transcendent being on Earth. We also get to witness Ohtaka break barriers in terms of gender norms, creating Morgiana to be a metaphor for Cleopatra and promoting power of women. Only truly intelligent beings will be able to appreciate such detailing of Sand culture.

In terms of story, Magi is well-versed on the details of the message the author is trying to sent to her readers. Magi is not like your typical shounen story that tackles about power and evil, or selfish personal reason towards its goal. But personally, for me, what makes Magi great is it defines the peek of the ideology it presents, and how the characters conclude this different ideology of them. Magi doesn't want Alibaba to be be a King or Aladdin have a certain dream that connects to the idea of conflict the story presents. In other words, if it is Naruto, he did not want to be Hokage because he likes to, but the plot pursue him to be one. Like in the story, Alibaba didn't want to be King, or Aladdin to Alibaba be one. They drive by the force of friendship without knowing their capabilities, but as the plot progress, their idea changes until they conflict this "ideas" towards the other "ideas", which becomes most likely the plot of each arcs.

It is also consist of pretty logical world-building, considering the main theme of the story. The art is pretty much good and constant as the series goes by. The fight scenes are godly drawn and conclude. And most of all, it is not predictable. And the characters are not boring at all, I like personally Alibaba and Hakkuryuu. But as far I finished the series, I didn't hate any character because of their build up or progress. Since each character has been justified by the authors. Overall, it is a solid experience that everyone should or must know.

Magi is one of my favorite manga series since it provides not just action and friendship. But also political stuffs that is pretty much applicable to the real world. When I say political, its by its deep meaning. That is to controlling power for the greater good, in all aspect. And Magi is well-versed on that.

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.

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.

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.

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-

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.

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.

As an ongoing manga its hard to give a full on clear review as I do not know the direction Ohtaka will take. I can give my two cents on the story, till c.199, so far.

Magi is based on the one hundred and one nights, arabic stories from western and souther asia collected in arabic in the Islamic golden age (you can read ore on the wikipedia page for this collection of writings). The most popular and adapted are the three "Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp", "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor" which were actually added by Antoine Galland and other European translators (wikipedia). They're actually middle east folk tales. Now we certainly can recognize the names of three very important characters in the manga. Ohtaka has definitely done her research and there are several references for these three tales in the manga. And for a fan of these cultural treasures I was pleased with the mangaka's imagination and use of the 'names' and 'items' brought into the story which flourished magnificently up to its 199 chapter.

The characters all differ in both status and upbringing all which is heavily emphasized in the manga and allows a lot of the main characters as well as very important minor characters to flourish and grow. It is also pleasant to read a manga which does remember its minor characters from time to time especially those involved with the plot. The art is very diverse from anything I have laid eyes upon but in time although at first I was a bit skeptic finding it too 'sketchy' at certain points but I learned to love it and also realized that the artist is slowly improving. Ohtaka's covers for the volumes are one of the most intense i have ever scene and I do love her used of colours, never had any complaints for them or the colour spreads which are gorgeous.

All in all Magi is a manga that everyone can enjoy and it is worth a try at the least.

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

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.

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.

-=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

tl;dr: A manga that has a fantastic first half with a really interesting and fleshed out world but that declines after that to the point the ending is nonsensically awful.

The manga for Magi is really great while it’s great, but gets really bad once it declines. It starts off with an interesting trio of main characters, Alladin, Alibaba, Morgiana, who are all pretty different but have good chemistry together as a group. The world is interesting in terms of its political and mechanical complexities and they all inhabit interesting roles within it that allow for a plot with a lot of variety, especially as the story is great at having them separate and do their own thing so that when they reunite at important moments it feels impactful. This separation also allows for there to be a lot of other important characters that ultimately feel just as fleshed out if not more so than the original trio with solid stories of their own. The themes regarding equality and fate were well written into the narrative, and the narrative itself worked well at keeping up suspense and mystery while also having good pacing that had a good amount of light hearted moments in the middle of the more serious portions. The combat wasn’t fantastic and was somewhat arbitrary at times due to the massive power gaps and abilities, but it was solid enough at carrying the plot. This combined with the varied and unique settings and concepts results in a very interesting and engrossing manga.

This begins to change about halfway through. The focus of the manga shifts away from the trio to focusing much more on other characters and that carries through for the rest of the manga. Firstly, there’s a large flashback arc that explains a lot of the past and history behind various elements that were left mysterious. This arc has some convoluted aspects, but overall it does a good job of setting things up regarding who the true villain is and what the goals should be going forward. However, after that things proceed incredibly quickly and things are resolved in a rushed manner in unexpected ways without the buildup that you would expect and the plot begins moving in a different direction from what was just built up. This results in a massive world changing resolution to an arc, followed up a few years time skip. This portion is still interesting in and of itself and quality wise still feels solid, but it feels like it's starting to lose the plot and force the story unnaturally in a new direction.

Unfortunately, that turns out to be the case, and becomes a major issue after the time skip in the last quarter or so of the manga. The world is tremendously different and the tone, atmosphere, and a lot of the aspects from the first half of the manga are dropped completely. It starts off feeling like a completely different manga pretty much. A decent one, but it feels weird considering that there’s so much baggage and plot threads left hanging from the old one. The plot eventually steers back into those plot threads, but this connection leans in heavily into the convoluted aspects from the flashback arc, and increases them exponentially. Things get overtly abstract and concepts get increasingly existential, and like most plots that deal with such subject matters, there end up being a lot of plot holes, contradictions, and inconsistencies. Furthermore, the crazy fast pacing as it approaches the end magnifies these issues, and everything feels utterly random and absurd, making little sense most of the time. And thus while an ending is reached, I couldn’t really bring myself to care much about it. The ending plot wise just felt kind of random and thus unsatisfying. The ending in terms of characters felt weak and not worth the investment that the manga, or at least the first three quarters of the manga had built up. The manga was never really all that great at relationship development, so the ending in terms of that felt like it fit, and was satisfying regarding one core relationship, but how it didn’t resolve any of the others at all still results in it being disappointing in that aspect overall.

The art is solid in quality when it tries to be. In the beginning it doesn’t do it as much, but also manages to use the lower quality portions well for comedic effect. As it goes on there is a noticeable increase in portions of higher quality. Though I felt that resulted in there being an issue of too much of the art feeling too busy, wherein the art style works well in color, but in black and white it feels like too much at times. I also felt that while there was an increase in quality, the characters designs and general sense of style in the first half were the best in the series with the designs and such added after that being a lot duller.

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 (:

Contrary to the seemingly mainstream shounen initial concept of the story, Magi can, in my opinion be seen as a comment on ethics and politics.
Starting off with a young magician of whom we don't know much, the story progresses into a complex struggle for power and peace, exploring both of these concepts. Shinobu-sensei has created a piece of literature that holds the reader's attention in flashy battle scenes, while simultaneously developing and exploring many of the true natures of the characters- not only main characters. The art style is generally cute and yet has been manipulated to create scenes that will make you fall off your seat, or leave you weeping like a little child. Many (myself included) have complained about the lack of character development throughout the story (if you have read the story I think you'll know who I mean by this), however I believe that Shinobu-sensei has organized the story so that each character is very confident in their respective points of view and are therefore, resistant to change.
This series is one of my favorites of all time, so there is a lot of bias in what I have written here, so keep that in mind: feel free to disagree with me.

People who have read Shingeki no Kyojin, Death Note and other psychological/political shounen manga as well as people who have read Naruto, Bleach and One Piece (etc.) but were left with a 'I wish it had been a little more brain and less brawn' kind of feeling will enjoy this.

I love Magi it's my favorite Magna and anime series so far.
I love the characters, I love the story, the art and when I watched the anime I couldn't get enough so when the Kingdom part came to an end I quickly looked up the manga and started reading from chapter 1 all the ways up to chapter 338 as I am currently writing this review.

I also love Sinbad's series but since I kinda know what's gonna happen there isn't too much for me to get too attached with but I still love and enjoy reading that series too.

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.