Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic - 03

[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"]

After three episodes I'm convinced that Magi will be a decent anime adaptation and not one that wows me.

Yes my manga fan antics of judging the anime are resurfacing but in my defence....you know what I'm not going down that road. Let's look at the episode independent of the manga.

From a visual standpoint, I have to say I'm a little disappointed. A part of me was expecting a lot from the animated action, which I know there wasn't much of this episode, though I blame that on the slightly rushed feeling of this episode. Magi's manga is hardly the perfectly paced masterpiece, but that doesn't mean that the anime should try and not to be.

The rushed feeling for me came from Morgiana's background story not be explanatory enough. Without bringing any more discussion about the manga into the episode's review, we don't actually know why Morgiana was serving the sharif. Seemingly unimportant, it doesn't explain why as a slave she didn't jump at the opportunity to set herself free and the silent flashback was useless in giving us a semblance an idea. So far Morgiana's character has been forsaken a lot in the Magi anime and this irritates me.

Luckily that was all I had to complain about, and the rest of the episode was decent. Note how I use the word decent as opposed to good, great or excellent; it seems fitting as I have yet to be wowed by the series.

The discussion of lineage coupled with the presentation of information pertaining to Magi and Kings was quite enjoyable. Unlike the famed episode of Fate/zero in which what makes a great king was discussed, this episode does its own thing and fills in a few blanks about the world of Magi. One aspect of this that I love is how Ali Baba said uttered the words "In the dungeon there is no difference between people" (paraphrased). Combined with the djin Ammon telling us about the Kings of the world, it was a shining moment.

That's not all we were shown and told. There was a sinister looking Magi at the end of the episode, implying there will be battles between the Magi's and their chosen Kings - reverse Fate/zero in action - and the wheels of adventure have been set in motion also. The actual end of the episode was a happy end to a 3 episode arc, with much promise for the future in the vast world where the anime is set.

First arc didn't do much for me, but even in the manga it was one of the weaker ones.

Final Thoughts:

• Props to GotWoot Subs for mixing in some Arabic when appropriate, but not going too far.
• The episode restricts me from revealing what is already known in the manga about Ali Baba.