Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic - 07

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The man who has travelled the seven seas appears before you butt naked. Queue uncontrollable laughter.

I'm really happy that we've got to the point where Sinbad joins the cast. He's one of those characters that brings a little bit of everything to Magi, even from the start. You don't need to read the manga to know this, because the episode does a pretty good job.

A character like Sinbad is yet another reason why I was drawn to Magi. That moral ambiguity he's got going on is a favourite of mine when it comes to character traits, and Sinbad plays with it extremely well. Putting up a very kind front to Morgianna and Aladdin, he has his own agenda for taking out the Fog Troupe. It's not about loyalty to the former king, but rather the desire for trade routes.

It's exactly this dark character that is so right for Magi. Seven episodes in and we've seen a lot already when it comes to the ugly depiction of man; greed, deceit, gluttony, etc. This keeps painting quite the picture to facilitate the darker side of story, which should be coming out soon.

Finally we has some familiar literary reference; Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. Can't really tell if Ohtaka-sensei had this in mind when she wrote the story, but it was a nice touch. Without giving too much away, it is an important part of both Ali Baba and Aladdin's story and as the episodes go by all will be revealed. Forget Robin Hood, Ali Baba did it first.

Magi for me is improving. I always knew the manga was a slow starter and all, but the anime didn't start on the highest of notes. I'm glad to see the scripts fall into a better pace and better overall composition. Rest assured, Magi will only get better.