Kari’s Anime Corner: First Impressions of “Magi: Labyrinth of Magic”

Hi! My name is Kari Lane, and I’ve been an anime lover since I was a little girl. Those good old days when classics like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z, Card Captor Sakura, Digimon and Monster Rancher were on the most basic of cable.

Over the years, I have expanded my anime repertoire and have attended numerous anime conventions. I’m currently a host on Neo-Cinema, a web-based anime and Japanese live-action movie review show. Recently, I’ve been watching the first few episodes of various anime series’, and thought it an excellent idea to write reviews based on my “first impressions”. Of course, you’ll have many unanswered questions after viewing just 4, 5, or 6 episodes, but you can get a feel for the show and decide if you want to continue watching! I hope my reviews will help introduce you to some awesome anime, or help you avoid the more mediocre junk that’s out there!

Another anime show that dominated the cosplay scene at Anime Expo this past year was Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. It is a fun Japanese take on the Arabian Nights/Aladdin tales. The show opens up with a mysterious boy in a strange room and a rather dark tone. Who is this boy? Then it goes to a desert town in an ancient land where we meet Alibaba who seems to be a nice young man working much too hard for a cruel master. The mystery boy reappears in one of the carts Alibaba is loading and after several mishaps the two become friends. The boy’s name is Aladdin but not much else is known about him as he does not really know who he is either. Alibaba explains he wants to conquer a dungeon, strange towers that appeared ten years ago, because those who conquer them will have riches and possibly gain possession of a powerful magic being called a Djinn (pretty much a giant blue genie minus the wishes). Thus, Alibaba and Aladdin set out on the adventure of becoming Dungeon Capturers!

The style of animation is similar to the anime of the late 90s and early 2000s, like Tenchi Muyo and Trigun. The color palette is dominated by lighter colors and few shadows. However, they do utilize bright crazy hair colors. The one thing that weirds me out about this show is they draw their teeth rather large. Most anime characters have a thin white line to show the upper teeth but on this show, it takes up almost half the mouth. It almost looks like they have buck teeth. That is just a personal gripe but otherwise I really enjoy the style of the show. Also, I love how they incorporate extremely expressive moments and change the style of the character to convey that emotion (similar to Blue Exorcist). It often makes the moment comedic and makes it easier to understand how the character actually feels.

The main characters are likable and the bad guys are really evil. You care where these characters are going and you worry about them as the bad guys plot their malice. Aladdin can be super goofy one moment (apparently he LOVES boobs) and a serious philosopher the next (like Vash from Trigun). He raises questions like a child would ask, such as why remain a slave when your chains have been broken and why work for someone who is cruel to you? These questions seem simple but the older characters struggle to answer. Clues have been laid out indicating that many of the main characters have mysterious pasts. Where do they come from? How did they get to where they are?

Overall, this is an entertaining show with adventure, some cool action scenes, and a focus on friendship/family, loyalty and standing up for what you believe in. I will definitely keep watching to see where Aladdin and Alibaba’s adventures take them! So, take the magic carpet ride and let this anime take you to a faraway land!

You can watch the show in subtitles on VIZ Anime and Crunchyroll.

(The entire season is available)

You can watch the show in English on Neon Alley.

(Episode 1 is currently out. The show is being simulcast.)