Impression
Magnostadt was a beautiful city the first time Aladdin saw it, and that still remains true now – while the academy definitely has its own charm, there’s a breathtaking difference to the city life experienced by Aladdin, Titus and Sphintus that I can’t quite describe. Maybe I’m just impressed by all the cascading waterfalls and floating spires everywhere xD Magnostadt looks like it’s operating on autarky – the state of being self-sufficient with production. It normally wouldn’t work at all, but it’s the use of magic that makes it all possible – life magic helps citizens grow fruits and vegetables at a quicker rate than normal, and they use magic tools to do a lot of mundane work, eliminating the need for slave labour. For everyone living above ground, it’s definitely a nice life; if you’re a goi there’s a slight setback of having to prostate yourself in front of every magician you meet… but hey, the assured quality of life sort of makes up for that. They seem to be happy enough at least. Everything’s beautiful and (seemingly) nothing hurts, but where are they getting the magoi to power the country?
This is where the hierarchical power structure of Magnostadt comes into play. It’s disgusting – class restrictions based on magical ability is bad enough, but the true victims are those living in the 5th Level Authorization District. It’d be one thing if Mogamett was preaching utilitarianism (prioritising the happiness of the entire society at the cost of a few) but I can’t believe they actually built an entire city underground! And they’ve decided to stick 200,000 “citizens” down there, purely to serve as livestock for magoi production – what a scandal. It’s not surprising that Aladdin and the others weren’t allowed to go down there before they’ve taken ideology courses – it’s likely that those serve to reform their way of thinking and get them to accept everything that’s going on down there. It’s only a utopia for the people at the top of the hierarchy, while those at the very bottom eventually become too submissive (and depleted of magoi) to even think of going against the establishment.
This was a deep episode, and there’s a lot to think about – after all, we’ve finally discovered one of the (many) dark secrets of Magnostadt. There were also subtler things going on too, primarily Titus’ overwhelming joy over what seems to just be ordinary life (he seemed to attach himself to Aladdin very quickly, too). It was very strange seeing him so happy while looking at… a cat, or a baby. It’s almost as if he’s never seen cats before, and I think it was a shared sentiment that had him sympathize so much with Marga (who looks even cuter than she was in the manga). Maybe he’s just attached to her, but he seems awfully intent on getting her to the outside world – to the point that he’s willing to cross that nasty-looking whip magician dude to do so. There’ll be many more secrets revealed in this second section of the Magnostadt arc, which was properly marked by a new OP (which was nice enough, although it spoiled far more djinn equips than I’d have liked it to). We’re in for a great ride, so look forward to it!
In other news, it’s been announced that an anime adaptation of Magi: Sinbad no Bouken has been green-lit! I’ve been following the manga for that too, and it’s definitely something I’m excited for – it tells the story of a young Sinbad’s various adventures throughout the world. We get to see how he captures his dungeons and meets his future companions, including the Eight Generals (some of whom don’t actually meet him on very good terms). As of now, it looks more like it’ll be an OVA rather than a full-length series, but hey, something’s better than nothing, right?
That was a quick review.
I was a little surprised since Marga’s appearance was a little different than how I imagined it to be, but I loved this episode…
Some things were noticeably omitted, but still, it was nice…
You’ve been following the manga too, right?
There are so many scenes I can’t wait to be animated, and of course, I’m waiting eagerly for manga chapters. I know it would be far away, but I would love to see the summit in two months and see everyone reunite again.
From now on, I’m going to try and get Magi out ASAP every week 😀 I’ve got Saki and perhaps Wizard Barristers to blog about on Sundays as well, and I can foresee everything snowballing up if I’m not prompt xD
I have indeed been following the manga, and I’m looking forward to new chapters too! We’ll probably have to wait quite a while before the summit’s animated, as this season’ll probably use up almost all the manga content that’s available. I think Magi’s quite a well-received series though (and it will be if A-1 Pictures do the rest of this season right) so a third season is possible if we wait for a couple of years or so.
Ah, the new chapter just got out…
I think Magi is moving at a little of a slow pace right now, but oh well.
I’m itching to see more of my favorite character Aladdin…
Who’s your favorite character?
Morgiana all the way xD
The new chapter had an interesting development. I admit, after recent manga events I haven’t been paying much attention to an Alibaba x Kougyoku pairing, but I can’t say I mind that too much…
But doesn’t Alibaba like Morgiana?
Yup! (spoiler tagged the rest)
[spoiler] But given the ultimatum issued to him by Kouen, who knows what he’ll do? I think the Alibaba x Kougyoku ship is very possible – it’s not as if he hates Kougyoku, and in the end he’ll be achieving his goal of protecting Balbadd. The fact that he didn’t immediately reject Kouen shows just how much he’s weighing up Balbadd against his own happiness. It’s definitely a sly move by Kouen, who’ll get both Aladdin and Alibaba away from Sindria if he succeeds. [/spoiler]
I’m not someone who has read much of the manga, but the way the elderly man spoke made it almost seem as if the way the kingdom was before the Mages took over was worse, which is why it seemed he was so easy to bend over to the mages and only had a problem with the next generation who weren’t alive during that time having to share their fate.
The society is a hierarchy based one and I can understand it to a degree. This is likely why they are so rigorous with their mages since even amongst them they have a social structure based on talent and ability towards magic.
I’m wary of spoiling, so I’ll be vague – but Mogamett definitely has his own reasoning as to why Magnostadt has this sort of social structure, and why he strongly disagreed with the former regime. It’ll be explained next episode xD
The new OP disappoints me greatly!! The song’s too cheery, the visuals are too spoilery (so many intense reveals from the manga, GONE!) But the new ED is lovely, so I’ll forgive them.
They did cut out some things, but it’s perfectly understandable. To be honest I was surprised Ohtaka put some of those scenes in her manga as well. Daaaw, Marga is just a sweetie-pie ^^ and I don’t really notice a lot of the time since everyone’s hair colors are so fantastical, but this series has a serious lack of relevant brown haired people lol. This was a nicely adapted episode all-round though, I’m please with A-1’s pacing. I wonder how the manga/anime sales are doing in Japan? Since they don’t seem to be messing things up this time around, we should definitely get a 3rd season once there’s enough chapters! And they should totally subtitle it as “The World of Magic” because it fits upcoming…stuff. That’s my prediction/demand.
And oh wow, A Sinbad no Bouken adaption!! Thanks for sharing the news Vantage! Sinbad isn’t exactly my…favorite guy in the world…but I do read the manga since I love world building, and it’s a great way to show the details of Sin’s past without impeding on the main manga’s storyline.
All those spoiled full djinn equips ;_;
“The World of Magic” is an incredibly fitting title – we’re not even that far into the current arc and I’m seeing the connection. Given the speed at which they decided to adapt the rest of the manga (so soon after the first season) I’m guessing it must be fairly popular.
I’m not really a fan of Sinbad either… there’s too much darkness hidden inside him alongside his shady personal agenda. But at least he was better as a kid, right? 😀