Forum - View topicREVIEW: Magi Episodes 1-6 Streaming
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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We'll never see her or the girl in the mirror again, will we? |
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Thatguy3331
 Posts: 1799 |
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Sad to see the review be negative as it is, but I suppose it had it coming, it could have turned out much worse.
It'd be pretty pointless to talk about how the events in the nomad arc are actually important for later, so I won't bother with that, however I disagree on those episodes having little impact on Aladdin’s life. He did actually bond with the village elder and her talk about the rukah actually did coincide with Aladdin’s sense of who he was and how his relationships with others will impact the role he has to play out, which is becoming one of the key themes this series is trying to play out. For what its worth though I do have to agree with how quickly we seemed to have left the Arabian knights theme to do into Indiana Jones style dungeon mayhem and then into the grassy plains where the nomads reside. It was fortunately brief and while I can understand the dungeon I never got why we suddenly had to go to grassy plains. Its sad really, as much as I want to defend the series I can't really say much for these beginning episodes, it starts to get better 6 and onwards but talking about that is, again, pointless. I liked the series during this time for what it was and simply hope it gets better as more episodes come out. I have heard good things from it from manga fans so I don't think it'd be wishful thinking on my part.
I frankly doubt it. as much as I want to read ahead in the manga to confirm this, with the theme Magi's trying to pull and the fact that this girl has a brother, who ALSO seems to have a dark looking magi and who are BOTH in the opening, I doubt seriously its the last we'll see of them. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4158 |
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It's a positive review, though; It's just the way Carl writes. If it was really negative, the show would be compared to something bad, say Prince of Persia. What impresses me the most about this {and what makes me interested in watching it} is that all this happens in six episodes, highs, lows and "going completely off the rails" included. So is this series going for the long haul or is a cour by cour basis? I'm aware the manga itself has a fair amount of chapters already but so did Negima and it didn't take too long for Xebec to kill their take of that franchise. |
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Vata Raven
 Posts: 710 Location: TN |
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After looks at the character designs...I'm going to bloody pass on even trying 1 episode of this series.
What the hell with with giving the damn main lead a moe character design? And I checked the manga covers, he's drawn a lot differently for the manga then the design they gave him for the anime. They're making him look younger than what he is. |
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Fencedude5609
 Posts: 5088 |
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I'm not amazingly thrilled with Aladdin's design, but holy crap how shallow can you get? |
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Maize Hughes
Posts: 81 |
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Well, Carl, that was...
...completely fair, and accurate, as much as it pains me to say it. It is a fun show, and I might have to admit (while shuffling my feet and staring at the ground) could be even better than it is, and it has weak points precisely where you pointed to them. But where it is good, it is so much better than this sort of thing usually is. As an example, it's not just that they did a nice job animating Morgiana's fight in that one episode - it's that thanks to the writer, she earned a real shonen-style heroic moment, AND the director had the sense to put it at the climax of the episode, AND the music was good, AND it was skillfully animated, AND there was decent (but not stellar) build up demonstrating the seriousness of her predicament. Koji Masunari made some wise choices. I think it's the "not stellar buildup" stuff that you might be responding to the most: there is something about this series that says to me that Shinobu Ohtaka was still fishing around trying to meet shonen manga expectations, trying to get approval from the readership. It just feels 'rough'. I haven't read the manga yet, but I am told that the adaptation is going at a pretty good clip, trimming out scenes that might otherwise slow things down. The ending theme gives me goosebumps, btw, really hits the emotional core of the series. Really, except for the slavery, prostitution, war, and poverty, this is a wonderful, feel-good, shonen action series, perfect for watching with your family after a long day at work to recharge your faith in humanity.* *I can't tell if I'm serious, or not. |
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RyanSaotome
 Posts: 4210 Location: Towson, Maryland |
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You, of all people, refuse to watch a show full of bishies everywhere just because one character is a shota? And yeah, regarding those manga covers... 
Looks like the anime design to me. |
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Tanteikingdomkey
 Posts: 2350 |
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I respect carl but I am really going to have to disagree with him on many of his key points, and that he is to hard on the series in some ways.
first I felt episode 1 was the most uninspired (maybe because I haven't scene the move he references) and thought it was generic shonen with all the BOOBS! talk and visuals. I rated the episodes myself as 3>2>5>4>6>1. Second even if the nomads arc is a step down from the dungeon and is hardly going off the tracks, and is necessary to the rest of the series. I have no idea why carl would say something like" You can almost hear the series killing off its own possibilities, its previously boundless world closing up or And then there are the rules. Rules are poison for a freewheeling adventure." I am sorry but rules are necessary elements of world building, and make sure the story stays interesting that way the main character actually has a challenge and limits placed on them. if not then you would have something like SAO in which the main character is a grey sue, along with other problems. also it's not like the series isn't paced very well. they spend enough time to introduce the characters while keeping the action going. even during episode 4 (which carl despised apparently) had almost an equal amount of time to world building (about 3:30) and (about 3:00) of fighting not including the peace talks which make up a lot of the episode. and episode 5 has about 13 minutes of fight scenes and about 4 minutes of world building. I hardly think that is unreasonable when a show has not done a lot of world building yet and the main character is trying to find out who he is. and it's not like the series does a lot of world building in it's other arcs either. I think carl just wanted the series to go a different way then it had in episodes 1-6. because I highly doubt he wanted the series to just be a constant stream of dungeons and traps, which would get old and wear out it's welcome.also I question if you really think that four people in the opening of the show are only going to be in the nomad arc. also I would say the nomads really had a profound effect on Aladdin also I am going to put this in a spoiler since it is about episode 7 and 8spoiler[the series gets everyone back together in episode 7] |
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N.R.
Posts: 232 |
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Magi has a lot of moe elements that the mangaka (who is female) chose to add in order to attract lots of female fangirls. |
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DmonHiro
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"the characters are simple and uninteresting, clearly doomed to their single two-episode arc, and the whole thing has little impact on Aladdin's life."
Wrong, wrong and wrong again.
He's supposed to be, at most TEN. |
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ChibiKangaroo
 Posts: 2941 |
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I really disagree with the analysis of the nomad arc. I can't understand how Carl says that "the whole thing has little impact on Aladdin's life." I'm not sure how best to describe how befuddling this statement was. The nomad arc was clearly set up to build Aladdin's character from a confused, simple minded little boy who's unsure of himself, to a more confident, knowledge infused boy who is more in control of his emotions and himself. It was pulled off very well in my opinion. Instead of focusing on this aspect, the review seems to instead bemoan the fact that the nomad characters were for the most part throw aways and that the adventure slowed down during this arc. Again, that seems beside the point. I don't think it was ever intended that we would really care about the nomads, or that the arc would be as high-energy and full of scenery porn as the first arc. The second arc is supposed to be all about Aladdin and his self-discovery, with the assistance of the old woman. Personally, I do enjoy high energy adventure shows. I haven't watched all of Fairy Tale, Naruto, or One Piece, but when I have watched episodes of those shows, I have generally been very entertained. (Naruto seems to be the most accessible of the three, so I have watched quite a bit of it, but even with Naruto I can only watch so much.) However, I ask Carl, do we really need another one of those shows? Some might say yes, but I actually am very pleased to see Magi taking a different course. Magi instead reminds me much more of last year's reboot of Hunter X Hunter, which is still going quite strong by the way. They are both shows which cycle between high energy action and slower stretches of self-reflection and character building. Aladdin seems to be a more confused and (if possible) innocent version of Gon. I think Hunter X Hunter does an awesome job of building Gon into a highly charismatic, likeable character with a lot of depth and strengths and weaknesses. So far, Magi seems to be getting off to a great start in that department as well. Specifically, if there was one scene from the nomad arc which caught my attention the most, it was the scene after spoiler[the old woman (who has sort of taken Aladdin under her wing) dies and she appears to Aladdin in a vision to tell him about his purpose in life and how he's not alone, and he breaks down and starts crying.] That for me was the real climax of the arc, not the battle between nomads and empire, and not the Djinn magic. Instead, it was a moment of the protagonist having a powerful moment of self discovery. Also, it was remarkable to me for inserting such a moment of vulnerability to a male protagonist so early in the plot. In Hunter X Hunter, Gon rarely seems that vulnerable even when he's getting the snot beat out of him. He still almost always seems confident and in control. Same with what I've seen of Fairy Tale and One Piece. Naruto has his moments of vulnerability, though they are often a little over the top and overly sentimental, usually coinciding with speeches or lectures to the villain, a dispirited friend, or the audience. I don't recall if there is ever a time where he just breaks down and starts crying. I'll admit that when I first watched the first two episodes of Magi, I wasn't nearly as impressed as the show's preview material set me up for. However, over the course of the first 6 episodes, the show is really working for me. Aladdin is endearing, likeable and easy to sympathize with/root for. (Also, contrary to a previous reply, I think the moe design works for him. It sets him apart from the edgy male protagonists in most of these shounen shows). Alibaba is a fantastic example of a deeply flawed, roguish hero struggling against his own desires for self-gratification. Morgiana's slave story is intriguing, emotionally satisfying, and uplifting in many ways. I am pleased to see the show taking its time away from high energy action to further develop these characters, and I think it deserves much better than a B- (at least an A-). I could easily see Magi ultimately snatching the crown from Hunter X Hunter among current shows of its type. |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5507 Location: Iscandar |
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I have an issue with the reviewer trying to analyze Magi as a straight up action/adventure series. For the reviewer action sequences are a plus, but moments of character introspection are dull and boring? Magi is more than an action/adventure anime; it has powerful themes like slavery, friendship and family. I share the sentiment of ChibiKangaroo with his take on the nomad arc. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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It's clear that Kimlinger wanted Magi to be one type of show and when it wasn't what he had envisaged - when it covered more genres than straight adventure - he saw that as a negative. I disagree with him, I think the show has enjoyed and benefited from exploring its different aspects.
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Tanteikingdomkey
Posts: 2350 |
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ya and they worked really well. the mangas back volumes have been selling 30,000 volumes a week. I would agree with the HxH compression versus something like one piece which carl seems to think magi is. and I don't think it's that fair to force magi into that category of shonen. |
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belvadeer
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A friend of mine and I did a marathon of the first few episodes and suffice it to say, we like what we've seen so far. We won't be swayed to stop watching no matter what's being said here or anywhere. It's very enjoyable when you watch the show in its scope and heck, it can be fun for enthusiasts of the original characters of Aladdin, Alibaba and spoiler[Sinbad].
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