Friday, September 30, 2016

FIF#23-Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic


Long ago in a land forgotten by time, the desert spreads vast and giant towers known as “Dungeons” tower over all.  Some believe these unexplored monoliths hold great power and wealth and many seek to claim it for themselves.  Alibaba is one such dreamer, working for the scum of the city to attain money to begin his journey.  When he crosses paths with an odd young boy named Aladdin, Alibaba finds the chance he’s been looking for.  Partnered with a beautiful slave and armed with Aladdin’s powerful Djinn best friend, Oogo, Alibaba dares to venture into the Dungeon he’s sought to enter his whole life.  The only thing scarier than the law of the land chasing after them, are the secrets and dangers lurking within this ancient tower from which none have ever returned.

Magi can be a pretty deceitful title.  With a setting that looks like Agrabah and characters with names like Alibaba and Aladdin, you almost expect a Disney like Anime of A Thousand and One Arabian Nights.  And sure, the animation is cutesy and Aladdin is just too freaking adorable…but wow is he a tiny little pervert.  Actually, boobs seem to be on everyones mind for at least one second in the first episode.  Hell Aladdin even makes fun of Alibaba’s fat boss cause he think he has boobs.  I had to shake my head and get my bearings after that moment.  This was definitely not what I expected when I chose to watch the first episode. 

Aladdin may be the best part of the first episode of this series.  He’s a lot like Goku from the original Dragon Ball if he was living in a desert setting and actually knew something about girls.  His child like wonder is matched only by his strong heart and desire to help others and make friends.  He sees right through Alibaba’s roll with the punches mindset and constantly calls him out.  I’m surprised it took Ali so long to get his act together.  After refusing to disobey his bosses orders TWICE, he actually draws the line at sacrificing a young girl to save money making wine.  I mean, whew, I doubt he’d stoop so low but if he did, I’d be done with this series.  We saw a little bit of the Red haired (or is it pink?) slave girl but didn’t really get much of a name.  The opening intro mix sees her capable of pulling off incredible feats of fury but you wouldn’t get that seeing her looking so fragile.  Maybe she gets better as time goes on?

As much as I’m curious about these “Dungeons” im wondering if we’re going to spend all season (yes I said season.  This series is the first of three) traveling to the top of the tower (Could this be the titular Labyrinth of Magic?).  It feels a lot like a retelling of the first season of Sword Art Online.  Now the adventure could get pretty entertaining but then again I feel like it could stall like Sword Art did once or twice.  If the series is drawing on Arabian Nights as much as I think it is, then there’s a whole universe of excitement that could befall Aladdin and Alibaba.  Could they all be in this tower?  I don’t know but it’s a lot of potential I don’t want to see squandered.

So, while the unexpected sexy moments and humor caught me off guard, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic had enough fun to get me curious.  Aladdin is a lot of fun to watch and I would like to know what is inside that Dungeon and if there really is treasure waiting for Alibaba.  Like I said, this is only the beginning of a long series: The Kingdom of Magic and The Adventures of Sinbad follow this one.  But I’m hopefully Labyrinth of Magic can stand on it’s own without being all set up for better things.  One things for sure, Disney’s Aladdin has nothing on this Anime wild child who could die happy, face buried in the bosom of a beautiful woman…yeah still could never see that coming.
 

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