....
What. They've made all these stupid changes, and it wasn't even for an anime original final ending? Most of the series was fine, really, not the best adaptation by any means but not something that wasn't fun to watch. I liked the first bunch of eps so much that I went and read the entire manga so far. But after the Balbadd arc, they've proceeded to stuff up Alibaba's character seemingly beyond repair.
(And they made Hakuryuu lose his arm in the most stupid way possible, as if Hakuryuu was saying "Damn, the writing team messed up, and something must be done. Here, let me hold out my arm for no reason other than to get it lopped off. Please, take it!")
If it's the case that the Yoshino who was doing the series composition is a lousy planner, it explains a lot. Looking him up on Animenewsnetwork, I'm not filled with confidence upon seeing his earlier work.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ency...e.php?id=36992 The only thing there that's decent was Sora no Woto, which was hardly groundbreaking. Fractale was promising but turned out a trainwreck. And...Yoshino is the original creator of Seikon no Qwaser, which frankly makes me marvel that Magi's anime managed to make it as far as it did before falling to pieces.
My favourite arc is the Magnostadt arc, and earlier on in the thread I was complaining that because of the anime original ending, obviously that means there'll be no second season and I won't get to see my favourite arc animated. But now I'm not sure I want to see it, if it's only going to be murdered. My confidence in the Magi staff is on the low side at present...