(L) Magi the labyrinth of magic [anime]

[FlareKnight]

I'll join in the call for more of the slave girl (who really needs a name soon ). I assume she'll show up sooner or later considering her presence in the OP.

[Kazu-kun]

It seems Alibaba will get some really cool powers. Can't wait for this.

[PonSquared]

Originally Posted by duckroll

Episode 1

That was weird. This is mostly coming from being a manga fan, so maybe someone who hasn't read it will have a different opinion, but I'm disappointed that they don't have the episode count to really do the opening parts of the story properly. There's nothing technically "wrong" with the way the episode was rearranged, but it was definitely simplified and different, and the way the manga developed the characters before they met definitely worked better imo.

On the plus side, the production values are great, the music is nice, and the animation and effects rock. The action is really enjoyable to watch. The OP is great too. Love the song, the animation, etc. The ED song is awful though. Ewww. >_<

Yeah. I was depressed, too. It is what it is.

Hopefully it will get back on track with the manga soon and stay there.

[wisteria233]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

I'll join in the call for more of the slave girl (who really needs a name soon ). I assume she'll show up sooner or later considering her presence in the OP.

Her name is Morgiana, her name is listed on the official website, yes she is a recurring character, she gets billed after Aladdin and Alibaba, and yes she is awesome.

As for my thoughts on the first episode, the first thing that came to my head was how they changed around the events, not that I mind, in fact its understandable since they took out the first chapter and therefore Aladdin's introduction, so they now have to reintroduce his character, which was actually kinda parallel to the first chapter anyway.

The humor kinda fell flat, the jokes themselves are funny but the delivery left much to be desired. Also Elizabeth, granted they cut the really funny part of the scene, but it was still good to see her. Also the Ed music doesn't fit the show at all the OP is okay.

Now here's to praying that A1 doesn't try to rush through the series.

[Myssa Rei]

Too bad they cut out the really funny part with Elizabeth...

That aside, I've liked what I've seen so far, despite knowing of the stuff skipped or changed (as a manga reader). And yes, Mor isn't just a recurring character, she's a MAIN character along with the boys.

[Jetzero Infinity]

Well when I heard about how they were doing the beginning I was bit worried but that was a pretty good first episode and they managed to mesh the material pretty well. Of course I do hope that it doesn't take all the way until the Balbadd arc for the adaption to be a bit more faithful but I guess it depends on how they do some of the other events.

[Chiaki_chan]

I can not wait to start the anime =) this anime is in my list of anime to see haha

[Sage Shinigami]

Originally Posted by Westlo

Already confirmed to run 2 cour, duckroll posted that info a page or two ago.

26 episodes? For a series with as much (or more) material than Fairy Tail had when it started? Ugh. I'll give the first episode a chance, but that's almost garbage already. Damn. I had such high hopes.

[aohige]

Not sure where you got that impression, but the first episode was nowhere close to garbage.
If this was to be called garbage, every anime that aired this season is garbage.

[Nightengale]

Don't want to put words into Sage's mouth, but it sounded like misguided impressions based on the sole fact that it's 2 cour without actually watching ep1.

As for ep1, I liked it. It was different from the manga's opening chapters, but the shuffling worked, and for most parts ( there's some parts that I thought had potential to affect some other scenes, but I'll keep that in my mind to not spoil anything ), I thought it was an excellent introduction to the 2 key characters. Sorry, but Mor-san's appearance in ep1 was more of a prelude to a proper character introduction, compared to Aladdin and Alibaba.

As for the fact it's just a 2-cour series... as long as it's not trying to tell 14 volumes in 26 episodes, does it really matter? Not to get into any spoiler details, but Magi has a point in the series that would make for an excellent season finale, that a 2-cour ep count would be good enough to cover. And if it maintains excellent production values because of that, only the better.

Sure, having episode counts without an end in sight allows for pretty much all of the manga content to be adapted as they are ( and fillers, for those who love em ), but you win some, you lose some.

[aohige]

I believe it was stated already (and in this thread earlier) that it's confirmed to cover the Balbaad arc.
So the arc limitation shouldn't hinder anyone.
It's a good stopping point too, and may do another after it.

[Patriot's Blade]

Originally Posted by aohige

^well, Aladdin was originally going to be a spunky female warrior.

Here's a sketch of original concept Aladdin and Alibaba



Aladdin's feminine design is reminiscent of the author's original concepts.
(Including idea of the wrapped-cloth around the breast)

Originally Posted by aohige

Spoiler for quoting previous posts:

And more from the original concept arts of Aladdin/Alibaba

Spoiler for image size:

Obviously a later stage of design than the last, as it's gotten more arabic styling.
Aladdin used to be hooooooooooot

WHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!????? Araddin-chan could be one of the best mai-waifu material ever!!! ........ & straight romance subtext shipping with obviously.......... GAR-Alibaba

[OceanBlue]

As someone who hasn't read the manga, I liked it. Definitely going to see how it goes from here. I'm also interested in the manga, since everyone is saying that a lot was changed.

[Lota]

I really don't understand why people are angry that it's a 2 cour show Isn't it better that way? The Balbadd arc is around 80 chapters, so if they take 3 chapters per episode, we get exactly 26 episodes, so the pacing, imo, will be fine. And what's next? We have 150+ chapter of Magi so far, and they would also be covered rather quickly, we would have to suffer through endless fillers to get to the actual main story again. I say this is much better. If Magi proves to be successful, I hope they do with it what they did with Bakuman: sever 2 cour seasons, taking a break after each one of them. Honestly, this is better than fillers

[Tenchi Ryu]

Bad News is that it looks like I won't get a super funny Blue Genie and a Hot tanned Princess wanting Aladdin....

Good news is that this still looks like it will be very good. Some parts were really raunchy like something i'd see on adult swim, and at other times felt Studio Ghibli-ish...I like this weird combination. And I'm feeling the Middle-Eastern Hip-hop tracks....

[Westlo]

Originally Posted by Sage Shinigami

26 episodes? For a series with as much (or more) material than Fairy Tail had when it started? Ugh. I'll give the first episode a chance, but that's almost garbage already. Damn. I had such high hopes.

It's going to cover the Balbadd arc, any more after that depends on how it sales, A-1 Pictures always does something with their hit series....

A-1 Pictures did the following...

Ōkiku Furikabutte + sequel
Tetsuwan Birdy: Decode + sequel
Black Butler + sequel
Working + sequel
Blue Exorcist + incoming Movie sequel (at least I think it's based on the anime original ending, don't know never saw the end)
AnoHana + incoming redone Movie from Menma's POV
Uta no Prince-sama: Maji Love 1000% + sequel next year

Except for Birdy all of those shows sold over 10k, the only shows to sell over 10k and not get a sequel are Kannagi (which is obvious for whoever followed the manga and what happened to the mangaka) and Idolmaster. The latter of which is getting 3 OVAs bundled with the PSP games later this month.

If Magi sells it's fine, if not shit happens, I doubt they were going to give anything a year long run in this time slot after Gundam AGE tanked the ratings.

[Nightengale]

Originally Posted by Lota

I really don't understand why people are angry that it's a 2 cour show Isn't it better that way? The Balbadd arc is around 80 chapters, so if they take 3 chapters per episode, we get exactly 26 episodes, so the pacing, imo, will be fine. And what's next? We have 150+ chapter of Magi so far, and they would also be covered rather quickly, we would have to suffer through endless fillers to get to the actual main story again. I say this is much better. If Magi proves to be successful, I hope they do with it what they did with Bakuman: sever 2 cour seasons, taking a break after each one of them. Honestly, this is better than fillers

In theory, having an 'arc constraint' + 'episode count limitation' will result in some cuts or in some lesser cases, filler, for better or worse.

And changes tend to lead to complaints, anyway. It's rare that anime original changes leap above and beyond the original source material... and even when they do, there still are complaints.

[Kafriel]

Quite a few changes, but I'm okay with it as long as it doesn't undermine the characters' background. Aladdin's eating face is weird as hell, pretty funny though...I'd say it was a good first episode, not the strongest in the season but definitely enough to need more of it, if only for a few episodes until the plot picks up.

Decent OP, boring ED. Oh well~

[EroKing]

Images

Morgiana

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[LoweGear]

Episode 1 is certainly different yes, and some of the parts felt weaker as a result - while the part with the desert hyacinth looked epic, it didn't quite have the "nick of time" feeling that the manga have, and shame about the entire first chapter being cut out. Still, if seen as just the anime, the entire first episode works well in establishing the three central characters that do matter: Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana.

Originally Posted by TheEroKing

Images

Morgiana

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Ooooh lovely

Mor also looked quite splendid this episode