(L) Magi - Labyrinth of Magic [manga]

[Randrak42]

Originally Posted by ellifeedn

Sorry, I wrote the wrong thing. What I wanted to write is, "Is this something I have to add to the list of manga series I should be reading?"

Yes it is.

[Diveman]

Yes, if you're not reading this, you might be missing one of the best mangas ATM

[telamont]

Interesting. After all those chapters of "Mogamet is not simply an evil racist. He has a good side." It's nice to have it clearly shown here in this chapter. But in a way, it's also very tragic.

People here keep on saying "If only he could show the same love towards the Goi." Problem is... he did once. The concern that he showed Titus in this chapter, he once showed towards everyone. And the world shat on him for it. It was only when he started prioritizing magicians first that he got anywhere. So the lesson that the Magi world taught him boils down to... If you love everyone, want the best for everyone, you're a slave with no rights. Become a militant racist and you get your own country.

Or in a more simplified form... "Nice guys finish last." Hmmm... the world can really suck sometimes, huh?

Since this is a manga, we can at least count on Mogamet to have an experience that's uplifting enough to counterbalance his ugly past, and thus return to his former self. Only question is, how will it come about? Ali Baba and Morgiana are not around. Alladin and Titus are both magicians, anything awesome that they do will only reinforce his beliefs that MAGICIANS ARE THE MASTER RACE.

I'm really excited to see how things will develop from here. Perhaps we'll get a scenario where all the magicians of Magnoshutatt are nearly spent, broken before the might of the Laem/Kou empire, and it will be up to the common citizens of Magnoshutatt (Rallied by Alladin, with the help of Marga? Maybe? LOL, I'm reaching, I know) to step in and tip the balance back in their favor? Coming full circle, seeing Goi dying to protect Magicians as Magicians once died to protect Goi would be a good way to change Mogamet's mind.

Or alternately, since they seem to be going to war with Laem, we could just have Ali Baba step in and show off his newly upgraded powers. Perhaps even use whatever connection he's developed with Scherhazade to negotiate an alliance, and show those silly magicians GOI POWER

A little bit more cliched, but since it's been so long since we've last seen the guy, I'll take whatever I can get.

[Nvis]

Wait, what's with the baby Sinbad? Is it just a flashback?

[Izayoi]

Originally Posted by Nvis

Wait, what's with the baby Sinbad? Is it just a flashback?

It is liked inserted to promote a side-story. Yes, the side-story is a flashback of Sinbad. It is like 70 pages or something and comes with the anime.

[aohige]

Hey guess what!

I still want his face punched you know.
And lolimagi is superior. Because. lolimagi.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by aohige

Hey guess what!

I still want his face punched you know.
And lolimagi is superior. Because. lolimagi.

Lolimagi is still infinitely more likeable than dumberdouche.

Because why? Lolimagi may create clone puppets which inevitably have a shelf life but she's still not a racist pig like him.

[Rainrir]

Originally Posted by aohige

Hey guess what!

I still want his face punched you know.
And lolimagi is superior. Because. lolimagi.

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Lolimagi is still infinitely more likeable than dumberdouche.

Because why? Lolimagi may create clone puppets which inevitably have a shelf life but she's still not a racist pig like him.

Well, ye gonna get what ye want when we finally see her rolfstomp Dumblemont/Dumberdouche/Moganett/Whatever when she does gets her revenge ("I'll remember this!").

Regardless, I think it would make more sense to make Magoshuatt a neutral land than actually incorporating it into Laem. It is one less place to guard, feed, manage and commit troops to if Laem just wants to defend (instead of attack) against Kou. Magoshuatt can relied on to defend itself, assuming that Laem acts in its own strategic interests and "relieves" Magoshuatt when things get too grim (in the form of diversionary attacks or raids against the Kou logistics etc etc). This also saves the Laem lives since they only have to operate over a smaller area and have more strategic freedom of movement. This is especially true of Kou concentrates its firepower on Magoshuatt.

Considering how old Mog is like, he probably wouldn't let anyone (Laem or Kou) through. If pure defense is the goal for Laem, then this arrangement actually benefits Laem. Probably better than straight out annexation, since it results in less QQ and more PewPew by the magicians for that front.

The only problem is that loli magi doesn't think that Magoshuatt is not allied to Kou. She doesn't know that Old Mog told Kouha to take a flying leap. She also thinks that Old Mog is allied to Al Sarmen due to the dubious origins of those magical tools. Regardless, if anyone actually observes old Mog, one can tell he doesn't take shit from Goi (like the Kou). Furthermore, now that we think about it...why would a magic supremacist magocracy...make magic tools for Goi to use offensively? Doesn't quite make sense....

[XFire]

Originally Posted by aohige

Hey guess what!

I still want his face punched you know.
And lolimagi is superior. Because. lolimagi.

lolimagi just signed her own death warrant. "I'll remember this"? That's like number three on the "Death Flag List for Villains".

[Rainrir]

Originally Posted by XFire

lolimagi just signed her own death warrant. "I'll remember this"? That's like number three on the "Death Flag List for Villains".

She wouldn't die because she is cute. Trust me.

[hawkeyesvn]

IMO, Mogemett overestimated his country's power. Even counting all the magicians, Magnoshutatt have no more than 5000 units. Against Kou Empire which is based on China - A country that always favored tactics with massive force, Magnoshutatt doesn't have much chance.

Magnoshutatt's magicians may have quality but in a long war, they will lose to Kou's quantity. Scher is right that Mogamett is on the path to destruction, the old man is extremely racist and stubborn.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Rainrir

She wouldn't die because she is cute. Trust me.

Being Magi and thus a major plot character (Like Goukuen or Sinbad major) also helps

Originally Posted by Rainrir

The only problem is that loli magi doesn't think that Magoshuatt is not allied to Kou. She doesn't know that Old Mog told Kouha to take a flying leap. She also thinks that Old Mog is allied to Al Sarmen due to the dubious origins of those magical tools. Regardless, if anyone actually observes old Mog, one can tell he doesn't take shit from Goi (like the Kou). Furthermore, now that we think about it...why would a magic supremacist magocracy...make magic tools for Goi to use offensively? Doesn't quite make sense....

Al Sarmen are not Goi.....and maybe not even human for that matter. Don't know if that's important

[Rainrir]

Originally Posted by hawkeyesvn

IMO, Mogemett overestimated his country's power. Even counting all the magicians, Magnoshutatt have no more than 5000 units. Against Kou Empire which is based on China - A country that always favored tactics with massive force, Magnoshutatt doesn't have much chance.

Magnoshutatt's magicians may have quality but in a long war, they will lose to Kou's quantity. Scher is right that Mogamett is on the path to destruction, the old man is extremely racist and stubborn.

Well, that will depend on how Laem reacts to the Kou forces. If lolimagi keeps her stance that Moganett must be punished, then she would be sacrificing strategic sense and let Kou take Magoshuatt. That will open up a bigger front tthat will claim more Laem lives against the Kou forces. I am not sure how she will act though, in such a scenario.

Plus, if we discount the one Magi and the Djinn users, I think it is highly likely that Magoshuatt has the absolute advantage in morale, logistics and quality. Quality goes without saying, since the average magcian can probably beat the shit out of Kou's "peasant soldiers". Logistics because the magicians are fighting on home ground, while the Kou probably have to stage from Balbadd. Morale because if OldMog is to frame the war, he probably frame it as a war of survival against people who want to exterminate the magicians (hint hint). Consideirng what some of the upper tier mages can do, I don't think they will struggle to meet a 10 to 1 kill ratio. Furthermore, what kind of crazy superweapon the magicians might have to defend themselves in a pinch is really anyone's guess...

I mean don't anyone remember that X-D@y W@r by the-nation-that-cannot-be-named, the kills-to-loss ratio there was more than 10 to 1. To cite another example, Sino-Vietnamese war basically is a stalemate in which the enemy has a 7 to 1 advantage. Even though who really "won" is hard to tell, the Vietnamese didn't "lose" against a foe with a larger army, had better gear and have armor support. I am not sure of Kou would be willing to take those losses after some time, especially if there is a Laem army behind Kou's back (Kou probably doesn't know that Lolimagi and OldMog fell out).

Of course, Chinese strategy and tactics involves more than just overwhelming numbers. Damn that Mao, giving a bad name to Chinese war strategies and tactics. The idea that China "always favored" large numbers is really a big misconception "fed" to their enemies arising from the need to emphasize numbers... since the PLA was weak everywhere (air, armor, artillery, navy) else during the 50s to 70s.

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Al Sarmen are not Goi.....and maybe not even human for that matter. Don't know if that's important

Other than the Dark Metal Vessel, which I don't even know if lolimagi knows about, Lolimagi's concern is the proliferation of "normal" magic weapons in the area around Laem and outside Magoshuatt. This applies only to the Bandits who attacked Kouha (Goi) and the Holy Mother Pirates (also Goi), they show no signs of being affiliated with Al Sarmen (for now). I can't see why Magoshuatt wants to arm Goi from outside nations with magic weapons even if Al Sarmen told them to do so.

Chances is that there are people within the Magocracy that are working for Al Sarmen. Hoever, I seriously wonder if helping Al Sarmen is actual Magoshuatt national policy...

[shalala]

Originally Posted by Rainrir

Other than the Dark Metal Vessel, which I don't even know if lolimagi knows about, Lolimagi's concern is the proliferation of "normal" magic weapons in the area around Laem and outside Magoshuatt. This applies only to the Bandits who attacked Kouha (Goi) and the Holy Mother Pirates (also Goi), they show no signs of being affiliated with Al Sarmen (for now). I can't see why Magoshuatt wants to arm Goi from outside nations with magic weapons even if Al Sarmen told them to do so.

Chances is that there are people within the Magocracy that are working for Al Sarmen. Hoever, I seriously wonder if helping Al Sarmen is actual Magoshuatt national policy...

The way I see it Magoshuatt clearly knows about Al Sarmen and the fact that his country is making weapons and are being given to the goi. Based on what we so far seen he clearly knows about the effects when one curses their own fate thus he was desperately trying to save Titus when he was so close to it. I also agree that there are people in Magoshuatt that work for Al Sarmen. Like Aladdin's teacher. Given the way she look evil when talking to him about Black Rukh.

But I also wonder with that helping Al Sarmen is actual Magoshuatt national policy. As they could clearly have been helping Magoshuatt when he over threw the last gov and made Magocracy and the deal was probably to study the dark rukh and the event from 12 years ago could have been the first time they made a dark djinn and thus could tie into why Magocracy makes weapons and studys Dark rukh and also how Metal (His name is fr too long to spell and I'm too lazy to copy and paste so I calling him Metal) came see the bad side of cursing one's fate.

[marvelB]

Originally Posted by Rainrir

She wouldn't die because she is cute. Trust me.

But what if the loli body is just a "shell" of sorts that she created with her rukh and her real form is that of a huge, scary butch woman (ala Biscuit from HxH)? Would that guarantee her death then?


Anyways, I brought it up before, but what if Dumblemort has his own army of Dark Djinn? IMO, that would be a force powerful enough to rival that of Laem or Kou's armies. And as for how he could build up such a massive force..... well, he has thousands of impoverished Goi at his disposal, does he not.....?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by marvelB

But what if the loli body is just a "shell" of sorts that she created with her rukh and her real form is that of a huge, scary butch woman (ala Biscuit from HxH)? Would that guarantee her death then?

Nope.....because then she would be used to torment Alibaba....while Aladin enjoys proper female company right next to him.

[Randrak42]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Nope.....because then she would be used to torment Alibaba....while Aladin enjoys proper female company right next to him.

OMG that harlot with the fugly face that keeps "serving" Alibaba is lolimagi in true form! She uses it to spy on the new magi and his king.

[ahelo]

Magi really exploded in popularity in Japan. It's the 9th best selling manga of 2012 with 3,000,000+ copies sold. It's like Ao no Exorcist again (last year) in terms of sales.

[shalala]

For anyone that doesn't know Anime News Network as reported that there will be a "Secret" Magi project launching next Spring. My money would be either A) Movie about different Arc of the manga. B) A anime version of The Adventures of Sinbad. C) A Movie set around a future manga arc that would explain how either a new friend for Aladdin and Co or Alibaba obtained a new Djinn. So it would be a good old Dungeon arc. On a side note how many dungeons are there. 83ish?

[Xion Valkyrie]

I think the Japanese manga market is tired of the fairly standard way most shounens have been told in recent years. Just look at the Shounen Jump series that have been started/canned recently. They're all VERY formulaic in the way the characters and story are setup. Magi's characters, storytelling, and themes are pretty fresh for the Shounen manga market, and the execution is definitely hitting high points in most categories.