Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic (Japanese: マギ, Hepburn: Magi) is a Japanese fantasy action adventure manga series written and illustrated by Shinobu Ohtaka. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday since June 2009, with the individual chapters collected and published into tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan. A spin-off titled Adventure of Sinbad (シンドバッドの冒険, Shindobaddo no Bōken), written by Ohtaka with drawings by Yoshifumi Ohtera, began serialization in the same magazine in April 2013, before being moved to Shogakukan's website Ura Sunday. As of 2013, the manga had received the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen demographic.

A television anime adaptation by A-1 Pictures aired in Japan from October 2012 to March 2013 and a second season titled Magi: The Kingdom of Magic aired from October 2013 to March 2014. The manga is being released in North America by Viz Media, while the anime has been licensed by Aniplex of America in North America, by Viz Media Europe in Europe and by Madman Entertainment in Australia. An original video animation based on Adventure of Sinbad was also produced, bundled with some volumes of the manga, before an anime series was announced.

Synopsis

Setting

The story is set in an alternate recreation of the ancient Old World with several regions and nations having some resemblances with real-life counterparts from that time. In this world, all living beings possess an essence known as Rukh (ルフ, Rufu) and when they die, this essence returns to the huge flow (also known as "guidance") of Rukh that gives life to all subsequent beings in an eternal cycle of rebirth called "Fate". Once a person is overcome with sadness, anger, and hopelessness, their Rukh becomes corrupted, unstable, and black, and deviates from the main guidance in a process known as "Fall into Depravity" (堕転, Daten).

There are also several magic castles full of treasures and traps known as "Dungeons" and each of them is the lair of a powerful magic being, a Djinn (ジン, Jin). Individuals that manage to overcome the trials of a Dungeon and earn the allegiance of its Djinn are known as Dungeon Capturers (迷宮（ダンジョン）攻略者, Danjon Kōryakusha), gaining the ability to use its powers infused in a personal item of theirs known as a "Metal Vessel" and create less potent "Household Vessels" for their companions as well.

People can use the Rukh in their bodies to create an energy known as Magoi (マゴイ) to power their magical weapons and abilities. This energy must be used with care, as despite the fact that an individual's magoi can be restored with feeding and rest, once fully exhausted it causes their death. Among those that can perform magic with their own Magoi there is a rare class of magicians known as Magi (マギ), that can also use Magoi from the Rukh around them, greatly increasing their capabilities. A Magi usually chooses Dungeon Capturers to offer guidance and protection making them into their King Vessels (王の器, Ō no Utsuwa). There are several nations in history that were founded or improved by the rule of such individuals.

Plot

Main series

After being secluded for his entire life, a boy called Aladdin travels the world until he meets Alibaba Saluja, a young man aiming to one day explore the nearby dungeon Amon and claim its treasures. Aladdin and Alibaba eventually become friends, and conquer Amon together, despite facing the opposition of the ruthless Jamil and his slave warriors, with only Alibaba, Aladdin and Morgiana, the only survivor of Jamil's party, escaping with their lives. For some reason, Aladdin ends up teleported to a distant land, far away from the others, where he learns that he is a Magi. Having no news of his friend, Alibaba uses the treasure he obtained in Amon to free all slaves in the city, including Morgiana and returns to Balbadd, his homeland.

After having their own adventures in separate locations, Aladdin and Morgiana end up reuniting with Alibaba in Balbadd where they learn that he has joined the Fog Troupe, a cadre of thieves opposing the tyrannical rule of King Abhmad, Alibaba's half-brother. Helped by Aladdin, Morgiana and Sinbad, a famous king of the island country of Sindria, Alibaba manages to have the monarchy dissolved and establishes a republic in Balbadd. However, Balbadd ends up annexed to the Kou Empire, a powerful Eastern nation that plans to conquer the entire world under the pretense to put an end to all conflict between the nations.

Following the events in Balbadd, Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana are brought to Sindria, where they train under members of Sinbad's household to increase their abilities and help him with his mission to stop the mysterious organization Al Thamen that works in the shadows to spread chaos throughout the world as part of an unknown agenda. The trio ends up befriending Hakuryuu Ren, a prince of the Kou Empire visiting Sindria and whom they help to conquer the dungeon Zagan. After confronting some members of Al Thamen, Aladdin and his friends go separate ways for personal reasons, promising to rejoin together in the future. Aladdin enrolls in the Magnostadt Academy to study magic, Alibaba leaves to improve his swordsmanship and learn magoi manipulation in order to complete his djinn equip with the Yambala Gladiators in the Reim Empire, Hakuryuu returns to the Kou Empire, and Morgiana departs to the Dark Continent to fulfill her dream of visiting her homeland.

One year later, Aladdin and Alibaba are reunited during Reim's campaign to conquer Magnostadt and after they help defend the city, the Kou Empire launches a surprise attack. To defeat the invaders for good, the city's leader Matal Mogamett summons an army of Dark Djinns with a huge mass of Black Rukh stored in its deepest level. However, Aladdin reveals that by doing this, Mogamett unwillingly helped Al-Thamen to get closer to their main objective, which is to summon their god, Il Illa, whose advent will cause the world's destruction. To prevent it from happening, Aladdin and his friends join forces with the Kou Empire, the Reim Empire and Sinbad's confederation, the Alliance of Seven Seas to stop the summoning.

A few months later, representatives from Kou, Reim and Sindria gather for a summit organized by Sinbad. In the occasion, Aladdin reveals all the truth regarding Al-Thamen, their role in the destruction of Alma-Torran, which is the original world of mankind, among several other species with intelligence, each having their own civilization, and their exodus to the current world. However, the summit is interrupted when a civil war starts in the Kou Empire. After the war ends, Sinbad realizes his plan of having almost all the world's main powers assembled into a supranational union, the "International Alliance", and ushering a new era of peace and prosperity to the world, while Aladdin, Morgiana and Hakuryuu take separate ways.

Three years later, Alibaba, who was supposed to be killed during the war, reappears and starts to look for his friends, despite being warned that Sinbad's body also contains the rukh of David, Aladdin's grandfather whose essence is directly connected to Il Illa, and thus he is seeking for Aladdin's whereabouts for his own agenda.

Adventure of Sinbad

The spin-off/prequel manga titled Adventure of Sinbad follows the origins of Sinbad, years before he becomes the King of Sindria. Originally living in the Parthevia Empire with his father Badr, a war veteran and his mother Esra, Sinbad loses his father due to the war against the Reim Empire, and spends his youth helping the local villagers and tending to his ill mother until he meets and shelters the mysterious Yunan, unaware that he is a Magi. By request of his mother and learning of his determination to change the world for the better, Yunan decides to guide Sinbad and instructs him to challenge the Dungeon "Baal" that appeared in the border between Partevia and Reim, and whose treasures were still unclaimed as thousands of warriors from both empires had challenged it, but none of them survived, except by Sinbad himself and a Parthevian noble whom he nicknamed "Drakon". After defeating Drakon in battle, Sinbad conquers Baal and gains the allegiance of the Djinn residing there, thus becoming the first ever Dungeon Capturer. Sinbad returns home in time to have one last encounter with his mother at her deathbed and leaves Parthevia to start his own journey to change the world.

Media

Manga

Magi began serialization in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine on June 3, 2009.^[3] The first tankōbon volume was released on December 18, 2009; 28 volumes have been published as of January 2016.^[4] All chapters of the manga and episodes of the anime series are labelled as "Nights" in an allusion to the tales of the One Thousand and One Nights which served as a primary source of inspiration to the story.

Adventure of Sinbad was released as an additional material with the first volume of the anime series. It was later expanded into a regular series, which began serializing in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on April 2013, and later was moved to Shogakukan's webcomic site Ura Sunday. It is also written by Shinobu Ohtaka, but illustrated by Yoshifumi Ohtera. It follows the origins of main character Sinbad, from his childhood in the Parthevia Empire to his rise as the king of Sindria.

Anime

During the Shogakukan's Jisedai World Hobby Fair '12 Summer event, an anime television adaptation was announced on the event's official website.^[5] The anime series, produced by A-1 Pictures began airing in Japan on October 7, 2012, replacing Mobile Suit Gundam AGE in the MBS/TBS's 5:00 p.m timeslot.^[6] It also debuted in North America on October 10 on Crunchyroll and Hulu.^[7] It has been licensed by Aniplex of America in North America,^[8] by Viz Media Europe in Europe^[9] and by Madman Entertainment in Australia.^[10] The English dub is planned to be streamed on Viz Media's Neon Alley service.^[11] For the first twelve episodes, the opening theme song is "V.I.P." by SID and the ending theme song is "Yubi Bōenkyō" by Nogizaka46.^[12] From episode thirteen onwards, the opening song is "Matataku Hoshi no Shita de" by Porno Graffitti and the ending is "The Bravery" by Supercell.

Just after the end of the anime series, a second season was announced. It was later titled as Magi: The Kingdom of Magic and scheduled to start airing on October 6, 2013 at the same timeslot of the first season, replacing Space Battleship Yamato 2199.^[13][14] For the first thirteen episodes, the opening theme song is "Anniversary" by SID and the ending theme song is "Eden" by Aqua Timez, while from episode fourteen onwards, the opening theme song is "Hikari" by ViViD and the ending theme song is "With You/With Me" by 9nine.

An OVA based on Adventure of Sinbad was released with the manga's third volume on May 16th, 2014.

Game

Magi: Hajimari no Meikyū (マギ はじまりの迷宮 Magi: The First Dungeon) is a video game adaption of the Magi manga and anime series for the Nintendo 3DS platform. The game is produced by Bandai Namco Games and was released in Japan on February 21, 2013. This game is getting an update with more playable characters, a new dungeon, and more story content in the future.^[15] On January 20, 2014 Anime News Network^[16] reported that Bandai Namco Games began streaming the second game called Magi: Aratanaru no Sekai for 3DS.

Reception

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic has proven popular upon its debut. In his review of the first volume, L.B Bryant noted "not only is it a shonen title but it's a GOOD shonen title" and recommended it be picked up.^[17] It won the award for best Shōnen manga at the 59th Shogakukan Manga Awards.^[18] In Japan, it was the 4th best selling manga series for 2013, and in the first half of 2014, it was the 5th best selling manga series.^[19][20]

References

External links

• Anime official website (English)
• Anime official website (Japanese)
• Manga official website (Japanese)
• Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia