Surprisingly good.

chacham

Pros:
Nice animation
Complex storyline
Outcomes are not obvious
A lot of different players used well
Decent character backgrounds

Meh:
Many fights are won because of the script instead of skill.
Usage of Arabian Night story names can be confusing at first.

Cons:
Things are hard only the first time, then it's easy for everyone
Some histories make no sense
Innuendo thrown in for jokes, for the most part, detract from the story.

There are three seasons and each season has its own name. Season 1 is Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Season 2 continues the story as Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, Season 3 is a prequel about Sinbad, telling the first half of his story. Personally, i rate the first season as 8/10, the second season as 9/10, and the third as 7/10. The first season tells a decent story of its own and then sets up for Season 2, so overall, 9/10.

The animation in the show is pretty standard, it's the story that makes it decent, and the intrigue and philosophical issues that make it shine. It's not deeply philosophical or anything like that, but in the course of the story it touches upon slavery, revenge, classed societies, blind allegiance, and redemption, and many other topics. Most of these are shown in histories and given as reasons for acting this way or that, and in most cases, they spend at least a moment showing both sides of the argument and how people react to them. I don't know if this was all intended to be looked at that way, though it is an impressive amount of ideas that i only noticed in retrospect.

The story itself incorporates a lot of ideas. Arabian Nights plays a role in the names and a little of the background, with Aladdin and Sinbad prominently mentioned. There's the magi who guide and choose kings with hints of the New Testament and the wizards from Lord of the Rings, and of course King Solomon and his wisdom from the Old Testament. In all these cases the names and perhaps one or two of the famous attributes are used in the story, but after that, nothing is really the same. The use of the good and bad parts of magic, and even how magic has affinities is similar to the Force in Start Wars.

After the background is set, a lot of the story revolves around the politics of various kingdoms, their ideologies, and how they do business. It can get hard to follow if you have a hard remembering too many things at once, but it's worth it when everything and everyone comes together. War is a fact of life in this anime, and cunning decisions are made quite well.

The background stories are given as required, and part of the story is discovery. The discoveries are given at the right time, so it's not like you wonder when will they tell us this already. It's done well.

There are a few points that are stupid though. Fights are won because the script says they are, and they just aren't interesting outside the graphics for the spells. There are bad guys that take forever to kill at first and after that someone can kill tens of them in one shot. It can get crazy at times as the story progresses, and you just have to accept it even though it makes no sense.

Another good part of the story is who the hero is. Since you follow one person, you root for him, but there are others with good or noble causes either at first or as the story progresses. That you do not know who is "good" and who is "evil" adds a nice complexity, and it is done quite well. It isn't like the "complicated" backgrounds used elsewhere as a cheap imitation of depth.

I don't think this series deserves 10/10 but it certainly has potential. The complexity and philosophical aspects that you come across in the story make it a good watch, and i would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good story.

score 9/10

chacham 10 May 2020

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5726029/