Magi

[Uchiha Barles]

I found it difficult to feel bad about Alibaba's tragic past, given to whom he was telling it to.

I agree with you on that, but much like last week's complaints, I don't think that was a goal they were trying to achieve. It felt like they purposely left out melodrama in favor of matter of fact narration, which is obviously designed explain how things got to be the way they were in that country, and why Ali Baba is with the thieves. If anything (and I have my doubts) the story is setting us up to feel sorry for Kassim when he bites the dust.

[Inazuma]

It's the whole " He's damaged because of his childhood " kind of thing that just makes me want to double tap Kassim at the base of the skull. Betraying SOB needs an Ugo slap.

[Kraco]

It's the whole " He's damaged because of his childhood " kind of thing that just makes me want to double tap Kassim at the base of the skull. Betraying SOB needs an Ugo slap.

He was fighting for his survival, in the beginning his own and his sister, later, if we are to believe the propaganda, his whole people. During the time he betrayed Alibaba, they all had been driven from their homes and the land has been sold to the wealthy. And since Alibaba's old man apparently was the one in power, it must have been ultimately up to him to bless such a move. Exploiting Alibaba's naivety was a small thing compared to that, if the robbed money went to the robbed people.

I'm not yet sure Kassim is right now what Alibaba thinks he is. He might be simply using Alibaba to further his own plans and to buy the support of the impoverished masses for the time being. He seems like a shady fellow, not any saint. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in fact planning to become the next king himself.

[Archangel]

I love the girl's designs in this show, Alibaba's mom had it goin on!

It's still hard to make any judgement on either Ali or Kassim, there's obviously more to this story from both sides.

[Xelbair]

You seriously think that he was protecting people from slums? He was in band of thieves, heck - he's leading them. Do you think that robbers and thieves would accept a leader who is truly protecting innocent people? no way. They might give them some cash - so people won't give out their movements to the gov't, to get help from them in need.

My guess is that Kassim's sister died thanks to some nobleman(probably got raped too) and now he is just going in for vengeance.

but also my first guess(before this ep) was that Alibaba is trying to get his country back(before it was known that he really was the prince - but it was quite obvious) and he's supporting Kassim just for that - now.. i'm not so sure.

[Inazuma]

Magi 10 by Commie

Watch it guys, it is as good as Jojo's episode 10
Spoiler Alert : Don't fuck with Magis

[shinta|hikari]

Yeah, great episode.

Sinbad seriously disappointed me. Even Alibaba had more guts than he did.

[Uchiha Barles]

Wow....I love this show. The usual type of subtext was present in the introduction of the banker with allusions to his (their?) role in all this mess. But what really took the cake was an artform that I thought was lost to the shounen genre: A major fight that begins and ends within a single 22 minute episode! <3

[Kraco]

Episode 11 - gg




- - -- - - - --






It's seriously starting to annoy me that they are dragging Alibaba in the slump for so long. No matter how good the eps are otherwise, but when one of the three main characters is like that, I can't feel happy. He even wasn't like that in the beginning of the show, and based on everything we know has happened, he shouldn't be like that now either. It feels unnatural. One factor is Sinbad always stepping forth instead when Alibaba is just standing still with his mouth hanging open, but I don't get the feeling Sinbad would still do that if Alibaba actually tried to do something. But as a spirited king, Sinbad simply can't leave the people hanging when Alibaba enjoys his long moments of hesitation. Even in the very last scene, Sinbad was staring at him so hard that it would be impossible not to interpret it as trying to force Alibaba to finally raise his voice. If he doesn't do it now, he's going to be a loser for the rest of the story and should just hit the road, never to be seen again. I would rather forget him and watch Aladdin and Morgiana than see one more episode of depression.

[shinta|hikari]

Relax. They are setting him up for some growth.

[Ryllharu]

Bullshit.

This arc has grown stale, and they're really dragging it out.

[Dark Dragon]

Bullshit.

This arc has grown stale, and they're really dragging it out.

It's been 4 whole episode with an introduction of a new set of character, a major villain, several hints toward a deeper plot.

The climatic fight took half an episode and even the flashback didn't last more than a single episode. What part of any of this is dragging it out? This is no where near the coma inducing pace that most other Shounen tend to tell its story.

As far as Ali Baba goes, the only time he has shown true confidence so far is during his sword fight with the guy who own Morgianna. That was because it was a territory he was knowledgeable in, so he has no problem using what he knows. Otherwise, his personality tends to be very hesitant and lack a lot of traits for a real leader. He has no experience leading anyone and lack charisma, he knows this and that is why he is hesitant to take charge.

In fact, this is very consistent with his character. Think back so far and count the number of times Ali Baba took charge without someone else directing him. He only went into the dungeon because of Aladdin power, he only join the fog troupe at Kassim's urging and he only reconcile with Aladdin when he was forced by Morgianna. Like shinta said, Ali Baba is a very flawed character that has plenty of room for growth. If anything, Sinbad presence is making him more hesitant because Sin is such a natural leader.

[Kraco]

If anything, Sinbad presence is making him more hesitant because Sin is such a natural leader.

That's indeed true, and no doubt Sinbad acted a couple of times before he could stop himself, being such a natural leader, but otherwise I'm not, at least yet, getting the kind of impression from him that he would actively want to supplant Alibaba as the leader of the ragtag in this country. So, rather than crawling even deeper into the holes of the earth like a worm, Alibaba should draw inspiration from Sinbad, use his actions and behavior as examples and get his own ass moving. Sinbad is clearly waiting for that to happen. While you say Alibaba has always been like this, in fact he has always been active at defending the helpless and hasn't hesitated to even risk his own life and wealth to save them. Now he's supposed to be saving the population of his home country, so it's not like him to just stand still and wonder.

[Ryllharu]

Think back so far and count the number of times Ali Baba took charge without someone else directing him.

You seem to explicitly exclude the moment he decided stop being a sycophant and save Morgiana and the little girl at great cost to himself (nearly dying in the process, and crushing debt from throwing the wine at the flower monster), which ultimately added additional motivation for him into entering the dungeon (a much higher debt to pay back).

He had already gotten past a similar hurdle. He already gained confidence to do the right thing instead of the easy thing. This entire arc has been Alibaba backsliding, weighed down with his past. Now he is nearly as bad as he was in episode 1, the only difference is he isn't prostrating himself before his half-brothers.

New sets of characters aside, Alibaba's character development hasn't gone anywhere since the start of this arc. It's gone in reverse. So yes, it is starting to get dragged out.

edit: Furthermore, his line in that very episode was, "It's still better than doing nothing and living with regrets!" which is exactly what he's been doing these recent episodes.

[Dark Dragon]

I do understand your frustration, don't get me wrong. I really don't like it when characters get like this also, but i personally thinks it's consistent with Ali Baba. This situation is slightly different than just risking himself to help the weak. I don't think he would hesitate to do that, but he is probably afraid of making the wrong choices and therefore cause those who follow him to suffer. He's still very young and inexperience and was suddenly thrust into a position of power. We have to remember that Ali Baba wasn't groom to be a prince from birth, he was a child from the slum. He didn't learn of his true parentage until late into his adolescent and was thrown into life as a royalty. He lacks the confidence that was instill into those belonging to royalty at a young age and he lacks the natural charisma of people like Sinbad.

I don't know how deeply this author consider the characters when writing the story so this is all assumptions. We can surmise a few things from what the story has shown so far
1) Ali Baba is more interested in going on an adventure than becoming a leader, because he clearly intended to travel the world with Aladin, but was stuck in his home country after learning of its current state from Kassim.
2) While he will risk his life to save those in need, Ali Baba personality is actually more on the timid side. Remember that he ran away after causing the fire instead of dealing with the consequences and there is also his tendency to let other dictate his actions.
3) Sinbad is akin to a hero for Ali Baba and he obviously idolize the guy.

Because of those reasons, i didn't find it out of character for Ali Baba to act the way he did.

[Uchiha Barles]

While it is kind of annoying to see Ali Baba be so damned reluctant in everything he does, I am enjoying the interaction that encompasses that aspect of him: the relationship between Sinbad and Ali Baba. Sinbad seems to be going out of his way to do things in such a way that Ali Baba can see him do it. I think when Sinbad realized how awesome Aladdin is, he figured that his king candidate was probably someone worthwhile, so he's making himself out to be Ali Baba's mentor. For now, he's instructing by example. He doesn't seem to want to outright push Ali Baba in any direction because he's probably still evaluating him. If I go with that interpretation, I don't even see Sinbad taking the lead as something that requires forgiveness, because Ali's resolve has, clearly, yet to be solidified.

edit: Furthermore, his line in that very episode was, "It's still better than doing nothing and living with regrets!" which is exactly what he's been doing these recent episodes.

He hasn't been doing nothing. He's still the leader of the band, he's been playing robin hood all this time, and he's still doing it. He then went and tried to talk to the king, and then fought to defend Aladdin and the surrounding people. The problem is he has no charisma for someone who should be a leader, due to his lack of confidence and lack of diplomatic skill, and lack of military might. I imagine this is what is Sinbad is going to be teaching him. Also, watching him get his ass kicked is not fun.

While you could interpret his recent development as backsliding, you have to consider that the scale and complexity of the issues he's dealing with now are far greater than the things he's dealt with before. He's dealing with a problem that has to be conceived in terms of politics, nations, class structure, etc. You know, the kind of thing grown, sophisticated men and women have debated over for millenia and have yet to come to a consensus on. I'm not debating that it's a bit annoying to watch, but Ali Baba's reluctance far exceeds the requirements to be seen as reasonable and justifiable.


edit: Probably should've read more of the thread instead of knee jerk reacting to posts. Dragon, right above me said the same shit.

[Kraco]

Episode 13 - gg






- - - - - - - - - -






Oh, yeah! This felt again every bit, no, actually better, than the beginning of this show. The previous ep had some good parts already, but this was good from the beginning till the end. Alibaba is fully back on his feet, more so than ever since he can kick ass now, even if he's still a fledgling. He has started to develop character, which is probably even more important than simply being able to crack some skulls. Morgiana isn't much of a thinker, but she was right to believe in him even when he was at his worst. Or perhaps it's precisely because she's not a thinker.

Regardless it was good to see him push forward, and even better to see him backed up by Morgiana. Her fight was naturally as flashy as ever, yet it was nice to see she still has a long way to go as well; it makes the rest of the show more interesting.

One thing that caught my attention in this ep was how much Shinichiro Miki (the Banker's VA) was enjoying his role. He sounded like some unholy mix of Kurz Weber and Lockon Stratos given Deishuu Kaiki's disposition.

Looks like Aladdin may be waking up as well. About the time.

[Uchiha Barles]

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude...Morgianna totally flying kicked a fucking hole through a giant monkey's chest! Goddamn! <3.

[Ryllharu]

I really love the cut of Morgiana's dress. The trailing length of fabric at her back is too cute. Which is made even better every time she does some acrobatics. It reminds me of Kat's scarf in Gravity Rush.

What has been making this series great is that it doesn't try to be anything more than what it is. It's a just a good adventure romp (rare these days) with great characters and entertaining fights. All the right mix of tension and humor.

I can't wait for the look on the Kou princess' face when she sees her betrothed. Might have been what we saw in the preview, but I'm hoping for even more than that.

[Inazuma]

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude...Morgianna totally flying kicked a fucking hole through a giant monkey's chest! Goddamn! <3.

All arguments are now invalid.