Recap: Aladdin takes the focus this week as our duo has been split up. Aladdin meets a mentor in the form of an old woman who acts as a sort of sage, and ruler for her nomadic tribe. This old woman teaches Aladdin about the meaning of family out on the plains, but all is not well as the tribesmen all carry weapons by their sides preparing to defend their homes.

The princess of a nearby nation meets with the nomads, and tries to bring them under her nation peacefully, but one of her officers has other ideas. He has some of the women kidnapped to be sold off into prostitution, and slavery, but the tribesmen manage to rescue their women without murdering the kidnappers on the advice of their trusted leader. The tribe celebrates with a feast after their success, but disaster is one step ahead, and an assassination sets the stage for things to spiral out of control.

That my friends is what you call an evil bastard grin.

Lifesong’s Thoughts: Adventure! I am glad to see this anime wasting no time in expanding it’s world. I am eager to see Aladdin, Alibaba, and Morgiana form up their adventuring trio, but this detour while Aladdin stops in to meet a mentor was a good enough standalone piece that I really don’t mind the lack of important cast members. Also, Aladdin, and Ugo could probably carry this show pretty far on their own in my book anyway.

I love it when a story can bring side characters to life, and make me care about them, and that is exactly what this episode did. I could fault it for being predictable, but having a good sense of what was going to happen didn’t detract from the fun. When the princesses officer pushed the girl with the horse milk down I wanted to see his head served up on a platter. Magi managed to take a character, and make him a violent, racist, bastard all with one scene. Yeah, I hate the guy, and can’t wait to see how justice is served up next week.

Not sure if asking, or demanding.

The darker themes of magi are often subverted with idealism, and that raid on the kidnappers where no one dies on either side was a bit silly, but I still don’t really feel like any of that detracted from how much fun this episode was. The idealism in Magi is not an absolute trump all as we saw when the old mentor woman took an arrow to the back.

I am very curious how the next episode will play out as war is a dirty thing, and as much as I’ve grown fond of these characters in the one episode I’ve known them people need to die if we are going to have battles. I doubt Magi will let everyone off with a wrist slap, but I guess we have to wait for next episode to really know don’t we?

Yup, my face would also look like that if I were watching a kid fly away on a turban.

Dragonzigg’s Thoughts: Even in the short time I’ve been watching it Magi‘s strength has been how it’s able to blend the spirit of traditional shonen adventure with a slightly darker, more nuanced take on the issues it raises. This week might be the best example of that yet, as we shift focus purely to Aladdin and the situation he finds himself in. It’s a refreshing change of scenery and tone, moving away from the Arabian Nights aesthetic which has prevailed up unto this point and exchanging it for a smaller scale tribal vibe, as well as rolling green grasslands. It’s also a good sign that the show is working to build a coherent world this early in the narrative, as we’re introduced to several new factions, with new ideas and new problems.

I was a little worried that Aladdin might struggle to bear the story on his own, but my fears proved unfounded as he accomplishes the task with aplomb. His naivete and innocence are pitched perfectly, enough to be believable  but not so egregiously that he becomes annoying rather than charming, and some great dialogue between him and Grandma help make their instant bond believable, as quick as it is. It was also a good decision to show Alibaba and Morgiana in the cold open, as it reassures us they’re OK, gives Alibaba a nice moment in the sun as he shows he isn’t just squandering his riches, and furthers Morgiana’s movement towards the two boys.

This may be the best face yet.

The strongest part of this episode though is the political wrangling between the Kouga clan and the Empire, and it’s to the show’s credit that it is both interesting and even handed.  It’s rare we see both sides of the argument laid out so evenly like this, and that’s a refreshing level of sophistication to bring to the story. Granted, Ryosai couldn’t be more of an obvious villain if he twirled his luxurious mustache, but sometimes you need a stereotype to menace the good guys, and he works well here.  The first part of the episode does a wonderful job of communicating the tightly-knit community that the tribe represents, and that makes Grandma’s decision at the end to sacrifice their pride to preserve that family that much more resonant, though it’s a rationale that could go either way depending on how your views lean.  Ambiguity is a strength here, as it represents complexity of thoughts and ideas, something which more anime could benefit from and a definite boon for the series.

In that same vein, Grandma’s subsequent arrow in the back is shocking in exactly the right way, showing that this isn’t going to be a ‘happily ever after’ scenario, but that things are probably going to go bad despite the best intentions of many involved. It’s a daring, bravura moment to end the episode on and one which continues to support the dark undertone which Magi has kept running throughout (see also Ryosai’s creepy ‘breeding’ plan).  Only four episodes in, magi  has fleshed out it’s world and characters to a considerable extent, and seems bent on exploring big ideas while never losing the spirit of adventure at it’s heart. That can’t be anything but exciting.