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Jun 29, 2014
I must admit, the tale of Sinbad- King of Sindria, Conqueror of the Seven Seas, a legendary man whose mythical adventures have been woven into countless movies, books, and cloth- is a rather difficult story to tell. So far, Magi season one and two have both done exceptionally well in portraying Sinbad as a grown man in charge of a nation. Rather than sticking to just the classic mold of "Sinbad the great sailor!" or "Sinbad the witty, flirty, virtuous bad boy!", they add depth by darkening the inner workings of his tactical mind. However, the same effort in characterization was not applied to either
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of the OVAs of Sinbad's adventures.
STORY (6)
The first OVA begins on a dark, stormy evening with the screech of a woman in the midst of an excruciating labor which just happens to be occurring during a magical, mystical, wondrous night full of shooting stars, glowing genie lamps, and the classic array of oddities that only happen "once every thousand of years". If this were any other anime, this would be an irritating (and frightful) way to start off the episode but because it's Magi and it blends together legends with just the right amount of originality, I gave it some leeway. After all, the intro music was fantastic, and if you're a Magi fan already, at this point you're cracking your knuckles cause Sin's finally in town! There's no way this can go-
..wrong...And before you know it, the producers have dragged you into one of the most cliche, overdone story lines known to fairy tales. Sinbad's portrayed as the classic hero, complete with a tragic background story, the help of a supernaturally gifted stranger, and everything else that serves as the pedestal upon which this adolescent's destiny sits- awaiting his overbearing greatness. While the main character's traits are clearly established alongside the antagonists' and a clear goal is conveyed, the origin- the story behind the very essence of Sinbad's character is unfortunately, not the work of just his own hands, but of the imperious power of 'destiny' that he was assigned from birth.
The second episode of the OVA consists of Sinbad and Commander Drakon's meeting, and together, they face the creatures of the dungeon. While this episode is action-packed and amusing, it fails to retain any hold on reality when Sinbad flips the bird to every law in physics. Another irk is that Yunan can be officially branded as the deus ex machina magi when he appears out of nowhere to do nothing but act like Sinbad's personal magician. The final moments of the episode are drenched in a vat of cliche tropes.
The third OVA, however, redeems this series more than I hoped. It finally introduces a brand new character and hurries along the plot to a possible dungeon fight that may occur. This episode brings back the classic excitement that often accompanies the tales of Sinbad. If the series is ever continued or revived separately, any episodes from here on out will surely lead to a better telling of Sinbad's adventure and it may finally give his character the depth it deserves.
ART (8)
The art is just as amazing as it was in the series- perhaps even more so. Details are not shirked and even minor characters are given diverse facial features that go beyond the usual haphazard sketches. The quality of the other two episodes is similar, yet not quite on par with the extraordinary display of the first. Nevertheless, the animation itself is enjoyable overall.
SOUND (7)
As is the soundtrack- the only two notable bits of music being at the beginning and ending of the first OVA, the ending rock instrumental that rolled with the credits at the end of the second OVA, and everything else flows on the waves of equilibrium.
CHARACTER (5)
Here's where they stopped hammering the nail in halfway through the script.
With a dead father, a sick mother who feels guilty for worrying her son, a village jam packed with kids and adults alike who absolutely adore Sinbad because he's just so NICE, so speshul, so won-der-ful!~
He's everyone's favorite guy!
Everyone's awed and inspired by him,
And it's not hard to see why,
Cause no one's slick as Sinbad,
No one's as quick as Sinbad,
No one's hair is incredibly long and luxurious as Sinbad's!
For there is no other teen in town half as heroic,
Perfect, a classic archetype!
You can ask any Natsu, Lelouch, or Levi,
And they'll tell you whose team they prefer to be on!
There's only just one guy in town who's got it going on,
And his name is SINBAAAADDD!
Unfortunately, Sinbad's characterization falls flat. They might as well have inserted the song montage in the background to accompany the numerous occasions that validated the glorious, inherent valor of Sinbad who- around the age of four, 'somehow' supernaturally directed his father which way to row their boat to get out from under the raging storm. He all but rowed the damn thing himself- which, of course, would have been far too absurd to show. It's understandable that the directors want to stick to the conventional tale but Magi's been about deviating from the given plot line and spicing it up. I honestly looked forward to the twisting of Sinbad's tale into something thrilling-perhaps about a boy who wasn't meant for greatness, but instead I was met with the same old generic set-up for a child's play of heroism.
As for less familiar characters such as the traveling magi: Yunan, or the ruthless military commander leading the next dungeon raid: Prince Dragul, and his childhood family friend: Princess Serendine- they all attempt to squeeze their personas into trope coffins as if the entire point of their existence is to offset our main character as the 'good guy' who always knows the right thing to do. By the time we reach the second OVA, the characters still lack depth. The third OVA, on the other hand, redeems itself by introducing new ones that gain depth through the hurried narration of events- which fits the pace at which Sinbad leads his adventures. Although the episode ends as a cliff-hanger, it holds much more potential than the first two stints.
CONCLUSION:
All in all, the three-pack episodes of Sinbad's adventures are mildly amusing. The art is superior to that of the series itself and the soundtrack appears new- making it a worthy watch if only for the sake of aesthetics. However, the plot line itself is lackluster in comparison to the series due to the standards (of the original series) that it's held against. At the very least, the OVAs can be viewed as the classically cliche retelling of the animated version of Sinbad the Sailor with the conjunction of Magi's take on magic- making the shortened tale an entertaining ride till the very end.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 22, 2013
I was expecting something more action-packed and thrilling, but this was by no means a disappointment. This movie was perfectly fine. Just a-okay. It's a lovely chocolate cake smeared with some questionable cream and devoid of the cherry on top. And when you haven't had a cake for a while, it's a bit of an 'oh-well' sort of downer. But if you've had your fair share of sweets- from revolting, stiff wedding cakes to drool-worthy masterpieces- you will find this cake to be an ordinary dish, its expiration date a bit too soon, but far off enough to leave you munching in contentment.
STORY (7)
The
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movie starts off by relaying a cautionary tale (which is repeated several times throughout) of a demon who was found by a villager. She fed him food, and the demon stayed and spent time with everyone. Soon, because they became busy in laughter than in their work, the villagers forgot the village. To solve this problem, an exorcist was brought in to seal the demon. However, the village remained lost. Thus, this tale was passed down for thousands of years, so that once every 11 years, a festival is celebrated for the demon.
You'd think with such a simple, straightforward tale, that it'd be easy to patch together what needs to happen and display it in the best possible manner. Instead, we get jumbled amounts of detail on action that does not seem to be going anywhere nor following any sort of pattern. The plot-line is laid out, you can guess what role the main characters play, and you do know what happens. Nevertheless, instead of being content with meeting the watchers' expectations, the producers try to overdo it by adding in some random mission at the beginning of the movie. Missions are commissioned throughout the whole movie. And you see a bunch of 'exwires' and exorcists going around, chanting stuff, shooting blobs of neon colored monsters, and wielding swords equipped with a classical battle cry. It's not even well-done action that slightly interests us- it just sort of drags itself on for a minute or two before flopping. It doesn't help that the city looks like a downtown slum to begin with.
Besides that, the main parts are executed well enough. Rin finds a little boy who turns out to be a demon. He befriends him after offering a bottle of water which is soon followed by a peeing session. They play games together, take baths, and basically Rin takes over the role of surrogate father/older brother. Either way, it's pretty cute and I laughed and aww'd quite a bit during the baseball scene. Then the kid's eyes start dilating. And even if you've never watched anime before, you know shit's bout to hit the fan. We're then faced with zoomed in faces, people staring, and a drunk act. You can bet your lucky stars it's the village story happening all over again. This time, however, there's a little twist. The ending is unexpected- but you expected it already. It's slightly tear-jerking at some moments (if you know the back story of the characters) and overall provides closure.
ART (6)
Characters look normal (except the fact that Yukio's moles are missing...) and sane besides the ones that clearly aren't. The drawing and coloring style from the anime was utilized and resulted in a faithful animation except for one detail. Why does the city look like a slum town? How is that even sanitary? Was that green swamp water we just saw?! Why are they performing magic in the sewers? Why is there no real explanation for any of this? The anime series didn't make it look dirty and grotesque at all. Everything was clean and vibrant despite the crazy architecture. But in this movie, even the festival was slightly disturbing- what with it's flashing lights and glowing-eyed rabbit faces. It's like a mixture of ancient Rome and Istanbul gone through dust showers, mud storms, and some shitload of hurricanes requiring practically everything to be rebuilt and what's left standing looks like it'd better to put it out of it's misery.
SOUND (7)
If you've seen Ao no Exorcist, you know the soundtrack is spectacular. The battle music injects adrenaline into your veins, the piano tracks make you sniffle into shedding a single tear, and the vocals encourage head bobbing. In the movie, you get some rip-off artist rapping while the characters are mid-discussion. No worries, you think, subs will do. But the subs are butchered beyond belief. I swear to God that if some grammar nazi was shown those sentences (one was, "How are understaffed, we with you, the division of Kyoto!") the poor soul would kneel over and scream "STOP IT! SPARE ME! PLEASE!" before erupting into a sobbing epileptic fit. It's as though the subber started out eager to learn the English language and halfway through decided, "You know what, screw this! I'll just stick it in Google Translate! Known by difference no one!"
The voice actors did their jobs, but the subber just stabbed their efforts straight in the gut. More importantly, the translators aren't the only pet peeve. The sound specialist has a nasty habit of incorporating a radio 'technique' at random intervals of a scene. Deciphering the subs is annoying enough but having to hear normal sounds being murdered through transmitters just made the process dreadful.
CHARACTER (7)
For those of you who haven't seen the anime before, here's some general info about the characters' personalities:
The main character (Okumura, Rin) is easy-going, open-minded, and easily convinced. He cooks really well, is the son of Satan, and breaks out in blue flames and a tail when he unveils his sword. His twin brother (Okumura, Yukio) is the younger of the two, but you wouldn't know it from his mature, dutiful, and serious manner. He wields two guns, wears a trench coat, and has wonderful glasses that compliment his face structure.
There's a blond chick in a pink school uniform (Moriyama, Shiemi) who has a green little palm tree bud who sits on her shoulder and whom, for some odd reason, she dubs as 'nii-chan'.The green thing wields magical powers of herbs, medicine, and saving dead people's souls in peaches. Another female character is a purple haired chick with a reverse ombre look (Izumo, Kamiki). She's a pretty normal girl- ignoring the fact they all have some sort of exorcism powers.
The main character's good guy friends are: the carefree one who's afraid of insects (Renzou, Shima), a bald smarty-pants with glasses (Konekomaru, Miwa), and a hardcore looking dude (Ryūji, Suguro) who goes by Bon and is serious about work/studies. Though seeming a tad cliche, they're highly amusing when hanging out together.
We've got a snake-sword wielding, bra-wearing, drunk-loving gal (Shura, Kirigakure) who's pretty laidback and loose except for when it comes to getting the job done. There's also the new Paladin (Arthur Auguste Angel) who is in charge of the festival and you can assume to be powerful and grand by his stark white clothing, lustrous golden locks, and ridiculous last name. You'll meet a Taiwanese exorcist, the cute demon kid (who's named later on), and the main character's cat (Kuro) who can turn into godzilla.
All the characters are tolerable, one or two provide endearing moments, but they still feel distant, so when the unexpectedly expected ending plays out into a dramafest, it can be received with little to no response. It all really comes down to how much emotional piano you can take before breaking down in tears.
CONCLUSION:
Obviously, if you haven't seen the anime, it may be frustrating trying to understand what's going on, what's what, and who's who. If you have seen this anime, this is nothing exemplary. It's not spectacularly majestic nor is it worthlessly contemptible. This movie is such a blandly neutral display of work that I'll just hold my peace on this one.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 24, 2013
After watching this, I was torn between regret of even trying it and a slight satisfaction that I was able to complete it.
STORY (4)
This movie starts off in a cliche manner. There's a new transfer student who, from his very first lines, we can confirm is not from Earth. We are introduced to the main set of characters- a typical, "you pervert!", finger-pointing anime girl who is the neighbor of the main character, the girl that the main character likes who's talented, shy, and also typical, and the main character himself who seems to be the typical anime guy who does not measure up to
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the hotness of the transfer student. To sum it up so far: typical. Then, out of nowhere, cellphones are accused to be the spawns of devils and the reason why teens are unable to communicate efficiently. Magical powers and sparkly objects begin their work in damaging your eyesight by attempting to blind you at every turn. You suspect a love triangle, a love square? How about some conversation? Oh wait, no. Apparently this has something to do with telepathy. Or no wait, physics? Which is it? Oh look! There's a back story between the neighbor chick and the main guy! Wait, I thought they were just neighbors? Where's all this water coming from? Why do we need to see this scene? Am I supposed to be reading into this? It's symbolism isn't it? No? It's just pretty? Wait a minute- are they trying to throw in some Shakespeare in here? Is there going to be fighting? This seems to have potential but seriously what's happening? And these questions are what lead to headaches- which is precisely what you'll have after you're done watching this. So please, for your concern, I suggest you watch this movie on your off-time, during a free day, and certainly not when you're ill because then you'll just suffer from migraines.
ART (9)
It's truly the art that keeps you watching and still hoping that there's some thread of story line you haven't picked up on. The color palette is gorgeous and everything is so shiny and clean and bright that you begin to appreciate your eyesight- even when you're being blinded by the bubbles, rays of the sunset, odd glowing magical items, and school floorboards. Movement is fluid, and it leaves you feeling fresh and wholesome with its incorporation of nature in every aspect. You'll even pause or replay some parts in order to appreciate the hues. Overall, it's magnificent. Consider making some screenshots.
SOUND (8)
Just as wonderful as the art. With soft piano (played by the transfer student, of course), the music comes across as subtle and easily blends in with the feeling provided by whatever scene is playing. Voices, tapping, the blowing of the wind- all are displayed to near perfection. Any vocals you hear are softly sung and blissful to say the least.
CHARACTER (5)
As I've stated before, the characters are undeniably second rate- the female ones more so than the males. While at the beginning they seem unexpected and interesting, they quickly fall into the routine of what every other anime school girl/boy does. I particularly detest the female characters' behaviors on some occasions. The neighbor chick (Ryouura Natsuki) is an emotional wreck- and not even the hot kind. She's ridiculously agile, jumping everywhere, and teasing one moment and the next she's slapping the main guy (Seki, Kenji) for one, naive statement before crying and running off despite the fact she's the one who just shoved him to the side of the road. I really despise the fact that violence is displayed acceptable by female anime characters simply because she's doing it since they're 'close' and 'joking'. It's not funny, it will never be funny, and personally, I would never want to be friends with someone who smacks me every chance they get.
The second girl (Harukawa, Kahori) is another lackluster piece of recycling. She's shy, has big boobs, is in the student council, does music and surfs in her part time, is friends with the violent neighbor chick, and interested in the transfer student (Kyougoku, Ryouichi). We see these two talk more, bond over the piano, and this girl goes on her merry little way- gasping dramatically at everything he says and clutching her body parts as if- despite being under the pretenses that they're trying to display her as nervous and cute- she's coming across as someone who's being turned on for the first time. It's sort of awkward to say the least, and I couldn't even spare a pitiful smile for her despite having a soft spot for quiet characters.
But perhaps I'm being too harsh, the magical guy seems to be rather intriguing after all and he's got that mysterious aura going on too. Maybe he'll turn out to be evil or even cross the line into the gray area an-- oh nope, there he goes. He starts preaching about the 'kokoro' as its some sort of heart condition people must be made aware of... And, now he's glowing..
Finally, the main guy. Well, let's see- how would you define a guy who lets himself get beat senseless by his female neighbor/childhood friend, continually forgets to zip his pants, breaks windows in attempts to apologize for something which he hasn't even done, and walks into a council room of people wearing a horror which even speedoes can't outdo, puts his hand in there, pulls out a cell, and throws it across the room while uttering some dramatic line that I'm pretty sure was supposed to add to the plot had we not all been busy screaming no? You don't define that sort of guy. You give him the one eyed twitch before getting the hell out.
Overall, the characters aren't horrifyingly annoying to the point where you want them all slaughtered, but they are rather mediocre, slightly disturbing, and highly disappointing because they had some essence of potential.
CONCLUSION:
So, should you watch it? On boring, event-less days during which you are healthy, sane, feeling as if you could care less about story lines, and prepared to let the confusion mold itself into a ball that rolls off your back with a shrugging ease. It's not a bad movie, but it's definitely not something you'd want to share with your friends when hanging out for fun. It's an anime you'd watch twice in order to appreciate the animation once again and perhaps attempt tackling whatever mumbo jumbo is thrown at you- crafting it into a plot you can actually comprehend without having to be part of that niche group that read the novel (who knew there was a novel?), but it's not a film you'd consider worth mentioning as an award-winning production since it clearly did not make it a goal to cater to the general audience. All in all, give it a shot, but keep your expectations low- even those of the art and music, just so you'll have something to be pleasantly surprised about.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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