Magi (Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic) | Manga

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Alternative Titles

English: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

Japanese: マギ

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 37

Chapters: 369

Status: Finished

Published: Jun 3, 2009 to Oct 11, 2017

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Magic, Shounen

Authors: Ohtaka, Shinobu (Story & Art)

Serialization: Shounen Sunday

Statistics

Score: 8.30¹ (scored by 52,848 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #264²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #54

Members: 115,871

Favorites: 8,566

8.30

Ranked #264Popularity #54Members 115,871

MangaShounen SundayOhtaka, Shinobu (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /37

Chapters: /369

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Synopsis

Fourteen years ago, mysterious buildings called "Dungeons" started to rise in various places around the world. Within these dungeons, powerful beings called djinns rule over. When a person successfully conquers the dungeon, the djinn offers their immense strength in the form of Metal Vessels, recognizing him or her as a worthy king candidate. Adventurers from many empires and kingdoms venture into the dungeons in search of their bountiful treasures and the power of djinns. However, to travel through them is not an easy task, and only Magi—legendary magicians who choose kings and develop countries—can guide people through.

After being trapped in a room for most of his life, a young Magi named Aladdin finally sets out on a journey to explore the world along with his friend, a djinn named Ugo, who he can summon from his flute. Through a series of fateful encounters, Aladdin meets new various friends and allies, and together they begin an adventure that will change the fate of the world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Magi won the 59th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shounen category in 2013.

The series has been published in English as Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic by VIZ Media under the Shonen Sunday imprint since August 13, 2013 by Shogakukan Asia since April 25, 2014; in Italian by Star Comics since September 17, 2011; in Spanish by Planeta DeAgostini/Planeta Comic since October 22, 2013; in Brazilian Portuguese by JBC since July 2014; and in Polish by Waneko since November 3, 2016.

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Related Manga

Prequel:	Magi: Sinbad no Bouken
Adaptation:	Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Magi: The Kingdom of Magic

More characters
Characters

Morgiana

Main

Saluja, Alibaba

Main

Aladdin

Main

Sinbad

Supporting

Judar

Supporting

Ren, Hakuryuu

Supporting

Ren, Kougyoku

Supporting

Ja'far

Supporting

Ren, Kouha

Supporting

Alexius, Titus

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

Oct 12, 2017

369 of 369 chapters read

Overall Rating: 6

TzKal-Zuk (All reviews)

151 people found this review helpful

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Magi is good, could’ve been great, but Shinobu Ohtaka rushed the ending like crazy. Instead of announcing the an arc being the final arc, it should just end whenever one can see the ending. What we ended up getting was a convoluted plot with elements that came out the bootyhole and it splattered all over the first 2/3 of the manga. The art also became a lot less clear towards the end since so many things were happening. However, overall, I’m glad to have finished Magi because it really is one of the best shounen manga out there. It’s one of those series where you can look back at it in retrospect and appreciate the level of detail that went into each panel (up to the final third).

It's frustrating when a series can be consistently good for 250 chapters goes to horse poop in the last third/quarter. How can such a beloved work, with an interesting fantasy world, with interesting characters, on top of it being shounen, drop the ball as much as Magi did? I'll tell you why, I'm gonna blame a character that has no reason to be a staple in Magi when hes a staple in his own damn Manga. No doubt the weakest link in this whole latter third of Magi is Sinbad, who has some contrived reasons for creating conflict and has really disengaging dialogue to read. I'm more into Alibaba's style of being boisterous and naive, and Aladdin's reactions and jokes. Magi really dropped the ball after XXX kicks the bucket, because the world building, which Magi did a decent job of pretty much transitioned into something new that wasn't particularly engaging. I say that because it's so vastly different that I have to forget that old world and accept the new one, and to add to the problem, it wasn't even used to its advantage.

That’s enough about the latter third of the manga, which is the real reason why I’m making this review to begin with, but lets focus on the whole picture. Besides the sour aftertaste of finishing this manga, I would overall still recommend reading it, simply because it is one of the better overall shounen manga out there right now. The combination of good art, decent characters, enjoyable dialogue and banter, and execution makes the journey worthwhile. I also recommend watching the anime, as I feel the seiyuus used in it created a good depiction of the characters. It wouldn’t be the same without reading Alibaba’s dialogue in his stupid, nonchalant voice and Morgiana’s deadpan reactions. It’s not often you see an anime adaptation complement the manga as well as Magi does.

Original review:
To be fair, you have to have a high IQ to comprehend the inner workings of Egyptian culture present in this piece of art. It’s not everyday you come across luxurious fine details depicting what the middle eastern lifestyle is. I have no doubt Shinobu Ohtaka went through existential nihilist crisis whilst creating this piece of work because of the subtle references to Egyptian culture and Djinn myths. Not every scholar can follow the Quran to the letter like ol Ohtaka did, and her personal philosophy is extremely apparent, the way she can write Alibaba to symbolize every transcendent being on Earth. We also get to witness Ohtaka break barriers in terms of gender norms, creating Morgiana to be a metaphor for Cleopatra and promoting power of women. Only truly intelligent beings will be able to appreciate such detailing of Sand culture.

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Oct 20, 2017

369 of 369 chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

Kirik0h (All reviews)

81 people found this review helpful

Arguably no genre in manga or anime suffers more from an ill-fated combination of cliche reliance and a basic premise than action shounen. Whilst it is not inherently bad for a show to skilfully execute well-trodden territory (for which there are plenty of shounen that do), Ohtaka’s “Magi”, true to its adventurous spirit, treads beyond the boundaries of its genre without ever losing the heart-racing excitement that all shounen lovers yearn for.

An allusion to the Middle Eastern folk tales of “One Thousand and One Nights”, the world of Magi is unlike most we’ve seen in that it neither draws its main inspiration from the ninjas, folklore and mythologies of Japan à la Naruto, Bleach etc., nor from the superheroes of the West (e.g. BokuAca). The premise is that of a world in which mysterious towers have spawned across the globe, that if overcome, supposedly grants the conquerors of these life-threatening dungeons the magical powers of a djinn. If this were a typical shounen, the story would not expand beyond this premise and we would be presented with a small cast of characters who will inevitably face fierce rivalries, powerful friendships, slapstick comedy and action.

Magi guarantees you all of this, especially at the start, but the story truly shines once the initial worldbuilding is established as Magi uses its premise as a springboard for exploring socio-political, economic and ontological issues. The conflict in the plot arcs of Magi are grounded upon one of these issues which makes for a more powerful experience that relates to our real world but connecting each and every one of these arcs is a story about a boy whose search for his identity, beliefs and ideologies on the social and political issues in his world are constantly challenged. It frustrates me beyond belief when in shounen our protagonist has such inherently strong convictions and sense of justice that they are only “weak” in terms of their physical abilities and powers because that narrows the storyline and character development to merely the acquisition and development of their combat prowess. Shounen protagonists almost never truly engage with the complexities of the issues they face, if there are even any at all in the story. Alibaba and co. are not fight bots who merely beat people up into magically agreeing with their ideology nor is he a paragon of wisdom whose words convince anyone he manages to speak to – that is more along the lines of Sinbad but even he has plenty of depth. Magi’s world and characters may be wonderfully supernatural but they are also a reflection of our own world and people.

My only issues with Magi are that its ambitious storytelling means that the balance between action and politics is at times compromised. Certain arcs can be very focused on the politics and others on the fighting. For many shounen readers, if the action is the only aspect you want to observe, there will be times when you may find yourself losing interest. Magi does not achieve the absolute pinnacle of storytelling that sees a perfect transition between the two but nonetheless it still achieves this better than the vast majority of shounen. Regarding the ending, although the series concludes excellently with regards to the main issues at hand, it felt slightly rushed and further attention to the vast cast we met along the way would've very much been appreciated.

One of the main benefits of having a manga have its premise set in Middle Eastern folklore is being able to have art that shows the dazzling designs and drawings of fantastical beings and creatures that most people have probably never come across. The character expressions and designs are memorable and fun but Magi’s art shines the most in its action scenes. When our warriors fight and djinns are released, the manga sometimes requires you to spend a couple minutes per panel just to marvel in the designs and as the series progresses, the sheer scale of the battles and wars that we observe. Combined with Ohtaka’s panelling, which excels in constructing fluidity between scenes in a medium where images are still, Magi is rarely ever a visual bore to read.

Magi, the manga, was not what I expected after having watch the anime. Whilst certainly, Balbadd and Magnostadt arcs certainly give you a glimpse of its potential, the anime did not adapt far enough to see what Magi is truly about. If the political aspects of Magi and its universe appeal to you, I recommend reading it entirely. Even if Magi is not as surgical in its exploration of these issues as manga who dedicate themselves towards "deeper" themes, the fact that it is also an equally amazing adrenaline-rushing and heart-pounding action, should convince you to read Magi and for those aforementioned reasons, I would wholeheartedly recommend this manga to both shounen lovers and shounen-sceptics alike.

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Oct 16, 2017

369 of 369 chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

Ribu (All reviews)

55 people found this review helpful

I have been reading this manga for 8 whole years and it is my favourite manga since then but still as a devoted fan I can't be more honest when I say it has let me down.
First, the story is the base structure that makes Magi unique, seeing as it benefits from its inspiration, the Arabian Nights stories. The world Ohtaka created is marvelous, it is incredibly complex and you must pay great attention to fully understand it. The art helps on this aspect, there are panels in this manga with incredibly detailed artwork which gives the environment the arabesque feeling borrowed from original source. read more

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Dec 28, 2017

369 of 369 chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

AverageOrNotSo (All reviews)

31 people found this review helpful

-=SPOILERS=-
(I just couldn't write this without expressing what I Disliked & loved about it.)
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The start of this manga, is the part I loved. The old times theme (What era would it be? ;o), the characters, adventures, and the comedy they chucked in with the rest. Below is spoilers from Final Arc (Suggest not to read unless you like spoilers... yeah)
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I personally loved this manga, all the amazing fights and whatnot. The thing that I disliked though was the final arc. It turned into a world a lot like ours, and I though that was going to be how it end. But instead it went with read more

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	Question about Seranide [SPOILERS] Pandananda - Mar 7, 2016	8 replies	by AnonymousCeleb »» May 3, 5:49 AM
	What's the best and worst Arc in Magi? coolasianbro - Feb 11	7 replies	by Sawarnya »» Apr 30, 10:07 PM