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Gamaran is my first samurai manga. Its quite odd to have read a manga that doesnt have any super powers or sci-fi elements, but still, it was fine and fun.

STORY 7/10

I find the story very good and interesting, but somewhat it lacks creation. The setting is around the Unabara, or The Land of Demons as sometimes reffered, in which a tournament is held. But its not just some typical martial arts tournament because the tournament is held to determine the next Daimyo(landlord) of Unabara. The contestants are Daimyo's sons. 31 sons were given the task to find the strongest dojo they can and participate for ... a chance to be the next Daimyo. The story follows the 30th son, Naoyoshi Washitsu, who aims to find the legendary Thousand man slayer, Kurogane Jinsuke. He visits the Ogame dojo, but Kurogane is nowhere to be found, and his son, Kurogane Gama is the only available Ogame student(And Gama is really mad at his dad, and looking for revenge). Naoyoshi asks Gama to help him and Gama agrees, and the two of them set on a journey to find which of the 31 fighting styles is the greatest.

I love the story very much, but I think it could be more creative. Roughly looking, the main plot is centered around the tournament with nothing more added to the story, until later on. You will get to see so much different weapons, so much different styles and moves. Every weapon has its own strenghts and weaknesses and its really well explained how it works. The moves are also well explained, as I see it, I believe that most of them are very legit, as we do see some odd footwork and such, but the mangaka explains it very well. Personally I find the end a bit too rushed and odd, so only 7/10 for the story.

ART 9/10

Art is very well done. The only thing why i give it a niner is that it is very much concentrated on people, and there is less attention given to the buildings and backgrounds, but they are also well made when they are around. Gamarans main forte are the fights. Art in the fights is very good, all the moves are drawn neat and clean, and there are plenty. Most of the time the story is centered around the fight and you will see a lot of it. I think that there are only around 20 chapters without any fights. And there are 197 chapters to read so you will see a lot of hack and slash :D As it is a tournament, there are plenty characters in the process, and I find it very well done as the characters are beatifully drawn.

CHARACTER 8/10

There are a hell lot of characters out there. The thing is that every one of them gets a little background inside a chapter, ranging from two pages to almost an entire chapter to show why the character does what he does. As I find it a bit simplistic, and in any other manga I would find it unsatisfying, but in Gamaran its preety neat. I know that the opponent is gonna die eventually so there is no need for a long backstory as there are many opponents that are gonna get defeated. I fthink Gama is a great character, and I cheered for him during my readings as he is preety awesome in his own way. But Sengoku Iori is my favourite, and if you read it, I think you will see why.

Overall, sometimes I think that Gamaran is quite simple but in way it has its own perks. I wouldnt reccomend it to everybody. If you are looking for a deep and awesome story, I dont think you will enjoy it. But if you are looking for good fights or some casual fun, then Gamaran is the real deal, fights are very awesome and really well done, thats Gamarans forte and thats why I love it.

Well Magi... When I heard from a friend about Magi, I wasnt very impressed, sadly. all I saw was a little chibi boy with a flute from the way he spoke about it. BUT God how was I wrong. Eventually I decided to pick it up and honestly, was amazed by it. I've been reading some of the more mainstream mangas like Bleach, Naruto, One piece, Toriko etc. and i was relieved to find such breeze of refreshment in this one. The setting is somewhat different from what I've experienced so far as it is stationed to a land similar to those of the Middle ... East somewhere in the Middle ages, I guess. If you have seen Aladdin or Sinbad as a child, you'll see where Im aiming.

STORY 10/10

The story follows a young boy named Aladdin and his mysterious adventures alongside his Djinn in the flute named Ugo. By breathing into the flute, Aladdin is able to summon his Djinn who appears to be somewhat of a giant-like creature with a fair amount of power. He finds out that he is a Magi, a person stronger and different from normal magicians, with a task to find ''The King Vessel'', a person suitable to be the king of the world. His flute is a so-called metal vessel, which can only be found in dungeouns, buildings that randomly appear all over the world and are very difficult to conquer. On his way he meets Alibaba, a boy working for a greedy boss who has an ambition of conquering dungeons and becoming rich and wants to use Aladdin to suceed. Later on, they meet a girl named Morgiana, who is a slave, and help her escape from her sadistic boss. Then, the three of them decide to explore the world, but thats not all fine and easy because a lot happens during their journeys, and I wont say anything more for the sake of not spoiling it.
The story is really deep and psychological, always questioning right and wrong, because it is filled with slavery, coup d'etats, wars between countries and similar as the protagonists are sucked in it. It gives that deep questioning of rigtheousness as we see in Death note or Code geass.
This is where it gains its strong story with great plot twists, and I mean really great plot twist, inovative powers and good fight scenes


ART 10/10

One thing I love about the Magi art is that its clear. I havent found myself wondering what is this and what is that during a fight, drawings get to be quite detailed sometimes, and the mangaka is not afraid to draw blood as most shounen mangakas do. But the best thing about its art are facial expressions, emotions and ambient. Whether its good or bad, you will find it hard to take one side because of the way the mangaka presents the emotions of two or three sides in a problem. Is slavery right? Is it wrong? Maybe those rebels are indeed the good side? Of course that I know that slavery is wrong, but that questions come to your mind when both sides are represented with their problems and desires as they are in Magi. Havent seen the anime yet, but the fight scenes are pretty good in the manga.

CHARACTER 10/10

Characters are, hands down, handled really great. As I said before, every side has its own problems and desires, and very often you get to see gaidens(flashbacks) and background stories, but nothing too exagerated, just enough to get you to experience what you need to experience. Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana have quite a strong background, really developed in a way to get you to see what comes next. An that is when the three of them are around, as the story is set up to follow different sets of characters and very often Aladdin is not in the middle of it. Thats why there is a big aspect of characters, very big, and they are all very likeable in a way, I just hope that some of them return in the later arcs. Names of most characters are borrowed form The stories of 1001 nights, if you have heard about it, and the moves are not in Japanese or German or something, but in Arabic, which I find pretty awesome and cool-sounding ;)

ENJOYMENT 10/10

After all that I have said and been through with Magi, its hard not to give it a 10 for enjoyment. Its funny how I havent heard about this great manga like until two months ago. Manga is so interesting that I litterally read without any thoughts about the passing time or remaining chapters. Sometimes I read about 40-60 chapters in a row because of how interested I was at the time. Its amazing how it can rotate from a shounen manga to a psychologically intense action to a historical reading. Its filled with diplomatic wars and coup d'etats, which i find very enjoyable. Its really intelectuall and nicely paced, especially amusing and fun, be it bad times or good times, you must see that Magi greatness. I really suggest that you check it out and find how awesome it is. Especially if you are a fan of Fairy tail, Ao no exorcist or One piece, then its a must read :D