The story takes place in an imaginary world based on the medieval Middle East, which is unique in its own right, but sadly that has to be the only unique thing about this anime. We are introduced to our two main protagonists who by a series of encounters, become good friend and embark on an adventure. All of that sound all nice and fun, and I have to say it was a lot of fun to watch, but at no point did it manage to pull me in. The story starts to evolve after the first arc, and I have to say it does improve in many aspects, and tackles many themes rarely found in anime, but unfortunately it was always too predictable and cliche, there was never any suspense, and one could immediately know that friendship will prevail in the end. One thing I have to praise is the pacing as it was surprisingly consistent, and even though there were 25 episodes overall filler episodes were nowhere to be seen. The ending was also done as good as the rest of the story would permit, but overall it was one of the best conclusions I have seen in a while, while still feeling like a great starting point for the second season.
Our main characters are Aladdin, Alibaba and a bit later on they are joined by Morgiana. Alibaba is our generic main character, he is everything one expects of a hero in a shounen anime. Even so he gets some character development, and his backstory is deeply explored, which is laudable. Next up we have Aladdin, who is this little kid with some serious magical powers, and the ability to summon a giant jinn named Ugo to fight for him. Other than his powers he usually acts like a normal careless kid, but at times he becomes a sort of voice of reason in the group. The best character in the show has to be Morgiana, a former slave saved by our dynamic duo, to form a tenacious trio. She gets her fair share of development as she faces the demons left over from the years she spent enslaved. She is also a fearsome fighter and proves to be an invaluable member of the group. Throughout the series, several side characters are introduced, and they are almost always great additions to the story. The antagonists in the show are plentiful and fleshed out really well, but unfortunately they never seem like much of a threat.
The main attraction of the anime has to be the animation, it is positively amazing. The colour palette just pops out, but unlike anime like No Game, No Life it isn't overly aggressive. The scenery is exceptional as well, the world really looks like it jumped out of the 1001 Night, with the beautiful desert landscapes and the arabic architecture. The character are also done unbelievably well, the movement is smooth and the facial expressions flawless. Here I have to point out Morgiana, who has to be one of the best drawn female characters I have seen in a while. We do have a bit of fan-service here and there, but it is never overbearing, and does not distract from the story.
The sound was in my opinion at list mildly disappointing, both the openings and endings were mediocre at best, and won’t find their way into my iTunes library anytime soon. The rest of the soundtrack was adequate, but at no point rising to more than decent. Lastly I would like to touch upon the voice acing, as it was the first time I was bothered by the Japanese pronunciation of non Japanese names so much, that I actually started watching the dub. Would it be really so hard for them to find character names that were actually pronounceable in the Japanese language?
All in all the anime was an enjoying watch, but not much more than that. The pacing and the art were great, but unfortunately that alone can not pull the anime out of mediocrity, and so I give it a low 7. I am unable to wholeheartedly recommend it everyone, but if you are looking some light anime to watch, and are not bothered by predictability, this might be the right anime for you.
I always appreciate some feedback as so my future reviews can be even better, also if you enjoyed this review feel free to check out my other reviews.
