Magi has potential. Other subject matters have been woven into the plot, but simply speaking, Magi is a re-wrapping of the typical shounen action genre. The fresh Arabian setting is an enjoyable reprieve from the sea of sameness.
The early episodes give an impression that this might become an adventure/dungeon crawler type, but half way dives into the kingdom/rebellion zone. Being a fan of the latter, I was glad. Unfortunately the writing is still immature for the subject matter and doesn't completely meet the need. Episode 10's action is abruptly brought to and end by the timely arrival of an anime trope character, characters that only until then had 1 or 2 shots in the background from forth to spill all the beans, and Alibaba's reluctant hero nature in 12 leaves much to be desired.
The music is good; OP/END are catchy and don't prompt me to skip them immediately and the BGM makes good use of eastern instruments that chime in every now and then. Animation and art are crisp and does the job.
Magi has potential. There is much here to like and possible love. Twelve episodes isn't enough to judge how this anime will become in the future. A couple missteps have left me wanting, but I'm hopeful that Magi will become something I can get excited about.
A tentative 7.
