What 5 things would you change about MAGI: LABYRINTH OF MAGIC
This has sat in my inbox for so long you don't even run this blog anymore, but I'm bored so here we go.
Okay, so first, this happened in Magi: The Adventures of Sinbad, but it affected... like everything after that. I wish Serendine hadn't died. She deserved better-- She deserved better than Sinbad, even though she had feelings for him, and she deserved better as a character. She had a lot of potential to be a great character to bring in at the later stages of mtlom if she'd been out traveling like we'd hoped originally. I put the pieces together early so her ending didn't come as a surprise to me, but I also felt like it was too similar to Dunya's death, and Serendine, leading lady and formidable rival of the protagonist in one series, deserved to go out better than another princess of another lost monarchy who was essentially just a side character.
I also wish they hadn't paired off Alibaba and Morgiana. I felt like Morgiana, who grew up knowing very little of the world beyond its cruelty, confused her gratitude to Alibaba for purchasing her freedom with love, while Alibaba... while he certainly values her as a friend and partner in fighting crime, as a woman it seems like he just thinks she's cute and that he's flattered that she likes him. I always felt he and Kougyoku had great potential together because they come from similar backgrounds and helped each other out... But I have to say I was also intrigued by the suggestion that Aladdin might be developing feelings for her towards the end. She's quite similar to Sheba in the ways that he is not. So I can see how the part of him that's like Solomon would be drawn to Kougyoku. Going back to Morgiana, there's the matter with Hakuryuu... Although Hakuryuu had some shit to work through, I definitely felt he appreciated Morgiana for her entire self more than Alibaba ever did. I think part of it had to do with the fact that he never met her until after she'd been freed. Morgiana saw herself as a former slave with a debt to pay to the person who'd freed her, and Hakuryuu only saw her as a person. He may have put her on a bit too high of a pedestal out of infatuation, but I just feel like his feelings for her were more genuine than Alibaba's.
The flashback arc was too long. I remember catching up with the manga right as Alibaba and Hakuryuu's fight was starting. The flashback arc ended up being a third of the total length of the series at that point. Like, it was interesting and informative and answered a lot of questions... but it was just too. dang. long.
And then the final arc-- ugh. As I like to call it, the Neverending Philosophical Debate Arc. It was just chapter after chapter of "But what about this? And what about that?" And then there was the mind bending confusion of which was Sinbad and which was David and why are we still talking about this??? Isn't this supposed to be the final battle? The epic showdown? It was like walking in and expecting Fight Club, but it's Debate Club-- however, most of them are still shirtless for some reason-- even that cute nerd, Ugo, who has gone insane after living in a giant box for several thousand years. Why are you all shirtless? Put on some clothes. Judar can stay as he is-- he's only ever worn half a shirt anyway.
That's really only four things, but I can't think of anything else. I'm only disappointed we didn't get to see that scene where Yunan just magicked up a log cabin to keep Sinbad from listening in on his and Aladdin's conversation animated. It was so funny. I wonder if Yunan had been more invested and Serendine hadn't died, between the two of them and Jafar, could they have tag-teamed keeping the thot of the century from ruining everything? We'll never know...
