The creators really splurged the budget on this episode. I remember the previous prime-time series that A-1 pictures did: Ao no Exorcist. And when you compare those two series, I really have to say that Magi is a huge improvement. The action here was so much better than what Ao no Exorcist showed me: the art was messy, yet fluid. Not to mention the awesome camera angles. Yes, this show definitely made the wait during the new year time-skip worth it.
The interesting thing also is that Abhmad is completely weak and unsuited for fighting. That’s not something you see often in a fighting series like this, and it had a nice side-effect: this episode was full of action, but as soon as the focus went to Abhmad the action toned down, Alibaba became powerless and instead we got to see a much more personal conflict. I quite liked seeing him being pushed into a corner like that.
This series also has a new OP. I don’t really like the song, but I do like how much the creators managed to stuff into it. I think that that also strikes the animation of this episode: it had a ton of detail stuffed into it, both the character-designs and the backgrounds. There were a lot of shots with huge crowds, and still the creators managed to keep up a pretty good framerate.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)
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Cheers to Magi.It was definitely a good episode. I’m still bothered by how much of a wimp the male lead is, but his power looks damn cool. It’s definitely the blend of cast that makes this show worthwhile and the story which I look forward to seeing develop.
I’ve always been a fan of messy art, while not as crisp it adds a certain flavor, and in the end it’s much better than a rigid uninspiring fight.
Things will only get more intense from here. They’re doing a great job with this arc. I wonder how they will handle the rest?
I prefer the messy moving art rather than “still frames” battle scenes. (Except for JJBA that can really make it work!) Please don’t make an original ending, just take it slow and make season 2.
I didn’t really like the new OP at first but now it’s really growing on me, like a lot!
Oh and I just noticed that something extra was added to Alibaba’s character design in the new OP, and I think I know what it means. Great foreshadowing for a future plot point imo. 🙂
Did anyone else see that Yunan and Scheherazade were in the last scene in the ED? Are they going to animate the whole manga?