War were declared.
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Shinobu Ohtaka
Translation & English Adaptation: John Werry
Touch Up Art & Lettering: Stephen Dutro
Editor: Mike Montesa
What They Say:
Aladdin’s studies at the Magnoshutatt Academy are going well and he continues to advance. Among the upper-ranked students is another young sorcerer whose power seems to rival Aladdin’s. The two become friends and continue their climb up Magnoshutatt’s caste system. But the dark secret they discover among the downtrodden people of the city will take them into more danger…
Aladdin continues his training in Magnoshutatt, but the situation there is difficult. Mogamett’s goal is the creation of a country of magicians free of interference from normal humans. Aladdin and his friend Titus are against this, but there is little they can do. When war breaks out between Magnoshutatt and Leam, Aladdin and Titus are going to have to choose a side to fight on, and the choice won’t be an easy one.
The army of Leam reaches the gates of Magnoshutatt, and the magicians of the city join the battle. Aladdin is among them, fighting to protect his friend Titus, and his skills are crucial to the defense. But what will happen when Aladdin must face the full might of Leam’s team of Fanaris warriors?
Mogamett, the leader of Magnoshutatt, learns that the Kou Empire plans to attack while the city is weak from fighting against Leam. In desperation, he uses the Magoi Reactor to create a terrifying blackness in the sky. The very essence of the world is now threatened, and Aladdin must summon his most powerful allies to try to stop it!
The battle for Magnoshutatt reaches its devastating climax as the terrible Dark God takes shape and powerful Metal Vessel users from across the world arrive to help. Defeating this enemy will require Aladdin and Yamraiha to go inside the Medium, a terrifying mass of Black Rukh, to find Mogamett and uncover his secret. They may also find the sacrifice required for victory too much to bear.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Magi’s infatuation with putting down slavery as one of the most deplorable acts of human history doesn’t stop with the Fanaris. Slavery once again rears its ugly head in the storyline of Magnoshutatt. Its leader, Matal Mogamett, has experienced what it’s like to essentially be a slave to Goi (individuals without magic power). He’s since gone on a tear to never be in that position again.
Magnoshutatt is separated by castes and districts, its own form of integrated segregation and systemic discrimination, that determine one’s status. One can work their way out of one district to another with work, but few do (or are even given the opportunity to do so). It’s so indicative of the systemic housing discrimination present today that I wonder if Ohtaka isn’t aware of it herself. A mere 500 people out of 300,000 live in the country’s first district. And 200,000 live in the fifth district.
Mogamett’s ideal world puts magicians as the master race (sound familiar?), and puts Goi as mere livestock to feed into the magician’s magic tools. But they’re not slaves; no, of course they’re not. They’re provided with food, drink, and any other necessity. So of course they can’t be. They live their lives as they wish, listing through life without a care in the world and having everything provided to them. 200,000 people don’t have an idea as to the world they could be living in because of the situation they were born to. And if they can’t live? They’ll be thrown into the pit because they can no longer serve as magoi to the magic tools.
Ruthless. Sickening. Slavery.
Magnoshutatt goes to war so they can keep their position as magicians above that of Goi. The Leam Empire goes to war to expand their territory and prepare for a war with Kou. War, in all of its forms, remains largely unnecessary in the world of Magi.
But in the end, Al Thamen cannot keep their hands out of the battle. Their end goal is, of course, the destruction of the world. It’s a bit one note, but they work as ultimate bad guys given the metaphorical connection of the light rukh (which everyone but Al Thamen utilizes) and the dark rukh (which comes from corruption of the heart and death and stuff, and also Al Thamen uses).
This war begins as three sides: Magnoshutatt, Leam, and Kou. But it ends as two: the collective forces of Magnoshutatt, Leam, and Kou v. the evil dark rukh compilation created by Mogamett, who was manipulated by Al Thamen. His heart was already beginning to corrupt, so it didn’t take much work on the part of Al Thamen, but the destruction wreaked was even worse than Mogamett wanted.
The war also harkens back to the story of Solomon that Magi is based off of. It took him and 72 of his vessels to defeat the same foe years ago. This time, they number only 13 and rely on the good remaining in Mogamett’s heart, amplified by Titus. This part seems more like a showcase of very cool fighting and techniques more than a satisfying conclusion, though it does promise much more by the end.
In Summary:
Magi never fails to entertain me, and these volumes are no exception. The depth that it sometimes goes to with its depiction of slavery, or of one group being inherently better than another, sets it above other shonen manga of this ilk. Its weakness is its greater action moments, which serve as amazing set pieces, but often fail to do much more than further a plot rather than inform an already-in-progress development. I love Magi, nonetheless.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: February 9, 2016; April 12, 2016; June 14, 2016; August 9, 2016; October 11, 2016
MSRP: $9.99 each
