What does it take to spur a people?
What They Say:
“The Hidden Citizens”
Titus apologizes to Aladdin. They decide to become friends and help each other out. Aladdin, Titus and Sphintus set out to explore Magnoshutatt with their 2nd Level of Citizenship badges, and they try to find the place called the 5th District.
The Review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As we move along in Magi, we have been largely kept in the dark about the nature of the Magi themselves. We know that Judar and Aladdin are Magi and they have to choose a king. Obviously, Aladdin has chosen Alibaba and now we’re learning that Titus is simply a magician of the Leam Empire’s Shahrazad. It’s Shahrazad herself that’s the Magi of the Leam Empire and, since Alibaba’s seems to be in close proximity with her, we may very well learn more about this mystery.
We don’t quite know what Titus is up to yet. He’s acting cordially with Aladdin now, which only makes him more suspicious. Perhaps more suspicious is the strict caste system that Magnostadt has, which restricts people based on birth and a level. They even have a slum, the 5th District, where they throw the lowest of the lower class, just like where Alibaba and Cassim grew up. They even have barriers that disallow people without the proper authorization to enter. The entire city is suspect, just like Sinbad thought.
Which, by the way, is an amazing parallel of the United States and a good portion of the rest of the world. Two thirds of the entire population lives in the 5th District and can’t even pay their taxes. While a mere 500 live in the 1st District where the most privileged don’t even know about the strife the 5th experience. It even literally sucks the magoi from the people in the 5th District to power the magic tools of the upper districts. The commentary is a little heavy handed, but ever prescient in the world we live in. The real tragedy is that we’re not as angry as Aladdin, Sphintus, and Titus about all of it.
Anime likes to use these little children characters to really drive home the sadness of the entire situation and it always feels even heavier handed than the commentary itself, but it almost always works for me. Because who can’t help but love kids? Especially an adorable little girl who’s having her magoi sucked out of her and almost die because of it. What this country needs, and what Sinbad I’m sure was looking for, is a spark. One little moment that rallies an entire people to rebel. Maybe…one little girl who’s thrown down a pit. Or a single Ishvalan who’s shot in the head.
In Summary:
This is definitely the start of the rest of the series, and a great place to start back up after the break. These people will rally against their ridiculous oppression and rise up against the other one third of the population to have any sort of right to live. But they won’t be as tragic as the Isvalan’s in Fullmetal Alchemist because they’ll likely have the support of Sinbad and all his allies in their fight. Things only look up from here, both literally and narratively.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Equipment: PS3, 32 in. Olevia 720p TV