What They Say:
“The Magicians’ Country”
After being caught in the 5th Level Authorization District; Aladdin, Titus and Sphintus are brought before Mogamett. Surprisingly, he forgives the infiltrators and gives a lecture to the students, explaining the difference between magicians and the goi.
The Review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This week’s episode starts right where we left off last episode with Titus and Aladdin jumping down the pit after the girl. Doron, the man who was terrorizing the 5th District people, attacks Titus, essentially making him—the symbol of their hope—a martyr and the attack is sure to spur something on in those in the 5th District.
Aladdin is brought before Mogamett, the head instructor, and really showcases just how much sway people with power have in the view of the public. They’re given the slap on the hand, which Aladdin is given, but he’s then talks to Mgamett one-on-one and he’s faced, very passive-aggressively, as to the nature of his actions. It’s like saying that, as long as it is not out in the open, it’s ok to punish those in power. Aladdin isn’t exactly punished, but a lot of pressure is put upon himself because of the secrets he holds about himself and even the things he doesn’t know about the nature of being a Magi.
His intentions, very muddled up until now, come out completely clearly when he starts to tell the story of himself 70 years ago, when magicians were mere tools and oppressed, much like those in the 5th District. His story parallels exactly what’s going on in the 5th District, but he sees himself as a “higher being” for being more learned and having these powers that the others do not. But he sees the people of the 5th District (and the people that formerly ruled over him) as being completely ruled by their lust. The former because they didn’t ASK to be let out, they just let themselves wallow in their pleasures and the latter because they really do see everything as tools for their own means. This is directly addressed when his daughter, dying, asks why magicians exist. Are they truly only tools for the nobles?
Herein lies the spark to the fire.
In Summary:
Like a lot of shonen shows, Magi now gets bogged down with a lot of telling. That flashback, while sort of necessary for the parallel storytelling, could have just been a narrative and not told to us by Mogamett. But it’s honestly frustrating that you could remove half of the episode’s content and still (likely) have a complete narrative in the larger scheme of the show. That said, this episode did do a lot of very interesting things in commentary, like Magi frequently does. Unfortunately, it is, again, bogged down by being so obvious when it could be layered into the narrative. The previous episode, for example, had all these elements to the story without being really straightforward about it.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Equipment: PS3, 32 in. Olevia 720p TV
