First Impressions / Magi

「アリババの答え」 (Aribaba no Kotae)
“Alibaba’s Answer”

Everyone must’ve been surprised, myself included, when the possibility of a republic, proposed by Alibaba himself, was brought into reality. Although I am a little guilty of spoiling myself about this show through wiki snooping, I was genuinely surprised even then at the outcome of Balbadd’s government. Like many of other like-minded, I fell into the mindset that a continuing monarchy, though more benevolent, would become the ultimate fate of Balbadd. Anarchy seemed to not fit with Magi’s message and a republic…never really slipped my mind.

Yet it has been done and done quite realistically. The uncertainty of the coup d’etat still lingers within Balbadd’s populace, especially at the beginning of Alibaba’s speech, but a faint hope now permeates the city, with waves of rukh, both white and black, covering its skyline. Something great has happened, where the vicious cycle of an incompetent monarchy has finally come to a close. Though darker tides still come in the forms of evil bankers, suppliers, and violent anarchists, the seeds of hope for the people of Balbadd are rooting themselves in, finally giving them something tangible to hope for.

Of course, this is all thanks to Ali Baba who finally got his act straight and stood his ground. Political intrigue is something I treasure to see in anime (yet not in real life), as it always portrays a battle of negotiations and mind games that always makes the debaters more respectable people. Ali Baba, finally uses the best traits within him in sync to achieve what neither commoner or noble thought possible. With the combination of his royal upbringing/education and his travels as a commoner, Ali Baba came up with this fairly fascinating and bold concept of the republic, something that even Sinbad couldn’t predict. However, just proposing the idea wasn’t enough for our exiled prince: standing his ground on the issue is what actually made him the admirable character this week, against an empire that could easily crush Balbadd in a few days. It is true that the ultimate success of this operation would not be possible without the help of Sinbad and his political and manly charms, but most of the foundation lay with the quick thinking of Ali Baba. With his ability to identify the weaknesses in Kougyoku’s position, he successfully negotiated a forestall with highly risky, yet compromising moves that only the most stalwart negotiator could propose. Literally was everyone gasping or shrinking their eyes every minute or so as Ali Baba bullshitted his way to victory…truly deserving of claps.

Kougyoku put on a good show too, especially after she found out that her betrothed was the one and only Abhmad, With her pride crushed and resisting to go postal, Kougyoku deserves some props for holding on as long as she could to her original mission. In the end she did benefit from this arrangement, with the lovely Sinbad promising our lovely princess a visit in her own home country. I feel that her presence in the show will not dissipate after this arc due to her significant screentime and attachment to Sinbad, and as such, we’ll see more of her lovely antics as the OP suggests! Wouldn’t a union between the Kou Empire and Sindria’s Alliance be amazing?

But alas, a bigger conflict is about to bloom, perhaps suggesting the grand finale of the Balbadd arc. Kassim quickly approaches with the hardcore members of the Fog Troupe, enhanced by the dark rukh of the supplier. Judal deserves some small mention, as both light and dark rukh surround his presence as he completes his recovery. Aladdin is on the brink of recovery as the light rukh around him strengthens a ridiculous amount, enough to manifest into a phoenix. With both sides of the rukh in full flow in Balbadd, we can expect that this (fairly) bloodless revolution won’t stay bloodless for long.

 

Preview

34 Comments

  2. Nice to see that fatass got his just dessert. He deserved it long ago. Democracy, make me remember Winston Churchill: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

    Kassim is now a full blown self-obsessed prick that want to fight Alibaba. I bet he does not even know what he is fighting for in the end. Please, give me a climatic ending. Not a ride that suddenly end abruptly and give me no thrill. No anti-climax ending please.

    Tingster013
    Reply

  3. I feel sorry for the people in the crowd who had to stand near the rotting corpses of the elephant monster and monkey freak.

    More Mogiana is always good too.

    The Republic thing didn’t surprise me at all, I saw it coming a mile away; it’s always the solution to problems with the monarchy it seems.

    Roguespirit
    Reply

  4. I’m rooting for Kougyoku x Sinbad. I mean, look at that blush.
    To all those people that dropped this show or had complaints about Alibaba, did you really think someone like him was not capable of something like this?
    Is Kassim really going to be fighting Alibaba next episode? Can’t imagine that ending well.
    Can Alibaba even catch a break? I can’t remember the last shounen I’ve seen where a person makes such an important speech after fighting so much, must be tiring.

    D
    Reply

      2. Which chapters are those?

        Show Spoiler ▼

        MacrossFan
        Reply

    2. I might be being too serious here, but Kougyoku x Sinbad? Being cute and blushing are all good, but even if I disregard that she’s a psychopath with little to no regard for other peoples lives, still she isn’t half as mature as Sinbad(it’s more like a crush than love anyway).I think someone like Ren Hakuei would be more suited for Sinbad.

      As for Alibaba, it’s not that I thought he wasn’t able to do something like this – what I disliked is that, he had to go through all that whining just to get here.Although I’m glad to see that shrewd side of him, that we saw in the first couple of eps, again.

      @Guilherme
      shouldn’t you have put a spoiler tag there?

      shadowalker
      Reply

      1. Regarding Kougyouku, I think it is all in the company you keep. If she hangs out with the protagonists a bit like the OP suggests she may develop a different attitude. Judal is never a good influence on anybody.

        As for Alibaba, I would say that it was pretty reasonable that it took him this long to finally take such affirmative action. He has been carrying the guilt of his father’s death, that he unintentionally caused, for a very long time. Aladdin gives him the courage to try to settle it only to see further devastation and find out about Marrim’s death (while he was living comfortably as a prince) which was further weight on his conscious. He tries to make up for all of that by being the leader of the Fog Troupe only to be replaced by Sinbad who points out how flawed their approach has been. In the luminance of such a great figure, it is hard to not develop an inferiority complex and further doubt. It took something like Kassim’s plan for a bloody civil war that absolutely shocks Alibaba that jolts him into action. He knew Kassim would move quickly and Sinbad was keeping his own plan of instating Alibaba to the throne a secret so he had to move quickly and he felt it was his responsibility to stop Kassim and not allow Sinbad to do it because he still cares for him. Given the amount of guilt that he allows to pile on himself, this is pretty substantial growth that is bound to take awhile.

        MacrossFan
        Reply

  6. >Wouldn’t a union between the Kou Empire and Sindria’s Alliance be amazing?<
    …………………well, don't want to spoil anything, but the 2 side's political view and their King/Leader's POV is quite "different". In fact there is a funny chapter diticated to this alliance, I hope they will animate it. LOL

    zleihsh
    Reply

  7. I wanna say this is an amazing episode. Finally Alibaba spoke, and when he did, he dropped his little bomb of intellegence! I mean, he might have offered her a bad deal, but he was smart enough to figure what she wanted, and tried his best to get his way. The Alibaba I was begining to detest is rebuilding himself again, and I’m loving it! I think I look like the princess from the Kou empire when she blushes when Sinbad comes. I can’t wait to see the moment when I can compare Sinbad’s greatness next to Alibaba’s, but our lead charecter has to develop.

    Kassim though! His absence ever since Alibaba and Sinbad were together was not for naught, his weapon plan is about to begin, regardless of how the country changed, just a guess. I don’t think Kassim’s grudge can be just aquitted by the new changes, he wants his justice brought back, and not by the royal blood Alibaba, but his own hands. When that evil mask dude (sorry, I’m either really bad with names or can’t remember his) says something about the ‘other fate’ and I’m guessing, is Kassim being manipulated? Or was his plan being supported? We’ve gotta find out.

    This anime is so far beautiful 🙂 its making me ache for each week’s episode. Thanks for your hard work and review!

    Mi-Chan
    Reply

  8. This is one of those times when I wish the Anime industry would adopt an longer-than-24 minute format
    for the weekly episodes. Can’t wait to see what happens next…

    I wonder too, if Sinbad will get his metal back next week. Then we’ll see what his djinn equip is capable of.

    mac65
    Reply

  9. I think mixing together lighter elements and more serious elements of the show, so naturally, without being too serious or too light, is one of the best qualities of this show.

    “Wouldn’t a union between the Kou Empire and Sindria’s Alliance be amazing?”

    I wouldn’t bet on it, Kou Empire’s goals are similar to ‘conquer the world and attain peace through dictatorship'(with no regard to individual/independent countries) while Sindria’s Alliance is probably trying to achieve peace by uniting, but at the same time retaining the values of individual countries – not to mention that their creed of ‘not invading and not letting others invade them’, directly conflicts with the Kou Empire’s tendency for militaristic action.

    Now that Sinbad and part of his alliance is here with Alibaba and Morgiana, who have grown stronger/more skilled, and most of the country is siding with them, does anyone feel like the odds are against Kassim(and I don’t mean by a little).

    I’m also curious as to, if the dark Rukh are somehow controlling/influencing Kassim and his group or it’s there because of their dark intentions(it’s also a possibility that the Banker and the weapons Supplier are projecting them though).

    Did anyone else get the vibe that the Banker is somewhat similar to the modified dungeon monsters(monkeys,elephant,jaguar) we saw earlier?

    shadowalker
    Reply

  10. I was rather taken aback by Alibaba as well; that was actually a pretty smart idea he was proposing. Not to mention his ensuing discussion proved that this wasn’t something he had come up with on a whim – he had thought it through quite a bit. No wonder he went off on his own in this case, as Sinbad probably would’ve just crowned him king (in good intentions, but still). Good to see all his character development, whiny as he may have been through times of it, paid off in such a way. And hah, screw you Abhmad.

    Though Kougyoku backed off (it’s not like she was that fond of this political marriage anyway, so he was lucky there) there’s still Kassim now. Wonder how this is going to end, because he’s clearly a radical, and I doubt mere words can settle this one.

    Dvalinn
    Reply

  13. What happened to Magi’s sense of adventure? Is this series going to be about politics until the end? The pacing died down considerably after the first couple of episodes, to the point where it’s almost boring now. Morgiana is the only interesting character at the moment. I liked Aladdin, but he’s been unconscious for quite a few episodes.

    Mormegil
    Reply

  16. Gotta commend Alibaba for having some balls. Although I would have liked seeing him as king. There’s just something in me telling me that being king is in his blood.

    Still, I hope the Balbadd arc will end soon, and the three of them will continue on their adventures. Its more fun that way. 🙂

    Polashi
    Reply

  17. Loved this episode, the political dickering was done very well! Republics have a lot of precedent in the ancient age (Rome, various city states in Greece, Medieval Italy, etc…) so it’ll be interesting to see how things turn out. Hopefully Balbadd won’t go down the path of Revolutionary France as the preview seemed to indicate…

    Alibaba and Kougyoku both shone brightly this episode; neither were willing to flat out concede to the other, but eventually accepted a reasonable settlement. I’m looking forward to seeing more of Kougyoku and the Kou, but I doubt she’ll ever have anything with Sinbad as long as she remains a princess of Kou.

    Hochmeister
    Reply

  18. First time commenting on the series. Honestly I came into this thinking MAGi would at best be a fun if predictable distraction (with the occasional grating joke). Oh how wrong as I. Though there are stereotypes and some formula at work, MAGI has proven itself to be a vastly rich world with fun, complex characeters (at least good ones, but even that’s starting to change!), and a true sense of adventure and magic.

    I’m curious, as a non-manga reader, what direction this story will go once the Baladd Arc is concluded. Every time I think I have this anime’s number pegged and can call the outcome, something happens that throws me.

    My mind is already abuzz with theories as to why Judar had both black and white Rukh gathering about him, what further roles Cassim, the mysterious supplier, and the devil-in-plain-sight banker will play.

    Thanks so much for blogging this series!

    Ashen
    Reply

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