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「カシムの答え」 (Kashimu no Kotae)
“Kassim’s Answer”
If you didn’t like Kassim before, there’s no doubt that’ll change with this episode. Though there does hint a chance that we’ll see some of the reasons that backed Kassim’s obvious desire for chaos, that is not what we’re faced with today. Today Balbadd burns, covered in the shroud of dark rukh.
Obviously pissed at their thwarted efforts and desiring to stop the “flow of life” from proceeding naturally at all costs, the organization that seeks to unleash havoc have brought out the big guns. Suddenly, metal vessels and copious amounts of rukh have been put into play, demonstrating considerable power in the most terrible of ways. Balabadd’s population is mind controlled, the insurgents have powerful tools of restraint, and as a result many a soldier have been needlessly killed by the forces of darkness to kill royalty that already has surrendered. Even Banker, who has been revealed to be a part of the weapon’s dealer, has done his part by helping destabilize all sides of the conflict in his own way. The light is not looking so bright for Balbadd, as its final and perhaps bloodiest chapter has unfolded. Ali Baba has once again been betrayed by Kassim, yet once again spares his ‘friend’ from the clutches of death. While in hindsight this was a terrible decision and gives Ali Baba way too many wimp points, it’s understandable the position he faces; killing the only stable part of his childhood would be a terrible burden for him to shoulder…yet now because of it, he must shoulder an even greater weight that now involves all of Balbadd.
But there is still hope. While it’s terribly sad to see Ugo disappear from the story presumably for good, he sees the hope that the future holds, especially in Aladdin. While we still don’t have much information about Aladdin, Ugo, or this so-called “Wisdom of Solomon” that Aladdin is about to receive, but we can at least take comfort in knowing that Aladdin will awaken soon to save the day. While giving Aladdin this amazing power comes off as a bit “too easy” of a resolution for myself, it is a reasonable trade-off for Aladdin: lose his first friend in order to save the friends he has now. This evolution of Aladdin’s character, although not clearly obvious at first, shines in this episode. Ugo, like the caring father figure and friend he comes off as, is hesitant to let Aladdin go about his own duties, but has confidence that Aladdin’s new friends will guide the way from here. It’s a bittersweet moment that marks a moment of maturation for Aladdin, who will now probably take a more active role in defending against the darkness.
With Aladdin’s return will signal the return of Judal as well, whose mysterious aura of both light and dark rukh is still unexplained, though this may be a hint at an inner conflict that has yet to be revealed through Judal’s personality or history. Just like Aladdin, some exposition on Judal’s inner thoughts in the near future is to be expected, though seeing him switch to the forces of stability is not to be expected soon.
We have finally reached the climax of the arc, where the final boss has finally manifested itself from within a tragic character. If exposition doesn’t blossom next episode, we can fully expect a whole lot of kick-butt action in its place, presumably from all characters with a desire to fight.
Full-length images: 31.
Preview
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Aladdin is in a time chamber…. inside his own head 😀
I kinda like Sinbad’s WTF!? face in that screencap :p
“Even Banker, who has been revealed to be a part of the weapon’s dealer…”
I’m not thinking this is the case. It looked like the banker was trying to suppress the Rukh being put out by the weapon’s dealer.
I’d have to guess that the banker was always working for the Kou as he had been but was also some sort of Rukh based construct or something given how he was absorbed and what appeared to be a household vessel fell to the ground afterward.
Actually, Zanibas had it right. It makes it more clear in the manga, but Banker was just a part of the Arms Dealer. As for the identity of the item that fell to the ground, Show Spoiler ▼
Show Spoiler ▼
Show Spoiler ▼
@bodyvamp
Show Spoiler ▼
To me it seemed like the Light Rukh coming from Judal interfered with the Weapons Dealer’s plan so he ‘absorbed’ the Banker to strengthen himself and suppress the Light Rukh coming from Judal.Just to be clear Judal is working for Kou Empire too, technically anyway.
This is almost right, except that the light rukh is not from Judal, but from Ugo. As Ugo says in this episode, he attempted to call both Aladdin and Judal to his domain, but he failed to get Judal because the others interfered (first Banker, then Arms Dealer when Banker seemed to be having trouble). It seems ambiguous whether Arms Dealer absorbed Banker or just knocked him out, but regardless they clearly have similar intentions since that whole exchange was done to keep blocking the light rukh.
Pretty amazing revelations in this episode. Ugo’s an interesting character; we’re still not told
what he is, though. I’m guessing a gatekeeper to Solomon’s wisdom? That when a Magi is “worthy”,
they ascend to that trip of wisdom? Dunno.
Aladdin and Judal seem to be from the same place, the Holy Palace, too.
This series has been pretty faithful to its characters, so considering Aladdin is going to learn
things that will match (or surpass) Ugo’s knowledge/power, this is quite a level-up. I’m expecting
Ugo++ things from Aladdin, I’m thinking we’re going to see some amazing things.
Finally, if Ugo wasn’t Aladdin’s djinn, whose was he — how was Aladdin able to use him? Is the
implication that a Magi can use any djinn? Many questions…
Can’t wait!
Personally I think both you and Zanibas are a little too quick to assume that Aladdin will get some amazing power-up considering knowledge or wisdom doesn’t always translate to power(sometimes, yes, but not always) and from what I hear the manga goes on, way past this arc so I doubt they will make Aladdin very powerful this early.
This are just speculations based on what I have seen in the anime, but just to be safe I used a spoiler tag, anyway.Show Spoiler ▼
your overthinking but your not too far off… and aladdin gets some knowledge that helps
Well, it wouldn’t be fun if it was that easy to figure out 😛
its pretty simple though….
“Not even death can save you from me!”
he looks a lot like one of the generic enemies from Guyvern doesn’t he 😀
I wasn’t particularly impressed by the pacing or animation in previous battles compared to how I imagined they would be animated, but this one really was excellent.
The music worked extremely well to set the mood.
Anyone else think Kassim = dickweed?
I think that’s a little too harsh to consider him that. If you think in his perspective, he had a drunk father, his sister died, and he was born in the slums, unlike Alibaba who was actually a prince and had a loving mother. Although Kassim’s revolt will ultimately cause a lot of casualities, Kassim had a rough childhood.
So in other words, a TOTAL dickweed.
Having a terrible past does not excuse anyone to be a terrible person in the present.
True, but once you’ve been immersed in the darkness; it is much harder to cast it off.
I agree with Dualash on this, although saying he had a rough childhood is putting it mildly.When Kassim said “If the monarchy disappears, do the crimes of the monarchy disappear with it?” I thought he might as well said “Just because you have set everything right NOW, you think all the pain and suffering we have been through will just disappear?” and like he said the dead don’t return and the pain doesn’t go away, while that shouldn’t serve as a excuse for him to cause more suffering it makes his actions, at least, understandable.
And IMO he’s only accelerating a situation that will probably come into play later on anyway, sure, commoners of the city will be happy ‘now’, that their days of suffering under a monarchy is coming to a end, but as time passes by there’s bound to be conflicts between ex-commoners and ex-nobles(plus royalty), sharing the same city with the people who suffered and the ones who caused their suffering, in equality? It’s part of human nature(albeit not the better part) to want to hurt those who hurt you and I doubt Kassim will be only one who feels the nobles and royalty hasn’t suffered enough(if any).
On the other hand when I consider, Kassim provoking Alibaba to slit his throat and his indecision as to why he’s still fighting and stabbing himself at the end, I wonder if he just wants to die to get rid of the pain or hatred that’s inside him.While Kassim himself may have done many disagreeable things, considering the weight of all he’s been through, I find it hard to hate him wholeheartedly.
I would have sympathy for him if his main goal was to help others- but when we showed his true colors that “he” wanted to be king. He revealed himself to be just as bad as the recently deposed king.
Having a poor childhood does not excuse someone’s actions in the future. If someone was abused as a kid doesn’t excuse someone from fondling kids as an adult. Having a poor childhood does not excuse someone from kicking puppies or burning kittens. Having a poor childhood doesn’t give one the excuse of killing of others. (not that you’re endorsing that point of view but this is just to emphasize the point that it can’t be used as an excuse)
Bloodshed is the easy way out- reconciliation is the harder but better road.
calm down you guys are overthinking. also kasshim is the greatest character in the magi universe
So the BANKER and the WEAPONS DEALER are all one entity and it seeks destruction. Maybe I didn’t take Magi too seriously because it’s a shounen anime with weekly writing constraints but… this writing sure is top notch.
And it gets even better dude unlike the other shounen B….. the writing and intrigue here is actually laudable, the politics, the hidden agenda, the history, the relationships between countries, its in a really big world just like lord of the rings or whatever and not to mention that the world they are in now isnt just the only one there is. awesome really… 😀 i give it a 8/10.
I’m really loving the soundtrack in these recent episodes. I love how they handled Kassim’s transformation… the animation and the music really set an ominous mood.
After all the political jargon in the previous episode, its time to add in some magical fantasy aspect. It has really improved since the first few episodes, as the villains now are more unpredictable and have more personality (Kassim) or that their motives are yet to be made completely clear (The Arms Dealer) and thus its much harder a decision to judge their actions. Kassim for one has an ambiguous motive, and although his desire for the throne should not be condoned, his development into this evil character was fleshed out very well, and therefore has more justification for his acts.
Top notch show, and probably we’ll see how the Balbadd arc ends next episode. Probably about time.
So where is the Sinbad action? I want to see his vessels power so badly.
Kassim role is to be a idiot being manipulated and get himself killed. Dun argue with me, that is the role for people with a lot of hatred and have superior villain as the pillar of strength.
I like the term “household vessels”. So when is mine arriving? I would like the one that shoot scarlet mist please.
now tell me you really believe that….
Alibaba is cool and I’m back to liking him now and this episode was great. I thought that he killed Kassim for a moment, but a part of me knew he wouldn’t, I mean, it is admittably a hard thing to do and I never expected him to actually do it. Damm Kassim though, I guess his scars run deep but I don’t know what he is aiming for, not yet I guess. Did he want to be king? did he want to revenge the slums? or did he really aim to kill Alibaba, he was going to do it, has he lost their mind? What was Alibaba to him, will those questions be answered? I hope so, I want them to.
I love Ugo-kun too, and I read somewhere above that he might not return. I just have a comment to share to some people, some of you have read the manga and sometimes, personally I think, some information might somehow be accidently provided, please put ‘spoilers’ note before anything related to the manga, if not… I’ll probably read main and skip comments, might be better.Even if it is some fact that Ugo-kun might never appear again, lol that killed my hopes a little.
I want this arc to focus on Alibaba’s conflict and I disagree over Sinbad showing some action, if he does, then Alibaba is just a helpless idiot and I’ll think he’s a very weak main charecter. Though, maybe, please dont correct me if this is in the manga, but Sinbad knew what he saw, since he said ‘no way’ or whatever it was.
Anyway my two-cents in, thanks for your post, always nice reading them. Cheers, xx..!!
Agreed on Sinbad, but I disagree on Alibaba, he was being a wimp before, but that was due to him being indecisive and a lack of self-assurances, but like Kassim said(and we have seen before) as long as he’s doing it for the sake of others he’s quite capable.Plus it would be reflect quite badly on Alibaba if he can only shine in the absence of others.
On the other hand even if Sinbad gets his metal vessels back I’m not entirely convinced he will join the fight seeing as this is pretty much a internal conflict in Balbadd(a country without a clear and stable government at the moment) and he as a King of a country and a head of alliance might have consider his political stance before entering a conflict in a other country.
I’m wondering if the ‘monster’ Kassim turned into, at the end, could be a full Djinn Equip or at least something similar – judging from Sinbad’s reaction it seems he might know something about the ‘monster’.
“Ali Baba has once again been betrayed by Kassim, yet once again spares his ‘friend’ from the clutches of death. While in hindsight this was a terrible decision and gives Ali Baba way too many wimp points, it’s understandable the position he faces; killing the only stable part of his childhood would be a terrible burden for him to shoulder…yet now because of it, he must shoulder an even greater weight that now involves all of Balbadd.”
I don’t think not wanting to kill a friend makes him a wimp(or earn him wimp points) if anything it was admirable that Alibaba was still willing to forgive Kassim and believe in him – even if in the end Kassim turns out to be undeserving of those things it doesn’t make it any less admirable.I don’t know about you guys, but personally I find it much easier to hate and get revenge on someone who betrayed you rather than forgive him.
And I also don’t believe that Alibaba was blind to the obvious options in front him, kill Kassim and end the fighting or let him kill the nobles and royalty, and continue rebuilding the country alongside him.But instead Alibaba decides to search for(and still is) a third option that is better than the other two, which in my book, is impressive.
@Zanibas
Don’t take this the wrong way, but separate from my above disagreements – I thought this review was kind of rushed(?)…..not sure if that’s the right word, but I didn’t think it was well written, either way.To be blunt I thought it was pretty badly written, no offense.
Thank you for being honest AND polite. I realize that I rush too much on my posts too. I only now got to reading this. While I want to attribute this on being lazy, a part of me struggles on writing for Shounen shows…it’s not something I’ve really practiced on, either on watching or writing.
I’ll definitely keep it in mind as we enter the next arc, and I appreciate your vocality on speaking out on my opinion of Alibaba. Discussion is what we need here! 😀
you will love episode 16 as well it great episode but a little confusing in the end
Nope, I still don’t like Kassim…
But I do enjoy the watching show very much and can’t wait to see how this arc concludes 😀