Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic (マギ^?) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Shinobu Ohtaka. It started serialization in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in June 2009. The individual chapters are published in tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan, with 16 volumes currently published as of February 2013. An anime adaptation by A-1 Pictures began airing in Japan on October 7, 2012. It has been licensed by Aniplex USA in North America, by Viz Media Europe in Europe and by Madman Entertainment in Australia.

Plot

Main article: List of Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic characters

After being secluded for his entire life, a boy called Aladdin travels the world until he meets Alibaba Saluja, a young man aiming to one day explore the nearby dungeon "Amon" and claim its treasures. Aladdin and Alibaba eventually become friends, and conquer Amon together, despite facing the opposition of the ruthless Jamil and his slave warriors, with only Alibaba, Aladdin and Morgiana, the only survivor of Jamil's party, escaping with their lives. For some reason, Aladdin ends up teleported to a distant land, far away from the others, where he learns that he is a "Magi", a rare kind of magician able to channel the energy of life around him into power. Having no news of his friend, Alibaba uses the treasure he obtained in Amon to free all slaves in the city, including Morgiana and returns to Balbadd, his homeland. After having their own adventures in separate countries, Aladdin and Morgiana end up reuniting with Alibaba in Balbadd where they learn that he has joined the "Fog Troupe", a cadre of thieves opposing the tyrannical rule of King Abhmad, who is Alibaba's older half-brother. Helped by Aladdin, Morgiana and Sinbad, a famous king of the island country of Sindria, Alibaba manages to have the monarchy dissolved and establishes a republic in Balbadd. However, Balbadd ends up annexed to the Kou Empire, a powerful Eastern nation that plans to conquer the entire world.
Following the events in Balbadd, Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana are brought to Sindria, where they train under members of Sinbad's household to increase their abilities and help him with his mission to stop the mysterious organization of "Al Thamen" that works in the shadows to spread chaos throughout the world for yet unexplained reasons. The trio ends up befriending Hakuryuu Ren, a prince of the Kou Empire visiting Sindria and whom they help to conquer the dungeon "Zagan". After confronting some members of Al Thamen, Aladdin and his friends go separate ways for personal reasons, promising to rejoin together in the future. Aladdin enrolls in the Magnostadt Academy to study magic, Alibaba leaves to improve his swordsmanship with the Yambala Gladiators in the Reim Empire, Hakuryuu returns to the Kou Empire, and Morgiana departs to the Dark Continent to fulfill her dream of visiting her homeland. Some time later, Aladdin and Alibaba are reunited during Reim's campaign to conquer Magnostadt and their actions lead to stop the invasion.

Terminology

The series make use of several in-universe concepts like:

Rukh (ルフ^?)

When people die, their bodies return to the earth and their souls return to the Rukh (Home of souls). In the appearance of white birds, the guidance of Rukh is what called "Fate". Rukh can produces Magoi and cause natural phenomena. In every living person, there is an "Inner Rukh" that produces a certain amount of energy or Magoi. When this guidance is altered from its natural course, a phenomena caused when a person is overcome by negative feelings like sadness, anger and hopelessness, thus "falling into depravity", it assumes a black color. This "Black Rukh" can be manipulated by normal magicians and Magi alike and can be used to create artificial life with it, among other special properties. However, this form of Rukh is largely unstable and may lead to the death of the user depending of how it is handled.

Magoi (マゴイ^?)

The energy Rukh creates. It is the magical power that is used for magical weapons, spells and summoning djinn. Even though Magi can use an infinite amount of Magoi, there's a limit to the amount their bodies can hold. When a person runs low of Magoi they will get tired and hungry even getting to death if their inner Magoi is totally depleted.

Djinn (ジン^?)

Originally created by King Solomon as his servants, they are the rulers of dungeons and sleep deep inside their dungeon until a Dungeon Capturer reaches their location. The Djinn are named after the 72 demons in the Ars Goetia (With the exception of Ugo). By equipping a "metal vessel" which contains the djinn's essence, infused with their own Magoi, its master can borrow its power and even incorporate its properties in a process known as "Djinn Equip". The similar occurs with the Dark Djinn, artificial Djinn created with Black Rukh, which needs for the user to fall into depravity before being able to access its powers. However, the process of fully equipping a Dark Djinn is incomplete, and usually drains the life of the user once it expires.

Dungeon Capturer (迷宮攻略者 Danjon Kōryakusha^?)

Someone who "completes" or "clears" a dungeon, claiming the treasures it holds. When a djinn finds a Dungeon Capturer worthy of their attention, it becomes their servant, imbuing a personal metal item of the Capturer with their essence and powers, which become their "metal vessels". Djinn also have the power to create magical items called "household vessels" for use of allies of the Dungeon Capturers they serve to help protect them. A Dungeon Capturer chosen and led by a Magi to lead his/her nation is called a King Candidate (王の器 Ō no Utsuwa^?).

Magi (マギ^?)

A magic user (魔法使い Mahōtsukai^?) whose role is to choose the king candidate and lead them. It is said that Magi are loved by Rukh, for being able to generate Magoi from the Rukh around them, while other people can only use Rukh inside their body (Inner Rukh). In all history there were only three living Magi at the same time, until the advent of Aladdin, which increased the number of living Magi in the current generation to four.

Media

Manga

Magi is a manga written and illustrated by Shinobu Ohtaka. It began serialization in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine on June 3, 2009.^[1] The first tankōbon volume was released on December 18, 2009, and 14 volumes have been published as of October, 2012.^[2][3]
All chapters of the manga and episodes of the anime series are labeled as "Nights" in an allusion to the tales of the One Thousand and One Nights which served as a primary source of inspiration to the story.

Anime

Main article: List of Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic episodes

During the Shogakukan's Jisedai World Hobby Fair '12 Summer event, an anime television adaption was announced on the event's official website.^[4] The anime series, produced by A-1 Pictures began airing in Japan on October 7, 2012, replacing Mobile Suit Gundam AGE in the MBS/TBS's 5:00 p.m timeslot.^[5] It also debuted in North America on October 10 on Crunchyroll and Hulu.^[6] It has been licensed by Aniplex USA in North America,^[7] by Viz Media Europe in Europe^[8] and by Madman Entertainment in Australia.^[9] For the first twelve episodes, the opening theme song is "V.I.P." by SID and the ending theme song is "Yubi Bōenkyō" by Nogizaka46.^[10] From episode thirteen onwards, the opening song is "Matataku Hoshi no Shita de" by Porno Graffitti and the ending is "The Bravery" by Supercell.