For six long months, Morgiana and Aladdin have been in search of Alibaba. What has happened to Alibaba after all this time? Find out in volume four of “Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic”!
Image courtesy of © 2009 Shinobu Ohtaka. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic Vol. 4
STORY AND ART BY: Shinobu Ohtaka
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shogakukan
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shonen Sunday
RATED: T for Teen
RELEASE DATE: February 11, 2014
After many adventures, Aladdin finally reaches the great city of Balbadd. There he reunites with his friend Alibaba hoping to once again capture a dungeon together. However, a more cruel destiny lies ahead…
Having been separated for six months, Morgiana and Aladdin go on to search for Alibaba, but will they find him in the great city of Balbadd?
And who is this person they come in contact with… Sinbad?
Find out in Shinobu Ohtaka’s popular hit manga series “Magi: The Laybrinth of Magic” vol. 4!
What is “Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic”?
When it comes to opportunities of becoming a manga writer/artist (mangaka), Shinobu Ohtaka’s story.
She has written about her story of how she became a manga artist, as a person who was the person who would sit quietly in the corner of class and was not really great at anything and often playing a supporting role. But if there was one thing that she was confident in, it was drawing pictures.
Her first year in high school, she was submitting manga manuscripts because it was her dream to become a manga author. And like many writers, her submissions were denied and this continued through high school and college. And when she was about to call it quits, she was given the opportunity to do a one-shot and it led to the creation of the series “Sumomo Momomo” in 2004 which would eventually become 22 volume manga series and also a 22-episode anime series.
After completing “Sumomo Momomo”, Shinobu then created “Magi” which would be serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday in 2009 and to this day, the series is till ongoing (currently, at 17 volumes) and an anime adaptation which was aired in Japan in Oct. 2012 – March 2013 and a new second season set to air this fall.
But in August 2013, the manga series titled “Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic” will be released in the US courtesy of Viz Media.
“Magi” vol. 1 begins with a boy begging for water and food but the bandits that captured him want to strip the young boy of everything he has. Immediately, massive arms is seen coming out and defeating all bandits.
While at the Oasis of Utan, the boy named Aladdin meets a merchant named Laylah and Sahsa, the daughter of a caravan leader. He introduces them to his friend Ugo, which appears to be a flute. When Aladdin blows into the flute, massive arms come out of the flute. Ugo is a Djinn, spirits that appear in myth and not many people thought it was a real thing, but we learn through a flashback that Aladdin was given three wishes in which he could have fortune, fame and eternal life. But instead, he just wants one wish and that is for Ugo to be his friend. And since then, the two have been together.
Aladdin has the ability to extra Ugo which is a massive body without a head. As Aladdin goes on trips with various people, we learn that Aladdin must be well fed and have had a lot to drink in order to use Ugo, but also Ugo is shy if a girl touches him.
And in Aladdin’s adventure, he meets a boy named Alibaba. Alibaba’s wish is to be rich and find treasure inside buildings that have shown up all over the world. And treasures with wonderful powers are the most valuable, the one that Alibaba seeks is the Djinn’s metal vessel. At first Alibaba’s intention was to use Aladdin and his power to gain wealth, but instead, the two have become best friends and now both want to protect each other and travel together on adventures.
But as Alibaba was given a chance to rule a land and had wealth, without Aladdin, he chooses to abandon it all to find his friend. Meanwhile, Morgianna also wonders what has happened to both Alibaba and Aladdin.
In vol. 4, as Aladin, Alibaba and Morgiana have been separated for nearly six months, Morgiana continues her search to find them. But when she continues her search, the road is blocked by the men of Fatima, a slave trader. And now he wants Morgiana to be his slave!
And while trying to save the slaves captured by Fatima, she runs into a familiar face?
Meanwhile, what has happened to Alibaba? And who is this Sinbad?
With volume 4 of “Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic”, after being away for six months, Aladdin, Morgiana and Alibaba will finally reunite.
But with their latest reunion, it may not be as happy as Aladdin would have thought.
But first, Morgiana must take on the slave trader known as Fatima and we are introduced to three new characters, King Sinbad, the Fanaris named Musrur and Jafar. Who are these three men and why will they be important in Morgiana and Aladdin finding Alibaba?
And what has happened to Alibaba within these last six months?
With this latest volume, aside from character introductions, there is a more deeper story that revolves around the life of Alibaba and what has happened in the last six months.  And as Aladdin and Morgiana team up with the three, they must find and defeat a group known as the Fog Troop.
Also, readers will get to learn more about Magi, Magoi and the concept of Rukh. And we learn that there are other Magi in the world aside from Aladdin.
So, as this volume is more about character building as Sinbad and friends will possibly play a major role in the next volume, there is a teaser in this volume of an evil Magi that will soon to appear.
As with each volume, the story and artwork by Shinobu Ohtaka is enjoyable to read and see. He has his own art style and while backgrounds are not as prominent in Ohtaka’s work, it’s the close-ups and the ability to capture emotion that he does quite effectively but most importantly, it’s the storyline that he features that makes “Magi: The Labyrinth” so entertaining and addictive.
Overall, “Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic” vol. 4 is an entertaining and unlike previous volumes which was filled with a lot of action, there is much more storyline involved in this fourth volume along with the action that fans can expect.
If you enjoyed the first three volumes, you will no doubt enjoy volume fourof “Magi”. Recommended!