Weekly Digest: 12/18/12 – Btooom!, Magi

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[HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_11.54_[2012.12.18_10.27.46] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_05.13_[2012.12.18_11.00.50] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_12.06_[2012.12.18_11.08.03]

While Btooom was unable to carry over its momentum from last week, Magi sails along without missing a beat.

Btooom! – 11

[HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_01.31_[2012.12.18_10.17.23] [HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_04.07_[2012.12.18_10.19.59] [HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_05.12_[2012.12.18_10.21.04]
[HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_06.31_[2012.12.18_10.22.23] [HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_10.30_[2012.12.18_10.26.22] [HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_12.26_[2012.12.18_10.28.18]
[HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_13.37_[2012.12.18_10.29.29] [HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_16.16_[2012.12.18_10.32.07] [HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_18.00_[2012.12.18_10.33.52]
[HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_18.41_[2012.12.18_10.34.32] [HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_20.13_[2012.12.18_10.36.04] [HorribleSubs]_BTOOOM!_-_11_[720p].mkv_snapshot_23.13_[2012.12.18_10.38.15]

I have to tell myself that Madhouse is getting all the Btooom out of their system before Chihayafuru starts up – kind of like a karmic colon cleanse.  Otherwise episodes like this one would make me succumb to despair for sure.

I think pretty much everything you need to know about this show can be summed up in the BIM bouncing off Himiko’s boob in slow motion (as she’s resigning herself to die virginal without a fight – again).  But we also got a completely extraneous shower scene along with an incredibly lame peeping gag afterwards, just in case.  It’s all very silly but with Btooom, there’s good silly and bad silly and I mostly found this ep pretty hard to take.  I found the resolution to Shiki and Date’s situation especially preposterous.

The most interesting development to come out of this is the likelihood that Taira has been sneaking chips behind Sakamoto-han’s back – though he’s been incapacitated for so long that I find it hard to see how he’s much of a threat now.  It was always a strong possibility that he’d betray the others, but I was hoping against hope we wouldn’t go that route.  How in the world is Madhouse going to wrap this up in one more episode?

Magi – 11

[Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_00.16_[2012.12.18_10.56.54] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_00.35_[2012.12.18_10.57.13] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_01.49_[2012.12.18_10.58.27]
[Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_03.25_[2012.12.18_10.59.02] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_03.39_[2012.12.18_10.59.16] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_05.06_[2012.12.18_11.00.43]
[Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_05.36_[2012.12.18_11.01.13] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_06.35_[2012.12.18_11.02.12] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_07.00_[2012.12.18_11.02.37]
[Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_07.33_[2012.12.18_11.03.10] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_08.22_[2012.12.18_11.03.59] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_10.55_[2012.12.18_11.06.52]
[Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_11.50_[2012.12.18_11.07.46] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_14.48_[2012.12.18_11.10.45] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_17.21_[2012.12.18_11.13.17]
[Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_18.13_[2012.12.18_11.14.09] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_18.53_[2012.12.18_11.14.49] [Commie] Magi - 11 [90DCD193].mkv_snapshot_22.13_[2012.12.18_11.18.10]

That episode was definitely a tale of two halves, which at least shows that this is a series that has the dexterity to switch modes on a dime.  Really good action and Byzantine politics is a potentially rewarding combination, too.

The cavalcade of new characters and big-name seiyuu continues, with Hanazawa Kana taking the headline as Kougyoku Ren, another Princess of the Kou Empire.  KanaHana isn’t the most versatile seiyuu but she’s certainly distinctive, and she seems to be in full-on tsundere mode with this one.  With her djinn Vinea she rescues Judal, then takes out Ugo in a spectacular fracas before Sinbad steps up and restores order (I can’t wait to see him fully powered-up).  In the process Aladdin tuckers himself out by using all his own personal magoi to try and help Ugo, leaving himself comatose in the wake of the battle.

Switching gears in a flash, the focus turns to the internal politics of Balabadd, and when the King’s brother Sabhmad (Nojima Hirofumi – always a thrill when a Seirei no Moribito cast member shows up) arrives to talk with Alibaba the stakes become clear.  In effect, what we get is a two-minute crash course in economics – and just perhaps, a scathing attack on the merits of easing monetary policy.  Whether this is really intended as a commentary on RL politics I can’t say, but there’s no doubt that the banker Markkio has taken the King of Balabadd for a ride big-time, getting him hooked on paper money like a heroin addict and miring Balabadd in an ocean of debt it can never repay.  His solution?  Use the people as collateral to borrow even more – sell them as slaves to rival nations.  Again – there may or may nor be political commentary happening here, but it certainly makes for an interesting plot development.

With Aladdin incapacitated it seems even more likely that the focus is going to turn to Alibaba for now, as the politics of Balabadd take center stage.  In addition to the Deputy King he also has an ally in General Barlak (Matsumoto Yasunori), and it appears things in Balabadd could easily turn into full-scale civil war.  It’s an interesting tale this series is weaving, and I enjoy the many faces of Magi – including the occasional bouts of extremely quirky humor like this one, all the more impactful as they often arrive completely out of context.  It’s an interesting mix, and I’m looking forward to more.

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11 comments

  1. D
    Dunn
    December 18, 2012 at 11:01 am
    Reply

    Magi has got to be the most underrated long term running series, it really took off with the Fog Troupe arc…

    This and Robotics;Notes. Wonder why there's not enough people watching it, much less appreciate it…

    I'm with you too, can't wait to see Sinbad with all his metal vessels on him.

  2. V
    Vanth
    December 18, 2012 at 11:23 am
    Reply

    This show is extremely popular. Its just that people aren't talking much about it in all the regular anime forums. I myself dropped this show back in episode 3 because I found it uninteresting.

    http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-12-16/japan-animation-tv-ranking-december-3-9

  3. A
    Anonymous
    December 18, 2012 at 12:16 pm
    Reply

    Magi is just entering its main arc & it only gets better. I just hope it's actually long running & not just 24 episodes or stuff. There's still so much content to adapt from ^^

    & yeap, Magi's not underrated. The manga's selling really well too.

  4. D
    Dunn
    December 18, 2012 at 12:24 pm
    Reply

    Yea, it's a wonderful adaptation of the original one thousand and one nights that I'm familiar with.

    It should be long term, the way the story is being laid out it will be a shame if it's only a two-cour series.

    Good to know the manga is selling well. Granted the opening episodes were not as appealing to everyone, hope it garners more attention for lots of discussion.

    The political aspects do parallel our world after all…

  5. V
    Vanth
    December 19, 2012 at 4:25 pm
    Reply

    I believe its four cour which means it'll run for a year.

  6. admin
    December 20, 2012 at 1:06 am
    Reply

    I certainly haven't seen that confirmed anywhere. All I've heard officially announced is two, unless there's new info I didn't hear. Of course it's doing quite well in the ratings, which is a good sign.

  7. A
    Anonymous
    December 18, 2012 at 11:24 am
    Reply

    It's certainly refreshing to see one country subjugating another country not by military force but by economical warfare. Don't see that to often in media.

    I must say from reading and watching magi the author certainly does a good job of implementing politics into the series. Not something I see to often in shounen.

  8. S
    SQA
    December 19, 2012 at 2:08 am
    Reply

    Japan: country with the highest Debt to GDP ratio in the world and home to several "zombie" banks. No political commentary here! 🙂

  9. E
    Eternia
    December 19, 2012 at 4:32 am
    Reply

    The preview of next episode of Btooom seems that it's heading for an open ending. After a battle with Taira, of course. Good riddance.
    What? The guy who's still hurting from being bitten by Komodo?
    The guy who lost his finger?
    Yes~

  10. B
    Beckett
    December 21, 2012 at 6:34 am
    Reply

    Magi's 2 minute crash course in economics would have made any modern economist cringe. In the kind of world Magi takes place in they have a point that they don't need to move off of a gold standard to a fiat currency, but I hope the creators of the show aren't trying to make that commentary apply to RL, because in a global economy the idea that we could get by with anything but fiat currency is laughably naive. Like, to the point that it makes me question whether the writer's even have the first clue what they're talking about.

  11. T
    TMFlesh
    December 25, 2012 at 9:00 pm
    Reply

    What about going to a dept so deep that you could never pay it off because every dollar you gain has 2 or 3 times the amount stacked on top of it in interest is good or necessary for RL economics? Since when in our society did going into debilitating dept become a good thing?

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