Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic (マギ, Magi) is a Japanese fantasy adventure manga series written and illustrated by Shinobu Ohtaka. It was serialized by Shogakukan in the shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from June 2009 to October 2017, with its chapters collected and published into 37 tankōbon volumes. The manga is licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media.
An anime television adaptation by A-1 Pictures was broadcast in Japan from October 2012 to March 2013, followed by a second season, titled Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, broadcast from October 2013 to March 2014. The anime series is licensed in North America by Aniplex of America. It was also licensed by Kazé in United Kingdom and by Madman Entertainment in Australia.
A spin-off series, titled Magi: Adventure of Sinbad, written by Ohtaka and illustrated by Yoshifumi Ohtera, was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from May to June 2013, and later on Shogakukan’s website Ura Sunday from September 2013 to April 2018.
In 2014, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic received the 59th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen category. As of April 2018, the manga had over 25 million copies in circulation.
The series is largely based on numerous stories from 1001 Arabian Nights, most notably the tales of Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad the Sailor.[3] The story is set in an alternate recreation of the ancient Old World with several regions and nations having some resemblances with real-life counterparts from that time. In this world, all living beings possess an essence known as Rukh (ルフ, Rufu) and when they die, this essence returns to the huge flow (also known as “guidance”) of Rukh that gives life to all subsequent beings in an eternal cycle of rebirth called “Fate”. Once a person is overcome with sadness, anger, and hopelessness, their Rukh becomes corrupted, unstable, and black, and deviates from the main guidance in a process known as “Fall into Depravity” (堕転, Daten).
There are also several magic castles full of treasures and traps known as “Dungeons”, which are each the lair of a powerful magic being, a Djinn (ジン, Jin). Individuals that manage to overcome the trials of a Dungeon and earn the allegiance of its Djinn are known as Dungeon Capturers (迷宮（ダンジョン）攻略者, Danjon Kōryakusha), gaining the ability to use its powers infused in a personal item of theirs known as a “Metal Vessel” and create less potent “Household Vessels” for their companions as well.
People can use the Rukh in their bodies to create an energy known as Magoi (マゴイ) to power their magical weapons and abilities. This energy must be used with care, as despite the fact that an individual’s magoi can be restored with feeding and rest, once fully exhausted it causes their death. Among those that can perform magic with their own Magoi there is a rare class of magicians known as Magi (マギ), that can also use Magoi from the Rukh around them, greatly increasing their capabilities. A Magi usually chooses Dungeon Capturers to offer guidance and protection making them into their King Vessels (王の器, Ō no Utsuwa). There are several nations in history that were founded or improved by the rule of such individuals.
