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If you were granted one single wish,
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what would it be? Would you rewrite your
00:00:04
destiny? Would you desire riches beyond
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what the eye can see? Really think about
00:00:08
it for a second. All right, time's up.
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As for me, well, honestly, either the
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first two sound pretty nice. If I had
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unlimited wishes, however, one of them
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would be for season 3 of Mi.
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remember Muggi? Because it seems the
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studio in charge of it didn't. But Mi
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was one of the first anime I watched.
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Correction, it was The Adventures of
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Simbad, a prequel series to Muggi. And
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in search for more of the [ __ ] goat
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himself, I stumbled upon a series I love
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to this day. But it wasn't just me. Over
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a decade ago, oh my god, it was over a
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decade ago, Mi would get an anime
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adaptation in 2012 titled Mi Labyrinth
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of Magic. That year it was ninth in
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sales, right below Hunter Hunter. What
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makes the sales impressive for that year
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is the first season of the anime
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released from late 2012 through 2013,
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immediately followed by a second season
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titled Magi Kingdom of Magic, which was
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released from 2013 through 2014. Those
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next two years, Maggi would climb up the
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rankings and then remain in the top 10,
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being fourth in 2013 and eighth in 2014.
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Fans eagerly awaited season 3 as the
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story was getting better and better. But
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then a year passed. Then another year we
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got a spin-off season of a prequel
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series uh Adventures of Simbad. So now
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fans were waiting for a season 2 of
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Simbad and season 3 of Muggi. But a year
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passed then another then another. And
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now a decade later and still nothing. Mi
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as a manga has finished sitting at 369
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chapters and same with Adventures of
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Simbad sitting at 182. Diehard fans
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still have no word on what happened with
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the anime disappearing and the world has
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long since moved on. Still, the story of
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Mi is beloved for good reasons. The
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setting of Mi is one of the most
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memorable aspects of it, having loose
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inspiration from Arabian Knights. It's
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an Arabic setting where no one looks
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Arab, but it's anime, so [ __ ] it. In my
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video about Soul Leader, which was
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barely about Soul Leader, it's a long
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rant about the importance of style,
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which Mi has in spades. And it's a world
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with substance, not just flash. Lore
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that makes it feel layered and provides
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aspects that each have a strong appeal,
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introducing us to the magic via one of
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the main characters and the dungeons,
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but then evolves into different
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kingdoms, managing war and politics,
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creating a blend of magic and real world
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issues, explored mainly through the two
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main characters of the series, Aladdin
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and Alibaba. Aladdin is introduced being
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clearly not from this world and his
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origins being built up through the
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series. He runs into Alibaba, an
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individual who seems to only care for
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riches. But it then becomes apparent to
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Aladdin that Alibaba is good at heart
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and a special human being. Aladdin is
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revealed to be an anomaly early on, a
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fourth
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Mgi. In a world that is only supposed to
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have three beings of immense magical
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power that can alter the course of
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humanity by summoning dungeons and
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guiding special people known as king
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vessels to conquer these dungeons and
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gain immense power granted to them by
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gins. Powerful magic beings that test
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people who enter the dungeon and decide
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if they will serve the person. Usually
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people only conquer one dungeon,
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therefore having the power of one jin.
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With this power, they can transform via
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Jinquips, leading to some of the dopest
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designs and not a complicated system,
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but a fun one within battle shownen.
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Alibaba is a bastard prince who will add
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in guides and conquers the dungeon of
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Aman. But with great power comes a [ __ ]
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ton of headaches. Alibaba feeling the
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duty to help his fallen country of
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Balbad gets involved with some very
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powerful individuals at the top of the
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world's food chain. The kingdom of co
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and their mi Judar, a user of dark
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rrook. Rook being those butterflies you
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see. and they inhabit everything and are
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what souls return to. They are the magic
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source of this series. Yeah, Judar
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controls the evil version of that and is
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who I place here on the tier list of Miy
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characters who are trying to take over
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Balbad. But then another character steps
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in to help Alibaba and ensure that the
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co-mpire isn't out of control. The man
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to capture the first dungeon and lead
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this new era of kings and magic. User of
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seven different gins. Adventure,
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conquer, and playboy of the seven seas.
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the king of Synria and the [ __ ] goat
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Simbad. This character was one of three
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things that had an irreversible impact
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on my personality in the 2010s. This
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character was so beloved that he got a
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spin-off manga detailing his adventures
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before we meet him in Mi and that manga
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would get an adaptation, although only
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one season of an anime. Ladies, I know
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the recent obsession has been the men in
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JJK, but I mean, come on. dead,
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deadbeat, dumped at a KFC, and has as
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much communication skills as your ex
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versus King of the Seven Seas. Simbad,
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in all seriousness, is an excellent
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portrayal of the strongest mixed in with
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a character cursed with seeing fate
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itself. Probably my favorite since he
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explores the nuances of having to guide
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a country and the balance of the world
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itself, including what we then see in
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Adventures of Simbad. He goes from a
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wideeyed adventurer to getting your
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hands dirty and becoming what at one
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point you detested. A character that has
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one of my favorite moments of
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introspection and honesty, but still
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needing others to call out his flaws. At
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the beginning of Adventures of Simbat,
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his character is pretty standard, and he
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comes off less interesting than he does
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in Mi. But the more the story goes on in
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the manga, the burden and fine lines you
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have to walk when you were perceived as
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special makes for an interesting prequel
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series. Adding more context to the
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character we see throughout the series,
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especially when it comes to the final
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arc. Whenever he appears in Mi, however,
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there is a massive shift that is about
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to happen. Meanwhile, the story jumps
00:05:37
between Aladdin and Alibaba as they get
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separated often. This is one of the more
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unique aspects of Mi where it really
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does have two central protagonist that
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it switches between almost every other
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arc and you get to see them grow on
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their own and then come together.
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Aladdin learns more about his origins
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and the origins of the world. Then his
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desire to love humanity and believe in
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them being put to the test when he
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witnesses death and war and the cycle of
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it all. Alibaba, meanwhile, is learning
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more about the world when it comes to
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the realm of politics and what it takes
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to properly guide people by working with
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them instead of ruling over them. Seen
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when he turns Balbad into a republic
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instead of becoming its king despite
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having a rightful place on the throne.
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Another aspect of Alibaba that almost
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slipped my mind was the great comedy
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with the character that is very
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welltimed and helps break tension since
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sometimes this series can be a lot with
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the information that it gives you.
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Morgana is another important character
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being a household vessel, someone who
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works under a king's vessel. She was
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freed from slavery by Aladdin and
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Alibaba. Is in our introduction to one
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of the most powerful races on the
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planet, the Faris. Also, Hakuryu, a
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prince of the co-empire who wishes to
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destroy it and exact revenge on his
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mother. It's an anime law for a
00:06:49
character with black hair to explore
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revenge. But what I appreciate about
00:06:52
Mahagi and its characters in general is
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that it explores these concepts, but
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takes it a step further than most series
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would, making the characters feel more
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than the tropes they fall under. So, a
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very strong cast of characters, some of
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which get even better once you read
00:07:05
Adventures of Simbad, particularly those
00:07:07
that have to do with the Kingdom of
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Cynria. In Mi, the series begins as a
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light-hearted adventure, but as these
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characters get stronger and learn more,
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it shifts into a more mature series.
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It's easy to see why it had the success
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mentioned at the start of the video.
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Once brought to life in the anime, when
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the next season was due to push the
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series even more, never came. There
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isn't really anything I could find
00:07:29
stating why season 3 of Mi never came
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out. Uh, the only interview I saw in
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regards to the author was her talking
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about Orient, but there are multiple
00:07:36
factors that when put together paint an
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unfortunate reality, beginning with the
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studio that was in charge of Mi, A1
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Pictures. A1 is interesting, helping put
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series on the map and push them to new
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heights of popularity with strong first
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seasons. Blame them for the second
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explosion of solo leveling and making
00:07:52
isekai popular with Sword Art Online.
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But also, they have Fairy Tale, Fate,
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Grand Order, and Apocrypha, Kagi Asama
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86, Space Brothers, Erased. They have a
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good track record of giving things good
00:08:03
adaptations regardless of the quality of
00:08:05
the material they have to work with.
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They also, however, have a track record
00:08:08
of mishandling production of certain
00:08:10
series. Muggi Blue Exorcist, which was
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previously covered, and Seven Deadly
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Sins, which is probably the most popular
00:08:17
example, with the later seasons they
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made being a frequent example of awful
00:08:20
animation. Ironically, it could be
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theorized that A1 decided to move on
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from Muggi to work on Seven Deadly Sins,
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given the timeline of events, that it
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was close to matching Muggi in sales in
00:08:33
2014 without an anime since its first
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season came out late 2015. talking about
00:08:38
Seven Deadly Sins. The anime for Muggi
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had caught up to the manga and it seemed
00:08:42
like the most logical step. Making one
00:08:45
or two seasons and then leaving the rest
00:08:46
without an adaptation to push viewers to
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read and buy the manga is a common
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practice when it comes to series. Also,
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you can move on to a series that is
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guaranteed to do well given the
00:08:56
popularity it has already without an
00:08:58
anime adaptation. A1 might have also
00:09:01
learned from their previous mistakes
00:09:02
with Blue Exorcist. Going off the cannon
00:09:05
with a bunch of filler and releasing a
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season later when there was no longer
00:09:09
the same interest, might not have been
00:09:10
something they wanted to do with Miy. A
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different studio would be in charge of
00:09:14
Adventures of Simbad. Leus Productions,
00:09:16
which also worked on Fate Grand Order
00:09:19
and a whole bunch of [ __ ] not going
00:09:21
to lie to you. So why is there no season
00:09:23
two of
00:09:24
Simbad? No clue. Look, I know I don't
00:09:27
know. isn't the but like I what do you
00:09:30
want me to do? Lie to you? There isn't
00:09:32
any information on the sales of
00:09:33
adventures of Simbad and it's not like
00:09:35
they had anything else to work on. The
00:09:37
only assumption I can make is they
00:09:39
decided to call it after one season and
00:09:41
leave the rest for the manga readers. Mi
00:09:44
was possibly abandoned for a series that
00:09:45
would end up being a laughingstock and
00:09:47
Adventures of Simbad got slapped with
00:09:49
the hit and quit. At this point, Muggi
00:09:51
season 3 can be put up there with
00:09:52
Vagabond coming back and Oscar's Wrath
00:09:54
remake, Kidas Uprising ported to the
00:09:56
Switch, too, Bloodborne being ported to
00:09:58
PC, and the Raiders winning another
00:10:00
Super Bowl. A whole bunch of desperate
00:10:03
hope. But as the anime disappeared, the
00:10:05
manga continued strong, reaching its
00:10:08
most interesting point where we get
00:10:09
strong character moments for Alibaba in
00:10:12
the next arc. The origins of the world
00:10:14
and Aladdin are revealed to all of the
00:10:16
important players in what could have
00:10:17
been a massive war. What I believe to be
00:10:19
the absolute best character moments for
00:10:22
Aladdin, Alibaba, Sinbad, Judar, and
00:10:24
Akuryu are all in the final arcs. The
00:10:27
final three arcs I will touch up on my
00:10:29
issues with, but overall are fantastic.
00:10:31
Especially the second to last arc, Co-
00:10:33
Empire, which put me through one hell of
00:10:35
an emotional roller coaster with one of
00:10:37
my favorite fights ever, making it all
00:10:39
the more frustrating that we never got a
00:10:41
season 3 or four of Mi because with the
00:10:44
right animation, so many amazing moments
00:10:46
could be brought to life. If someone
00:10:48
wants to leave a comment as a petition
00:10:50
to have A1 drop solo leveling and put
00:10:52
all their effort into Magi, feel free.
00:10:53
Last thing I want is a half-ass boring
00:10:55
disappointment of a remake like we have
00:10:57
with Kenshin and Shaman King. The series
00:10:59
for a moment takes on a very different
00:11:01
feel at the beginning of the very last
00:11:02
arc having to do with war via
00:11:04
negotiations and trade. But the final
00:11:06
arcs as a whole are truly something to
00:11:08
remember. I really like the ending of Mi
00:11:11
overall. But admittedly, parts of it
00:11:13
feel uh overwhelming, which doesn't make
00:11:16
me feel as if the series ended poorly,
00:11:18
but that there is a lot of information,
00:11:20
a lot of new information that isn't
00:11:22
really given the time to be grounded and
00:11:24
absorbed before we are shot into the
00:11:26
next groundbreaking revelation. Going
00:11:28
from a magical series to a massive lore
00:11:30
dump for an entire arc, a good one
00:11:32
nonetheless, but still lore dump. Back
00:11:34
to a magical war series to a series
00:11:36
about politics and trade. These were all
00:11:38
different aspects that were sprinkled in
00:11:39
throughout. But in the final stretch of
00:11:41
Mi, it is easy to get the feeling that
00:11:43
it is a jarring shift to one jarring
00:11:45
shift. Then finally going from trade to
00:11:48
a huge moral debate about how to best
00:11:50
handle the fate of the world and the
00:11:51
role of God. It's the climax of this
00:11:53
grand debate about what truth even is,
00:11:56
the nature of fate, and having each
00:11:57
character provide an answer of what they
00:11:59
believe and try to figure it all out. It
00:12:01
does a good job of addressing these
00:12:03
things and the lore is very interesting
00:12:04
and makes sense, but I think some better
00:12:06
pacing with each of these things would
00:12:08
have really knocked it out of the park.
00:12:10
There is speculation that the author was
00:12:11
rushed to finish Muggi quickly. But
00:12:13
regardless of the amount that happens in
00:12:15
the end of Muggi, it being able to
00:12:17
remain reasonable where most series
00:12:19
would fall apart is impressive. I think
00:12:21
if the series had 500 chapters or at the
00:12:23
very least more chapters right after the
00:12:25
end, it would have been a bit more of a
00:12:27
smooth read. Still, rereading it for
00:12:29
this video was a blast, and I would
00:12:31
highly recommend anyone to check out
00:12:33
everything this series has out. In fact,
00:12:35
here's a quick guide for those that want
00:12:37
to get into Mi through the anime and
00:12:39
continue the manga where it leaves off.
00:12:41
Mi season 1 and 2 has a total of 50
00:12:43
episodes, which covers the first 198
00:12:46
chapters of the manga, ending off on the
00:12:48
Magna arc. Adventures of Simbad has 13
00:12:51
episodes, which covers the first 55
00:12:53
chapters of the manga, ending off at the
00:12:55
Artemisra arc. legit right before it
00:12:57
gets good. Even though I have a soft
00:12:59
spot for Adventures of Simbad, I
00:13:01
wouldn't recommend the anime in place of
00:13:03
the manga early on. And I also wouldn't
00:13:05
recommend it before Muggi even though
00:13:06
it's a prequel since Simbad's character
00:13:08
in Mi helps add context to what happens
00:13:10
early in Adventures of Simbad to create
00:13:13
a sense of intrigue in how this
00:13:14
character transforms instead of the
00:13:16
feeling that Simbad is a Gary Stew that
00:13:18
will never face any challenges. The rest
00:13:20
of the series goes on to prove that
00:13:22
wrong. But if you only went off season 1
00:13:23
of Adventures of Simbad, I can see that
00:13:26
happening. Mi, however, is worth going
00:13:28
through the anime first if that is your
00:13:30
preference. Wishing for Muggi season 3
00:13:33
at this point is unrealistic. I seem to
00:13:35
never have any luck with the series I
00:13:37
have a deep love for. Pondering over
00:13:38
what could have been also serves no use
00:13:40
since yes, we could have gotten a great
00:13:42
season 3 and four or Muggi could have
00:13:44
ended up being in Seven Deadly Sins
00:13:46
place. Instead, I wish for something a
00:13:48
bit more realistic and simple that those
00:13:50
of you that haven't given this series a
00:13:52
try do so. And those of you that are
00:13:54
already in the Simbad fan club put
00:13:56
someone else on. Some of my favorite
00:13:58
characters ever. Great comedy and action
00:14:00
and a story that asks many questions and
00:14:02
explores the flaws of the world and its
00:14:04
characters seriously with a lot of
00:14:06
thought and care while still providing
00:14:08
hope. No matter who you are and what
00:14:10
your destiny is, we can all come to an
00:14:12
understanding. Even if the anime never
00:14:14
returns, Mi will always be a story worth
00:14:17
telling.
00:14:19
[Music]
