Fall 2012 saw the arrival of the anime adaptation of Shinobu Ohtaka’sMagi: The Labyrinth of Magic, a 25-episode magical adventure that ran for two seasons, with the second coming in Fall 2013. The series was highly popular in its time, but despite it having a good reception in the early 2010s and the animated franchise building with the animation of an OVA and TV version of the prequel series,Magi: Adventure of Sinbadin Spring 2016, theMagianime has gone on an indefinite hiatus.
The second season of the main storyline ran in 2013, meaning that it has been nearly ten years since the end of theMagianime with no third season in sight, despite the continuation of the manga into Fall 2017. TheAdventure of Sinbadwas completed in 2018. Will there ever be aMagiseason 3?
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Plot
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magicis set in a world wheremysterious structures called Dungeonsbegan emerging all over the world fourteen years prior to the events of the series. These Dungeons are historical sites in which the regular laws of nature; of physics and space-time are rendered moot, and they are ruled by supernatural beings known as Djinns. Should one conquer a Dungeon, the resident Djinn offers that individual an immensely powerful trinket called a Metal Vessel in which the Djinn resides, offering their strength to the Dungeon conquerer otherwise known as a “King’s Candidate” – one who has the potential to rule over all. A young man named Alibaba Saluja dreams of conquering Amon, the Dungeon in the land of Qishan, which emerged ten years prior to the events of the series. He meets a mysterious boy named Aladdin who has magical powers and possesses a strange flute that harbours the Djinn known as Ugo. Various people from all over the world try their hand at conquering Dungeons; however, only the Magi – legendary magicians capable of selecting kings and influencing the futures of entire countries – can guide people through the dangers of the Dungeons.
Background
TheMagianime is based on the manga by Shinobu Ohtaka, who is also the author ofOrient. The original one-shot was actually about the character Sinbad, serving as a prototype for both the flagship series and its spin-off. The manga ran in Weekly Shо̄nen Sunday for 37 volumes from June 2009 to October 2017, with the spin-off manga,Adventure of Sinbad,story by Ohtaka and illustrated by Yoshifumi Ohtera, being serialized in MangaOne and running for 19 volumes from May 2013 to April 2018. TheMagimanga was also translated and published in various other languages, such as Italian from 2011; English and Spanish months apart in 2013; Brazilian Portuguese from 2014 and Polish from 2016. The anime began airing in October 2012 and run until March 2013; with the second season airing from October 2013 to March 2014.
Both seasons ofMagiwere animated by A-1 Pictures (Kaguya-sama Love Is War!;86), and interestingly, the first season of Magi was the first Shо̄nen Sunday title to be animated and broadcast by Mainichi Broadcasting, which has broadcastpopular titles likeAttack on Titan;JUJUTSU KAISENand the aforementionedKaguya-sama. Funimation addedMagito their library in 2019. TheAdventure of Sinbadspin-off was initially made into an OVA prior to the TV anime series, both of which were animated by the studio Lay-Duce, known for their production of series likeO Maidens in Your Savage Season (2019)and the currently-airingTomo-chan Is a Girl!.The anime series adapts 198 chapters of the original manga, which leaves the events in volumes 21 and beyond unadapted; translating to 171 chapters of theMagiseries yet to be animated.
Incomplete Adaptation
Based on the simple fact that there is plenty of the originalMagimanga left to animate, fans would consider the anime an incomplete adaptation and that’s reason enough to want to see more of it. The original manga was also doing particularly well at the tail end of the second season, winning the 59th Annual Shо̄gakukan Manga Award in the Shо̄nen Category. The series was clearly well-received, and the production studio A-1 pictures has not faced financial difficulty or the kind of adversity that would render a studio incapable of continuing their production of a popular ongoing project. Since then, A-1 Pictures and the producer/licensor Aniplex have been involved in the production oftitles likeLycoris Recoil, among various other titles, so the lack of a third season ofMagiis definitely not due to a lack of ability by the original studio. Should Aniplex retain the rights to produceMagianimated works, then it doesn’t even have to be an A-1 Pictures production.
Despite all the good reasons for the series return, no such thing has been announced nor hinted at; however, aMagistage play was announced and took place in June 2022 at theatres in Tokyo and Osaka. The stage play adaptation serves as further evidence that love for the series persists among the original Japanese audience. Despite the love for the series, and the fact that Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana’s journey is far from complete, there simply isn’t a known future on the horizon for theMagiseries, so it seems like there might never be a third season; however, there have been a few series thatreturned after a long absence, likeBlue Exorcist,The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, which returned with a second season in 2022, leaves just a tiny fragment of hope for fans that theMagianime – hopefully enthusiasm for the series will not have petered out by then.
