[Magi reread] Night 117: The Premonition of a New Journey
Also. All these silly creatures, pff. Hanibaba foreshadowing
And that's why magicians can't have HV! Honestly, it's something that's in my mind as such a simple fact that I forgot it's until this arc apparently that we get it explained. Thought it was earlier.
They do have a very sweet relationship. Yamraiha immediately ensuring he doesn't feel bad he can't use a Djinn-related spell;; Yamraiha's a bit of a mess, but she's a great master.
Oh, and she was so happy just the previous page : (
Not gonna lie, I didn't remember this part. Huh. I mean, I knew Magnostadt & Ithnan had some history and all that, but the fact that the Dark Metal Vessels were invovled in it all escaped my mind. Now that I think about it, though, yeah, I do recall something.
Ironic that Dunya was using it, then. And poor Yamu, she looks really shaken by this. : (
Yeah, I wouldn't want to speak with a person from Magnostadt, either, if I were Dunya. Also :deepest sigh: Sinbad.
Aww, this is so cute- *scroll down* I can't have shit in Magi.
Y'know, it's hard to even treat Aladdin's obsession with boobs as his character flaw at this point. All I can think of is that Ohtaka consciously makes this happen over and over again. It's not that funny, I'd argue it's never been really funny. Why is animanga so obsessed with sexual harrassment as a joke, agh.
Back to it actually being nice. And my "Aladdin is sympathetic, not empathetic". He's also, like, 11, so that definitely doesn't help him.
Dunno, I just find it such an interesting part of his character, so I keep babbling about it. He is kind and well-meaning, he wants to help, but he just doesn't understand certain things on an emotional level. I'm kind of curious, because I don't remember if and how much that changes over time, I only have some later scene with him & Titus in my head, where Aladdin recognzies that Titus is really similar to how he used to be. Anyway, I'm definitely keeping ane eye on it.
Mhmm. I love him getting defensive over Yamu here-
Aaaaand Ohtaka proceeds to fucking ruin it again. I'm getting tired. Such a good beginning of this arc, some good interactions between Dunya and Aladdin, and they constantly get interrputed by this shit. Like, for the love of God, Ohtaka, give the dying girl a damn break.
The fuck do you mean by this............ Who are you even talking about.........
Also, Sinbad, for the love of fuck
Honestly, poor Yamraiha and Dunya both. Dunya will not listen to any explanation, and, honestly? I don't blame her. Magnostadt ruined her entire life, she doesn't owe anybody from the Academy her understanding and compassion. But Yamraiha's not at fault here, too. She was a child just like Dunya when it was all happening, she doesn't deserve such contempt.
I quite like what Ohtaka is doing here (when she's not wasting my time on sexual harrassment gags). She shows us characters who at their core are both victims of the same event, two girls from different camps whose lives were turned upside down, and are still dealing with the consequences of it all. Neither deserves any of it. Obviously these aren't entierly comparable, but then again, what's the point of comparing suffering? It hardly makes it easier to bear. And it feels like more of a point here, that in the end all that violence only ever serves to harm those who deserve it the least.
I love Ja'far, he seems genuinely sad, which, I dunno, there's just something about the fact that he's genuinely such a kind and caring person, yet a skilled assassin at the same time. I have some thoughts on him, but I'll leave these for the SnB reread which, uh, yeah, I started. Yamraiha looks genuinely devastated - I have to admit, I completely forgot about it. Just how hard she's taking it all, that she was, like, very emotionally invested in all of this. Admittedly, I chalk it up to both not being all that invested in Yamraiha as a character and simply not interacting with this part of the story in a long time. Zagan Arc and the like are, admittedly, a bit overshadowed by everything around them in my memory. It's kinda in this awkward place between the Balbadd Arc and the Magnostadt Arc, which I consider two best arc in the entire manga, so it gets a litte lost in between them (yeah, there's Pirates and World Exploration Arcs, too, but these are also kind of fuzzy in my memory).
And, obviously, Aladdin is sad as well - it's his third personal experience with "death", first being Baba, then Ugo, and now Dunya. And even Sinbad looks concerned.
I like that Dunya's death is given so much weight. Honestly, it feels a bit different from all the other deaths so far, because it's just something that the characters can't do anything but wait for to happen. The closest I can think of is Baba, but she was an old lady who accomplished what she wanted to, so even if sad, her death just wasn't as upsetting as Dunya's. She's just a woman who was hurt and used, and even if she's doing a bit better emotionally, she still had so much life and growth left. In this vein, it's similar to Kassim, but his death was a sudden gutpunch by the end. Al-Thamen fucking sucks, man.
Mhmmm, I like it all a lot.
Alibaba's kinda making the choice for her here, but Morgiana does not agree immediately. Glad for her to show her agency, even if it's small (will be elaborated later). Alibaba meanwhile kind of chooses the easier option of staying with Sinbad, because he got swept by Sinbad's light just like many others, and, well, what can he even do? He's just some guy, while Sinbad is the High King of the Seven Seas! It's that tendency to avoid his problems at display, once again. I do get why he's like that, between lack of confidence and genuinely how do you even handle this kind of problem, but, well, it's not a good look on him for sure. Hearing Hakuryuu show so much faith in him probably makes it hit even harder that he's actually kind of not living up to this image.
I've mentioned before, but timeline-wise I mostly sit around the Final Arc (my rewrite more than canon, admittedly), so seeing this Alibaba feels a little jarring! He actually came such a long way, we really don't give him enough credit.
(You won't, because first Alibaba will be a baby about everybody leaving, and then not long after you guys traveling together longer, you'll fuck things up, Hakuryuu. Aladdin and Morgiana can't have shit because of you two.)
I like that they're rooming together. Very cute.
He's a pretty fun guy when he's not fucking insane.
Siiigh, I'm getting sad about them again. Man.
Stop making choices for them!
Honestly? I think that really shows just how badly they need to split for a bit, you know, to be their own people, and not just a package deal. Alibaba's getting a bit too comfortable avoiding all his problems again and treats their group a bit too much like a unit, while Morgiana threatens a little to relapse into Following orders? Maybe? It's a real worry I have. We know she wants to go to DC and all, but she has yet to say anything out loud. It's a good thing Aladdin's here with them, to kinda set them all straight.
