Manga Review – Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol 5 by Shinobu Ohtaka (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Manga
Length: 208 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Release Date: April 8, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1421559551
Stand Alone or Series: 5th volume in the Magi series
Source: eGalley from edelweiss.com
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This is the 5th volume in the Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic series by Ohtaka. This was an excellent continuation of the story, lots of action and lots of background on our characters. I really enjoyed it.

Aladdin and Morgiana have found Alibaba and are trying to figure out why he is running the Fog Troop in Balbadd. He offers to tell them his history and the story of how him and the other leader of Fog Troop, Cassim, grew up together. He also tells the tale of why he fled Balbadd in the first place and what he was hoping to accomplish on his return.

This book really features Alibaba, we learn a ton about his past and background and it was a very interesting and well told story. Alibaba grows a lot as a character during this story and by the end of it you can really understand him better and sympathize with him.

Sinbad is also in the story a lot and I really enjoyed him as a character, he is funny and has noble intentions…even if he does some stupid things now and then.

We also finally meet Judar, he was mentioned in Vol 4…so we know he is another Magi. In this book however we get to meet him in much more detail. He is one of my favorite kinds of villains. Judar is a Magi, but he also seems to like to create chaos just for the sake of chaos. He is fascinating and evil all at once.

We see a lot more of what a Magi can do when Aladdin and Judar get into an absolutely action and magic packed battle.

Aside from all the drama between Alibaba and the King of Balbadd there is still the continuing story of the Kou Empire taking over everything. This storyline is still mostly in the background, but I am curious to see how the theme of the Kou Empire conquering the world will play out in future books.

Overall a very well done fantasy manga. I continue to enjoy the world, the action, and the wonderful characters that I really engage with and care about. There is some great humor in here as well as some truly awesome battle scenes. I have really been enjoying this series and can’t wait to see what volume 6 holds for us! Highly recommended to fans of fantasy manga.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Ebook Reading Challenge
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge