Manga Review – Magi: The Labyrinth Vol 8 by Shinobu Ohtaka (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Manga/Fantasy
Length: 208 pages
Publisher: VIZ Meida LLC
Release Date: October 14, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1421559582
Stand Alone or Series: 8th book in the Magi series
Source: eGalley through Edelweiss.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

I got a copy of this book to review through Edelweiss. This is the 8th book in the Magi: The Labyrinth series. This was the best book in the series, I liked it even better than Vol 7 (I keep saying that about each volume when it releases). A ton of things happen very quickly in this installment.

Cassim has merged with the Black Rukh power and summoned a huge black djinn. Morgiana, Ali Baba, and Sinbad try to fight it off but aren’t powerful enough. That’s when Aladdin shows up and reveals his true nature, he carries a seal of Solomon’s Wisdom that allows him to control white rukh. From there on it is a battle of white rukh versus black rukh and more than just the city of Balbadd is at stake.

This story is incredibly quick paced, full of some awesome action scenes, and adds even more complexity to the story.

One of my favorite parts was where Cassim and Ali Baba have a kind of soul face off. Ali Baba finally learns the truth about Cassim’s day to day life and his history.

We also learn the name of the enemy who is using Black Rukh, they are Althamen. There plans are much bigger than just Balbadd and they are entangled in politics with the Kou Empire.

As this story arc comes to a close and another one starts we meet some new characters. The most fascinating of these new characters is Yamraiha who is a water mage. She teaches us quite a bit about the different types and strengths of magic users. This is a bit of an info dump, but extremely interesting since we have been largely ignorant of the details behind how magic works in this world up to this point.

Overall I really really enjoyed this book. The artwork is awesome and the story has been phenomenal. Highly recommended to those who enjoy fantasy manga.

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