After spending his life in isolation, Aladdin and his djinn Ugo set off on a journey to see the world. Soon after, he becomes friends with Alibaba, a young merchant that has ambitions of wealth, after he destroys his supply cart.
In order to pay of the damages, Alibaba suggests the supremely powerful Aladdin helps him conquer a dungeon full of danger and wealth. While conquering the dungeon, they form an unbreakable friendship.
Magi is a shounen battler, for sure, but never feels like it is just moving from one powerful enemy to the next even more powerful enemy. Instead, you enjoy shounen characters and a rich world to explore that actually feels new. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Magi, head on down below.
For Fans of Innocent, Naive, and Cheerful Shounen Main Characters
Hunter X Hunter
Twelve-year-old Gon Freecss is determined to become a world-class Hunter, a skilled individual that performs all manner of dangerous tasks, just like his long-absent father.
However, Gon finds that the path to achieving his goals is more challenging than he could have ever imagined, but in order to overcome it, Gon recruits some powerful friends.
Both Magi and Hunter X Hunter are the types of shounen anime that start off with really naive and childishly cheerful main characters. They occasionally feel like they are aiming at a young audience right up until the action starts and the claws come out.
Magi and Hunter X Hunter do action in ways that makes the battles interesting and feel diverse. There is a variety of different powers and combat styles while the characters using them are diverse in design and likable.
While Magi does lean into more serious events later, Hunter X Hunter is infamous for how dark it gets as it goes on.
One Piece
With his dying breath, legendary Pirate King Gol D. Roger let the world know about his treasure, setting in motion the Grand Age of Pirates.
Among the many crews that set out to look for the legendary One Piece treasure is Monkey D. Luffy, a young man that has assembled a rag-tag crew to sail the Grand Line and hunt down One Piece.
Both One Piece and Magi emphasis a big, seemingly never-ending journey through a vast world. The characters visit many places and meet many people with a vague end goal. They also both follow main characters that are firm in their peaceful ideals, but aren’t unwilling to fight ever.
That said, One Piece is definitely the longer adventure. Magi, although you have to go to the manga to get it, has an ending. One Piece always has another adventure.
Tower of God
Bam spent his whole life trapped beneath a mysterious tower with his closest friend, Rachel. One day, Rachel disappears, claiming she is going to climb the tower. Bam manages to open the door to it as well and attempts to climb in order to be reunited with Rachel.
However, what awaits him is a new ordeal on each level, and he is not the only one trying to climb.
Both Magi and Tower of God follow main characters that have been raised in solitude away from other people. One day, they take their first steps into the world, full of both power and naivety. Because they are naive characters, they get into trouble at first, but it quickly leads them to more cunning allies.
While Tower of God has a certain shounen action anime plot about climbing a tower and overcoming challenges on each floor, it is a bit more of a serious story. People are betrayed, characters are more crafty, and the sometimes your allies are not necessarily friends.
Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun
Iruma Suzuki has had a tough life. His parents are irresponsible, so he must work to earn money to take care of himself. One day, he discovers that his parents have sold him to the demon, Sullivan.
Afraid at first, he relaxes when he discovers that the demon merely wants a grandchild. As Sullivan is the headmaster of the demon school Babyls, he enrolls Iruma.
However, Iruma soon discovers that as the grandchild of Sullivan, he is now expected to take the throne of Demon King.
Iruma and Aladdin are the same sort of cheerful main characters that often just go with the lighter-hearted flow of the plot. However, when it does come time to fight, both Magi and Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun can really bring an interesting intensity.
While Magi is inspired by Middle Eastern literature, Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun is more of a supernatural setting. Yet both series take those more serious settings and take a more light-hearted tone outside the very serious moments.
For Fans of Magic-Based Battles
Black Clover
After being abandoned at the same church, Asta and Yuno grew up together. Together they also grew up aiming for the same title – The Wizard King, the strongest wizard in the kingdom.
However, it soon became apparent that while Yuno has skill with magic, Asta couldn’t use it at all. This all changed when they were attacked and Asta was given a strange grimoire that granted him the ability to nullify magic.
While both series have some more martial-focused characters, both Black Clover and Magi are shounen action anime where the primary “power” in battles is elemental magic.
Both series start off with passionate main characters who don’t initially understand their own power. As they unlock their power, the learn more of their origins.
Record of Grancrest War
After a tragedy that occurred at a wedding between the two nations of Fantasia Union and Factory Alliance, the continent of Atlatan is embroiled in war once again.
In this war, an Alliance mage is rescued by a young warrior named Theo that carries a mysterious crest. His strange crest is able to banish the corrupting chaos which is consuming the countryside, and she finds herself pulled into his epic quest.
Both Magi and Record of Grancrest War follow a small group of characters that are often entangled in the politics and battles of the areas they visit. They both follow characters that have a mysterious power that will serve a greater purpose, but they don’t understand it fully.
However, Record of Grancrest War has a male and female main character duo, so it has a bigger element of romance to it as it explores its political plot.
Fairy Tail
While looking to enhance her magic, celestial mage Lucy meets an energetic fire mage named Natsu. After finding out he is a member of the famous wizard guild Fairy Tail that she has long admired, the pair travel home so Lucy can join.
Together with her new guildmates, Lucy and Natsu embark on adventures to help people, make money, and explore their vast magical world.
Both Magi and Fairy Tail are both primarily set in worlds where magic is the major element of conflicts. However, whereas Magi focuses on a group of characters getting pulled into political maneuvering and wars, Fairy Tail is about a guild of mages. As such, Fairy Tail has arcs that are more unrelated to the overall plot compared to Magi and its more driven plot.
Those differences aside, both series feature colorful characters and never forgets to take some breaks for a little levity.
For Fans of World Traveling Adventures
Orient
After their descent 150 years ago, the demons demanded reverence from humanity as gods. Standing up against these new overlords were the Bushi, who still battle to this day, but the demons preach that they are enemies.
Hinamoto, freed from Bushi rule many years ago, lives peacefully and reveres demons. The residents mine rocks for the demons to consume, but for Musashi, a miner in training, he craves freedom.
Together with his childhood friend Koujiro, a boy outcasted for being a descendants of a Bushi, they start a fight against the demons for freedom, only to be saved by an actual Bushi band.
Seeing them fight and destroy the demons, the pair decide they will form a Bushi band of their own!
Orient and Magi are made by the same author, and it really shows.
Both Orient and Magi follow main characters who start off knowing close to nothing about the world around them. They befriend a blonde, slightly more serious boy and eventually recruit a girl to make a color-coded trio as they travel the world.
While Magi is based more in magic, Orient’s battles are elemental, but revolve more around blades. However, both series keep a rather cheerful tone outside of the action so it never becomes too heavy.
Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood
Talented in the art of alchemy, brothers Edward and Al Elric tried to bring their mother back from the dead, something that goes against all alchemic principles.
When things go horribly wrong, Edward loses his left leg and Al loses his whole body, only saved after his brother sacrifices an arm to bind his soul to a suit of armor.
Three years later, the brothers set out on a journey to find a mythical relic that may be able to return Al to his body once again. However, throughout their travels, the brothers find themselves pulled into a series of events that threaten everyone.
While Alibaba and Aladdin aren’t actual brothers, they build the same brotherly bond that the main characters in Full metal Alchemist have. However, what these series most have in common is they tell a similar sort of adventure.
Both series have a vague overall goal that forces the characters to explore their world. They go to a place, and often get caught up in a problem. As they travel, they get pulled into the larger problems of the world.
Both series also have a rather specific power system. The characters can only use specific elements or have specific abilities rather than just having the capability to learn everything.
Shaman King
There is a battle about to begin in Tokyo – the Shaman Fight.
This tournament is held every 500 years where shamans, those who command spirits, test their skills in combat. The winner becomes the Shaman King and gains command of the Great Spirit.
Shaman King follows the story of the carefree Yoh Asakura and his spirit Amidamaru.
Like Magi has Djinn, Shaman King is built all around characters gaining their power through spiritual familiars. While Magi isn’t really so focused on the King Candidates for much of the plot, Shaman King built the entire plot around Shamans fighting it out to choose their next king.
In essence, both Magi and Shaman King are shounen action series where the characters travel and either make a friend or fight an enemy with the power of their familiar or granted by them.
Seven Deadly Sins
In this feudal world, the realm is protected from those who seek to spread their evil by the Holy Knights. However, in the kingdom of Liones, a small group of Holy Knights known as the Seven Deadly Sins sought to overthrown the king only to be driven off.
Now, ten years later, the world hunts for the Seven Deadly Sins, but the Holy Knights have now turned their blades on the king and taken control of the kingdom.
Now it is up to his third daughter, Elizabeth, to find the Sins and help them take back control.
Magi and Seven Deadly Sins both start off feeling pretty light-hearted, but they can both also really bring solid action and dark moments too. On top of that, both series also follow characters that essentially end up traveling to a number of destinations on their frequently evolving adventure. You get to see a lot of characters, all with interesting powers, and explore a lot of areas.
Both series also have an emphasis on weapons or items providing power to characters, but also have more rare occurrences of people being able to use magic.
For Fans of Inter-Nation Kingdom Politics
The Twelve Kingdoms
In what started as a normal day as a normal high school student, Nakajima Youko has her reality shattered when a strange man named Keiki appears before her, swearing his allegiance.
When Youko and her friends are attacked by demons, they are pulled into a different world, one she has never known.
Separated from Keiki, Youko and her friends must do whatever they have to in order to survive this strange, harsh place.
What Magi and The Twelve Kingdoms most have in common is they both have an element in the story where certain people choose kings to support. The Twelve Kingdoms does that in a more expected way, however.
Both of these series take place in a politically and culturally diverse world. Furthermore, they also actually explore that world instead of just talking about it. You see the different cultures, you watch the characters actually experience different ruling styles on their journey.
However, Magi is a shounen battler where their travels are often just leading to the next cool battle. The Twelve Kingdoms has action, but it is more focused on its plot.
Kingdom
In the Ancient Chinese Kingdom of Qin, war orphan and slave Xin trains with his fellow slave and best friend Piao to achieve their dream of one day being Great Generals of the Heavens.
However, after catching the eye of an imperial minister, Piao is taken to work at the royal palace until a coup sends him back to Xin. Piao arrives half dead in order to tell Xin to complete his mission for him.
This leads Xin to the young king, Zheng Ying, who Piao was posing as a double for. This encounter thrusts Xin in a brutal age of warfare and towards his destiny.
Magi explores the various plots and politics going on in a fictional Middle Eastern-inspired world while Kingdom explores the various plots and politics going on in a fictional Warring States era of Chinese history. Both series have characters that are royalty, but while Magi sort of shares the main character slot, Kingdom focuses on a general to the emperor as he climbs up the ladder through battles.
Unlike Magi which has a heavy focus on magic,. Kingdom is more about martial skills. It does make the battles a little more shounen-esque at first, but later seasons of Kingdom return to more larger scale tactical battles.
The Heroic Legend of Arslan
The young prince Arslan is ready to prove himself on the battlefield, but on his first battle, his father is betrayed and his kingdom is conquered.
With his army in shambles, Arslan is forced to go on the run in search of allies to bring him back home.
The most obvious similarity between Magi and The Heroic Legend of Arslan is their shared Middle Eastern inspirations. However, while Magi really flaunts that, The Heroic Legend of Arslan is more subtle with its Middle Eastern elements.
Both Magi and The Heroic Legend of Arslan are also about helping young princes reclaim their kingdom, but also trying to make peace in a world constantly on the cusp of serious conflict.
Both series follow princes that lost their kingdom and are making making moves to get it back. They also both happen to be adverse to taking it back with violence because of the potential suffering that comes from wars.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Magi? Let fans know in the comments section below.
