But the "simple" system will be full of repetition and boilerplate, meaning the same bugs are scattered around the code base, and obscured by masses of boilerplate.

Isn't a GC also a Magic? Or anything above assembly? While I also understand the reluctance to use too much magic, in my experience, it's not the magic, it's how well the magic is tested and developed.

I used to work with Play framework, a web framework built around Akka, an async bundle of libraries. Because it wasn't too popular, only the most common issues were well documented. I thought I hated magic.

Then, I started using Spring Boot, and I loved magic. Spring has so much documentation that you can also become the magician, if you need to.