Arslan Senki (The Heroic Legend of Arslan)

In the medieval kingdom of Pars, young Prince Arslan confronts the hostility of his father and the disinterest of his mother, and yearns to learn more about the world. Despite being surrounded by poverty and slavery, Arslan persists in seeing the possibility of a nobler world. Everything changes when the neighboring nation of Lusitania invades Pars, and Arslan is forced to grow up in an instant.

Arslan Senki follows Prince Arslan to war, where he struggles to save his nation and family with the help of a small but devoted circle of advisers. Along the way the young prince finds secrets around every corner and faces enemies who hate him because of what he is, but also finds friends where he least expects them. The story of nations at war, Arslan Senki is also the story of one boy's quest to stay himself in the most trying of circumstances.

Edit

Background

Novelist Tanaka Yoshiki, who wrote Arslan Senki in 1986, based it loosely upon the 19th-century Persian folktale of a famous Amir Arslan.

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Arslan Senki
Alternative version:	Arslan Senki (TV)

Watanabe, Kumiko
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Amino, Tetsurou

Director

Hamatsu, Mamoru

Director

Fujiyama, Fusanobu

Sound Director

Nogami, Kazuo

Episode Director

Edit

Opening Theme

No opening themes have been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding an opening theme here.

Edit

Ending Theme

	1: "Kutsuato no hana" by Mimori Yusa (eps 1)
	2: "Tokimeki wo Believe" by Yumi Tanimura (eps 2)
	3: "Ryote Ippai" by Shoko Suzuki (eps 4-5)

Reviews

Jul 1, 2010

Wallenwhatsit

Recommended

This anime is one of the very first I've seen back in the days, and to this day is probably what got me into the genre.

Great story if your into fantasy and some sword play, I only wished the series was a little longer and more fleshed out but I loved in none the less.

The originial english voice actors at the beginning are quite good, no idea why they changed the VA's towards the end... I think it was a long time between releases.. but still, watch it in japanese and you should be fine if you hate inconsistencies there.

Shame for them to ...

Open

Gift

Apr 27, 2012

Toeroe

Recommended

The unbeaten army of Pars finds itself lured into a trap during a battle. The troops get slaughtered, the king captured and their capitol is taken later on. The crown prince, Arslan, escapes with his loyal fighter, Darün/Daryoon (I watched G_P's release "Darün", but here he is listed as "Daryoon").

From there Arslan allies a handful loyal companions around him and marches to castle Peshawar at the border to plan his strike on the capitol to retake and free his parents, the King and Queen. With a few side-stories going on, this anime never got me bored and always got me hooked for one more episode, ...

Open

Gift

Aug 3, 2013

Smigsby

Not Recommended

My friend and I started watching this show because we're both huge Legend of Galactic Heroes fans, and the novelist that created that show also created this one. Legend of Galactic Heroes is probably one of the best anime shows of all time; it's a show of amazing ambition and scope that manages to blend in personal struggles, memorable characters, and a galaxy-spanning war without ever becoming unengaging to the audience.

Unfortunately, Heroic Legend of Arslan doesn't live up to that pedigree. Well, whatever, Yoshiyuki Tomino had Garzey's Wing, I guess Yoshiki Tanaka has Arslan.

The biggest problems I had with the series were the story, characters, ... and animation. I'm probably going to reference LoGH a lot to prove my points.

STORY: The story hooked me right away with the first episode. It seemed like it had the makings of a classic story - a kingdom falls, a prince vows to get the kingdom back, he gets some allies, some plot twists happen, he raises an army, and gets back the kingdom in the end.

The problem is that the characters themselves seemed to lack emotion and seemed dispassionate about actually getting Pars back. In addition, I never really got a good handle on how the war between the prince's group and the usurpers was actually going. In Legend of Galactic Heroes, they usually took a few seconds during each battle to illustrate in some way which side was winning and their spatial locations. In Arslan, I had problems following who was where and why.

Also, Arslan continues something that I hate, hate, hate about anime series: no ending. Basically, he starts almost at square one again, invalidating all the effort he took in the previous five episodes!

CHARACTERS: The second biggest problem with Arslan are the characters. I mentioned it above, but Arslan seems mostly indifferent to the prospect of actually getting back Pars. Sure, he mentions it, but it doesn't feel like he has any sort of spark or drive. With Lohengramm in LoGH, you got the sense that he was full of (and would eventually be consumed by) his ambition.

The other characters in his group were kind of a flatline for me too: none of them except for that black armor knight seemed interested in Pars either. They seemed to be mostly along for the ride and didn't seem like they were actually friends or life-and-death companions.

The only character that seemed to have any passion was the Silver Mask villain. It was funny actually, I thought his beef with Pars was pretty legit, and I was kind of rooting for *him* to succeed. Who cares if he used black magic, at least he had some sort of drive!

ANIMATION: Arslan's animation is inconsistent from episode-to-episode. Character designs seem to change, the quality of the animation seems to change, and it's very noticeable. Not having a consistent animation style is off-putting, and it takes you out of the story.

OVERALL: I'm giving this a 4. I really wanted to like this show, but all the elements that worked in Legend of Galactic Heroes simply don't work here. Whether it was being confused by character motivation or not being terribly interested in the characters, Arslan had problems that made it a below average viewing experience.

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Anime that were adapted twice

by Xaxos92

46 Entries · 22 Restacks

Medievalist Fantasy

by Lethargic

36 Entries · 44 Restacks

Sword & Magic (80s/90s) - Vol.1

by MichaelJackson

27 Entries · 187 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

More news

Recent News

Hiromu Arakawa is Drawing a Manga Adaptation of The Heroic Legend of Arslan

Hiromu Arakawa is drawing a manga adaption of the light novel "The Heroic Legend of Arslan" by Yoshiki Tanaka. The adaption will appear in the June issue of the maga...read more

May 14, 2013 9:45 AM by Brand | Discuss (27 comments)

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: The Heroic Legend of Arslan Episode 6 Discussion thisiodfkln - Apr 29, 2011	19 replies	by PxHC »» Jun 30, 2023 6:43 PM
Poll: The Heroic Legend of Arslan Episode 5 Discussion thisiodfkln - Apr 28, 2011	9 replies	by Berry-Vodka »» Jan 29, 2021 12:47 PM
Poll: The Heroic Legend of Arslan Episode 3 Discussion thisiodfkln - Apr 23, 2011	9 replies	by Berry-Vodka »» Jan 15, 2021 3:00 AM
Poll: The Heroic Legend of Arslan Episode 2 Discussion thisiodfkln - Apr 16, 2011	10 replies	by Berry-Vodka »» Dec 25, 2020 3:54 PM
Poll: The Heroic Legend of Arslan Episode 1 Discussion thisiodfkln - Apr 14, 2011	13 replies	by Berry-Vodka »» Dec 18, 2020 1:51 PM

Recent Featured Articles

Top 10 Best Medieval Anime of All Time

It's time to get medieval in this article! If you're a fan of European style medieval anime then this is a must read. Anyone who loves knights, nobility, peasantry, and grand battles should watch these shows.

by msoyka

332,277 views

Recommendation Collection Magical

Arslan Senki

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Arslan

Daryun

Narsus

Gieve

Falangies

Silver Mask

Etoile

Elam

Andragoras III

Alfreed

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Arslan Senki

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-