Arslan Senki (TV)

**this review will contain minor spoilers**

Yoshiki Tanaka, you may not recognize his name but you've undoubtedly heard of his highly acclaimed behemoth Legend of the Galactic Heroes; a seminal war epic that influenced many series in its wake, with a legacy that still ripples through the world of anime and manga to this very day. When I heard that another one of his creations were going to get the anime treatment with Arslan Senki, my interest was immediately piqued. I was expecting another grand series with rich themes of political warfare, larger-than-life moments littered throughout and a far-reaching cast of developed personalities to carry it ... through. I was expecting a show that handled its content with a sense of gravitas, leaving no room for shortcuts. I was expecting something with a discipline, where proper writing and coordinated planning wasn't just an afterthought. And as if to solidify the deal even further, I found out that the character design work and manga adaptation of Tanaka's work was done by Arakawa Hiromu of Fullmetal Alchemist fame. The person behind one of the greatest war epics of all time partnered up with the person responsible for what's arguably one of, if not, the best shounen of all time. With such promising creators taking the helm, what could possibly go wrong?... Well, as it turns out, everything can.

Arslan Senki was an anime that attempted all of the qualities expected from a Yoshiki Tanaka work but done so with none of the nuance or tact. It's juvenile in presentation but takes things seriously, it relies on implausible scenarios but pretends to be strategic, and it reeks of abused literacy devices in substitution for proper storytelling. Arslan Senki was simply a war epic that wanted to wear big boy pants while still not knowing how to tie its own shoelaces.

The primary focus of Arslan Senki was a common tale that has been told many times over. A timid prince turned gallant leader slowly building his support and will to reclaim the throne that was stripped away from him. For all intents and purposes, the story itself was a coming-of-age just seen through the eyes of a more privileged individual. This isn't exactly a bad thing as long as the writing is solid. After being betrayed by factions within his own kingdom, Arslan, the crown prince of Pars, found himself fending for his life with everything around him being thrown into turmoil. This 1st season follows Arslan as he finds himself befriending new allies and growing out of his naivety with each new obstacle he's forced to encounter.

The story itself was fine but the way it was handled was anything but. Writers often use characters within a story as plot devices to either move or manipulate the narrative to their liking. In order to make such an underhanded, yet necessary ploy less noticeable, the writers would evenly distribute the abilities or relevance among several characters, as a means to avoid turning any given individual into a Mary Sue/Gary Stu. So you can have a character who excels at X but not Y and vice versa. And while the set abilities and roles of the characters involved in Arslan were indeed separated, they only manage to avoid being Mary Sues/Gary Stus to only become HAX beyond probability instead.
Narsus was a HAX tactician to the point where no matter how unfathomable or detrimental the circumstances, he would asspull a strategy just in the nick of time to save everyone's asses. Daryun was a HAX warrior that made mincemeat out of hundreds of men with no visible signs of fatigue or any human tenancies to speak of. Gieve was simply HAX at life, as he seemingly found a way out of death flag territory time after time again with little in the way of proper explanation as to why. Falangies, for no God-given reason, turned into Trinity and walked through a barrage of arrows like she was auditioning for The Matrix. And finally, there was Arslan himself, a character that's so much of a goody-two-shoes, that if he was tossed into the Game of Thrones universe, he would have been dead in 5 minutes tops. There's being nice and then there's being unrealistically lenient, Arslan was the latter. He might as well be a Care Bear.

The implausibility of the characters wasn't the only problem that made itself apparent, the scenarios were equally as mentally challenging in that regard. To just name one example, we had a horse jump 20 feet into the air and landed a perfect mount onto a rampaging elephant to rescue someone at mid-gallop. And remember, this occurrence took place in a world that tried to be as realistic as possible. Something that felt inherently contradictory when the audience is shown actions akin to a Looney Tunes cartoon.

The show required a high suspension of disbelief to buy into it. It placed the characters up against impossible odds only for the outcome to always be the same. There's no struggle to become better. There's no uphill battle to the top. There's no fight that posed a challenge, despite the handicap they're constantly placed in. All that we ended up with was a HAX team of misfits that plowed through obstacles like they're the Justice League. When the outcome always manage to be the same, why bother to get invested? Trying my best to avoid comparisons here but this is why Legend of the Galactic Heroes is constantly held in such high regards. The outcome wasn't determined, both sides took causalities, suffered losses and had no jarring plot armor to speak of. It was relentless, it had tension, and it wasn't a one-sided victory. Arslan Senki never demonstrated any of these attributes and just ended up being too idealistic for its own good.

Another left-field issue that reared its ugly head was the random inclusion of magic midway through the series, which was up to that point, a "realistic" depiction of war. The show spent most of its duration trying to build a war drama where everything was grounded in reality but out of nowhere tossed in a new genre that was previously nonexistent. It single-handedly sabotaged its own foundation. This isn't like other medieval titles similar to Berserk, where there were foretelling signs of supernatural occurrences scattered throughout its runtime. No, Arslan never gave any indication whatsoever that magic would have worked its way into the narrative. The supernatural elements of Arslan just hits you like a Mack truck and if unprepared, can break any semblance of immersion that was established beforehand (that is, if you even had any immersion, to begin with).

The art and animation for the show were appalling, not only by modern standards but in general. There are titles in the mid-80s that show better fluidity and attention to detail than this. It doesn't even rise to mediocre status. Not even the inclusion of Arakawa Hiromu's character designs could save the numerous times the animators had inconsistent models. This was derp central folks! Picasso face pandemonium! Every time a character was presented at a different angle, the act of looking disturbingly off-putting was guaranteed. This was made even worse by the deplorable usage of CGI. It was breathtakingly bad, seeing hoards of CGI fodder soldiers, animals and other objects just plastered across landscapes with no effort to conceal them. I'm talking PS1 level graphics here. The kind of mismanagement expected from the early 2000s when CGI integration was still being played around with. It was truly a messy patch job, apathetically slapped together in a way that's too obvious to give it a pass.

If this anime had any saving graces, it would be in the music department. The show had grand sound to it that really helped in placing you in the middle of the action (even if the "action" was hoards of CGI dummies). The Iron Age vibe was captured quite well. The opening and ending themes were all pretty decent as well, and while not as important, even the cut-scene tapestries was a nice tough. None much of an auditory standout in its respective season but still serviceable nonetheless. And really, that's the bottom line with Arslan Senki as a whole, it's just serviceable but never becomes anything more.

All in all, Arslan Senki proved to be a challenging watch. It wasn't eye-candy, it wasn't smart and it was far from enthralling. What little it attempted to accomplish has been done better elsewhere to a much more successful degree — hell, almost everyone staffed to create this thing has a better version of this lying around. It barely managed to scrape by and when you take into consideration the creative minds behind the project, it's quite disheartening.

Enjoyment: 6/10

The show had a somewhat decent start but after a few episodes, what seemed like a sturdy foundation turned out to be a house of cards. I wanted to like this show but it kept on giving me reasons not to.

Overall: 4.5/10

Arslan Senki was an overlooked title that has little to no hype behind it... and you know what? I hope it stays that way. Unrealistic to anyone paying attention to it and insulting to the eyes of anyone who watches it, Senki was an anime that had the backing of proven creators to become something great but spewed out a mishmash of bad ideas instead. It may have had good intentions but good intentions aren't enough to make a good anime.

(This has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!)

This introduction is difficult for me because I have no experience with war. Sure, I have historical knowledge, but I have never taken part in violence of that magnitude. I do not seek out confrontations, instead I seek out calm. I prefer friends over fights as it were. That is just who I am.

I therefore must rely on the words of others here, rather than my own. There are a lot of famous phrases about war. “War. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” A famous lyric sung by Edwin Starr. “War. War never changes.” An ... iconic statement of the Fallout video game franchise. “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” Irony of monumental proportions, written by George Orwell and taken from his classic 1984. Each medium – from music to games to literature – thinks the same simple thought: war is always bad.

At least, that is how the vast majority of people think nowadays. Go back far enough, and you will discover that war was often the norm. Arslan Senki sits in this latter camp, portraying war, succession, and politics in anime form. Whether or not the show delivers a solid performance, though, is still up for debate.

STORY

Arslan Senki sets itself up as a prolonged adventure. A lot goes on, and a lot has yet to happen. Still, the anime covers a lot of ground in its first season, from big themes to involved battles. Again, there is a lot of plot left to get through, and while the show could be in a better spot the anime is not outright horrible either.

The narrative clearly states the end numerous times. “And thus, the boy would become king” and the title of the show The Heroic Legend of Arslan – where legend implies an immense level of fame achieved through exploits and success – spell out a complete win for Arslan. Thus, what matters is not where the plot ends up but how the plot gets there. What makes up the majority of the plot is the demonstration of war. Swinging swords, strategizing against the enemy, and the before-and-after effects. That last point is important because the downtime is where the show puts the most attention on its larger ideas.

These themes are heavy. War. Slavery. Religion. Arslan Senki targets ideas that are wide in scope and are therefore a bigger challenge to explore properly. The first two more or less see adequate development, especially war and its misgivings. War brings more than just death; war brings betrayal, camaraderie, fear, suffering, and understanding, all of which the narrative shows time and again. From the sacking of Ecbatana to the victory at Saint Emmanuel, the byproducts of war are interlaced throughout the experience. Slavery likewise plays a prominent role. Slaves’ mistreatment, Ecbatana’s fall, Narsus’s background, Arslan’s relationship to his people, and Kashan’s persuasion are each examples of the ways in which slavery is explored, remaining relevant for much of the season. For both of these themes on war and slavery, the anime also manages to include the grotesque sides. Displaying the severed head of a traitor and the killing of captives proved that the show was not afraid to venture into the more unsightly aspects of these themes.

Sadly, the anime missteps with its religious theme. In the beginning, Yaldabaoth and the idea of conflicting ideologies has a major role in how the plot proceeds. The overzealous nation of Lusitania demolishes the powerhouse that is Pars because of their devotion to their god. Following the opening arc, however, religion is pushed to the wayside. The concept of religion is brought up later on with Hermes who denounces religion as nothing more than a farce, but a huge chunk of the plot ignores religion and its influence on not just the events but also its other themes on war and slavery. Of course, Falangies and Estelle are characters whose very traits revolve around religion, but they are not prominent enough within the narrative to add weight to this important idea.

Arslan Senki has an even bigger glaring problem in its narrative that is best described as a plot contrivance. Specifically, the enemy’s dark sorcery is the home for too much convenience. Besides Falanngies’s apparent ability to communicate with the Djinn, the anime almost entirely focuses on the believable aspects of war. Horses, castles, and spears make up the vast majority of the content. The tiny sliver that does not encompass the realm of the real is the evil magic that Hermes has at his disposal. This ally of his can materialize from the portals he makes, he can traverse quickly over land, and he can even bring others through the darkness.

Simply incorporating this into the show automatically introduces potential issues. One, the bad guys can be saved whenever the show chooses – this happens near the end of this season. Two, the bad guys can appear whenever the show chooses – this happens during the splitting-up in the mountains as the troupe heads for Peshawar. Third and lastly, the bad guys can kill Arslan whenever the show chooses – this never happens but that is exactly the issue. For instance, in the final fight between Arslan and Estelle, the darkness not appearing to eliminate the young prince, despite him being alone and despite him fighting for his life, makes little logical sense given the anime’s overall context. Granted, this dark sorcery is used quite sparingly. But this is still an unfair crutch that removes natural progression of the plot and instead favors a tool that artificially pushes the narrative where Arslan Senki needs it to go.

Another minor grievance is the anime’s unwillingness to remove key players. It is fair to assume that Arslan, Daryun, and Narsus would continually live following each encounter. Arslan is the main protagonist and both Daryun and Narsus are vital to the crown prince’s success. However Falangies, Gieve, Elam, Jaswant, and Alfreed, characters who are by and large not that important to earning Arslan’s glory, are barely affected. The same can also be said of the enemy. Other than Kharlan (who died early) and Hermes (who is the main antagonist), Bodin, Xandes, and Guiscard are figures that still have a presence despite not doing much or meaning much to the narrative. Given Arslan Senki’s penchant for war, not having any of these heroes or villains eliminated reduces the believability the show strives for. Again, to be fair, this is the first season of the series, meaning it is entirely possible that some of the aforementioned characters will perish in due time. But when the only truly harrowing moment is when Elam is wounded protecting Arslan, and even then the wound is not as life threatening as it could be, the narrative once again comes off as unfairly guided rather than naturally progressing.

Similarly and seemingly unnatural is, at first glance, the Sindhura arc. However that entire ordeal centers on three concepts. One, bolstering the credentials of Arslan. Joining ranks with another country and staying loyal to this country demonstrated his abilities as a trustworthy leader, giving him the necessary clout to establish his decrees. Two, recruiting Jaswant into his party. While much happens during this arc, one of the most important aspects is having Jaswant join Arslan’s gang as further proof of his trustworthiness and his ability to unite disparate people. Three, the conflict is representative of Arslan’s battle against Hermes. The clashing brothers, the power struggle, and the throne succession questions, combined with the capabilities of those rulers and their relationship to their father, mirror Arslan’s own difficulties abroad. This in turn gives Arslan the chance to understand that birthright is not all that is needed to become king.

Yet this arc introduces an inherent problem: displacement of focus. While these qualities of this portion of the narrative are intentional and purposeful, this long stretch of episodes takes away from the main point of contention, namely Pars, Ecbatana, and Hermes. For a time, Arslan Senki becomes less about Arslan and his fight to win the throne and more about this aside that, ultimately, means very little to the grander goals at play.

The anime has other positives. The season ends on a total victory for Arslan, achieving a full-circle framing for the narrative that brings about a sense of closure to his initial defeat. The anime also has other negatives. The anime fails to give competent world-building. Other rival countries, terrain traversed, and societal life are barely investigated. Altogether, the anime does not entirely miss the mark with its narrative but there is definitely room for improvement.

ANIMATION

Where Arslan Senki falters hardest is in its art and its animation.

To clarify, the anime’s character designs are partially exempt from most of the issues. Most notable are their “crispness”, the defined outlines and vibrant colors of the characters heavily contrasting with the backgrounds they find themselves on. The paleness of Falangies and Arslan, the intricate outfits of Alfreed and Daryun, and the striking eyes of Jaswant and Gieve make them almost pop out of the screen, their looks alone defining them. However their designs are more than just visually pleasing, holding symbolic purpose as well. Arslan’s white hair symbolizes his innocence as a child and purity as a leader. Furthermore, his androgynous depiction is a clever way to highlight that Arslan is a ruler representing everyone. Daryun dons black armor, black representing strength and power, both of which the knight carries in spades. And Narsus’s comparatively lackluster appearance actually reflects his deceptive nature; he does not stick out like everyone else, making perfect sense for the genius strategist. This type of analysis can be applied to each character, proving the strength of each of their designs.

The same kind of strength cannot be attributed to the rest of the anime’s artistic and animation direction. There are three big problems with the art. First, the main setting. The mountains, the plains, and the forests inherently provide dull stages for the actors to use. Indeed, watching a bunch of rocks or seeing the group traverse through dense foliage is not the most impressive sight. Arslan Senki attempts to switch things up with the occasional fortress or encampment, but the majority of the show finds itself on the boring side of life. This problem stems from the second: the frequent battles. Due to the war theme, these mountain passes, open fields, and trees are needed because that is where war normally takes place. So while the places are not too enticing, their inclusion is forced. The battles, in turn, introduce the third problem: the CG. By far the worst aspect of the art is the CG. Its blocky textures are a negative, but it is the reused sequences – soldiers with the exact same faces standing right next to one another or the same set of animations used, just with reskinned people – that truly hamper the anime. The reasoning for using as much CG as the show did was to combat (coincidentally) the battles. Their size and frequency ultimately meant that resources were spread thin, this lacking CG art and animation having to be relied on more so than wanted.

Consequently, actual animation follows suit. Much of Arslan Senki has animation of a level that is not what one would consider favorable. It is not just the calmer times, where the characters talk with one another without too much hair or body movement. The battles likewise see a downgrade. The camera often pans high to give a lot without showing too much action. The camera zooms in a lot, too, swords, bows, and halberds used but without finesse or choreography. Combined, the anime never really shows extensive fighting, resulting in less overall animation. The actual animation peaks during the first fight between Daryun and Hermes. The rest of the show, however, tends to keep most objects and people from moving too much. Again, the anime is not devoid of animation, but given the focus on war and battles – alongside the questionable CG work – the amount provided is sorely less than appropriate.

CHARACTERS

Arslan Senki is a classic case in anime when it comes to a singular main character and the many side characters that support him or her. In question form, how much is “enough” for the supporting cast?

Realistically, nobody else matters besides Arslan. This is a story about the young boy, so do the side characters really matter that much? Daryun, Narsus, Falangies, Elam, Alfreed, Gieve, and Jaswant constantly surround the young prince, but this is not their story. As such, many of these characters have very little known about them. Falangies in particular gets the brunt end of the stick; she has zero noteworthy scenes, and outside of her temple disciple background and her ability to hold her liquor, nothing else worthwhile is known about her. She effectively sits on the sidelines making a comment or two during this initial tale. So it begs the same question as before, does having so little about specific characters negatively impact the show’s execution when all that matters is Arslan?

A difficult question to answer because that line in the sand is not definitive. For example, Jaswant is arguably the best of the side characters: the audience learns of his background, the audience witnesses his intriguing and parallel relationship to Arslan, and the audience eventually understands the Sindhuran’s own convictions. Daryun, on the other hand, is the “Black Knight” of unparalleled strength with an equal amount of devotion to Arslan. But the viewer does not learn anything else about him. His background is never shown, he seemingly has no flaws, and his relationships except to those of Arslan and Narsus are rarely expounded on. All of these problems, yet he was next to Arslan since the very beginning of their journey. Most of the supporting cast are somewhere between Jaswant and Daryun in terms of strength. Alfreed gets multiple venues of motivation, Gieve more or less tags along, and so on. Again, expecting extensive development for the entire cast is a fruitless endeavor. But to focus on each of them so minimally as Arslan Senki did?

Of course, similar to Jaswant, there are other exceptions. Hermes stands as a wonderful antagonist, even if the narrative unfairly uses him as it sees fit. As Arslan’s foil in more ways than one, Hermes is a man whose rage knows no bounds. Driven by revenge, the former king’s son does not want the throne so much as he wants his cousin’s and his uncle’s head, doing whatever it takes – such as murdering his own people or betraying those he has joined – to achieve his ends. He is scarily powerful, maniacal, and technically in the right. His family was killed and his home was taken for yet-to-be-fully-revealed reasons, so his actions are not entirely unfounded. Still, this burning desire to kill those who have wronged him drives everyone away. This contrasts heavily with Arslan, whose behavior naturally draws people to him. However this fiery rage also symbolizes Hermes’s eventual downfall. His one weakness are flames, caused by the trauma of his family’s original slaughter. This fact alone makes Hermes a well-rounded character simply because he is not infallible just as Arslan is. For now, it remains to be seen if Hermes can be saved or if his inner fire will consume him, but as it stands Lord Silver Mask is not just a worthy opponent for the crown prince but also one of the strongest characters of the cast.

Estelle (disguising herself as Etoile) is also worth mentioning. Initially the audience is introduced to a boy whose belief in his ideals pushes him where he needs to go. When Arslan and the boy grow up, the two meet again, only to part ways still butting heads. For a time, it appears that the boy no longer has a spot among the cast until the show reveals that he is not a he but a she. Estelle infiltrates Arslan’s keep to inspire him unintentionally (once again), she inadvertently causes the fall of the Keep of Saint Emmanuel, and she, oh so slightly, begins to expand her narrow-mindedness. Arslan has a unique relationship with the girl; while mutual feelings of romance have yet to bloom (a guess, since a king needs a queen and the narrative is screaming for it to happen), the pair hold different approaches to the same ideas of life. Similar to Hermes and the rest of the cast, she has yet to fully develop as a character. But as is the norm with the first season’s characters, she is poised for greatness later on down the road.

To be fair towards everyone that is not Hermes or Estelle, some leniency is warranted. This is only the first season of the anime. A second season is on the horizon and will, presumably, be a two-cour show as well. Meaning these separate problems – Falangies forgotten about or Daryun hardly experiencing hardship – will most likely be addressed later on. So for now, it is not that absurd to assume that the characters will get the attention they deserve in due time. That is, the first season essentially gave us the characters and their respective characterizations (however slight they might be) in preparation for their eventual growth in the coming season.

Assuming much of the side cast can be overlooked, at the minimum it is then fair to expect Arslan to carry more weight than considered normal. Therefore, and keeping in mind the split seasons, the final question, how does Arslan fair as a character at this point? He started as a wimp. Naïve of the world beyond the capital’s walls, his first taste of war is utter defeat. He sees his friends die, his subjects perish, and his father taken in the span of an evening. Obviously unable to do much of anything by his lonesome, he enlists Daryun who directs him to Narsus, and there the true adventure begins. Along the way, Arslan gains more followers, usually of different creeds. A former slave, a bard, and a nomad are but a sampling of the people that pledge themselves to Arslan.

Their variety is precisely what gives Arslan his edge. He is not incredibly strong like Daryun. He cannot wield a bow like Falangies. He cannot cook meals like Elam. But what Arslan can do is lead. A leader is not someone who can annihilate his foes or has immeasurable riches. A leader is someone who gains the utmost trust of those he leads. Arslan does this through his kind heart, his empathetic nature, and his reliance on others. That last part is important because that is exactly what Daryun, Narsus, and the rest do. They might not change but they support, and in turn morph, Arslan into the kind of king he will need to become. Arslan is far from that conclusion, but in the short span of time he has fought to earn his rightful spot on the throne he, like Hermes and Estelle before him, is more than ready for what lies ahead.

In the end, those previous questions will always remain heated points of contention. But for Arslan Senki, Hermes, Estelle, and Arslan do more than enough (this season) to overlook the lack of support for the supporting characters.

SOUND

The first opening theme mixes rock and acoustics, providing a sound that simultaneously does and does not fit the atmosphere of the anime. The combination is weird but the strangeness gives the piece some much needed “oomph”. The fast lyrics, alongside the adrenaline-filling instruments and back-and-forth vocals, also give the piece a certain allure that works to get the audience in the mindset needed for the show. The second OP takes a similar approach, but less determined and more emotional in its presentation. Unfortunately, only the repetition in the middle and end is memorable, the rest of the piece a cacophony of sound and lyrics as opposed to a coherent piece of music.

It is not until the first ending theme is heard that the true formidability of the music is heard. The incredible vocalist, the mood-setting instruments, and the beat of the track propel the piece away from “just another ED” to “an ED worth remembering”. Even the simple “ah” as the song concludes demonstrates the power contained within. The only problem with the first ED is that it gave way to the second which is, understandably, a step down. True to Kalafina form, the track is both mysterious and grand in scope, a nice fit for the direction of the anime. The women both share and trade the spotlight, turning the piece into a swirling harmony of singing that is soothing on the ears (also true of most Kalafina pieces). While not as strong as its previous ED, the second one does what it can to fill the first’s shoes and at the minimum finds a decent spot among the legendary tale of Arslan.

The remainder of the soundtrack is often of orchestral origins. Resounding drums, deep violins, and sharp trumpets are heard, perfect for that feeling of war. Given the Western and European setting, many of the pieces also incorporate vibes of a similar nature. Stringy guitars and simple flutes place the audience in the correct location and time period without coming off as overbearing. Other tracks are mysterious, violins and harps cloaking the viewer in a veil of the unknown, such as when Hermes visits Andragoras. Other tracks are lighter, such as when Arslan has his new troops trained, soft pipes uplifting the mood. And although the OST does not contain any noteworthy pieces, they do their job nicely enough throughout the season.

Finally, voice acting in Arslan Senki sees about average performances overall. Wataru Hatano as Jaswant uses a surprisingly deep voice that works quite well. Yuusuke Kobayashi as Arslan is relatively new to the field, his childish voice a bit too kiddy for the king-to-be. And Shirou Saitou as Bodin is supposed to sound furious but instead sounds like he needs to clear his throat.

ENJOYMENT

Part of the reason why I was not liking this one as much as I probably should have is the characters. Falangies is beautiful but so little was given about her she was not that enticing. Gieve teasing Falangies was amusing, but not that funny because that is all his person became. Narsus is intelligent but he is a rather dull person to see on-screen. Arslan likewise fails to leave a lasting impression. He is nice and gentle, but he does not really do anything throughout the season other than yell out names and continually learn from those around him. “Presence” is the right word; nobody in the cast had a presence that affected me. No one is cute or funny or cool. They are all just…there. And to be fair, that kind of realness not only makes sense for the anime but also means a lot to other people. However I would have liked to have seen a teeny tiny bit more eccentricity, considering how flavorful everyone seemed. Hermes might count, but listening to him throw a hissy fit each time he made an appearance got old quickly.

There was one shining ray of hope that pierced my heart, though, and that was when Estelle revealed her true identity. Seeing her slightly smaller height-wise compared to Arslan, her boyish attitude compared to Arslan’s girlish one, and the encounters they had in the past, immediately caught my attention, setting my romance-gears in motion. I always wondered if Arslan would find a lover, let alone who it might be. Falangies? She is an adult and he is a child. Alfreed? She has fallen for Narsus (Elam has a shot I believe). Tahamine? The time period makes such incestuous relationships not too farfetched but that would be out of left-field. Therefore Estelle is the one for Arslan. All I wanted from the moment they talked in the castle and in the prison cell was for the anime to continue to explore their complex relationship. Of course I knew (and know) that the anime was not (and is not) going to head full-force in that direction – this is an anime about war and Arslan’s journey to become king, not some romantic-comedy. But the romantic in me yearns for more. As such, I remain hopeful for the upcoming continuation.

Regardless of the characters and the potential romance, the other entertainment factor of Arslan is the fights. There is approximately a battle every other episode, be it a duel or a large-scale conflict. The show does its best to diversify each one: one skirmish uses fog to mask a trap, another still lures a battalion onto a thin sheet of ice to send them to a watery grave, and another involves stampeding elephants. Despite the show constantly changing tactics, I never once found myself emotionally invested in the anime. Perhaps it was because I “knew” that the show never had the guts to kill off any of the main cast, but I was never cheering for Daryun nor was I clapping as Narsus’s plan worked flawlessly per usual. The fights were not boring per se, but as I was with the characters I was not invested in whatever the show happened to dish out.

Arslan Senki is the start of a journey, a start that got off on the semi-right foot. The characters are primed and ready to go and the music at times is easy on the ears. But the poor art and animation direction, combined with the less-than-stellar narrative, bring everything down further than the show would like. Hopefully the next iteration does not follow war’s path and instead changes for the better.

SUMMARY

Story: Fine, heavy themes of war and slavery, theme on religion forgotten, unwarranted plot contrivances, intriguing parallel narrative in the Sindhuran arc, and mixed structural decisions

Animation: Bad, very nice character designs, poor artistic direction, and below average actual animation

Characters: Good, while many of the supporting characters have yet to actually do much of anything they – alongside Hermes, Estelle, and Arslan – have promising starts

Sound: Fine, good first OP, bad second OP, fantastic first ED, good second ED, okay OST, okay VA performances

Enjoyment: Fine, an uninteresting cast, uninvesting battles, and a dash of potential romance provide a competently entertaining beginning to this tale

Final Score: 5/10

So I'm back to anime and I decided to start by reviewing Arslan Senki. An anime that I was really hyped for basically because of the name ''Arakawa Hiromu''. For the few people that might don't know she is the creator of one of the most successful manga of all time called ''Fullmetal Alchemist''. But she doesn't stop there as sh is also the creator of the really interesting school life ''silver spoon'' which is a title that makes you want to drop everything and attend an agricultural school. So generally speaking Arakawa has a really respected name in animanga community and seeing her new ... title called ''Arslan Senki'' getting an anime adaptation I believe lots of us were more than excited to see the results which were... utterly disappointing. And here are the reasons.

''Arslan Senki'' started of with a humble first episode and as it was going on everything showed that it was going to be the hidden gem of the spring season (that wasn't so hard though the spring season was horrible). And indeed the first three episodes were more than enough for building the hype. The fights were really good and the story was developing slowly but with a steady and interesting pace and it also set some good questions about religion and war. And few episodes before reaching the middle this series looked like a realistic anime that could be a masterpiece. But only until the middle. Because after that Arslan Senki became entirely ridiculous. Suddenly we had supernatural entities and people who could jump from their horses to the backs of elephants (!). And ok I may exaggerating a little bit too much so let's just say that Arslan is not a realistic anime. That still doesn't excuse the stupid characters that fell to the childish war techniques that the supposed master tactician called Narsus was setting. Neither the fact that after a while we were seeing exactly the same thing!!! Arslan and his gang arrive to a place with peaceful purposes but the king of this country is evil and tries to set a trap to Arslan's army without of course any luck.

Artistically also the anime had a lot of problems. The animation was horrible. Even initially you could say that it was mediocre but at least not so dreadful as it was in the latter episodes. The poor CGI graphics made thing even worse. The soundtracks were good there were some memorable and interesting works. The openings were performed by Uverworld and NICO touches the walls (personal favorite Japanese band) and while good if you have heard other songs from those two bands you will admit that were not their bests. The voice acting didn't have any exceptional performances because the characters didn't have anything interest to make anyone stand out.

Which brings me finally to the characters. Arslan was plain boring as the protagonist. I really hoped for an extremely good development but in the end this development didn't come. Daryun was too perfect for me and Narsus was also boring as hell. In fact the only character that I actually liked was Gieve's character but near the end he disappears leaving us with all the uninteresting characters. The character design was also disappointing. It seemed like Arakawa was trying not to copy FMA's artwork but she ended up copying FMA's artwork after all. Silver Mask while initially an interesting villain as the story progressed he became a cliche villain that you can find in another twenty anime or so.

Ok I know that I shouldn't blame so much Arakawa because she doesn't have any connection with the anime apart from the source material. So in order to be fair I maybe should read the manga because the anime had a really open ending without any resolution. Now if you should watch the anime my answer is no. While it starts really promising the creators don't know what they want destroying this was a story that could be really good. You will not believe that the creator of the manga is also the creator of our all time favorite FMA

Spoilers and a lot of them. Read with caution.

How do you tell a good story? What defines a bad story? Who is the audience and what is the message of your story? These are questions an author must face when writing his story – the author must answer all of these questions beforehand in order to tell his story in an understandable way. I believe that every story, no matter what medium or genre it is in, needs a core message – a message that the audience can understand – that is, undoubtedly, what tells a good story from a bad one.

We’re all familiar with ... different stories; we’ve read, seen and heard countless of stories; stories that spark interest and evoke certain feelings and emotions.

It is commonly known that suspension of disbelief is something of very important nature in your story as it sets an accent and makes the audience immersed in your story. Suspension of disbelief plays a core role in your story and it truly connects the audience with the story you are trying to tell – the audience is able to follow the hero on his journey, without questioning the plausibility of events taking place.

One of the most popular structures used in storytelling is the three-act-structure. This divides the story in three acts. The first act is the expository act, where it introduces the necessary characters, establishes the protagonist, plot points and conflicts. A story needs a conflict. If there is no conflict, there is no meaningful story that conveys any sort of message to the audience. The second act is usually when the protagonist faces an issue and has to resolve it, only to make the situation worse. They usually make the situation worse by not having the required skillset in order to face the antagonist of the story. The third act is where the story ultimately comes to an end with a resolution, answering all questions and hopefully leaving the audience with a somewhat comprehendible message.

However, just by following the three-act-structure, won’t make your story good. In fact, it won’t. What you also have to account for is the way you’re telling the story. What are the stakes? What is the urgency? There has to also be some clever setups where they clearly pay off later on. These are all the things that distinguish a good story from a bad one.

How exactly is this related to Arslan Senki?

To be frank, Arslan Senki does attempt in telling a story – a story that we’ve already seen, read and heard in other mediums – though, it does it in its own unique fashion. I’m fairly certain that anyone who isn’t new to television, movies, books, anime and manga has at the very least heard of a similar story told in Arslan Senki. Arslan Senki tells us – the audience – a story about a young prince that is about to face the hardships of war. It does so by properly establishing Arslan as the protagonist and that he is whose journey we are going to follow. He is a kind and sweet prince, and searches for validation and love from his parents. His parents are the rulers of the kingdom Pars – a kingdom ruled by the tyrant Andragoras the third. Andragoras is famous for his relentless war tactics and is said to never have a lost a war. That is until another neighbor kingdom – Luisitania who are primarily known for their religiosity – declare a war with Pars and Andragoras. Thus begins the war in which our prince Arslan has to fight for the honor of his kingdom and deem himself a worthy prince and the future ruler of Pars. Unfortunately for Pars, the outcome of the war was already decided before the war ever began. The king of Pars was betrayed by one of his most loyal men and Pars ultimately lost the battle against Luisitania. Arslan’s duty now is to reclaim his kingdom.


I was excited by this premise only to be disappointed by the lackluster and generic execution of core elements in storytelling and world building. I’m actually a huge fan of these types of stories, namely Prince of Persia and other works of fiction alike. Other similar works have stakes, betrayal, strategies, realism and many other key factors which make them good. Arslan Senki did have some of these factors but none of them were particularly executed well. One thing these stories have in common is that they all introduce a sense of urgency. For example, in Prince of Persia – this sense of urgency is that the prince has to rescue the princess. This is a great way to drive your story in a natural way – the audience – knows what the end goal is, and know that it has to be done as soon as possible. The audience knows that there are stakes, being princess’ life among other things. You get to see how the protagonist struggles before he reaches that point.

Arslan Senki falls short almost immediately after Pars has lost the battle against Luisitania. Arslan knows that they’ve lost the war, he saw it with his own eyes. He saw many of his men die during the war. He was almost killed by a traitor himself. He’s left with nothing; a lost war and anyone in his midst can be a traitor. This is exactly what was interesting. Arslan then got rescued by Daryun, one of the most powerful warriors in the kingdom of Pars.

This is the turning point of Arslan Senki and how the story collapsed. After Daryun rescued Arslan, we are introduced many anew and interesting characters. Though, it is to say that many of these characters are questionable. I was raising my eyebrows most of the time because, figuratively speaking, any of these new characters like Gieve, Falangies and Narsus could be traitors. What have they done to earn trust and respect from Arslan or Daryun? They haven’t done anything except sworn on their name that they will be loyal. Unfortunately, this was not the case as the aforementioned characters and others are loyal to the point of unhealthiness. This obviously includes Daryun as well. I do understand that eras of kings and queens had some of the most loyal people but there was a fair amount of treason and betrayal.

That is not entirely the reason why Arslan Senki was bad. The problem wasn’t their loyalty, the problem was in the character themselves. They came off mostly as one-dimensional. Something that has been discussed and debated in storytelling is how certain stories come off. Let me elaborate – is weak characters and a strong plot or weak plot and strong characters better? This is an interesting question as talented writers and classics have strong characters and a strong plot and that’s generally what you should aim for. However, Arslan Senki has weak plot and weak characters which is exactly what makes, at least in my eyes, a mediocre work of fiction. But I digress. Characters were one-dimensional to the point of being unrealistic. Each character was good at everything, whether it be strategies, fights, or even talking. This is exactly what made characters feel one-dimensional and almost gave them the feeling of being demigods in a sense. It is never shown how any of these characters are ever in a life or death situation, it is never shown to us or even explained in the slightest bit as to why all of the characters possess the skills they do. Not to mention the leniency of the protagonist.

Let’s examine Narsus - the genius tactician who is able to win any fight without any effort at all. He seamlessly has flawless strategies and always seems to find a way to win any battle. He is the epitome of atrocious writing, mainly because when you introduce such a character to your story, almost all tension is gone. And to a certain degree, this is exactly what happens throughout the show. No matter what happens, or what you’re shown, it always succumbs to Narsus’ great tactics and flawless strategies. Essentially it means that you as a viewer not need to care about any of the battles or the war itself.

Likewise, we have Daryun who is able to defeat hundreds of men without getting a scratch on his armor. Daryun - just like Narsus - will never lose a fight. And even when Daryun is about to lose, he always seems to find his way through in the last second. My main concern for this isn’t how powerful Daryun is portrayed to be, it’s just the fact that he never gets hurt and even when he does, it’s never too serious or something you should worry about. What was said about Narsus can be said about Daryun.

We also have Gieve. I’d be lying to myself if I said Gieve is a bad character, he was the most enjoyable out of the bunch. Gieve is interesting because he’s barely given any backstory and sort of remains as a mysterious figure. His jokes and the way he interacts with Falangies is hilarious for most part. His entire character introduction was hilarious as we got to know that Gieve’s only intentions in life is to get money and to get girls who can reward him. Gieve is said to be, by himself of course, someone who can excellently challenge various weapon masteries, is a musical artist of sorts and enjoys poetry. This is for most part true and he is similar to Narsus and Daryun. We’re also shown his excellent bowman skills early on. The underlying problem of Gieve is that he’s lucky. He always seems to find a way to avoid problematic situations. It is also never explained why he decides to help Arslan in the first place. At first, he seems reluctant and is only accompanying Arslan because Falangies is there, however, as the “plot” progresses, Gieve starts helping Arslan and their team more and more. This is questionable because of the way Gieve was introduced. It sort of conflicts with his initial character introduction, whereas he was introduced as someone who could care less about people to someone who is ready to help Arslan and even give his life. This mistake was realized and Gieve was then removed from Arslan’s team. Arslan banished Gieve because Gieve was fighting characters that we really don’t care about. This choice is rather questionable but is somewhat explained. You see, it was Narsuss’ plan all along. He was planning to send Gieve to find something rather interesting, which we – the audience – don’t know about just yet.

Falangies…. Where do I even begin? Falangies is one of the, if not the, most atrocious character in the series. She doesn’t really have a reason to help Arslan in the first place and when she’s introduced, that’s exactly what she even says. She said that she was a maiden of whatever place and was sent off to help Arslan in achieving whatever he wants to achieve. She said that it was someone’s wish that she’d help Arslan and that's why she’s there. Evidently, she has the same problems as Narsus, Daryun and Gieve; she is good at everything. She always shows up at the right time, at the right moment, just then and there to help Arslan. Falangies also has massive pair of [redacted] which means that she’s just there for fan-service.

If there was someone who could singlehandedly ruin and remove all the enjoyment from Arslan Senki, it’d be Arslan himself. Quite ironic, isn’t it? As for the other characters that are good at everything, Arslan isn’t. In fact Arslan can’t even do half of what his demigod friends can and this is his issue. He’s useless. Instead of giving more fuel to the fire and developing Arslan in a natural way, Arslan barely changes throughout the story except for maybe the two last episodes. Other characters in the series, do not change or develop in any way either. How can these characters not grow when they’re exposed to war, death, and treachery among other things on a daily basis? How or why do all the other characters like Daryun, Narsus and Falangies believe in Arslan? This is a question that has been answered numerous times in Arslan Senki, albeit very vague. They all seem to share the same misconception of Arslan having the power of changing the world because he’s progressive. He has a progressive agenda. He thinks it’s bad to own slaves. He doesn’t believe in royalty, aristocracy, instead he believes in democracy to some degree. The concept of democracy isn’t new and it wasn’t created yesterday. It is shown that Arslan truly believes in “all people are equal” though he contradicts himself by wanting to become the king of Pars and rule that kingdom. He thinks it’s bad to own slaves but never expresses why it’s bad to own slaves. He just wants to free them. Why? Well, because all people are equal… This sort of circular logic is not exclusive to Arslan’s character only.

Considering that the story is set around 320 AD, I am most certain that no great leader would be that progressive. Slaves were used in manual labor but aside from that fact, they could be employed at highly skilled jobs. Some slaves were even highly educated, if they were of a certain origin. Slaves in the Roman Empire were, however, not free by any means. And that was the norm back then. By introducing slaves to a story that predates most history and then have the protagonist say “slaves should be illegal” is implausible. It’s as if Arslan came from a parallel universe or another world, just to free the slaves. This makes the narrative seem contrived. A contrived narrative in this context would mean that particular elements of said story are forced, which they undoubtedly are.

What I mean to say is that Arslan is a fundamentally flawed character. Combined with the lack of development this character receives and how lenient he is, just goes to show terrible writing. His leniency and naivety are the only character traits he possesses. Naivety is one thing and we’ve all been naïve at a certain point in our life. However, not everyone is lenient. Given Arslan’s setting and how he has to deal with terrible events – that could potentially break the human psyche – he seems to be kind and forgiving. At times, Arslan even questions other characters if he is too kind. He’s very tolerant and this comes back to the progressive thinking that he has. Now, ask yourself this: would you forgive someone for betraying you time after time and say “no matter what, I can’t bring myself to hate that person, I just can’t” aloud? The answer to that question obviously needs context and you’d need to know who the person in question is. The person in the question is someone you know is from the opposing side. You know very well that at any time, your life will be in danger because of this person. You know that it can cost you, your life. Personally, I would not forgive that person no matter what and I’d have his head right then and there. The reason I bring this up is because this is exactly how Arslan communicates and interacts with other characters. He always forgives them, no matter what they have done or how they have hurt his friends, killed his men and so on. This comes off, not only as implausible given the setting of the show but also highly unrealistic. It is difficult to suspend your disbelief whilst watching Arslan forgive a traitor for the nine billionth time in the show.

As mentioned previously, suspension of disbelief is key to writing a good and entertaining story. Arslan Senki fails at this as well. Not only are all the characters demigods, lenient, kind and forgiving; the events that take place also seem highly unrealistic. The entire war between Luisitania and Pars was explained in a sentence or two in the beginning. The explanation is as follows “According to Luistania’s religion, they should have the best land and one of the biggest kingdoms in the world” or something along those lines at least. It is also explained that Luisitania’s religiosity is just a cover for their true nature; Luisitania being a cult of sick people who can justify any act in the name of God. This honestly felt like some meta-commentary on religion in our age, though this part of Luistania isn’t completely unrealistic. The reasoning behind the war, however, is unrealistic. What makes it unrealistic is that it’s never explained or developed in any way, shape or form. There is no sign of politics, alignments or anything remotely clever going on. There is a war going on, there is a prince and that’s all you have to know, as the viewer.

Apart from that, it is safe to say that Arslan Senki will have a lot of moments when you’ll question what you’re seeing on the screen. These occurrences are most prominent in battles but are not limited to them. Characters are able to talk with each other despite being miles away from each other. Characters are able to talk exposition mid-fight while their enemies just firmly wait for them to finish their dialogue. Characters are at times able to defy the laws of physics. A show that is all about war failed at portraying war in a realistic fashion, which it surely tries to do. Some notable examples of this is when a horse can gallop on an elephant with the character on the horse being able to fit 3-4 sentences of exposition while all of this is happening. Another example of this is when Daryun has a fight with a giant. This giant is like 3 times taller than Daryun and Daryun himself is very tall. Despite all odds, Daryun manages to win against this giant in the most anticlimactic way possible without getting severe injuries or being damaged at all. A mental note for anyone who will watch this show is to set your expectations as low as you can, stop thinking and just watch as Arslan Senki completely violates you. That is the only way to enjoy Arslan Senki – or, at least the way I’ve found to be the most effective.

Sadly there are no stakes and no sense of urgency in this show; something which is a must in my opinion, it is a story about a prince after all. While this is a story about a prince who is at war, at least it’s not the same regurgitated “prince saves princess”-esq story. The entirety of the story has no stakes whatsoever. You never feel that any of the characters are in danger. You never feel any tension. You never feel anything. Nothing is urgent in this show either, it seems that prince has all the time in the world to reclaim his kingdom and in the meanwhile he can just travel from place to place and ask if anyone would like to help him.

Arslan Senki will have a lot of pseudo-strategies that are vaguely described to us. We’re unfortunately unfamiliar with most of the situations happening as they are unfortunately not explained to us. We have to sit through and listen to a dialogue discussing pseudo-strategies with the final conclusion being that Narsuss is a true genius because he already planned for it. One thing you’ll encounter in this series that makes no sense at all, is the way they talk about soldier numbers in their respective army. You’ll hear a lot of characters say “oh they have an army of 50000 men”, “this army has 100000 men” and so forth. Obviously, that’s a lot of soldiers willing to give up their lives for a war that has almost no reason to take place in the first place. Regardless, I believe this to be stupid. Numbers don’t say anything, at least not when there is no actual strategy in how these army resources will be utilized. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think I’ve seen a single character hold a map in Arslan Senki and create some sort of tactic for where their troops are going, who they are going to attack and what the end goal is. What’s also baffling is that in some scenes, catapults and similar heavy artillery seem to be teleported right when it’s needed without even being shown in the first place. If someone can just create a catapult out of thin air, why doesn’t everyone do this?

There was an attempt at a three-act-structure in the first season. The first five or so episodes served more of an introduction to the world and its characters, though not all characters were introduced and not everything about their world is super clear from the get go. The world of Arslan Senki still remains for mostly a mystery; we only know about Pars, Luisitania and one more kingdom. We’re unfortunately not shown a map of their entire world with the respective countries. No one ever uses a map in Arslan Senki, because who would need a map when you have Narsus?

The second act is where the antagonist is properly introduced and the prince and his followers have to deal with the antagonist. They fail, only to learn nothing and continue with their lives as usual. The second act is usually also the longest of the acts and this was the case in Arslan Senki. However, this act also introduced some problems in the story. They thought it’d be good if they introduced a side-character from another kingdom and have the prince resolve his conflict and help him win his war. This entire subplot could be removed and nothing would change. This whole subplot or side-story was complete filler and amounted to absolutely nothing in the end. Everyone continued on with their lives as usual. Arslan even got betrayed but leniency is key, my friends and worry shalt thee not.

The third act was the most baffling in my opinion, because the tonal shift of Arslan himself was piss-poor. He transitioned from being completely useless to someone who’s ready to go to war and show Luisitania who he really is. He never shows any tendencies for change in character, he remains the good old Arslan. This transition in other works is one of the most important aspects of the story and of the character. To see such an awful transition of a character felt truly random. Not to mention the potential love interest and Arslan’s princess or whatever. They could have included at least one scene where Arslan had an inner monologue preparing himself for the war that’s about to come. Instead he gave a generic speech about what’s to come for his soldiers and called it a day.

As for the message of this story, well put simply – there was none. Nothing comprehendible or meaningful. One far-fetch messaged that one might have gotten from watching this show is that you have to entrust other people and come off as a freeloader which Arslan does. He has done absolutely nothing other than being stupid, useless and lenient, however others seem to praise him. He doesn’t have any sort of charisma or character that would deserve the respect he gets from Daryun, Narsus or anyone else from this show. So people, be freeloaders and be ungrateful to your people like Arslan, and maybe, you too, will become a prince someday!

Something that was boggling my mind for almost the whole show was the magic. Arslan Senki has chivalry, armies, monarchies and magic. Magic in this show was god awful. It seems like they completely forgot about it after they introduced it in an episode. Nothing is explained about the magic in their world and it can be anything. Teleportation, summoning, moving at fast speeds, defying laws of physics and so on. Magic in this show can be viewed as the antagonist’s plot armor for when he gets in trouble when fighting Daryun or anyone from Pars; he can just use magic and instantly win or get saved.

The animation of this show was good for most part. 1v1 or Daryun vs x amount of soldiers were animated fairly decent. However, you could see that many characters were off-model a lot of the times. The battles did not last very long. Some of the fights felt choppy. There was a lot of CG used to animate a large army. I’ll give credit where credit is due, animation was definitely one of the stronger parts of this series. I feel like that’s what kept me interested enough to continue with this show. Animation could have been done better, the fights could have lasted longer and there are tons of other things that could be improved, like the narrative in general, but you can’t expect everything.

Music was alright, nothing that was particularly memorable or that got stuck with me.

In conclusion, there are only so many ways I can call Arslan Senki a mediocre work of fiction about a prince who wants to reclaim his kingdom. I really did have high expectations with this show but the lack of proper execution and its astounding mediocrity made the show boring, generic and lackluster. What really didn’t help the show in my opinion was that there was no urgency despite there being a war between two kingdoms. The characters were demigods who were able to do anything and everything without you having to worry too much. There were no clever setups that paid off later on, no cleverly written characters, and no tension; to be frank, there was nothing about Arslan Senki truly made it special. Arslan Senki surely does offer and have some interesting concepts at play, but they remain just that. It never manages to portray the political struggle, warfare or anything remotely close in that which I would expect from a show that is about war. They also do absolutely nothing about the slavery which is a huge problem according to Arslan himself. This show was mediocre and that’s all I can say.

I didn't want to watch Arslan Senki but boredom bit my ass and here we are, pals.

It's all about some prince's journey who tries to get his city back because people betrayed him. Nothing new here. This is Akatsuki no Yona minus the romance (but no worries, the harem is still there) meets the Eastern setting of Magi meets Kingdom but without the captivating warfare narrative. I won't say it lacked action because it got plenty but it definitely lacked something that would have made the story enthralling. The mystery behind Arslan's identity was a good start. However, this subplot was not developed fully which ... left me with lots of unanswering questions.

The characters don't change and are often one dimensional -- there are little development and even less growth. They are pretty much all OP and often find easily their way out of desperate situations. For a story that is character-driven, they didn't evolve much.

Please, tell me which one is the brightest banana in the bunch because they all seem like (endearing) losers to me:
- There is the good guy with white hair (of course he has white hair). He's so innocent and righteous and wants to save everyone because this is the right thing to do, right? In real life, my precious son Arslan would have gotten killed faster than Ned Stark. Did I mention he has white hair? #specialsnowflake
- The invincible dude who only got two words in his mouth: 'Your Highness', and oh boy, that's one hell of a talent waste for Hosoya Yoshimasa. Even that ambiguous loyalty for Arslan was off-putting at times. Does he love him like a mother or a lover? Don't know, can't tell. But choose, mate, you can't do both.
- The one more OP than Aizen and Madara combined. He knows everything but tells no one, always gets what he wants and his plans never fail because he's so clever. Plus the bishie is voiced by Namikawa Daisuke. I'm telling you, perfect. Wait. He does have one flaw: he can't draw. Oh, my bad. Let's not forget there are two kids vying for his attention -- one seeing him as a father figure and the other as a lover but the dude is a blank sheet of paper who gives no shit.
- Then there's the priestess who's there because?? Who knows? Maybe they needed someone with boobs to please everyone. I'm still waiting for the reason she serves our precious Snowflake Prince but I guess it's in the trash with the other character developments I should have got.
- And finally, the other bishie who can do anything but sing? Funny thing since he's supposed to be a minstrel but the dude doesn't know how to rhyme. He may be the funniest character in that show but I feel like there is a heavy story behind his playfulness. Why does he hate royalty? Why does he travel and where does he go? Why a troubadour knows how to ride a horse, use a bow, spar with knights and seduce women but can't make fucking rhymes? So many questions, Grieve, come back and answer them.
- I forgot the spy who comes from a loosely-inspired India and acts as the only diversity in this cast of happy misfits and the religious fanatic named 'étoile' which means 'star' in French. If their goal was to make me cringe, it is a success.

Despite that, this bunch is lovable. Lovable idiots who are so naive I wanted to engrave my head on the wall.
But still better than the antagonists. We got a hothead boy with daddy issues, who got facial burn and is voiced by Yuki Kaji but I swear it's not Shouto from My Hero Academia. And for some reasons, everyone follows him because of plot convenience. Also, there is this country invading the land of our heroes, sacking the capital, burning the books and all instruments of knowledge, waging wars that kill millions of people so they could convert those same people to the religion of a god with an unpronounceable name. Japanese are truly amazing. They know how to make one-dimensional characters like no one else.

Nonetheless, this anime teaches interesting human values. It tackles the infamous subjects of slavery and religion, despite how ridiculous their depiction of religion is. It stays roughly shallow but I'd like to thank them for the effort.

It's a shame though. The beginning promised a tale of blood and vengeance with a complexed protagonist on an epic journey to regain his home, internally torn as he's discovering more about the world and his own identity. Sadly, it failed to deliver.

I'd love to criticize the art but there is not much to say. The OST was gorgeous to hear, it's perhaps the redeeming point of this anime. The seiyuu's acting was on point and the opening and ending were wonderful to listen and watch. Especially the first ending signed Eir Aoi who got me more hyped than the actual anime.
The average viewer will not notice the 'subtle' mix of 2D and 3D which was hideous yet funny to see. The fights were well animated but the battles... Please don't let this studio ever animate a battle again. As I said, characters are freaking stones, so they don't do lots of facial expressions but on top of that, they move like legos and honestly, it was hilarious to watch. Now don't get me started on the horses' animation, I've said enough already.

Overall, it lacked some conflict to create an engaging tale. Characters were nice but did not reach their potential. I'm lowkey disappointed because I was waiting for more from the guys that brought us Fullmetal Alchemist and Legend of the Galactic Heroes but it still entertained me. I'm not sure if I'll remember it tomorrow though.

PS: There is this fabulous scene where a black guy with abs jumps on an elephant while riding his horse. Thank me later.

(This is a spoiler-free review adapted for this site)

[Synopsis]: At the young age of fourteen Arslan (Kobayashi, Yuusuke), the crown prince of Pars and son of King Andragoras III embarks on his maiden battle against Lusitania, a neighboring country, where he loses everything. The Lusitanian forces overwhelm the formidable Parsian army through trickery and deceit and Arslan's once glorious kingdom falls to the invaders. Bereft of both allies and a home to return to he and his trusted retainer Daryun (Hosoya, Yoshimasa) venture onward from the battle and begin gathering heroic allies to their cause in an attempt to take back Arslan's throne and recover ... the capital of Ecbatana.

[Characters]:

In classic form of the historical drama genre, Arslan Senki offers a large host of characters - Arslan's own company featuring as many as seven diverse characters ranging from a master tactician in Narsus to a priestess of Misra in Farangis. With that said, the show is heavily focused on Arslan as its story most primarily concerns his growth as a person and as a leader and the actual development and characterization of those close to him and those he encounters on his journey take a back seat to this. Each individual character is introduced with a compelling enough template for them to get by within the story and a good many of them do well within the show as they are presented such as Narsus and Daryun who are appealing due to their logical thinking and overwhelming strength respectively.

Arslan himself is quite interesting in terms of characterization however the show mishandles him in some ways that ultimately cheapens his growth and maturation. In the beginning of the show we are introduced to a fledgling prince who, despite being kind and eager to learn, is ignorant of the outside world in relation to the kingdom of Pars. He is ineffective with a weapon on the battlefield and lacks faith in himself and so all in all he represents great opportunity, if not a little too obviously so, to grow as a character. The show develops him quite well at first, translating his willingness to learn and improve upon himself while still being young well into his character's actions and dialogue. One chief example of this is in his initial thoughts on slavery - rather than agree with Narsus who claims that the slaves of Pars should be freed and that it is wrongful to enslave them in the first place, he takes the sentiment into account but reserves his ultimate judgement on the matter despite feeling the same way. This reservation of character speaks volumes about Arslan in that he is aware of how ignorant he is of the greater implications of these grand decisions and his reticent attitude towards them is an engaging attribute.

Though Arslan was characterized quite intricately early on, we see this dull over time as his beliefs become more resolute and he lacks the deliberation and carefulness he featured early on. In some ways this was a way for the show to mature him however a great many of the earlier concerns such as the implications of slavery within the kingdom are dismissed rather than decided upon in an intellectual way. Alongside this inability to follow through on earlier character traits, Arslan acts incredibly foolishly at times in part due to his kind-hearted nature combined with his initial innocence however these actions seem awkward and out of place in the latter parts of his story. I think that ultimately Arslan turned out to be an interesting character though his mismanagement hurt the show for me a good deal due to its heavy reliance on him rather than other members of the cast to produce compelling dialogue and further the story.

To add a quick note concerning the rest of the cast, a decent number of them are quite compelling and fit well within the world such as the enigmatic and twisted 'Silvermask' or the traveling musician and rogue Gieve however there were a choice few characters that impacted the story and the setting very poorly and damaged the cast irreparably. In the historical drama setting most of the characters presented made a lot of sense but the show also introduced a handful of characters such as Elam, Alfreed, and Etoile who felt out of place among the other cast members and within the world itself. They each occupied more typical character archetypes than the rest of the cast and the effects of seeing an otherwise engaging dialogue be thrown off by a stereotypical 'tsundere' dynamic grew increasingly more tiresome. Furthermore, these characters didn't have a whole lot of purpose behind them and it constantly felt as if events warped themselves in such a way in order to give them some form of relevance. As much as I'd like to say that the positive elements of Arslan's characterization and a few other characters made the shortcomings of these people trivial, this was not the case and they were provided with more than enough screen time to often detract from the setting and story.

[Art/Animation]:

While Arslan Senki stumbled a bit in terms of its cast and their characterization the greatest weakness of the show was in its art and animation. Though the show presented a good few scenes of high quality animation over the course of its full 25-episode run, far too many of the episodes faltered extremely noticeably in character design, movement, and general art style. This is saddened all the more by the presence of Arakawa Hiromu's designs which were otherwise quite appealing and in her classic style where the quality drops affected them to the point that the characters did not even resemble themselves at times. The art direction wasn't all that bad and there were a handful of interesting shots each episode but the execution was what truly marred the visuals of the show and the quality drops were so frequent and so noticeable that I can list no more significant and impactful shortcoming of the show than this.

As if to make matters worse, Arslan Senki also relied a great deal on CG in order to deliver its farther reaching scenes such as its great battles and countless banners of horsemen. Due to the historical setting of the show this was definitely a case where the usage of CG was due to either budgetary concerns or because of their difficulty of execution rather than to achieve a certain aesthetic by means of the CG. Arslan Senki did not make good use of this technique, especially early on - the CG soldiers and horses pop out of the frames far too noticeably to be forgiven and I found that they constantly broke whatever immersion the show could offer with their sharing of the same face, their robotic movement, and their general aesthetic delivery. I will give credit to the show however for its improvement in this category in the latter episodes however - while the show does not actually improve within this technical aspect it does do a far better job at times masking the presence of the CG by using fast, zooming, overhead shots of the battle and darting between the soldiers at ground-level as they clashed. The quality drops and poor implementation of CG hurt the show a good deal and I wouldn't recommend the show to anyone who gets annoyed by these things as they were highly noticeable and consistently resent.

[Story]:

The story of Arslan Senki was perhaps the area in which it showed the most potential and where it most succeeded. The idea of a coming of age story involving a prince and a return to his kingdom is by no means an original story however Arslan sets itself apart in several ways by raising interesting questions early on concerning the nature of Arslan's enemy and Arslan's own lineage. Alongside this the story does a good enough job nurturing Arslan and teaching him new things in order for him to grow as a person and a leader though at times this appears a bit hamfisted but is forgivable due to the purpose of the show.

The story of Arslan lends itself well to its world and setting as the places and countries all feel legitimized within the plot after their introduction and the manner in which the plot unfolds was compelling enough to keep my interest even amidst the other major short comings of the show. One point of concern in respect to the world of Arslan Senki was in how it handled the presence of magic. For the most part, the world is quite like ours however the blatant appearance of something magical does not occur until nearly half way through the show. Though the presence of sorcery and the like is eluded at as early on as Arslan's maiden battle, it comes off as the kind of typical smoke and mirrors kind of magic often discussed in similar historical action shows and seeing its manifestation later on felt out of place. While there is is no rule that says that the world of Arslan should have no magic in it the way in which it is handled and introduced was problematic in my eyes as it felt inconsistent and its presence far too spread out along the length of the show to feel natural to the world setting. Hopefully the implementation of magic becomes more obvious in the future as it would work well for the show whether it is used often or not.

[Music]:

The music worked well for the show and was one of the more memorable elements of it while not appealing to me beyond its own context. It was medieval, it was heroic, and the instrumentation of the soundtrack never felt out of place. Perhaps the only qualm I have in this area was that the show had a tendency to fall back into certain songs each episode that made them feel a tad overused rather than featuring other songs more often though due to the positive influence of those choice songs on the story and presentation of the show I find this fairly forgivable.

[Final Thoughts and Rating]:

Arslan Senki was certainly a mix of pros and cons all throughout and I think it can be summarized as a show with great ideas, an interesting premise, and an awesome art style that was executed poorly. Arslan was interesting even given his less than stellar characterization as he offered a very explicit and intricate way of thinking that I found appealing and this trait won out for me over his negative attributes. Similarly, the plot of the show kept me watching despite the many production issues and visual problems the show exhibited and so I have to admit that I found the show at least compelling to the point that I could tolerate its flaws rather than dismiss them. I think, if the show does receive a future installment which it very likely could due to the length of its source material, it could turn out quite well if the production value was increased.

Rating: 6

I gave Arslan Senki a 6 primarily because the plot intrigued me enough to keep watching and by means of its occasional mystery elements it set itself far enough apart from other similar stories to avoid becoming forgettable. I can't find it in myself to rate the show any higher as its visuals were lacking in the extreme and a small number of the characters from the cast were infuriating in their design and personality in such a way that they majorly detracted from certain character relationships and dialogue exchanges.

[Recommendations]:

I would recommend Arslan Senki to any fans of the historical action genre as it exemplifies all of the conflicts, intrigues, and settings that make the genre interesting. The action of the show is quite good and there were a handful of beautiful action scenes sprinkled throughout the show however elsewhere the choreography was lacking and the animation poor and so I wouldn't cite these choice few triumphs as reason enough for one to pick up the show due to its action alone. To go hand in hand with my comments from earlier, I wouldn't recommend the show to anyone who is bothered extensively by quality drops as it was far and away the biggest problem for the show and even a novice of the medium will be able to pick out the differences in quality from shot to shot due to their overt nature.

Not as good as the manga.

Sorry, I've got more to say than that, but it really struck me. Hiromu Arakawa is a mangaka who can turn a simple tale of adventure into an enthralling legend. Each endearing comic aside or detail of plot and action that gets adapted out dispels that magic. I couldn't understand the reviewers who ranked FMA:Brotherhood far below the manga, when the body of it was adapted almost exactly. I understand them now.

The final act of this anime runs to a predictable close, by a predictable route. Good monthly manga can get away with this; the timescale of release evokes ... our heroes' long, hard struggle. Weekly anime can't escape damage from a predictable close, not even good ones.

And this anime is good; the dialogue is full of spark and novelty, characters are all very memorable, and the central struggle is at least epic in scale. The protagonists have some excellent dramatic moments, but most of the villains are really far too unambiguous for a 'historical' manga. The series really is too morally simplistic at heart, and, again, the director seemed lacking in the focus of Akakawa's manga panels. Practically every change from the source manga that I can see weakens the story, which has to rush through the manga's material, and was never going to conclude the whole novel series in any case.

I'd recommend this series mildly, but the final act is quite a slog.

This is a decent fantasy anime that both eschews and embodies many of the issues common to fantasy anime.

For one thing, drawing on ancient Persia as a setting is a very cool choice, as it's fairly underutilized and lends the show a fresh and exotic coat of paint. On the other hand it does fall into the typical anime-set-in-the-pre-modern-era trap of grotesque historically inaccuracy when it comes to numbers and scale: expect big battles with classical era armies somehow consisting of hundreds of thousands of men.

But that's not really a strong criticism, given that it is a fantasy anime, and historical inaccuracies like that don't ... really have much impact on the overall quality, they are more of a personal peeve. What does detract greatly from the show is how horrible these massive battles look. Every battle scene gives you long panning views of big, grotesque CGI armies, of copy pasted spearmen and knights. It looks absolutely terrible, but fortunately these large battles are used sparingly - when the show recedes in scale and settles into a more conventional fantasy story scale of a small party of people, the animation is no longer an issue, and the characterisation and pacing shines.

The characters aren't groundbreaking or deep by any means, but they do fill their archetypes well and act consistently. The cast is a little oversaturated, meaning some accessory characters are starved for screen time and some early prominent ones become basically side characters, but even in their limited exposure they make enough of an impression to still feel like actual characters.

However the pervasive cancer of boring shonen morality mars any thematic depth this series might have. Arslan discusses slavery with all the nuance of dismemberment. There is a flagrant ethical code transposed from contemporary society and applied to this setting, in order to win the viewers sympathy and support for the protagonist.

While this does not ruin the adventure or fun in this show, it does prevent it from feeling like a really special pseudo historical drama. Which is fine, as it never really tries to be outside of phonetic references to real world historical locations and titles.

I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys historical fantasy with minimal fantastical elements, especially if they have a love of romanticism in their fiction.

Overall I would have to say this anime is pretty standard in plot and characters, but is done well enough that it makes you enjoy it through to the end.
As per usual I try to go into the anime without any prior knowledge of existing manga, novels, or other material, and found myself enjoying the first few episodes. The use of CG is fairly noticeable, but I didn't think detracted from the story, and even though the main group of characters are too OP to be real people I found myself rooting for the main group the entire time.
After reading ... the wiki I can see that they did have this series plotted as two long OVAs, which I will watch next because the main vibe I get from this story is that this would have made a much better series of movies like Berserk than an anime.
There is one thing that I found utterly unacceptable, and can't for the life of my figure out how the animators thought it would be cool to add in. So minor ----SPOILERS---- but seriously how the fuck does a horse JUMP on top of an elephant, like WTF how does that even happen. If you look at the height of an elephant standing next to the other characters how on godly hell does a horse jump up that high. I'm sure the animators thought it was cool, and then they got the horse up there and it doesn't even DO ANYTHING, it just jumps right off...... like WTF man, why make your horse do that when you could have ridden next to the elephant, climbed up it's side, and then fought on top of the elephant.... Was that really necessary to make your horse jump up on it's head???!! ----
End of minor rant.---- I'm sorry. Anyway, if you have spare time and like the fantasy-shonen themes in this anime watch it, but if you can't deal with the minor weird details that make it unrealistic (ahem the elephant) then I'd suggest stay away.

If you've seen Yona of the Dawn and Tales of the Abyss you'd have a pretty good handle on how this story plays out. One thing that's different about either of those shows is that the main character isn't intensely unlikable in the first episode. The King and Queen are rather cold toward our Prince and indeed seem to ignore most of the time. He tries to live up to their expectations and do the right thing (which isn't always the same thing), which is a nice bend on the genre of deposed royalty trying to regain power. Another strong point of this anime is ... that he actually LISTENS to his advisors to not do stupid, crazy things like charge at the head of an army because he will be killed (he really would).

The anime is nondescript. There is a lot of CGI when there are massive battles, but raging about that is a losing battle (heh). At least it gives you an idea of scope instead of just really close up still motion fights with lots of yelling.

What loses points for me is the worldbuilding was imperfect. Throughout the first...12 episodes of the anime it looked as if there was no overt magic aside from the generic "legends and prophecies" stuff they generally have in fantasy stories. Suddenly there's a guy who can teleport anywhere and attack. Then we find out that one of the main group is protected by a god and can calmly walk into a hail of arrows and none will touch her...and so can the person she designates.

Tension broken. At this point I'm just trying to reshape how the world looks and operates. It's a bit like if you're watching a noire detective story and suddenly aliens show up in the middle of it. Yes, you could have both a mystery and aliens, but it's kinda startling to have ZORG from BLXKSLJF be part of the mystery in the final few chapters. No, I don't accept it.

Also, the bad guy also has some Bond villain level of stupidity. He's on the cusp of winning or killing someone twice and goes "Eeeeh, no. It's not 'the right time' or 'you aren't scared of me enough' and just...DOESN'T KILL THEM. WHY?

This is lazy writing.

The other thing I hated about this anime was the sound engineering. I watching the anime and someone started to pound on the drums. The sound mixing was jarring, the sound of each drum began and ended fairly sharply, as if it wasn't an actual drum but a midi file being played in a loop and not properly overlapping the next one. That may seem minor compared to the rest but it really was jarring and distracting when the sound doesn't come together.

In the end, I'd say it's not worth watching yet as the second season isn't complete yet and there's no telling how silly this will go, but once the second season is out it might be interesting to see. The main character is a white hat who is supposedly not very good at fighting but is able to survive all battles as an untried warrior with no major injuries at all and has a near-invincible guardian who shows up at all times to save him.

I have really like the story of this anime, and the way it conects with the "real world" history, and the antique, medieval topics. But the main error of this anime are the combats, ridicule or stupid sometimes, and that makes me think: Why in hell the archers do not have aim? Or why are some characters too overpower?
The anime does really conect with the World History, I am talking about the cristianismo and the realtionship against some religions in the region of the Constantine Empire.

But in general it is a good anime, it could be better if it were more realistic in combat and ... war.

Arslan Senki is *arguably* one of the best of the select few animes that has military & strategic planning involved. Not to mention that it actually has a plot to work with even though it may appear to be quite shaky. There are tons of aspects that may be pointed out that may ruin the show for many, but that does not mean it can be considered as garbage. According to my standards, it scores pretty good in general.

To start with, let's talk about the "plot." Considering that this isn't really one of those shows that expressly states what the series is about, it is ... able to let the audience get the gist of story even at the pilot episode. The series did well in terms of plot progression even though it got derailed several times for world building and character development. I commend its author for writing up a story that actually makes sense when it involves war and politics.

Another great aspect of this show is its character and character development. The only downside is that most of these characters are geniuses or exemplified warriors. They are so strong, up to a point that it's absurd how most of them can destroy their enemies because of "natural talent" or "divine protection." These characters are unique, but I can't say that they don't fall into particular archetypes. One thing is for sure though, the series didn't lag behind when it comes to character development. So you can look forward to that, especially when the series is nearing its end.

Next up is its art and animation. I have no qualms about its art, but I have to mention that it is very similar to one Anime (FMA-B, if you know it). With regard to animation, it seemed okay with me when it came to general scenes and battles. It is acceptable even though they used CGI most of the time (general and/or extra characters), because the animation was definitely amazing when it needed to look amazing.

When it comes to the sound aspect, there's nothing to worry about. It may be generic every now and then, but most of the voice actors are widely known--so that's a bonus.

Generally speaking, Arslan Senki has basically all of these things: plot, plot armor, eye candy, cliches, military strategems, dark magic, black/dark knight, cross-dressers, tsunderes, a kuudere, a giant noob, annoying characters, annoying extras, funny moments, mind-blowing moments, "wtf moments," and a lot of other things.

Story7/10 (2.8)
Character5/10 (1.25)
Art / A 5/10( 1)
Sound 4/10 (0.6)
5.65/10=>6

Barely made it to the point where it's worth a watch, if you ask me. Although, unlike most shows, this one is enjoyable enough that you might binge watch all episodes in a day. (entertainment value isn't factored into rating because it depends on personal preferences, thus the score 6/10.)

The best way to describe the story of Arslan Senki in a more concise way would be:An epic story with a pre-modern way of narration,transcribed into the medium of Japanese animation.The original work a novel that is 14 volumes long, takes inspiration from a Persian epic from Qajar dynasty era.The setting itself is historical as much as possible.However,maybe unavoidably,the heavy use of anime tropes and directional choices which make this story more perceivable to general audience are there.Despite this,over the course of the show,the style and the story don't let go off the seriousness brought by that epic setting in ancient times fully.

Story:Story revolves around ... a compassionate young prince and his loyal followers.Faced with the task of reclaiming the throne,they struggle to reunite while avoiding threats on the way.This basic premise is unexceptional among premises in the first glance.To go further, we need to look into it and ask:What kind of original contribution does the show present itself with?The journey has an element of questioning the role of political figure in the shaping of subjects' world and basically asks "what's the just governance?".In particular,the interactions between Narsus and Arslan allude to this subject frequently.In result of all those discourses the prevailing notion is that a king shoud be wise and calculating.He should not be too rash and maybe sometimes should make bold moves according to strength of his particular resolve.Even in this probing for the right way of governance,there aren't much of a deep,convoluted layer.Although we can say this can be attributed to the nature of the epics,that is to say its didactic way of handling issues limits its potentials,the way which this question handled should've been better.

Another issue i have with the construction of the story is involvement of magic.There can be a counter argument to be made here,as in "in pre-modernity the supernatural was part of nearly every ideology,so where is the problem in depicting it?".That point does explain the djiins or the forces of unnatural order constantly interacting with the natural world and used to explain the holes in perceived causality.However it doesn't offer a satisfactory explanation for using magic as a plot mechanism.Which is sad,since it really cheapens the overall atmosphere.As a side effect it has the role of a balancing variable and can be used at will as can be seen from the way it is used.This balancing feature acts as a counter to the unbending manner of the expansion of protaganist strength compared to its adversary.I can overlook the persistent presence of inhuman strength or quickness as long as they are being utilized to symbolize tragic overcoming.There are various instances in which this sort of dramatization takes place.This is a positive in my book because unlike using magic as a plot device this is almost a requirement to the writing of epic characters.

Themes and ideas that are worth pondering on are while not abundant,at least present.An ultra-religious society brings forth the idea of a mass ideology that takes part in making of the world.I absolutely loved the portrayal of a dynamic religion for it is rare in anime itself.To explore it in the decisions of individual portrayals was an intriguing aspect of the story.

The one aspect of this show that i expect to be the object of lingering admiration is its portrayal of ancient Persia and India.In most anime that task of moderately fantasizing foreign cultures is botched.In Arslan Senki,while it's historical accuracy not to be taken seriously ,the ways in which things may work in other cultures are not sacrificed to the point of rendering it a plaything.I liked the setting as a theater for politics and heroic deeds.The use of a narration voice,special calender and even design of those eyecatches that are in the middle of the episodes gives a feeling of hand-written book.

Characters:I think it's appropriate to group the characters into two categories:1.Voluntary followers 2.Blind silt.
The first batch need a conviction to go somewhere.Their worth as responsible carriers of these convictions are immense.Arslan,even though the title is named after him,almost seems like a mere mediator between these characters.Arslan as a claimant to the throne is kind and approchable.While this may be a factor in regards to loyalty displayed by his followers in every turn,their unyielding convictions contrasts with other equally strong but poorly portrayed convictions of the antagonists and tantamount to inconclusiveness.This has a robust gist of contradiction that needs to be resolved but being left in open makes it carry a significant tension.Hermes,the main antagonist ,doesn't get the treatment he deserves.In portraying him as a raging maniac the show misses the chance of deploying a proper alternative to Arslan and his crew. A glaring failing about the characterization of Hermes is that we don't really spend that much time in his PoV.The causes of his rage is well founded but despite that we can't really be open the possibility of him redeeming himself.

The second batch are those who can be called trackers of footsteps.There isn't much characterization going on regarding these but they have an essential role in elevating the convictions displayed by the heroic types to unexpected heights.

Art and Sound:The drawings of landscapes are done really well.Colors are generally vivid,at least in daytime.While the animation was choppy at times,the use of effects came in to rescue on some of those scenes.Character designs are made to complete the characteristic attributes of the main cast.Some very attractive designs are pleasant to look at while those that are like Farangis' and Alfreed's are disapponting.Voice acting sans Hermes, was one of the show's strong facets.I specifically liked how that soft,caring intonation complimented Arslan's personality.

Music:Both opening songs are exhilarating melodies with male vocals in accordance with the tradition.I liked them both but they pale in comparison to two endings,especially the first one.
What can i say Lapis Lazuli is a song that most people would go on to listen to outside of this show's context.But i recommend both!

In summary,Arslan Senki is in most parts a mediocre series with its high and low points dispersed throughout.There are some interesting ideas,especially in its setting,but with decisive limitations these have turned sour in the end.Still,there is some enjoyment to be subtracted for most viewers.

Story:5/10
Art:6/10
Sound:7/10
Characters:7/10
Enjoyment:6/10
Overall:6/10

Reviews if you don't have time.
*SPOILER-FREE*

“Arslan Senki” is a historical fantasy that is able to accomplish pretty well what it is supposed to but not much more. Is a manga adaptation animated by SANZIGEN and LIDENFILMS studios and licensed by Funimation.

As a show, “Arslan Senki” is just what you might expect from the genre, in terms of animation it has its highlights, but it also has some not so well achieved moments. The characters and background art-style and design are good, which is an essential in these ... kinds of show, to help set the tone and immerse the viewer more and some fights are well executed, but overall, it is not an animation masterpiece.

However, series like this normally shine in other areas, and “Arslan Senki” is not an exception. The plot despite sometimes being predictable or seen in similar formats in the genre, is still really enjoyable and well developed and written. The characters are not stagnant and grow along the show as well. The dialogue is good and there are just a few actions where one can say it needed to happen for the sake of the plot.

In short, “Arslan Senki” is at his best generally when action is not taking place, but that’s fine. This show offers good characters and world building, nice dialogues and some actually good fight scenes and since is a historical fantasy is alright to lean more towards the world than to the action.

Arslan Senki is a good piece of adventure.

Arslan presents us with a simple narrative, with points already seen in other works, but, thankfully, it presents very interesting characteristic points. Prince Arslan, for sure, the biggest highlight of the work, is an atypical character, because he has that innocent, fearful side, but a clear evolution is seen, and that cowardice ends, with time, becoming determination, because behind from fear, there is also a yearning for justice and a strong temper, capable of making ... great warriors and sages follow him, even if he is a young man, without much skill in swordsmanship.
Apart from Arslan we have other very relevant characters, like Narsus and Daryun, who are quite charismatic, and despite not having much development, are relevant enough.
Arslan's biggest flaw is even with his production, unfortunately, despite great characters, a good narrative, the production, due to its tight budget and a certain impotence, fails to present us much more. At least, during the final episodes we could see a little more investment and detailing, which showed us what this work could be with great investment and production.
Finally, Arslan convinces, a very good work, which deserves its prominence despite the production.

{SPOILERS} *NOTE: This review is also meant to cover the 8-episode arc, Fuujin Ranbu*

The Heroic Legend of Arslan is a good mid-range anime that does some things very well and definitively fails to deliver on others. It successfully packages enthralling court politics and entertaining military strategy in a full wreathing of lackluster characters, plot holes, and bad 3D. To begin with one of the more enjoyable aspects, the story is the main driver of this show without question. It was indeed the story that kept me watching at all. The Heroic Legend of Arslan attempts to weave a grandiose legend ... of betrayal, heroism, zealotry, and pretenders to the throne. In a lot of ways it felt like they were going for a kind of Iliad vibe, given the emphasis on heroic aristocracy. But of course there were some big problems in the story, namely that it became hard to suspend one's disbelief that the actions of certain factions were so cartoonishly evil, or in many other instances so naive and misguided. However, these mostly stem from the imperfections of characters, so we'll get to that when we get to it. To put a cap on story, however, a distinctly personal note is needed here that reflects more on me than the show. I found myself sympathizing with the 'bad guys' in The Heroic Legend of Arslan, and was often underwhelmed by the two-dimensional main characters. For example, Silver Mask has better motivations and is a superior claimant to the throne, but I also identify with the unfairly written Lusitanians, because they are pretty plainly coded as European Christians, so in the world the story takes place I would most likely be a Temple Knight. But like I said, that last point is all me.

The art was amazing in its vision, and good enough in its execution. That is to say, the architecture, armor, landscapes, character design, and even the various flags and banners were all expertly designed and strinkingly beautiful. However, the major drawback comes in the animation itself, a great many characters failing to express enough emotion in their day to day lives, and of course the gratuitous use of jarringly bad 3D, which often detracted from the otherwise well choreographed battle scenes.

Next, I really enjoyed the sound. The musical score was epic and rousing, bringing a lot of color to any given moment. The sounds of life, like crunching footsteps or clanging weapons, were omnipresent and made the world itself feel full and definitively lived in.

The characters were a definite weak point of the show, because as cool and generally entertaining as they were, they were still flat and very poor vessels to handle the epic tale they are meant to shoulder. Even worse, this problem is most evident the closer one gets to Arslan's inner circle, and indeed Arslan himself. Save for Daryun, who is redeemed only by fulfilling a character trope that is easy to fill, the people we see the most are the most devoid of color. The further out one gets, the more engaging the characters become, even extremely minor ones like Barcacion or that cultist mask guy that remains unnamed! The characters are also liable to begin acting in erratic, uncharacteristic ways that are meant first and foremost to serve the writers and the story they're weaving, oftentimes throwing preestablished character attitudes and predispositions to the wind in order to see them through. I see these things as major failings in The Heroic Legend of Arslan, and the main reasons that it gets the rating it does from me. At the end of the day I enjoyed this anime well enough to finish it, but not enough to rewatch it. If they were to come out with a third season, I would watch it, but barring a total stylistic departure nothing could really alter this score. At the end of the day, if you're a particularly big fan of low fantasy adventuring army anime, or even if you're just looking to get a middle of the road anime under your belt, give The Heroic Legend of Arslan a shot. I believe that there is enough variance of taste in the anime community that there are people who would enjoy this more than me, and see it as something truly special.

PROS:

-world building started nice
-started good and interesting in the first episodes
- the documentary like story telling was nice
-architectural design was well done
-OST was very well done and helped a lot in establishing the atmosphere

CONS:

... -characters were uninteresting and static. They dragged down the story a lot. Mostly it felt like they were puppies who were doing what plot wants them to do and didn't get much depth.
-power dynamics were unrealistic, and most battles were 85-95% plot 5-15% strategy. War tactics were treated as a magic wand, and to the trained eye many outcomes were also unrealistic. Characters' powers were exaggerated which conflicted with show's overall focus on trying to be realistic.
-didn't have a conclusive ending
-main story --arslan gaining some common decency after spending years as a naive prince- was cliche
-art was bearable but it wasn't really good
-OP and ED wasn't really good for me

overall: 5/10 it is a good watch to kill your time, but overall it was pretty average and didn't develop much.