The Heroic Legend of Arslan
The accuracy of this anime that reflects on Persia's history is incredible. It makes the show more entertaining when you're aware of Persia's history - for that reason, I will briefly go over a few pointers and factors. To start off, the word Pars (Fārs) coherently links to Persia.
 Arslan is based off Cyrus the great.Cyrus the great didn't become loyalty until the age of 10, as he was predicted to go against his father. His father was a militant, and a man of power; Cyrus was a man of peace, yet strong. Therefore, he was given away to be killed. However, his mother didn't allow it. Thereby he was given to a civilian until the age of 10 where he learned of his true heritage and was sent off to the capital, to become loyalty. When his father went to war, he lost due to betrayal and was captured but not killed. Cyrus, the great, assembled an army and took the capital back, therefore, he was a king before the death of his father. Cyrus banned slavery 2500 years ago, upon becoming king and made the biggest empire of the world. Where everyone was given rights and were allowed to practise the religioni of their choice. In other words the ideologies are extremely coherent to Arsalan's.  Their armor was based on the Sassanian era-- Parthians. The Pars much like the Persians in real life were known for their undefeated calvary.  The immortals were seen in Arslan Senki, they all had a commander that commanded 10,000 soldiers. These soldiers were brave and countless-- the strongest army that the world had seen. Woman calvary were also quite common within the Persian army (Acheamenian era)   Persians are known for poetry. Their culture is rich with poetry, and many examples of excellent poetry as we know it today were set by Persia. I.e "The Arabian night" is how we were introduced to having an introduction, a follow-up, and an ending to plays. Hafez is also another extremely popular poet. In Arslan, it is displayed how much poetry is appreciated and treasured in Pars.  Pars is the capital of trading-- Persia was the capital of trading, right in the central Asia. India can be seen in episode 19, whereby they pledge alliance to Persia/ Pars. Persia had the most powerful army-- the Achaemenid army. There are many, many examples. However, I am quite tired to list them all. All in all, it's based on Persia. Arslan displays the personality of Cyrus; he let his enemies off, left conquered people in charge of their areas and divided the empire into satrapies. That was not a problem for Cyrus in his life (ended 530BC) but eventually and soon would be for the Empire. The conquered people like the (Ionian Greeks 490'sBC) and many others rebelled, the satraps became almost independent and could be disloyal. Also, many say that it was based on the Persian epic; I have read the epic in Persian many times. The story has a petite resemblance, only due to its name people are comparing it to the epic, which is not necessarily correct. The one aspect of the Persian epic and the anime is that Arslan may or may not fall in love with his enemy. Which was quite common-- women of other nations marrying Persian kings. For those interested in the quick summary of the rundown on Persia's history, use this link to (Disclaimer: Arslan does not directly tell the story of one era; as it has factors from different eras of Persia. ) The author of Arslan Senki is nonother than Yoshiki Tanaka. If you read his wiki, it states that he is familiar with the history of Persia, as he has taken quite the interest in it. In one of his interview, he stated Tanaka said he did no on-site research: “I have a strong tendency towards fantasizing, and whenever I come up with any single thing, I feel as though I can see everything around it too.” Arakawa points out there’s not much to research, given the last Persian empire As one of the comments below suggests the writer of Arslan is the same as Fullmetal Alchemist. She is quite fond of the Persian culture; how do I know? Well in Fullmetal Alchemist one of her main characters was based off a Persian ruler-- Xerxes. |
SoberRufusApr 4, 2016 8:15 PM
KolmeDG said: DrRez said: The accuracy of the anime that reflects on Persia's history is amazing. It makes the show a whole lot more entertaining when you're aware of Persia's history. For that reason, I will briefly go over a few pointers and factors. I wanted to quote all sentences but it's long so please allow me to cut short... Don't worry about cutting it short! I am very grateful that you've added on to the topic, I found your findings very interesting :). I am glad that we share the same point of view, this anime has become one of my favourites solely due to reflecting real life history. Also I have a few predictions for s2 (based on real history), if you would like me to go over them, please let me know. |
| Guys please feel free to discuss the ideas, as well as add on your own personal findings! |
KolmeDG said: It's about existing Persian legends and forecasting the following story of the anime more than real history Yes of course! I was not implying that it's solely portraying the history of Persia; rather that it's inspired by the legends and its history. After all, it's a fictional anime; that is there for entertainment purposes. KolmeDG said: O kings of old Pars! Sage King Jamshid! Hero King Kaykhusraw! And the spirits of all the other kings! We beseech you to watch over this army! To fully give you a justified answer I would need to watch the episode again (I can't right now.) However, from my gist understanding, it may be based off 'Shahnameh Ferdowsi Rostam And Sohrab'. A Persian Epic/poetry. As you know, Persia is enriched with the culture of literature. Check it out here Every episode reflects a legend of some sort. I'll definitely check those episodes out and give you my opinions. Thank you very much! |
SoberRufusMar 20, 2016 8:27 PM
I apologise, I have still not gotten around to re-watching those episodes due to the exam season; however, I will be sure to check them once I find the time. Also, I have added additional information to my post - at the bottom. The information confirms that it is based on Persia, due to the author (Yoshiki Tanaka) himself stating it. |
KolmeDG said: Please don't mind! Exam is far more important! Thank you for additional info. Good luck!! Indeed, thank you very much for kind words. :-), I'll be sure to ace them! |
| Great post and very interesting. I knew from the beginning that its indeed based on Persia since the persian language is called "farsi" and those things with Xerxes were also clear to me. But I really liked the elaborated examples you gave. |
| so does the story stes up before the safavids era or during it and is there any good translations for arslan book but the most important question is the anime any good |
-Anokata said: Great post and very interesting. I knew from the beginning that its indeed based on Persia since the persian language is called "farsi" and those things with Xerxes were also clear to me. But I really liked the elaborated examples you gave. Thank you very much for the kind words :-)! I'll make a post predicting how season 2 will play out; I've an idea which is not yet thought out. I'll keep you updated! |
mine_abou said: so does the story stes up before the safavids era or during it and is there any good translations for arslan book but the most important question is the anime any good It isn't coherent to one era. The author himself states that he has merged it; however, it is mostly focused on Cyrus's achaemenid empire. As for the anime, it's a must watch! It's getting a season 2; that should be enough to convince you that it's good. Check it out if you have some free time on your hands; you'll understand this post, much more clearly that way. |
DrRez said: mine_abou said: so does the story stes up before the safavids era or during it and is there any good translations for arslan book but the most important question is the anime any good It isn't coherent to one era. The author himself states that he has merged it; however, it is mostly focused on Cyrus's achaemenid empire. As for the anime, it's a must watch! It's getting a season 2; that should be enough to convince you that it's good. Check it out if you have some free time on your hands; you'll understand this post, much more clearly that way. thanks man i might watch it when s2 is completed so i could binge watch it in one go i'm intrested in historical animes |
Sounds like a good plan! Do you know any good historical anime(s) to watch? Other than Arslan I haven't come across any other anime that's based on history. |
DrRez said: Sounds like a good plan! Do you know any good historical anime(s) to watch? Other than Arslan I haven't come across any other anime that's based on history. here you go you can find what you're searching for here http://myanimelist.net/anime/genre/13 |
KolmeDG said: Well, it’s a fiction, so the author doesn’t seem to follow the source materials exactly. However, for me, Shahnameh seems to have influenced Arslan Senki Greatly. Especially, the following part of the epic reminds me of Arslan Senki. Iran was occupied by Afrasiyab. Rostam, who was the mightiest warrior, and Zal gathered army under Kai Kobad, heir of the throne who is “a boy fair as the moon”. Then they retook their land. Also, Zahhak is almost exactly the same in Arslan senki, with the same name. Same thing can be said for Feridun, though the name of the hero in Arslan senki is “Kai Khosrow”. I also found “Shabrang (name of Daryun’s horse)” and “Rakhsh (name of Kai Khosrow’s horse)” in the epic. Even so, this won’t work as foreseeing the future story, as I couldn’t find what happens after Zahhak awakes in the epic other than the prophecy and yet he has already awakened in Arslan Senki novel… I think it’s nice. In addition, Parsian religion seems to be polytheism and perhaps it is based on Zoroastrianism as “Mithra” and “Ashi” are mentioned. I absolutely agree! Thanks for the input :). |
| Dynamic between Andragoras and Narsus reminds a bit of dynamic between Paul I and Alexander Suvorov, but i don't think that an inspiration. Also, dynamic between Arslan and Andragoras reminds me a bit of Frederick the Great and his father. |
| Audaces fortuna juvat. |
novusanimis said: Ferrarin said: Arslan Senki was a real muslim trucs men , you can find more of him if you search about hil in Arabic , he is the ancestor of Othman who build the ottoman empire . Arslan senki the manga has taken a lot of the Arab and persian culture and history . Hello! I know this is an old conversation but can you share a source for it? From what I know no one actually shares his exact name, he was only based on Cyrus, and that he was not Muslim as this was pre-Islamic Persia. He was probably talking about this guy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilij_Arslan_I I think lion from Narnia was also based on him or something like that. But according to some sources Arslan Senki was based on persian epic Amir Arsalan and not on real history. |
Bleachtard_N1Mar 18, 2023 1:10 PM
| Audaces fortuna juvat. |
| I think in episode 10 Narsus's past was inspired by Alexander II of Russia and how he freed serfs. Pretty the same story. Inspiration for battle in episode 14 is probably Austerlitz. |
| Audaces fortuna juvat. |
More topics from this board
Poll: » Arslan Senki (TV) Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 )Stark700 - Sep 20, 2015 |
181 |
by alphadeepny_
»»
Oct 9, 2:35 PM |
|
Poll: » Arslan Senki (TV) Episode 21 Discussion ( 1 2 )Stark700 - Aug 30, 2015 |
79 |
by alphadeepny_
»»
Oct 9, 1:06 PM |
|
Poll: » Arslan Senki (TV) Episode 20 Discussion ( 1 2 3 )Stark700 - Aug 23, 2015 |
117 |
by alphadeepny_
»»
Oct 9, 12:10 PM |
|
Poll: » Arslan Senki (TV) Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 3 )Stark700 - Jun 28, 2015 |
130 |
by alphadeepny_
»»
Oct 9, 9:23 AM |
|
Poll: » Arslan Senki (TV) Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 )Stark700 - May 3, 2015 |
159 |
by alphadeepny_
»»
Oct 8, 1:02 PM |