Arslan Senki is one of those anime that really needs to get a second season. Not because it's that great, but because it's source material basically forces it to. Apparently, the novel series (not light novels, mind you) is still running with 14 parts published. No matter how many seasons the anime gets, it won't be enough to completely adapt the books.
But does it work as an anime? In short: Yes, it's pretty good. It's flaws prevent it from being anything great but if you like this kind of story it'll be a good watch and you'll be left wondering where things go at the end.
Story: [8/10]
It should be pretty clear to everyone watching after just a few episodes just how much this is part of a larger work. A lot of time is spent on worldbuilding and directly and indirectly setting up characters and plotlines for later, or at least that's what i imagine certain small scenes and lines to be. Now, the plot is actually incredibly straightforward. If you've read the intro before watching the first episode you can more or less see most of what's coming the next few episodes for the rest of the season. But that's not neccessarily bad. It feels like a lot of the plot will go deeper as it continues, and almost none of the developments feel cheap or unrealistic. And that's where Arslan senki almost shines: it gives us a glimpse of how this world operates without being too nice about issues like war and slavery without getting stuck in the potential angst. Aside from that i enjoyed the pacing, everything keeps moving steadily without ever rushing or dwelling on an issue. A rarity as far as anime goes, and it helps to keep one interested in the developments.
I have to be somewhat harsher on the characters. All of them work, they're all well-written, and they serve clear purposes to the story. Yet I can't shake the idea that some of them received too little time to properly show their colours early on. A priestess shows up a few episodes in and she's clearly important among the supporting cast (as her character design shows), but there is far too little time spent on her personality and motivation. Her subsequent appearances are devoid of much meaning, the same way her cool scene in the semi-final episode is robbed of it's charm. Perhaps I should just say that she's the only character whose name I flat-out forgot and I don't even care. The main cast does get enough attention, especially Arslan, though it's clear he has a lot of room for growth left for another 13 novels or so. Oh well, he's 15, i can cut him a break.
Special note for the villains: they're all pretty great. The character designs help, but each of them has a clear personality, motivations, goals and means. The exception would be Kharlan's son, who seems to be thrown in there just to have Daryun fight someone strong, and apparently that has to be a named character.
Art: [7/10]
The characters designs will look familiar to anyone who has seen anything made by Hiromu Arakawa before (basically everyone who has seen FMA, so yeah, everyone), and that's a good thing as far as i'm concerned. The designs are great, the animation in the fight scenes is convincing while balancing on the edge of realism (anime-level) and exciting, and i really like the way Pars looks, it genuinely seems like a country with it's own culture and customs, and good art is vital for that. None of it is genius, but none of it is in any way bad.
Except for the CGI. In these kinds of stories, the big battles are supposed to be a bit of a treat for those who care about them (like me), in which we get to see a lot of budget get wasted on a lot of gorgeous drawings and animations of armies gloriously stabbing the hell out of each other. The CGI takes the edge off of that, which pretty much sucks bigtime. It's not horrible, the opening battle at Atropene still looks appropriately horrifying, but later on the feel of the armies is really kind of hollow.
Further remarks:
I can barely remember any of the music, which is both a good and a bad thing. I suppose i'll listen to it when the ost comes out, but for now i'm kind of disappointed that the epic story of Arslan becoming king and reconquering his country didn't have a few cool songs that i remember right after watching the (season) finale. The second OP was really great, but even that was mostly just the first 20 seconds. Still, it got me hyped for the episode every time i heard it.
I can't compare this anime to the OVA because I haven't seen the latter. Doubt I ever will, but with 20+ years between them I don't feel like it's a bad idea to remake a story, especially with the new art.
Verdict: [8/10]
Honestly, this show has a lot of things going against it. It has to cram a lot of characters into a short amount of time, deliver huge amounts of exposition, and end on a somewhat unsatisfying note in the hope of a sequel. Or ten. Still, the one thing I feel after finishing it: I want more. I want to know how the battles go from here. I want to know how Arslan deals with the hard issues, I want to see him grow more. I want to know how Silver Mask and the Lusitanians go from here, I want to see how the characters on the side develop, and how Arslan reacts to his parents. The anime's biggest flaw is how it's based on a huge series of novels. But maybe that's also one of it's greatest strengths.
