You know, I sometimes really get surprised by the ratings on MAL. Arslan Senki is ranked as #643 and has a rating of only 7,91. An Adventure, Action, Historical and Fantasy anime like this really deserves a higher ranking.
"The Heroic Legend of Arslan" takes place in the prosperous kingdom of Pars. In the kingdom's capital Ecbatana the young Prince Arslan is growing up and taught how to become a good future ruler like his fearsome and undefeated father, King Andragoras. But despite all his effort, Arslan doesn't seem to have what it takes to become a real ruler.
As a 14-Year-Old-Boy, Arslan goes to his first battle where he confronts defeat, loosing nearly everything he'd got. Together with Daryun, a high-ranked officer of the Parsian army, he escapes the battlefront and begins his journey and our adventure. His mission, taking back his empire, and becoming the ruler of Pars.
The first thing you would think, oh it's again one of that stories where the prince needs to take back his kingdom from the bad guys. It is in one way, but there are many other paths that this anime takes until the very end. The main story line does follow Arslan's way to a great leader, but with the episodes more characters and background stories are introduced making this anime so good as it is.
When talked about the main plot, it does kinda look cliche, but it kinda surprises you with every episode that follows. You always have that thoughts: "No Arslan, please!" or "Why are you...ah, never mind"!. And despite everything you continue watching because it is so interesting. And also, the thing I found so good about this anime is how it makes you think about the connections to real kingdoms from the past. If only every History lesson had been animated, maybe I would have even tried to study it. Also one of my good friends started watching it, and liked it mainly because of this historical connections. The main story appears to be a cliche story you've already seen before, but is actually an intriguing, awesome and interesting story due to all the various characters that get engaged by the time, together with their skill, characteristics and special appeal.
In addition to this epic story comes also a lot of action with action-loaded fights that really make you fall in love with Arslan Senki more and more. You have the strong and irreplaceable warrior Daryun, the brilliant tactician Narsus, the strong and beautiful Falangies and much more Arslan's fellows that help him on his way back to the throne.
True it does not surprise me since the producer of Arslan Senki are the same producers of well known anime like Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, Code Geass, The Blue Exorcist, Darker than Black, Angel Beats etc.
And for the end of this review section I want to mention the favorite thing about Arslan Senki. The plot twists and "story surprises". The interesting thing is that these are definitely immense twist and enormous surprises but they don't come that suddenly. They kinda make their way slowly into the story. It does not come like a lone BOOM!, but more like a Drum-Roll with a BANG! at the end. ( I really have ridiculous ways of describing things). I hope you get what I am trying to say.
In short, Arslan Senki is an interesting and epic story you really shouldn't miss.
Characters
It is again one of these anime where it is hard to take just a few characters to talk about. If I discussed every important character from this anime I would go on talking until the morning. I really would like to talk about Falanies, Gieve, Alfreed etc, but let's just concentrate on these three:
ARSLAN is our main character in the story. As a kid Arslan has always been very cute and curious always wanting to explore and learn more. Arslan is also a very naive and gentle person that always thinks in an optimistic way. Even though Arslan doesn't look like the strongest warrior, he has a great heart for every person, even for his enemies. He is an intelligent and charismatic young boy that has his whole life in front of him. But the thing that fascinates me the most about Arslan is that despite being 14, Arslan still behaves in a mature way, whether it is about his kingdom, war or just relationships with people around him. In the end I want to say that Arslan is definitely my favorite main character so far.
DARYUN is the strongest warrior of the story. Not only is he strong, and very skillful, he is also very clever and intelligent always trying to find the best way to win. His main task in the anime is to protect Arslan, and you can clearly see his passion and loyalty trough the whole anime. He does take his "job" very serious, and so he doesn't let other emotions out. That's the thing I kinda didn't like about the character of Daryun. We don't get to know the Daryun that lies beneath the armor. I hope the next season brings us more information about Daryun or a good background story about his past.
NARSUS is the character I love the most in this anime. He is so quick-witted and crazy, yet so skillful and smart. Not smart, brilliant. He is the tactician of every battle
always outsmarting the opponent. He does look like he is hiding something, something about him is mysterious but I can't grasp it. And that's exactly what makes him so interesting, and makes me love him so much. And by the way, who would have ever thought that the only wish of the once well known chief adviser of Pars would be to become the royal painter. He is such a cool guy and trust me you'll love him. Can't wait to see what will happen to him in the next season.
Animation
Arslan Senki has a great animation, which is in my opinion a not so surprising fact because it is a 2015 anime. It is awesome and the style is perfect.
I loved the landscapes and the looks of all the castles and backgrounds. I really don't know what to write in this section. Here is a cute pic for you (xD).
Well, if I may add I loved the second opening. Here a You Tube link if you want to see..
