The second season of Arslan was a relief, mainly due to the fact that they shortened down the runtime of the show to a measly 8 episodes. The reason why I continued with Arslan Senki and decided to watch the second season was to get a sense of completion and a sense of fulfillment, knowing that this train wreck of a series has finally come to an end. I was wrong as Arslan Senki: Fuujin Ranbu did not have any sort of resolution.
The second season of Arslan Senki is below average as it has too many shifts in the narrative that make it hard to watch. In one episode we see the prince get exiled, and in the very next we see the prince being a human rights activist. Moreover, this season was so baffling, it had the audacity to manipulate its viewers into believing that anything interesting would happen in the 8 episodes. Nothing particularly interesting happened.
The fundamental issue with Arslan Senki: Fuujin Ranbu lies within the structure of the show. Its runtime was reduced by 2/3rds and they tried to jump over their heads with the amount of content put into the show. Some parts that can be considered great setups are immediately ruined in the next episode, removing any sort of tension that this setup could have. For instance, at one point in the series, the king of Pars – tyrant Andragoras the third – returns to the remains of his kingdom, only to exile the prince. In of itself, this was a very interesting turning point as it could have explored themes such as banishment, starting everything from scratch and so forth. This great setup was almost immediately ruined in the next episode, where our demigod cast of superheroes can’t leave the prince behind and decide to escape the tyrant Andragoras the third’s regime – they’re loyal to the prince after all.
The tonal shifts of this show are something out of this world and may lead someone to the brink of insanity. As mentioned before, these tonal shifts or shifts in the narrative completely direct the story in a different path which creates a feeling of inconsistency and a fragmented narrative. We have a subplot about some old artifact that can be used as a credential, we get to see the antagonist’s past and his love story, we can see the king returning from being imprisoned in Lusitania and we also see the prince being a human rights activist fighting against pirates; all of this somehow fit in 8 episodes. A better solution in my opinion would be to focus on one story and tell it from start to end. The first season wasn’t the best but season two could have concluded the story in better fashion.
The characters are all the same, with the exception of some new and equally stupid characters being introduced. One such example is Narsus’ friend, Shagard – whom Narsus has been a friend with for a long time. Shagard is said to be a clever character and someone who has the same intellectual capacity as Narsus but unfortunately we never get to witness any of that. Shogard is just a greedy person who has made a business on slavery – which our protagonists do not agree with – because all people are equal and slaves are bad! Horrendous writing, that’s all I can say.
As for the other characters, they’re the same. Arslan is still the same lenient and naïve child but they’ve decided to give him some philosophical inner monologues at times which honestly come off as pretentious. The other characters are exactly the same, and no one has changed in the slightest manner.
Hilmes is an interesting character but he barely gets any screen time.
The technical aspects of the show haven’t changed much, the animation is slightly worse except for the fights. The fights are honestly what give this show any merit of being watchable. They keep replaying the same medieval.mp3 soundtrack every time a fight happens, very lackluster and uncreative in my opinion. Some characters are off-model but who cares at this point?
In general, it was good that Arslan Senki: Fuujin Ranbu was only 8 episodes. It was at least more entertaining than the first season despite being 2/3rds shorter. I hope they don’t continue with this train wreck of a series. It could have been good but was ultimately ruined by poor direction and plot armor among other things.
