Arslan Senki

In the medieval kingdom of Pars, young Prince Arslan confronts the hostility of his father and the disinterest of his mother, and yearns to learn more about the world. Despite being surrounded by poverty and slavery, Arslan persists in seeing the possibility of a nobler world. Everything changes when the neighboring nation of Lusitania invades Pars, and Arslan is forced to grow up in an instant.

Arslan Senki follows Prince Arslan to war, where he struggles to save his nation and family with the help of a small but devoted circle of advisers. Along the way the young prince finds secrets around every corner and faces enemies who hate him because of what he is, but also finds friends where he least expects them. The story of nations at war, Arslan Senki is also the story of one boy's quest to stay himself in the most trying of circumstances.

Arslan Main

Yamaguchi, Kappei Japanese

Daryun Main

Inoue, Kazuhiko Japanese

Narsus Main

Shiozawa, Kaneto Japanese

Gieve Main

Yao, Kazuki Japanese

Falangies Main

Katsuki, Masako Japanese

Silver Mask Main

Ikeda, Shuuichi Japanese

Etoile Supporting

Mitsuishi, Kotono Japanese

Elam Supporting

Sasaki, Nozomu Japanese

Andragoras III Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Alfreed Supporting

Watanabe, Kumiko Japanese

Ikeguchi, Kazuhiko Producer

Kawasaki, Tomoko Producer

Amino, Tetsurou Director

Hamatsu, Mamoru Director

Reviews

Jul 1, 2010

Wallenwhatsit

Recommended

This anime is one of the very first I've seen back in the days, and to this day is probably what got me into the genre.

Great story if your into fantasy and some sword play, I only wished the series was a little longer and more fleshed out but I loved in none the less.

The originial english voice actors at the beginning are quite good, no idea why they changed the VA's towards the end... I think it was a long time between releases.. but still, watch it in japanese and you should be fine if you hate inconsistencies there.

Shame for them to ... do that otherwise i'd give it a perfect score.

Definately reccomended to the old skool anime-goers.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 27, 2012

Toeroe

Recommended

The unbeaten army of Pars finds itself lured into a trap during a battle. The troops get slaughtered, the king captured and their capitol is taken later on. The crown prince, Arslan, escapes with his loyal fighter, Darün/Daryoon (I watched G_P's release "Darün", but here he is listed as "Daryoon").

From there Arslan allies a handful loyal companions around him and marches to castle Peshawar at the border to plan his strike on the capitol to retake and free his parents, the King and Queen. With a few side-stories going on, this anime never got me bored and always got me hooked for one more episode, ... although I was running late for work.

The art and sound sure are not near up-to-date, but to be honest, I don't care. In the end you have to judge something by the standards of that time. Otherwise you could claim to be better than Galileo Galilei, because now we know more than he did.

The story, characters and the overall enjoyment were outstanding. This isn't just a companion-rallying medieval fight-anime with some magic to it. No, it has deep political (how he got that elephant-riding troop to join him and other very clever moves), deep moral (his childhood and therefore his hatred for slavery and some other things, but don't want to spoil), funny (Gieve/Guibu always making me smirk with his highly intelligent and eloquent verbal punches towards anyone), and of course captivating, because this story is well-written.

I would have liked to see more than 6 episodes, but I think leaving the rest to the imagination of the watcher isn't half-bad either. I liked how Gieve/Guibu started picking on the people in the castle and left the party after that, because as a ministrel/bard he is just too much of a free spirit to be "caged" inside a castle for too long. I am sure in other anime, they would have made him stay or even not pick up fights, but this anime is very authentic and that is one of few factors, which made me give this anime 10/10 and boost it on the top of my list.

10/10, most favourite anime!

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Aug 3, 2013

Smigsby

Not Recommended

My friend and I started watching this show because we're both huge Legend of Galactic Heroes fans, and the novelist that created that show also created this one. Legend of Galactic Heroes is probably one of the best anime shows of all time; it's a show of amazing ambition and scope that manages to blend in personal struggles, memorable characters, and a galaxy-spanning war without ever becoming unengaging to the audience.

Unfortunately, Heroic Legend of Arslan doesn't live up to that pedigree. Well, whatever, Yoshiyuki Tomino had Garzey's Wing, I guess Yoshiki Tanaka has Arslan.

The biggest problems I had with the series were the story, characters, ... and animation. I'm probably going to reference LoGH a lot to prove my points.

STORY: The story hooked me right away with the first episode. It seemed like it had the makings of a classic story - a kingdom falls, a prince vows to get the kingdom back, he gets some allies, some plot twists happen, he raises an army, and gets back the kingdom in the end.

The problem is that the characters themselves seemed to lack emotion and seemed dispassionate about actually getting Pars back. In addition, I never really got a good handle on how the war between the prince's group and the usurpers was actually going. In Legend of Galactic Heroes, they usually took a few seconds during each battle to illustrate in some way which side was winning and their spatial locations. In Arslan, I had problems following who was where and why.

Also, Arslan continues something that I hate, hate, hate about anime series: no ending. Basically, he starts almost at square one again, invalidating all the effort he took in the previous five episodes!

CHARACTERS: The second biggest problem with Arslan are the characters. I mentioned it above, but Arslan seems mostly indifferent to the prospect of actually getting back Pars. Sure, he mentions it, but it doesn't feel like he has any sort of spark or drive. With Lohengramm in LoGH, you got the sense that he was full of (and would eventually be consumed by) his ambition.

The other characters in his group were kind of a flatline for me too: none of them except for that black armor knight seemed interested in Pars either. They seemed to be mostly along for the ride and didn't seem like they were actually friends or life-and-death companions.

The only character that seemed to have any passion was the Silver Mask villain. It was funny actually, I thought his beef with Pars was pretty legit, and I was kind of rooting for *him* to succeed. Who cares if he used black magic, at least he had some sort of drive!

ANIMATION: Arslan's animation is inconsistent from episode-to-episode. Character designs seem to change, the quality of the animation seems to change, and it's very noticeable. Not having a consistent animation style is off-putting, and it takes you out of the story.

OVERALL: I'm giving this a 4. I really wanted to like this show, but all the elements that worked in Legend of Galactic Heroes simply don't work here. Whether it was being confused by character motivation or not being terribly interested in the characters, Arslan had problems that made it a below average viewing experience.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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