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If you're like me and stumbled across some weird Alexander the Great anime from the late 90's with a bizarre art style and no reviews above a 7, you'd feel an instantaneous need to watch it for yourself, if only so that you could mystify your friends with your ability to find weird shows with ridiculous premises. As someone who has gone through this and come out the other side with a smile on my face, I feel a need to rectify this and give this show the recognition it deserves.

If you're looking for something historically accurate, you've come to the wrong place. Alexander Senki ... roughly follows Alexander the Great's ascension to the throne and his conquests throughout the ancient world whilst being hunted by various wizard cult members. The strange dichotomy between obvious fiction and romanticised reality gives the whole experience a sense of surreality, emphasised by the unconventional art style. The art gives the world a unique sense of identity, in that it combines strange, technology-drenched architecture in hypercolour with angular, almost jagged faces. Whilst I can understand that it may throw some people off, I feel it is key to the quality of the show and is thus almost unparalleled (if only because no-one is game enough to have such a potentially controversial artstyle).

The music choice is reflective of the art design, in that it combines upbeat, heroic tunes with offbeat synthesised ones. Watching the sub, the choice of voice actors seemed suitable. I did however dive into the dub for one episode, where the voice acting ranged from uninspired to downright infuriating (looking at you, Zoroastrians). So if you're tossing up the two, I would recommend the sub. Speaking of criticisms, there are some bits of repeated animation, but these are usually some of the better animated sections and it isn't too egregious.

I really enjoyed this show. Whilst it isn't for everyone, it certainly doesn't deserve the 5.78 average it had at the time of writing. Take a chance and give it a go - it might surprise you.