Arslan Senki

For me this anime’s strongest points were its artistic sense, story, and likeable main characters. The drawbacks were a few inconsistencies (because the episodes were made so far apart), the plot could have been tighter, and the animation wasn’t all that pretty sometimes. However, in my opinion the imagination, captivating story, and unique style far outweighed the negative aspects. IN SHORT: If you like a nice old fashioned adventure- epic, with fantasy, a mystical art style, and a mostly character centered plot, then you will probably enjoy Arslan Senki. The designs and art are unique, and the story is interesting and captivating.Give this one ashot! It won’t take you long, it’s only a six episode OVA. AESTHETICS Positive: The animation is not that great, and animation and budget are limited, but the art direction is brilliant! There were many beautiful shots and artistic sceneries. One of the little touches that stood out to me was the way in which fire was animated throughout the ova. The fire is off the chain in this one! Negative (small): Sometimes the action didn’t make much sense, and a few fights seemed unrealistic (within the context of Arslan Senki’s universe). STORY, PLOT,CHARACTERS Positive: I loved the story! The scope was broad and the sense it gives off is that of an epic journey. You see the main character grow into a more mature man and capable ruler. It’s all about the underdog and how his quest to gain power and regain his position. Yes, the show is about war and politics, but it spends most of its time on Arslan’s development and telling the stories of its characters. Okay: I liked the variety of characters who were all interesting in their own way. Excluding Arslan and a few others the characters weren’t the most nuanced or multi-dimensional characters ever, but they were still a step above flat, one dimensional, archetypal characters. So all in all, they were pretty good, not the best, but still good. Negative: The start was a bit boring, but the story continuously becomes more engrossing as it progresses. I would say this is something you need to sit down, relax, and give yourself plenty of time to watch. As someone who gets bored of shows very quickly (look at my “dropped” list), I’d say the slow start isn’t unbearable and still has enough interesting moments on its own. Overall, the story and the plot have a more laid back feel to them. (Which isn’t necessarily a problem, it’s just the OVA’s style) SUMMARY: If you like a nice old fashioned adventure- epic, with fantasy, a mystical art style, and a mostly character centered plot, then you will probably enjoy Arslan Senki. The designs and art are unique, and the story is interesting and captivating. Give this one a shot! It won’t take you long, it’s only a six episode OVA.

Like many, my interest in this version of Arslan Senki was spurred by the Arakawa anime adaptation, which is 14 episodes in at the time of this writing. Unfortunately, I did not have the pleasure of viewing this version earlier, whether in my childhood or otherwise. The five main characters, Arslan, Daryun, Narsus, Gieve, and Farangies, are written well enough in this OVA and have presence. However, the secondary members of Arslan’s band, especially Alfreed and Etoile, are not; Their time on screen proves to be dull and pointless. Silvermask is a pleasant surprise, starting as a fairly generic villain shaking his fist of vengeance atthe protagonist. In time, he grows to be genuinely engaging, and his character and story are actually the most interesting. Shuuichi Ikeda was just the right amount of over-the-top in this performance and it is perfection. Unfortunately, Silvermask’s story has no resolution, and that is genuinely disappointing. The plot and writing are sloppy, and Silvermask’s story is not the only plot thread to be unresolved. In fact, most of the plot threads that the OVA works so hard to weave together are ultimately abandoned. Regardless of the shortage of source material, these points as well as the anticlimactic ending should be taken into account when writing critically about the anime. Artwise, the style is distinctive and pleasing, sporting a bit of greek flair. The character designs are harmonious and cool to say the least, many being infinitely better than the Arakawa version. Farangies, Arslan, and Daryun’s 1991 designs deserve a special mention. The cultural aesthetic of Arslan Senki is fairly strong, though a lot of the kingdoms shown did not look different enough from each other; In a story about warring countries, this can make for confusion. Though the style is nice, the animation itself mixed bag. It is oftentimes incredibly impressive, though it can be inconsistent and generally lacking. There are times when the low framerate is painfully apparent, and many classic budget cutting tricks are used. Examples include: no backgrounds/white glow, reuse of shots, unnecessary silhouetting, and restriction of color (for instance, coloring night scenes in monochrome gray). Regarding sound, only one or two pieces of music in the soundtrack are remarkable. It has a pronounced late eighties/early nineties sound to it, which not a bad thing by any means but it is worth noting and does date the OVA. The voice acting is decent: not anything ground-breaking, but it gets the job done. Overall, this incarnation of Arslan Senki is inferior to its more cohesive remake, but it is still extremely enjoyable. Though flawed, I am quite fond of it and it is undoubtedly worth a watch.

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.

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