Review of The Heroic Legend of Arslan

Arslan Senki is the kind of show that I didn't really appreciate fully until I had finished the last episode. It was a good show and I enjoyed every episode I watched, but I rarely found myself hyped to watch the next episode. It wasn't until the end that I sat back and realized how enjoyable the entire show as a whole was even though it was really slow-paced. The story is your typical "fight for your right to the throne" angle with the righteous versus the not-so-righteous. The story doesn't do much early on as it mostly spends the first half introducing all thecharacters in Arslan's party and developing them. The story really begins to pick up about halfway through though because once the characters and the two sides of the fight for the throne are well established, the large-scale battles begin. The story itself gets better each episode, as plot points such as questions about Arslan's legitimacy to the throne (he is a green-eared 14 year old after all) and the danger of other parties getting involved in what should be a two-sided war between Lusitania and Pars are introduced to add some flavor to what is usually a rather bland story setting.

One of the strongest characteristics of the show is how it handles all the battles. Early on, the main characters are very often outnumbered or in a bad position and it takes careful planning and cunning strategy to win their battles. Once the large battles begin in the second half, that same strategic approach to each battle still holds true. There's no rage-mode power-ups, no "protagonist arrives at the last second to save the day" moments, or things like that. Each side's strategists lay out a realistic battle plan and execute it, and the strategy that is better executed wins. The downside to the fights is that it never really felt like Arslan and his party were ever in any true danger of losing- even when they were vastly outnumbered.

The characters are good overall, but some of them are hit-or-miss. Arslan is hard not to like. He's extremely good-natured and cares for his subordinates, and his wish to reclaim the throne is based more off of what he hopes to accomplish for the people than it is about whether or not he deserves the throne in the first place. Daryun, his right-hand man, is possibly the strongest character on the show and his fights never fail to impress. Narsus is the brilliant strategist who has a love for painting despite the fact he is terrible at it. Elam is Narsus' apprentice and the group's trap and recon specialist. Farangis is a beautiful archer woman who follows Arslan despite not being a Parsian. Gieve is a comical musician who loves women. Alfreed is the daughter of a bandit-chieftain and loves Narsus while having a healthy rivalry with Elam.
All of these characters are likeable but only Narsus, Gieve, and Arslan really feel developed. Farangis is honestly little more than fan service, and Elam and Alfreed don't do much besides fight for Narsus' attention. Daryun is just hopelessly powerful and outside of teasing Narsus for being a bad painter, offers little beyond his fighting ability.

The art on the show is average across the board. There's never a moment where it really looks bad, but there's also never a moment where it looks especially good. It is consistent at the very least. The characters are well-done and the animation of the large army-on-army fights is done very well. The landscapes are often times below average quality. The animation for the one-on-one sword fights is also very good. It's mostly just the lack of detail they put into the environments that is really in the bad area- most everything else is either average or good.

The sound on the show is one of the strong points. Both of the OPs were among the best of their respective seasons, and the endings were solid but not great. None of the battle music or anything was really memorable, but it all fit really well into the setting. Most of the music just flowed nicely alongside the clashing of swords and stomping of hooves; it did a good job of just simply doing its job.

Overall, I really did enjoy Arslan Senki. The first half was slow, but the second half had a good number of pivotal moments and was set up well by the slow-going first half. The story is surprisingly engaging considering how predictable it is. The show does a good job of making sure what is on-screen is entertaining even though you know what is going to happen next. The characters were overall likeable despite half of the main party not really getting any development, but the roster overall was actually pretty strong. The animation and art were consistent and the fights looked nice, but the environment quality was really lacking. The sound was very good despite not being memorable. I'd definitely recommend this anime to anybody, especially if that person likes medieval-style settings or battles that are based more on strategy than power.

Story: 8/10
Art: 7/10
Sound: 9/10
Character: 8/10
Enjoyment: 9/10

Overall: 8:10