Alternative Title: Arslan Senki
Manga Adaptation by Liden Films and Sanzigen
Streaming on Funimation

Premise

Arslan is the crown prince of Pars, the prosperous Royal Capital of the kingdom of Ecbatana. However, at the age of 14, Arslan loses everything when the kingdom falls to war and treachery, and must embark on a journey to liberate his nation and reclaim the kingdom.

Artemis’ verdict: Prologue To The Real Thing

As first episodes go, this neither made me run screaming from the room nor blew me away with its awesomeness. I do think fans of the historical fantasy genre should be keeping an eye on this one (although funnily enough, the fantastical elements have yet to make a showing), but so far it feels like Arslan has a lot of potential, which may or may not translate to a good series. A couple of the characters seem promising but it’s too soon to know how well they’ll be developed, and I get the sense that many, if not most, of the plot elements have yet to be revealed – in fact, the synopsis of the show gives away more than the premier did, and I’m inclined to think of that as a kind of prologue more than anything else. However, I’m already impressed by the general cinematography of the show, which features a lot of sweeping pan shots and gorgeous background artwork. Here’s hoping the budget wasn’t all blown on the first episode.

Jel’s verdict: A Legend Still In the Making

I’ve been wanting to see Liden Films cut loose ever since they did the gorgeous Aiura shorts and as the first of two full series this season, Arslan does well. The plot of this prologue episode was not particularly original as we’ve seen the “sheltered, idealistic Prince discovers reality sucks” plot line time and again, but it has a solid, cinematic presentation and definitely has potential moving forward. The backdrop of Fake Persia is also an interesting setting, very different from Japanese High School or even the Fake Europe settings we usually get for fantasy stories. Of course it’s worth keeping mind the story of Arslan is ultimately based on a decades old novel series based on a centuries old legend, so maybe we shouldn’t get our hopes up for unique twists. Still, this first episode leaves a strong enough impression that I think Arslan is worth keeping an eye on.

Iro’s verdict: Standard

There’s nothing necessarily bad about Arslan, but I’d also say there isn’t anything particularly good about it either. The Middle-Eastern aesthetic is a welcome departure from usual anime fare, and the presentation is solid despite being utterly generic, so I can see this being a decent middle-of-the-road anime the likes of which is welcome among the skeevy light novel adaptations we get every season. I just don’t see myself watching any further unless it suddenly gets a ton of positive buzz.