Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「汗血公路」 (Kanketsukouro)
“The Highway of Blood and Sweat”
The Heroic Legend of Arslan ends with the romcom mid-campaign epilogue of Arslan. Final impressions included.
Not Bad, But … Off
I enjoyed this episode on the whole. I feel like the production team was in a hard place, having to stop the story on a footnote. That’s why the Battle for Saint Emmanuel was made larger than it was in the source, and I think they did a reasonably good job, considering they were basically tasked with ramming a square peg in a star-shaped hole. But if that was the climax, here we had an epilogue of sorts, and it was … odd.
The mid-campaign reminiscing at the end between Arslan, Daryun, and Narsus was odd. And there’s the fact that, on the whole, not a lot happened here. Rather than a heroic legend, this became the romcom of Arslan, and Étoile was the main character.
Which once again, wasn’t bad. I enjoyed blushing Étoile (that over the shoulder braid, maaaaan), even if they were once again trying really hard to pound the squiggly peg that is this tomboy knight into an X-shaped feminine healer/mother hole. (Just like I’m repeatedly pummeling this metaphor.) And there where times where characters’ actions seemed to fit the plot rather than fit them. Ex: Étoile crying when Arslan suggested that the Lusitanian leaders were manipulating her faith, rather than hardening as zealots invariably do. Had she considered that before? Perhaps, but without hint of that, it felt abrupt.
Also, when Arslan left the door open, and she stayed. Which was probably wise on her part, but I’m not sure it fit. It’s like they put Étoile’s character development on an express train, and I could scarcely believe how fast we were going.
Hermes’ Offer, Guiscard’s Gambit
Undoubtedly the most plot-important moment in the episode was Hermes offer to Guiscard: He gets the throne of Pars, while Guiscard gets the throne of Lusitania. Which—once again, there’s some oddity here. Doesn’t it feel like Guiscard could easily take the throne himself? Sure, having a Parsian king on hand to cut off his brother’s head for him is convenient, but it doesn’t feel hard to accomplish when Innocentius seems so much like a figurehead. Once again, maybe that’s not the case. But how are we to know? It hasn’t been shown. All we’ve seen is Innocentius flirting with Tahamenay, and Guiscard doing all the competent shit. Odd.
Getting A Little Better All The Time
While it got tiresome when every major character felt compelled to comment upon Étoile (which would have made sense if they insinuated that they suspected Arslan fancied the Lusitanian knight, but since no one really did, it became odd), I enjoyed Farangis’ explanation of why they follow Arslan. Some viewers haven’t liked Arslan since the series began, and I’ll admit, his retinue can get a bit repetitive in their constant praise of the little prince. Though when they remember the terror of Andragoras, it becomes easier to understand.
The reason I’ve always liked Arslan is not, at its root, because he’s a good king right now. He’s better than the alternatives, certainly, but it’s not that he’ll be this stellar-in-all-things king from day one. It’s that he’s improving, and he seeks to continually improve. As Farangis said, it’s a human desire to reach for perfection, even if it’s impossible to obtain. But if you stop reaching for perfection, you’ll stagnate—and in her estimation, turn toward evil. I prefer something Neil deGrasse Tyson might say: That if we stop seeking to improve, we may as well just slide back into the case, because that’s where we’re headed. In that paraphrase he was talking about science and innovation, but it’s true of many things. Once you stop striving to improve, you’re already falling behind.
Which sounds horrifying and tiring, but imagine if you only improve 1% a week. In a year, you’ll be an entirely different person. (A 68% better person, if you want to be exact–compounding interest is a wonderful bitch.) Which is what Arslan does. He thinks things through. He improves. He studies other people’s holy books for a way to peace. He doesn’t act like a king, which is to his credit. If he were in GATCHAMAN Crowds Insight, he would have had a gray bubble over his head, by the end of the series if not at the beginning. He’s grown a lot in 25 episodes.
Looking Ahead
For however odd this episode was in a lot of ways, they did one thing undeniably right. The very last moments, when Gieve’s narration kicked in, and it was revealed that what he was searching for was Arslan’s “so-called proof of his right to the throne”, that was definitely a chills moment. That was a good moment to end on.
Final impressions below.
tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – The Heroic Legend of Arslan ends with the romcom of Arslan. Which isn’t bad, just … odd #arslan 25
Random thoughts:
- Narsus x Alfreed shipping, though, I can get behind entirely. She’s alive, yay! ;_;
- Looks like Farangis found a drinking buddy! …everybody run. I’ll hold them off with my liver. *dives in*
- “Once I become an adult, the horns may grow in.” Arslan, you sassy bitch! Are you secretly a ladies man? Ufufu~
ED3 Sequence
 |
 |
 |
ED3: 「渦と渦」 (Uzu to Uzu) by NICO Touches the Walls
Final Impressions
A lot has happened in twenty-five episodes, and much of it has been good. I got into this wanting a good old-fashioned swords & horses fantasy epic, as opposed to the more typical swords & sorcery tales that I so love to watch, read, and even write. Which is largely what we got. Oh, there was some magical elements, though they were generally minor … and when they showed up, generally were to the detriment of the show. Some, like the man-beast in the Sindhuran arc, worked fine, though the rest of the time I wanted them to stick with swords & horses. Because when they did that, we got a good tale.
Not that everything was great. The animation got slipshod from time to time; this clearly wasn’t afforded the largest of budgets. Many scenes were often so blasted dark that I could hardly see what was going on, some of which is the fault of the streams, though much of it was baked into the animation. The aforementioned qualms with magic. Characters were a bit too gung-ho to praise Arslan and Narsus, when Narsus was on the field most opponents were nearly trivialized, and we didn’t always get the full breadth of character development because there just wasn’t enough time to do it all.
Yet even so, a swords & horses epic was largely what we got. The first cour was probably the most coherent, as focused as it was on collecting Arslan’s team and escaping to Peshawar. I enjoyed the Sindhuran arc a lot too, since it was a lot of nation-level strategy and battles, and you better believe the lunatic who blogged Kyoukaisen loves that kind of stuff. Probably weakest was the final return-to-Pars arc, but like I said further above, they were stuck between a rock and another rock—how do you satisfactorily end a story on what amounts, in the source, to a footnote? I think they did a decent enough job, though I know source material readers, as is so often the case, disagree. Such is the price for that knowledge.
I find myself with little to say that hasn’t already been said before, mostly by me. It was a pretty good show. I wouldn’t say it matched my expectations, but that was mostly due to budget issues from the look of things, and from having shit all for places to stop. But I enjoyed it in the end, and I don’t regret having blogged it. And since I spent something like six times as long watching, thinking about, and writing about this series than each of you likely did, that’s a pretty decent vote of confidence, I think.
My first novel, Wage Slave Rebellion, is available now. (More info—now in paperback!) Sign up for my email list for a FREE sequel novella. Over at stephenwgee.com, the last four posts: My morning routine, True Ends, Rejection, the secret place, & fundamentals, and What are your two skills?
End Card
 |
This needs a season 2 so badly
No would it be season three?
It’d be the second season, third cour.
I really don’t understand what a cour is. So a season could have more than one cour? Watching Arslan Senki, was the first time that I heard about cours. But I am more a manga guy. 🙂
Kinai.
Kinai, it’s a little confusing because sometimes, season and cour mean the same thing. If you talk about anime seasons, you can mean summer, autumn, winter or spring. But in terms of a specific anime series, a season is a stretch of a show being aired, usually continuously. Meaning, for Arslan, 25 episodes, for Gangsta, 12 episodes, etc…
So to help undo that confusion and use a more specific term, ‘cour’ was adopted to refer to a specific length, roughly 11-13 episodes, basically the length of summer, autumn, winter or spring (which was previously referred to as ‘season’). So a season can have many cours. But we even have seasons with “split cours”. Durarara!! X2 for example was announced to be aired in 3 cours. Winter 2015, Summer 2015 and Winter 2016. Those 3 cours, even if split apart, are considered one season because it was planned this way.
I think that I got it, more or less.
I’ll make it easier for you. Cour = quarter. This show lasted two quarters (spring & summer), so it lasted two cours. Every cour gets a new season preview.
I guess the closest we can get to a continuation would be the upcoming Arslan Senko Musou games, if they decide to extend the game’s narrative beyond the Battle of Saint Emmanuel’s Keep.
Second Season Confirmed!
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-10-11/the-heroic-legend-of-arslan-gets-new-tv-anime-in-2016/.94079
I have to agree to you that it felt really odd. But daym! I’m shipping Etoile and Arslan so badly.
Arslan’s one suave kid sweeping the tomboy Etoile off her feet every time that they’re together. Who thought you that you frikking ladies’ man.
Your paperback finally showed up in the mail today.
I rather enjoyed the episode but now thinking back it was a tad odd.
Speaking of last weeks arrow avoidance with Farangis she used magic. What the heck did George Washigton have the several times he rallied his troops from the front. 6ft 4 inch when people were shorter, on a white stallion, in a Major Generals uniform and only a few holes in his coat. Yes the muskets were inaccurate but with dozens if not hundreds firing on him? I tell you before you think something is unbelievable check history first.
I got no problem with Étoile developing her human and traditional feminine side every man should do so. And her contrast Arslan sure is feminine. But that only if Étoile keeps some of her traditional male traits, at least in private, publicly she might have to show up female like in public as Queen. Étoile probably would still be able to get away with armor and weapons riding to war, a fair number of historical women of top rank did. Queen Isabelle of Spain wore armor although it took me awhile to find one of the drawings of her that way right now.
What I loved the most is Arslan read Étoile’s holy book several times and did not find the support for her views in general. Reminds me of how fanatics and pretend fanatics down though history have cherry picked and then twisted the meaning of the Bible and Quran to justify horrible things when a more intelligent reading find both books way more peace and good treatment oriented.
The funny thing about fiction is that it’s held to a higher standard than reality. In reality, abjectly random bullshit can happen, the bad guys can win without hope of reprisal, and the plot doesn’t have to make a damn bit of sense. We expect more from fiction. When George Washington doesn’t get hit there, we go, “Wow, that’s crazy!” or, “It’s a miracle!”. In fiction, gotta justify that shit.
I hope you enjoy the book 😀
Very good point.
I think one of the things that makes Game of Thrones so great is that it does seam more like real history, almost anyone can die good, bad or ugly and the plot go off in unexpected directions making it feel more like the real history it based on in part the War of the Roses. And the writer actually got people to buy into that.
Problems still. A vocal part of the audience still can’t get into a woman acting like any of the great rulers on the way up. I think that both sexism and as this American chat the tendency of some to hate anyone who seams confident and not humble in American thinking. And now the show is going more fantasy as promised I believe there is a more classic plot at the root. I wonder if they kept off screen where Jamie Lasnister kills all of a Lords sons and several others in a battle because although a super warrior is historically valid, we see the same level of talent ruling the floor in the NBA, many have trouble believing that in a supposedly more real tale.
One problem here and any great general tale is that some people have trouble with is accepting some people actually are as smart as Narsus and that anyone can run up a huge series of wins like in this story. The smart part is perhaps a American trait as many never want to admit that people can be that gifted in the area of intelligence. And I think it very possible Narsus could lose at some point, Alexander the Great never lost but most of the other greats sooner or later had their streaks broken.
I wouldn’t start generalizing so much. While it’s the current vogue in parenting to praise a child’s effort (“You worked really hard, well done!”) instead of their natural abilities (“You’re so smart/talented/pretty, well done!”), that wasn’t, and still isn’t, always the case. Plenty of humans, American or otherwise, believe that natural ability is the single biggest element which determines success—that it’s not because they’re lucky, but because they’re smart (and worked hard, of course).
No, the reason Narsus sometimes gets on people’s nerves is because the other characters praise him so much, and because nobody challenges him. That’s realistic. Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Ghengis Khan and others routinely (and sometimes exclusively) stomped all of their rivals. But it’s not always interesting. Like I said, we hold fiction to a higher standard than reality. It’s gotta be interesting.
Well, I don’t think that you find a lot of peace in the Old Testament. On the other hand, I think that you could jump it altogether and start reading the New Testament.
Well the bible is as historical as it is spiritral esp the old testiment….
Today’s final endcard is by Arakawa Hiromu herself, mangaka of Fullmetal Alchemist, Silver Spoon, and the Arslan manga.
I was hoping for at least a few answers to:
1) What the evil shadow wizards want
2) Who Arslan’s real parents are, and why the King and Queen dislike him
3) What Andragoras’s prophecy is all about
I want those answers as well (especially #2), but I didn’t expect to get ’em. If we got another cour somehow, we might get an answer to #2, but I hear the whole Arslan-retaking-Pars thing is only the first half of the story. I could easily see some of those not being resolved until later on.
I am going to try to answer that question, but I am not so sure about all the answers so, SPOILER:
First of all, I am going to put the family tree of Persian Kings.
Family Tree
Show Spoiler ▼
Greetings.
@Kinai I suggest you don’t give away spoilers if you don’t understand the language you are reading, you are wrong about most of the spoilers you said.
2) and 3) will be answered if there is a season 2 and they adapt novels 5-7. The OVAs stopped in novel 5, the previous manga adaptation had 13 volumes and covered everything of Part 1 (novels 1-7).
The novels give away the sorcerer and his pupils’ main intention quite early, Arakawa is doing the same in the recent manga chapters (if you have paid attention to the lyrics of Gieve’s songs and read the manga you should know by now their goal).
The anime once again didn’t adapt their scene, the last time we see Hermes at the end of novel 4 is when the sorcerer orders him to go to a certain mountain to find something which will prove he is the true king of Pars.
The anime decided to avoid the big cliffhanger of novel 4 and left out the scene where Guiscard goes to visit Andragoras after Hermes revealed his real identity to him. People would have been as pissed of Gangsta fans if they did adapt that part lol
An interesting note: in Arakawa’s manga Gieve is the one reading the holy book to Arslan when they stayed in Hodir’s castle. Arslan asked Gieve because he can’t read Lusitanian while Gieve does, Narsus knows Lusitanian too but refused Arslan and Elam told him to throw away the book. The anime started deleting and changing parts of the manga from this arc, Gieve’s scenes with Arslan were one of the victims.
I highly recommend reading the manga, purists hating Arakawa’s art are the only ones complaining about the manga. She handles certain aspects better than novels. Tanaka is liking Arakawa’s vision, he has approved everything she’s been doing.
@Daisy23: I didn’t read the novels, but I watched all the OVAs.
I already said that I wasn’t sure about 2 or 3.
But I think that I am pretty sure about number 1.
If you know you can tell it using the spoiler tag, instead of saying a Mountain, a thing, …
The visit of Guiscard to Andragoras and Hermes’ quest would be probably in the first episode of the supposed second season.
On the other hand, I am curious about how Arakawa is going to depict this battle.
Anyway, Daisy23, if I am wrong, please correct me (and use the spoiler tag).
Greetings.
Kinai.
About question 2:
Show Spoiler ▼
Show Spoiler ▼
Do you know where I can download the original novels in japanese or chinese?
I’ve lost count rewatching that prayer for the dead scene all because of that beautiful background song. For a minute there I thought it was Farangis singing.
In a way, Stilts, the narrator was already spoiling us from the very start when he always finishes the preview by saying the boy will become a king. Which is also backed up by Gieve’s appearance and we finally know what Narsus sent him to do. I also really want a second season to find out Arslan’s proof of royalty, not to mention the prophecy Andragoras mentioned. And I can only assume Etoile and Lusitanians under Arslan are going to be treated as guests but I wonder for how long.
Speaking of Etoile, it looked like she was glad Elam was still alive which is a plus for her character. I was really worried that the religious fanatic in her will keep Etoile and Arslan from getting along somehow. In a way they still don’t in terms of their religion, but at least they’re kind of close in a way. Etoile has got to be the only character so far who can get away with dragging Arslan by the ear and yelling at him, and he doesn’t mind. I can only guess that as times goes she’s going to grow a soft spot for Arslan. She tends to blush sometimes now when talking to him.
Also have to say Alfreed grew on me. I’ll admit that in her first appearance, I was quick to assume she’s the tomboyish type being a bandit and all, but she’s actually very feminine with the way she acts around Narsus and you can’t not mention that lovers act she pulled off with Elam. Count me as surprised she knew how to handle a baby better than Etoile.
Wishful thinking for a second season or at least an OVA series which closes the story.
To be fair, on the narrator “spoiling” things: (1) This was manifestly an epic legend from the get-go (the heroic legend of Arslan etc etc), and when you have a legend involving a prince, he’s gonna become the thing. That’s not surprising in the least. And (2) he’s the protagonist. Once again, not surprising if he’d win.
Granted, it could still be a giant “Fuck you!” if it ends up with Hermes gutting him, but that’s a bit doubtful to say the least.
Agreed on Alfreed! Remember, it’s not a matter of feminine or not for her. She’s a member of the Zot clan, a bandit people, and they don’t have the luxury to not learn skills like Étoile or Arslan can. They’ve gotta know it all just to survive.
Show Spoiler ▼
Interesting that you mention if Hermes ended up winning in the end. I actually thought if Arslan Senki was told from Hermes point of view it would actually still work, only it would be the story of an anti-hero’s road to tragedy, maybe like Hamlet or Macbeth. And point taken. Now that you mention it for a bandit upbringing, you could say Alfreed was brought up pretty well.
I thought that Farangis was singing too. Not sure about this one, but it’s beautiful.
That were the two scenes that I watched in the old OVAs that I was afraid that they weren’t going to put again.
Arslan convencing Etoile that, if she ate the meal it was going to hurt Arslan’s army, and
Etoile and Alfreed discussing if the kid is going to be a good bandit or a king. 😛
By the way, Alfreed isn’t a MALE name?
Kinai.
afarid, at least in modern Farsi, is a actual Female name. It is said here –>https://arslansenki.wordpress.com/appendix/characters/
Sayaka, you can be right, but they translated it as Alfreed.
The Japanese spelling in A-ru-fu-ri-do (pronunce ‘arfreedo’. Japanese makes miracles adapting Persian names and not. Think about Etoile: it is male version of Estelle that is not from ‘star’ but the mis-spelling of Estheru/Esther, the biblical character who married a Persian king!
I forgot all about that! Esther form the bible married the persian King Ahasuerus of the Achaemenid Empire! I´m have really good feeling about Etoile/Ester´s chances to become Queen of Pars, she will be a millon time better wife and queen that Tahaminey.
Well…though it’s still not quite ‘accurate’, the official romanisation that the Japanese creators came up with is different from what was used in the translation…
Out of topic, but I would like to see Innocentius VII in the game. Hey! If they put Hilmes, they could Innocentius too. >:)
Kinai.
Thank you Karice!
That BG music on the praying scene and Gieve’s narration is sooo good
This series deserve a 2nd season!
It’s interesting that the review is not very positive about this episode, while I consider it one of the strongest, if not the strongest, in the series.
The misunderstanding about the count’s death was quickly put to rest instead of milked for cheap drama. Arslan did read the holy book and tried some kind of approach. By the way, it’s an approach that only he could have done, so this was (at last!) proof of his personal skills and not unwarranted praise or the work of his underlings. He’s taking decisions by himself instead of just because Narsus told him to do so.
Yes, this episode finally sold me the idea of Arslan as the king Pars needs.
On the other hand, Guiscard’s position is easy to understand: a very important part of his army in Pars was killed and he needs Hermes troops. Also, if he can help with taking away the king, even better. No one mjst suspect Guiscard if he wants to take the throne “legally”.
(Still, the episode couldn’t help but shoehorn another “Narsus is so great! See, he thinks about the food!” scene)
I don’t think that it’s a Narsus is so great.
If he didn’t think about food, he would be a really lousy strategist.
The concersation between Etoile/Ester and Arslan in the jail cell was very well done in my opinion. If you look carefully you could notices certains cracks in Etoile/Ester´s faith in the past episodes: first when she infiltrated Peshawar she realized that not all parsin were savages thanks to her conversation with Arslan; next in the battle of the Keep of Saint Enmanuel she killed a person for the first and the look of her said it all, no matter the reason war is hell and there is no honor in killing a person; her exchange with Arslan in the cell hit her deepest fears: that she had done, all her life was a life and she was not fighting for the good guys, she was just one of many puppets that served selfish ends; finally the secene with the baby was she needed to realized how beautiful life is and is crime to wasted it in meaningless conflicts.
The fact that Etoile/Ester is already in love with Arslan is just the icing of the cake and I dare to say that Arslan feels the same way for the way he was remembering her as a woman in Peshawar. Farangis help out too when she commented that kings are not gods so they neeed to grow in order toarchive great things for their kigdoms, something most of the kings of this story painfully lack.
Anyway, all thia makes really happy because it could be a good begining to bring peace to both Pars and Lusitania and of course to make Etoile/Ester into a great queen for Arslan, yes I have no doubt our king to be is going to make this tsundere female kinght his queen, he would be the greatest fool if he doesn´t.
@Mistic
My review might have seemed mostly negative, but that’s mostly because the things worth talking about at length were on the negative side of the scale. The fact that they tied things up more or less well (considering the crappy place they had to stop) was impressive, but that’s about all I needed to say on the subject.
I enjoyed the episode. It was just a bit wonky. Still lovable, though.
I got confused when you wrote: “when Arslan left the door open, and she stayed.” She was in a cell, Arslan had to be prudent around her (the girl attacked him twice! kidnapped him once!). In my view the bars were an improvement from the ova.
I think that he means at the end of the conversation.
If you mean after the funeral, for example, Etoile was probably the highest ranking officer among the survivors, since she was Barcacion’s page. Her people always use -Sama with her… it’s her responsability to take care of lusitanian civilians, escaping now is not an option.
I´m sure that was a factor but I don´t think that was the only reason, she is fascinated with Arslan´s ideals and wants to see first hand waht he can acomplished, to see for herself if his claims that she and all the soldiers are being used is true or not. The fact that se seem already in love with Arslan also counts and by much in my book. XD
@Sayaka
As Kinai noted, I meant at the end of their conversation. He appeared to open the door to her cell to allow her the opportunity to run away (or possibly just to walk around freely, as she does later on), but she didn’t immediately split.
I want a Gieve spin off. He’s doing some Indiana Jones shit right now xD
With a studio like Liden you can’t achieve the grand visuals and animation the story deserves, not to say they didn’t try because they managed to achieve something like the last Hermes vs Daryun, although most of the time it was mediocre. We have to be thankful the source material is strong enough to carry the show.
The voice actors and the soundtrack were the best thing, the soundtrack during the funeral in this episode gave me chills. Overall it was a good ending. It is bad it is going to take at least 2 or 3 years until Arakawa catches up to the anime events. I don’t know if the anime will make a sequel before she shortens the distance.
Stilts, are you planning to get the LOGH novels in English next year? Arslan is a very good story, but Tanaka’s LOGH is slightly better in my opinion and for the first time we are getting a Tanaka work in English. I am crossing my fingers the novels sell well enough to consider a license of the Arslan’s novels.
And a new anime of Legend of Galactic Heroes too.
I am a little afraid, because I loved the old one.
I think that you are right but budget is ever a problem.
On the other hand, if anyone knows Peter Jackson, they could try to convince him to make a film for each book.
It would be wonderful.
Kinai.
2-3 years to catch up? Ouch, and I thought that I could continue following the story by reading the manga. Guess that means quite a bit of deviations ahead, like the first Full Metal Alchemist anime compared to the manga.
@daisy23
Those sound good, but I doubt I’ll get them. Typically I don’t read source materials anymore. It’s a matter of time. I’m trying to desperately hold onto my anime blogger bona fides by watching a bunch of anime each season, but I keep falling behind on series I want to see.
Then there’s the fact that, if I’m going to read something, I want to read a full-on novel. Reading novels helps me improve my own writing, which is an important secondary goal whenever I read. That’s why I ever read light novels—they’re overly simplified writing style is of no benefit to me.
Which means if there ever WAS a source material I’d read, it’d be something like Legend of Galactic Heroes or Arslan, since they’re proper novels. But that goes back to time 🙁
The throne has no will of it’s own.
That is how I think of it.
Depending on who sit’s on it, it can be the seat of justice or it can be the seat of inhuman cruelty.
As long as it is a man and not a god doing the governing, he can never be perfect.
But should he neglect efforts to reach for perfection, a king will surely tumble down the slippery slope towards evil with no one around to stop him.
Farangis’s speech was definitely the highlight of this ep. And while that can be applied to everyone, it’s much more important for a king, or someone in a powerful position. Power can corrupt after all. Thought I don’t know about the gods being perfect there Farangis. If we go into mythology a bit, those gods were as faulty as any king, if not more in some cases.(Ares, the god of war, for instance, would basically be the god version of Andragoras :P). But great speech regardless.
This was such a great ending, and it came off as much needed healing for me who just watched Gangsta’s “ending” before this.
I think it’s safe to say that the biggest downside of the series was Narsus absolutely wrecking the opposition with little-to-no effort. I understand that Arslan is still young and Pars’ was in no condition to fail, but I still wish we would’ve seen Narsus struggle a bit sometimes, even if we’d still win in the end.
But overall, it was an enjoyable journey, one that maybe one day we’ll see the continuation of.
Based on the book authors other work it very likely that Narsus will have problems when he actually has to deal competent foe like Hermes when Hermes really wants to win instead of bleeding both of the other sides. So far Narsus has only had to fight the dim bulbs that are typical in history of leaders.
With me reading histories like of Alexander the Great who never lost makes a Narsus more real. A lot to the other greats ran up huge streaks of wins before losing.
Alexander the great, isnt the only one that didnt lose any battle.
I am not sure about who bow, but I think that there have been a few.
Give me a thumbs if you want a sescond season!. I sure as hell want to see the rest of the story!.
love dodecahedron mode, start!
first, Gieve X Farangis X Kubard… with one man away and another drinking with her, Farangis can be a bit spoiled…
second, Narsus X Alfreedo X Elam X Etoile X Arslan….
Narsus grows fond of Alfreedo, Elam still is in mutual tsundere mode to her, Etoile grudgingly recognizes Elam, and Arslan charms Etoile…
I heard this ark in novels ends in volume 7 and they adapted 5(or a bit less) tyhis season. So 1-cour should be enough for proper ending. Things that happen in novels after that is a new story and it’s on hiatus now.
What I’d like to know is what happened to the Queen?
She is basically completely forgotten and never mentioned again after a couple of episodes in the beginning. Arslan seemed to (or pretended to) care about his mother being a prisoner in the beginning, but now nobody mentions her as if she never existed. At least we get the former king in the end card, but no Queen. …To be honest what I’d like to see is for Farangis and Queen together and have ice queen stare match since they kinda look alike.
They showed her. She’s still around and alive. They just can’t do anything about her right now, ’cause she’s captured.
Though yeah, they did kind of never mention her again. Maybe he’s mentioned how worried he is about her off screen. Even though she was never particularly nice to him.
poor Queen, with all the other major female characters being action girls (Trope!) , she is being reduced to (literally!) trophy wife being fought over by varous Kings…
Does anybody know what is the meaning of “Yashashine”? And what language is it? By curiosity.
It could be related to Yashasin (Long life to (followed by the name) Turk/Persian. But in Arslan Senki seems like “Attack!”
Solid show but man, that last episode sucked hard. They’d covered the themes already in the show, but for some reason needed to lay it on thick for a whole ep. Not cool.
Producers: Hey, we heard you liked the old series so much that we decided to copy the ending as well!
Tanaka’s secretary has confirmed Tanaka is in the process of writing novel 15 and Arslan Senki is reaching its ending (Japanese fans have been speculating for a long time the series was probably going to end around novel 16)
https://twitter.com/adachi_hiro/status/648085665259716609
“For however odd this episode was in a lot of ways, they did one thing undeniably right. The very last moments, when Gieve’s narration kicked in, and it was revealed that what he was searching for was Arslan’s “so-called proof of his right to the throne”, that was definitely a chills moment. That was a good moment to end on.”
At first i didn’t recognize Gieve’s voice… but when it hitted me… the shivering started xD
awesome anime!!! definately in support for season 2…by the way can anyone please tell me the name of the soundtrack played during the burial scene???i cant find it anywhere….
Tenkui Ni Mau Tori Yo di Yanagi Nagi
“Tenkuu”
I think I’m actually in love with Arslan Senki…after reading all the comments…I think it will be difficult to concentrate and finish the series without thinking about the bad comments about it.
Gosh…i feel bad that i have to now evaluate everything according to the comments i’ve read here. That’s not fair…perhaps i shouldn’t have read the comments at all.
For the most part, Arslan kind of irritates me a bit…so i’m a bit on the aggressive side so his ‘tentative, soft progressions’ make me writhe with anger.
I do admire his gentleness and caring nature…but though…some people had to die and he just let them live. Men i hated him letting that Jaswant or whatever that goon’s name was.
All in all, I’m quite satisfied with the series…well up to where i’m currently watching.
I’m scared of watching the last episode but i love the series too much so i’ll stick it out and finish. Does any one know what date season 2 will be released…i’d really love to know who Arslan’s parents are and why Farangis is so uptight.
I’d also love to know more about Gieve (he is so interestingly irritating) plus a little more character development on Daryun, Farangis, and Narsus would be lovely.
I really like Elam and Alfreed because they are just so likeable. I can’t comment on Etoile yet because i haven’t watched an episode with her in it.
So i love watching anime with english subtitles because i’m learning Japanese and this way helps a lot…i’d just like to know how the english dub sounds like.
I doubt it’ll be as good as that of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, but who knows…
I feel like i’ve written too much so let me just end here… oh and isn’t Alfreed too young for Narsus??? Just asking…