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Heroic Legend of Arslan

This lovely and beautiful fantasy epic chronicles the making of a king and the liberation of a conquered kingdom. The anime opens with fifteen year old Prince Arslan at odds with his father King Androgenes. Arslan is intelligent and compassionate but for an unknown reason is hated by his father. King Androgenes has ignored Arslan's and his best general Darun's, warnings that the invading army from Lusitania is laying a trap. King Androgenes ignores the warnings, demoting Darun and sending Arslan to an exposed position on the battlefield. Of course the battlefield is a trap, the Parsian army is destroyed, the king is captured and Arslan and Darun barely escape with their lives.

The polytheist Parsian kingdom is occupied by the victorious Lusitanians, who are fanatical believers in one god and their rule over the captured kingdom is harsh and brutal. Parsis's only hope for freedom is the young and untried Prince Arslan. Prince Arslan is aided by a small group of loyal followers and slowly builds an army and begins the slow and bloody process of defeating the Lusitanian invaders. Adding to Prince Arslan difficulties are his conflicts with his landed nobility. Arslan plans to reform his kingdom and begins by freeing his country's many slaves. The political infighting as well as the slowly revealed dirty secrets of the Parsian royal family are great fun to watch.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan addresses a number of themes important in Japanese culture and history, prime among these themes are loyalty and duty. Arslan must decide between his duty to his father and his king and his obligations to the people of his kingdom and the slaves he has freed, all of whom would suffer under his father's misrule. Arslan followers must decide who deserves their allegiance as well. Arslan begins to question the hierarchical society he has been raised in and he is powerfully affected by the mass suicide of the Lusitanian civilians in the cities he reconquer, an obvious reference to the mass suicides of Japanese civilians in World War II.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan is actually three episodes made at three different times. The first series has the best animation, though the stunning character designs are consistent throughout all three episodes. The series follows the popular manga series by closely, but though the anime has a definite end, the manga series continues the story passed the end of the anime. Hopefully the collaborators, including Megumi Sugihara (Sailor Moon), Kazuchika Kise (Blue Seed) and Momoru Hamatsu (Ronin Warriors and Dirty Pair) will be able to get together to finish the series.
  • Studio: Central Park Media
  • Format: DVD
  • Episodes in Series: 4 episodes and 1 OVA (240 minutes)
  • Series Completed: Yes
  • Number of DVDs: 2

 
  • Audio Tracks: English, Japanese
  • Subtitles: English
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Ages: 13+
  • Cautions: Violence
  • Reviewer: Liz
  • Core Collection: Fantasy