The Heroic Legend of Arslan (TV)

[Buffalobiian]

http://i.imgur.com/sWFw39m.jpg

Alternative title: Arslan Senki, アルスラーン戦記

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy

Plot Summary: Arslan is the heir apparent of Pars, a strong nation that sits at the heart of the trade route connecting the East and the West. When the pagan nation of Lusitania begins an invasion of Pars, the timid Arslan is confronted with battle for the first time. His worst anxieties are realized, the Parsian army falls for a Lusitanian stratagem and are routed. He barely escapes with his life, thanks to the loyal and indomitable warrior Daryun. Together they will stand against the invasion and the cruelties of fate that are about to blow down on Pars. -ANN

Links: ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=16687), MAL (http://myanimelist.net/anime/28249/Arslan_Senki_%28TV%29), Official (http://www.arslan.jp/).

Download: HorribleSubs - Episode 01 (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=674293)

------------------------------------------------
















This smells... epic. The novels are unfinished so we can't hope for a proper conclusion here, but please don't leave me hanging like Guin Saga did.

I'm rather surprised Arslan is a relatively normal child. His parents offer no affection at all. His mother in particular looks like a Bodhisattva but gives off the aura of a bitch. At least Arslan is well loved without those two around regardless. (The archers in this show have great physiques.. both of them)

edit: I just read that this is adapted from the unfinished novels by Yoshiki Tanaka. That name might not ring a bell, but Legend of the Galactic Heroes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Galactic_Heroes) sure should. My excitement is through the roof right now.

[David75]

I remember watching some ovas like almost 10 years ago and felt at the time they were plain boring and without much of a spark or anything.
I guess the young boy setting changes that quite a bit. Well, I'll see for myself if I can watch it till the end, as it is quite far from what I think I like as a setting.

[Edort4]

I remember watching this (a movie perhaps) in the early 90s. It always felt like a knock off of Lodoss (even though I guess this came first). Lets see how it goes.

[Penner]

Hmm, i like the picture up there and i do love me some Action/Adventure/Fantasy stuff.

I'll give this a try.

[shinta|hikari]

Wasn't this anime based on the manga adaptation of the story?

[Buffalobiian]

Wasn't this anime based on the manga adaptation of the story?

The character designs are based on the 2nd manga, but I didn't know that there was major difference between the novel and the manga.

[shinta|hikari]

Is this yaoi?

[Buffalobiian]

Is this yaoi?

Haven't seen any. Never seen the tag either. At most I'm expecting No. 6 / KKM levels.

[shinta|hikari]

Those are pretty bad in terms of yaoi-ness.

[Buffalobiian]

Those are pretty bad in terms of yaoi-ness.


http://i.imgur.com/OYVvWz2.jpg

[shinta|hikari]

WTF man. I didn't expect that from someone who has your avatar.

[MFauli]

since record of lodoss war has already been mentioned: is this new anime any good? It´s because ever after watching Lodoss, most fantasy anime just came off as too standard fare, too boring. So if Im starting a new one, I need it to be absolutely stunning.

[Buffalobiian]

since record of lodoss war has already been mentioned: is this new anime any good?

I can't answer this. I've never seen Lodoss War.

HS - Episode 02
(http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=677427)

----------------------------------






















Besides the very end bit, this wasn't anywhere near as exciting as the first episode - not when you smell a trap an episode away.

[shinta|hikari]

This kind of thing makes no sense. If the king was so great, why was he so stupid?

[Buffalobiian]

This kind of thing makes no sense. If the king was so great, why was he so stupid?

Either he was a great warrior who got lucky, or the experience/old-age got to him. He thinks he knows the lay of the land better than anyone else, and so far it hasn't been proven wrong. He's got a very "be a man" attitude.

I suppose it doesn't help that their scout was the mole.

I do agree though. The stupidity here was painful to watch.

[shinta|hikari]

You provided very good excuses.

I wish the show spent about 12 seconds to do the same.

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 03 (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=680402)

[얼티메이트] [150422] TVアニメ「アルスラーン戦記(Arslan Senki)」EDテーマ「ラピスラズリ」／藍井エイル [期間限定アニメ盤] (320K+BK) (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=679862)
[얼티메이트] [150422] TVアニメ「アルスラーン戦記(Arslan Senki)」EDテーマ「ラピスラズリ」／藍井エイル [期間限定アニメ盤] (FLAC+BK) (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=679861)

-------------------------














So Arslan is not the biological child of Andragoras III. That's the reason the queen reacted negatively when Arslan said he aspired to like his "fater". The king must have snatched his queen from someone, possibly from another kingdom. Since then, the masked general has sought revenge against him. He's probably the brother of the queen or her ex-lover.

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 04 (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=683262)

[Kraco]

Episode 6 - HS



- - - -




It feels like they made Pars a wretched place on purpose so that nobody among the audience would be sorry to see it get crushed (not that the attacker would be any better). Although there were a few good commanders, or whatever you'd call them. The king was obviously the biggest wretch, but the queen was hardly any better. Silver Mask seems like a decent main villain. I hope the strategist dude Arslan seems so ready to depend on really is worth his salt. His historical feat was quite classic and no doubt copied from some fable, so only time will tell if the author can come up with novel ones. I'm not especially worried as there have been a bunch of plots of different sizes already.

I still think Arlan himself needs to decide to become something soon. Maybe he will.

[MFauli]

There´s a lot of setup going on. I hope the show will have actual meat at some point. Right now we´re getting mostly an overview of this going on here, that going on there. Need some actual presently going on plot.

and agreed, Arslan needs to do more than gathering capable fellows.

[Kraco]

Episode 9 - HS




- - - -- -



It doesn't seem to me like Daryun and Narsus achieved a whole lot by infiltrating the fallen capital. I thought they would at least assassinate the bishop, but they didn't do even that. They learned very little, and even that could have been learned anywhere a little later, most likely. Maybe seeing the face of the Silver Mask might play a role later, but for now it has little to do with the task of winning back their country.

Arslan himself is as useless as ever. He didn't even use the scumbag Lusitanian soldiers as an example, considering they were tormenting people who had converted to their religion. So, Etoile was full of lies. But did Arslan say anything about it? No, because he's as useless as ever as a man. His only use is the fact he's the legitimate prince and thus can be used as a figurehead for political games, such as forming a united opposition.

[Buffalobiian]

I have to admit that this anime turned out to be much more "regular" than I thought. I do enjoy it, but it's definitely not Legend of the Galactic Heroes tier, or even FMA tier for that matter.

[MFauli]

Disappointed that Daryun is weaker than the masked guy. I had assume Daryun would be THE sword fighting power house, he always gave me a Guts-like impression. But the masked guy can put up a fight even against both him and Narsus at the same time.

[Kraco]

Disappointed that Daryun is weaker than the masked guy. I had assume Daryun would be THE sword fighting power house, he always gave me a Guts-like impression. But the masked guy can put up a fight even against both him and Narsus at the same time.

Nah, Silver Mask was losing the fight against those two and was saved by the troops arriving. It's obvious Daryun and Narsus weren't a team, so while they could cover each other somewhat, they couldn't on that very short notice simply use teamwork to slay the bastard. If you look carefully, though, you will notice Silver Mask was retreating. He would have died if his back had hit the wall already. Daryun and Silver Mask are probably at a level so high that there's no simple overpowering of the other, so a fight could end either way in an instant.

[shinta|hikari]

Silver Mask is stronger than Daryun. Daryun said so himself.

[Kraco]

Silver Mask is stronger than Daryun. Daryun said so himself.

It surely didn't seem like that. In the beginning Silver Mask had the benefit of higher ground, so it made sense he had the edge. After that their levels of power didn't seem that different. But I guess Silver Mask is bolder since he made Daryun think so.

[MFauli]

i reckon it´s a situation where we´d see silver mask in a lone scene, thinking to himself "tsk. that would have been dangerous if it had been going on longer."

Daryun is just more humble, I guess.

[oyabun]

It surely didn't seem like that. In the beginning Silver Mask had the benefit of higher ground, so it made sense he had the edge. After that their levels of power didn't seem that different. But I guess Silver Mask is bolder since he made Daryun think so.

Aside from Daryum admitting that the Silver Mask is stronger, they were basically doing a 2 on 1 on him and they were not able to get an advantage. Daryum also said that if the painter guy(forgot his name) didn't helped him that he will be in trouble.

[Kraco]

Aside from Daryum admitting that the Silver Mask is stronger, they were basically doing a 2 on 1 on him and they were not able to get an advantage. Daryum also said that if the painter guy(forgot his name) didn't helped him that he will be in trouble.

I already addressed that in an earlier post (https://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php/23200-The-Heroic-Legend-of-Arslan-%28TV%29?p=549992&viewfull=1#post549992). It's not automatic that two individually strong swordsmen would be suddenly able to fight as a perfect duo. You often see it said that two people who aren't used to fighting in such a manner in concert will as often get in each other's way as actually double the efficiency.

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 10 (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=698972)


---------------------------









Name: Daryun
Rank: Marzbān
Ability: Ignores armour

[Kraco]

This was a weak episode. I don't really see its point either, as it's a bit hard to believe Narsus only ever planned to use this occasion to teach Prince Witless a strange lesson. They are just a bunch of very few people against an empire, so one would expect something better from the strategist. But what is done is done, so maybe Arslan at least learned something from this fiasco, although I doubt it. He's clearly not too smart. In any case, building their opposition army could have had a bit better start.

We didn't even see the supposedly beautiful daughter.

[shinta|hikari]

Supposedly beautiful. Her father is a lying fat pig. What do you think?

[NeoCybercoin]

All the men from Armstrong family in FMA are bulked up to the max but the women are great looking. So she could very well be a beauty. Alas we shall never see.

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 12 (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=703514)

---------------------------










Daryun toggled on.

That was pretty damn hilarious to watch.

[Kraco]

I'm not sure what to think of the sorcerer. This might have been better with no magic, only some mystics pretending to possess magic, using knowledge, fear, and ceremonies to their advantage. Now it's obvious the fog that ruined the battle for Pars really was also summoned.

Narsus got a young wannabe wife. Although considering the time and place, 15 is probably plenty.

[Kraco]

Episode 13 - HS




- - - - - - -



That was a stretch. No matter how good the mask dude was, he shouldn't have been able to survive against all of those big names, right in the middle of enemy territory. But I will forgive the poor writing this time in exchange for that foolish Bahman's worthless life. A vassal that tried to serve two masters and ended up serving neither is no good. On the other hand, in death he will serve Arslan better than in life since he won't hamper any plans anymore. I don't really see why Hermes would be such an important figure all in all considering he's a subject to the Lusitanians, the enemy. He's a collaborator. That's perfect high treason. Anybody who sides with Hermes is a traitor himself.

[shinta|hikari]

The entire fight didn't make sense. I hate it when characters start babbling during a battle when the situation should not give them the time to do so.

[Kraco]

Episode 17 - HS




- - -- - - -





That was quite a monster. Although at the same time Daryun was fighting strangely, as if he had been watching too many Errol Flynn movies of late and thought a fight is all about blocking. Especially blocking an axe that looked like it weighed at least 20 kg. But I guess it had to be like that for the sake of cheap entertainment and saving some animation budget.

Arslan once again demonstrated he doesn't possess an ounce of a warrior's spirit. He hadn't even drawn his bloody blade when it was a full battle all around him. With all the training he theoretically has, he should have been able to save himself easily enough. But of course he can't when he's as fierce as a lamb. With those looks and no interest in fighting (even to save his own skin), he could use a love interest or two. That would give him some action, at least.

[shinta|hikari]

This show is quite horrible if you think about it. Why the hell do they even want Arslan as king? He doesn't possess royal blood, and in all respects, his 2 best men are better rulers than he is. Is it because he is really cute and this is a shounen-ai story?

The action is as terrible as always. Kraco has already mentioned my main gripes, but it is the consistency of the suckiness that amazes me. It's like the entire thing skipped QC altogether.

[Kraco]

this is a shounen-ai story?

What? This is a shounen-ai story? I've been waiting for a chick to appear to match Arslan, but is it all in vain? Strangely enough I haven't been getting any shounen-ai vibes from this, but perhaps it's only because I have watched next to no shounen-ai, so I might not recognize any subtle signs even if they filled the whole screen.

Damn.

[Buffalobiian]

I've been waiting for a chick to appear to match Arslan

Elam dressed as a chick once.

[Kraco]

Episode 20 - HS



- - - -- --




Now there was a girl who would be a good pair for Arslan. They even share some history. They are both nicely incompetent, so neither would feel inferior in the other's company. Too bad it's otherwise nigh impossible. Quite funny nonetheless that Arslan needed to chat with an enemy spy to build his determination and the spy was conversing all alone with the leader of the biggest enemy faction without a clue. As intelligent as he is, I doubt even Narsus knows how bad the situation is with their prince. At least I reckon Arslan managed to raise his worth in Gieve's eyes considerably by getting spotted leading a girl somewhere in the middle of the night.

[Buffalobiian]

lolol, I thought there'd really be a girl. Screw this show and its traps.

[Kraco]

lolol, I thought there'd really be a girl. Screw this show and its traps.

I think it really is a girl. It also explains why we see Etoile only wearing that tight helmet and never in any relaxed manner. I reckon she's one of those no male heirs (alive?) but the family honour requires a knight of renown, so she must hide her gender and fight as a man cases. However, I do wonder what's the point. Surely she can't become a wife for a king, yet she has no connection to anybody else but Arslan. So the character would make more sense as a man. A story shouldn't have useless extra details.

[Buffalobiian]

Hmm, you might be right. His monologue by the river suggested as much.

[shinta|hikari]

If Etoile turns out to be a trap I am dropping this show.

EDIT: As the monster of physics, I have to mention that Arslan and Etoile teleported onto the staircase when they were sneaking out the castle. Running out of the screen one second, already on the staircase the next.

EDIT2: Googled it and confirmed Etoile is a she. It's hilarious because I typed "Etoile Arslan" in the search bar, and guess what came out in the suggested searches?

"Etoile Arslan Girl"

[Kraco]

Episode 25 Final - HS




- - - --- - - -



Thus the show ended right before the decisive battle. Though naturally it's better this way than introducing some botchered original ending in a couple of last eps. It was a decent enough show with some good fights and characters. Fortunately the shounen-ai vibes staid at low levels. There were few female characters in the cast, but on the other hand considering the time and place, there would have been few realistic roles available. I'm happy Etoile got a bigger role towards the end. She was pretty funny especially in this final episode, repeatedly telling Arslan how he's nothing like a future king. They would make a cute couple, though I don't really see how a king could marry a mere adopted knight wannabe from an enemy nation.

Silver Mask brushing aside his terrible defeat was comedic. The Lusitanian king is an idiot, whereas the brother seemed more intelligent, but he's certainly letting his greed and ambition cloud his eyes.

[shinta|hikari]

Just when we get to the (dere) good part!!!

The hawk grabbed onto Arslan's unprotected bicep near the end. I expected it to land on his armored forearm, but apparently his cloth cape and shirt can defend against talons...

[Buffalobiian]

The hawk grabbed onto Arslan's unprotected bicep near the end. I expected it to land on his armored forearm, but apparently his cloth cape and shirt can defend against talons...

He's got invulnerability cheats like Farangis.

[shinta|hikari]

That scene with Farangis and the missing arrows was just retarded. It made it hard to take anything seriously anymore.

[Buffalobiian]

Plot-wise it was weird. The same can be said about those dark sorcerers who were all so keen to kill Daryun up until now but didn't do it when he was bleeding and down.

Visually, you can't beat those CG archers though. Those were golden. The contrast between them and the close-ups of this show makes it hilarious.

[Kraco]

This show would have been better without the sorcerers and Farangis remaining just a priestess talking about djinn and other supernatural stuff, yet not ever really demonstrating any of it concretely. So, even if she predicted something, by claiming she heard it from the djinn, it could have been just a lucky or an educated guess.

[Munsu]

It's getting a second series:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN9WXuLNZSA

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-10-11/the-heroic-legend-of-arslan-gets-new-tv-anime-in-2016/.94079

[shinta|hikari]

Moar gayness.

I just hope Etoile shows up more.

[Kraco]

I just hope Etoile shows up more.

It's hard to judge what Etoile's role could end up being. Clearly she has left the suicidal knight business behind. So, what exactly is she going to do? It would make sense she would be leading her countrymen back home once Arslan sees it safe for them to return. If that happened, we would never see her again. I still think it would be exceedingly strange for her to end up with Arslan due to the huge class difference, but if she doesn't, what possibly could she end up doing? Certainly she doesn't have the qualifications to become one of his trustees, who are somewhat excellent people so far, like masters of martial arts, infiltration, or strategy. Unless he decides to consult her to better understand the Lusitanian people and religion.

[NeoCybercoin]

Not that Arslan would care about the class difference.

[Buffalobiian]

She will be the one to learn from some of Arslan's ideals and try to change her country from within. She'll come to admire Arslan for who he is.

[shinta|hikari]

And marry into the royal family for peace. Wasn't she of noble birth or something?

[Munsu]

Is the series censored in any way, particularly the violence? Been waiting for BD sourced releases, but no one seems interested in doing them.

[shinta|hikari]

I don't think so. It's pretty tame for a war story.

[Munsu]

I don't think so. It's pretty tame for a war story.

OK, I'll watch the regular broadcast version then. Thanks.

Just finished watching the series. In all I really liked it, big fan of these types of series. Closest I can come up with is Kingdom, except that one had an incredibly kickass main character. Battles are way more drawn out there, and of course the whole CGI issue. Still think of Kingdom as quite superior.

Anyways, nothing in the series really bothered me all that much particularly considering all the complaints I saw throughout the thread. I was fairly indifferent to Arslan as the main character and lack of female characters a bit of an issue as well, but that's fairly standard in these types of medieval war shows. I would've liked to see the Queen more though, she was forgotten after the first handful of episodes which was a shame. She seemed to have an interesting story to tell and thought she would have some political machinations to be shown throughout.

Maybe that's for the second series.

The other complaint is that I thought we would see Arslan continuing his training during his journey. Other than a scene towards the end of the series, none of his camp figured to keep training him. Which is disappointing, since I thought that was Farangis' main mission after all, to teach him martial arts and what not. Would've been a bit cool to see Arlan also learning to communicate with the Djinn, in part it might play a role against those sorcerers.

But, I was thoroughly entertained by it, will look forward to the next one which starts in July.

[Munsu]

As I was reading yesterday that the 2nd season will start in July, particularly in the My Hero Academia timeslot, something seemed a bit off to me, in particular because I didn't think My Hero Academia would be a short series (but who knows).

Anyways, just now a new article came up mentioning that the Arslan 2nd season will have only 8 episodes:

The June issue of Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine is revealing on Monday that the Arslan Senki: Fūjin Ranbu (The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance) television anime series will premiere on MBS and TBS on July 3, and the series will have eight episodes.

The new season will air on Sundays at 5 p.m. on MBS and TBS, which is the "Nichigo" timeslot. The staff had announced in March that the new series would premiere in the timeslot in July. My Hero Academia began airing in the timeslot in April, and The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of holy war special will air for four weeks in the timeslot starting in August.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-05-08/heroic-legend-of-arslan-anime-2nd-season-will-have-8-episodes-july-3-premiere/.101861

Something is still not adding up for My Hero Academia for me at the moment (unless it's moving to another timeslot or if it'll have another season at another point), but I find it curious that Arslan is only getting 8 episodes for a second season.

Of course, I don't know how long of a story Arslan has to tell and pretty much all the major pieces are about to converge as it is, so maybe that's all they'll need to finish it all up. Just found it a bit weird to have this short of a second series, then of course the positive is that they didn't stretch the story to a normal cour needlessly.

[Buffalobiian]

AFAIK Arslan is a really long story.

[Munsu]

AFAIK Arslan is a really long story.

Then I guess they're aiming to just animate an arc or two in these 8 episodes. So, now have to wonder if this is all we'll get or if we'll get more in the future.

Just hope that at least these 8 episodes are satisfying. As I understand it, the anime has surpassed the manga in content. Of course, the anime has the novels to draw material from, but I guess that in general they'd want to give some more breathing room to the manga as well to pull ahead once again or something.

Who knows.

[Munsu]

Just adding a bit more info if anyone cares:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-05-20/next-heroic-legend-of-arslan-novel-volume-will-be-the-last/.102264


Reading the news above and the comments, it seems like there are currently 15 novel volumes, and the 16th one will be the final one.

The anime series animated about 5 volumes or so. With 8 episodes coming up, we can say that about 1 or 2 volumes will be animated during that span.

Not sure what will all this mean, but there'll be about 8-10 volumes worth of material left to animate in the future. We'll have to see if it'll get another season to address some of that.

[shinta|hikari]

They are animating the manga, not the light novel, apparently.

[Munsu]

They are animating the manga, not the light novel, apparently.

Let me know if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the anime went ahead of the manga or was about to?

I guess the next question is, how closely is the manga fallowing the novels (and how closely is the anime following the manga)?

[shinta|hikari]

Don't know. I just read in the articles about the last volume of the LN that the anime follows the manga, not the original novel.

[Munsu]

Don't know. I just read in the articles about the last volume of the LN that the anime follows the manga, not the original novel.

I read the same, just the same I recall reading that the anime went beyond the manga. I may be wrong on that account, but that was my impression.

[Kraco]

Season 2 Episode 1 - HS





- - - - - - - - -




I felt like this hero sword came a bit too much out of nowhere, just in the right time for the Silver mask when he had lost miserably and was looking for a boost. Yet even more so for the stupid temple knights who previously had shown mainly incompetence, yet now miraculously managed to follow Silver mask's troops, and as if that wasn't enough, the sword just happened to drop into their hands. Just how convenient is that?

Other than that, Arslan sure has his hands full. Nobody else gives a single shit if neighbours try to come in to plunder, so Arslan single-handedly must both keep defending the country from third party outside forces and try to win it back from the conquerors. He has decent forces under his command for now, but where exactly do they get their supplies if the conflict starts to lenghten following the signs we are already seeing?

I still think Arslan needs a girl. He can't be motivated by sheer lust for power and revenge like Silver mask, so a lady by his side would be beneficial.

[shinta|hikari]

Etoile is in his heart.

I loved the twist of Andragoras escaping. What now? How will Arslan become king?

[Kraco]

I loved the twist of Andragoras escaping. What now? How will Arslan become king?

That was the best part of the ep, even though I didn't mention it. It was so bizarre. And now the whole city is in chaos because the lone man from the prison is occupying the throne with the chained prince sitting on the floor next to him. I reckon the author felt he needed to do yet something more to make it absolutely clear how incompetent the Lusitanians are. Maybe Arslan should have spared 50 men from his army. They would have been plenty of take the capital back.

[shinta|hikari]

The rusting chains idea was very nice. It showed just how bad ass Andragoras is. Maybe he wouldn't have lost even now if it weren't for the betrayal.

[Kraco]

Episode 2 - HS



- - -- - -



Either the sound editor was dead drunk when they were putting this episode together or simply absent and the director chose to have nobody fill in for him. I hope for the latter for the sake of the poor sound editor's professionalism. I bet the Japanese will be envious of subtitles when they are watching this. You could barely hear the dialogue from the music and sound effects. I guess lack of QC is not only a fansubbers' fault.

The old king is far wiser than he seems with his barbarian countenance. Despite having rotten in a prison for so long and being blissfully unaware of anything going on in the world, he immediately saw the one thing that would be the best for Arslan, right upon his arrival and during their first meeting, no less. The greatest obstacle to Arslan's development is the fact he doesn't need to think for himself and there's always someone to save the day from his mistakes. He had far too good supporters, so his role remained to be a figurehead and an idol for righteousness. However, he could never serve as a king the way he is now. He could serve in his current role, to fight against the invaders, because war doesn't miss one man, like the saying goes. However, if the peace was restored and he was made a king, he would be a really pitiful one.

If he now needs to achieve great things on his own, without the help of the brilliant veterans, he will need to do by himself everything that was previously done for him by others. The good things and the bad things. If he can pull it off and return victorious, then he would make a real king.

[shinta|hikari]

WTF, you weren't kidding about the sound. What the hell was that..? I couldn't understand a damn thing they were saying at times.

I think Andragoras just feared Arslan's rising power so he exiled him. He doesn't look like he gives a shit about raising his son for any job, much less king.

[Kraco]

Yeah, that was actually my basic impression during the scene, but later I realised it could actually go either way, so I forced myself to think like I did when I wrote that post. It's kind of hard to judge the dude. It's true that he most likely wanted to get rid of Arslan right then because he could still serve as a king. The fact he referred to Arslan having performed something like a treason certainly suggests as much, unless he did it simply to see the reaction of Arslan's followers and Arslan himself. However, the dude really is smarter than his looks suggest and he ought to know he won't live forever. He probably isn't happy with Arslan who's so different from his own style, but Arslan is basically the only one who could take over, for now. There's no way the king would be planning to support Silver Mask.

Nevertheless, after saying what he did, if Arslan manages to return with the big army, the king can't take back his words anymore.

[ambulance]

Either the sound editor was dead drunk when they were putting this episode together or simply absent and the director chose to have nobody fill in for him.

Apparently the raws were fine; only the funi version was bad.

[Munsu]

Episode S2 episode 3 is out:
http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=831160


Just watched the first episode of this 2nd season, really don't have much to say as I'm waiting to see what comes next, but Andragoras was completely badass. Also looking forward to more fleshing out on the backstory between him and his wife.

[shinta|hikari]

Army reset.

Who the fuck cares about mask dude's love life? Wtf.

[Munsu]

Just watched episode 2, and as you guys mentioned, it had audio problems. Horriblesubs did re-release it and fix the issue.

Outside of that, didn't like the 2nd episode at all. One of the weakest, and dumb with Arslan jumping against the opposing army like that, further than that, his companions letting him do it. Just dumb.

I'm not enjoying the pace either right now. It does feel like the series knows it's under a time constriction of having to cram an arc into 8 episodes, so we're not really getting proper scenes. More like we're simply getting a collection of impressions. Hope this improves as it goes along.

Interesting ending to the episode though, not sure about the consequences yet. We'll see.

I'll watch the 3rd episode soon.

[Munsu]

Army reset.

Who the fuck cares about mask dude's love life? Wtf.

Yeah, army rest with 5 episodes left for the season. Episode 3 in all was better for me from a storytelling perspective, the pace was improved. And indeed, didn't care for the love life with the token blind girl to "humanize" him.

Still, this season has been a disappointment so far. The previews though look promising to me, time for some pirating maybe?

[Kraco]

Such a pity. It was a perfect opportunity to make Arslan his own man, yet it was all wasted by giving him back his old gang who do absolutely everything for him, even to the point of correcting his deadly mistakes. It's like this story is trying to tell a perfect king is one who can be all mellow and benevolent even under the most difficult situations because he never needs to do the difficult things by himself. That's no king but a puppet. Instead he should have got perhaps only the rogue to keep him alive and grant him access to shady places and teach him street smarts. Then he could have become like a good version of the Silver mask.

I wonder if the author didn't realise this or perhaps he thought he didn't have a choice as the story would have changed too much if he couldn't have kept writing about Arslan with his jolly crew anymore.

I agree on Silver mask's case: There was absolutely no need to try to make him more humane with the love affair. He was a better character as a deranged person with no excuses but the history of injustice and vengeance.

[Munsu]

Episode 4 is out:
http://www.nyaa.se/?page=view&tid=833380





I liked this episode better than the rest of this season. Judgment still out on the stories sudden direction, but at least it does seem like the story settled down. Only 4 more episodes, so it seems like we'll have a mini-arc here and be done with it. It does seem like a tangent story, though it gives us some insight into how potential allies are viewing his policies, particularly from people that would be or could've been sympathizers to his cause.

[Munsu]

And here's episode 5:
http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=835705



Everything soooo predictable in this one. At least the after credits scene showed some promise, but in all the episode had little to offer other than moving the pieces along to whatever confrontation is coming.

Arslan has become too much of a useless character, at best a side character.

[shinta|hikari]

This should be titled The Heroic Legend of Narsus.

[Munsu]

This should be titled The Heroic Legend of Narsus.

The Heroic Legend of Narsus: The Sword of Daryun.

[shinta|hikari]

...Why the fuck do Narsus and Arslan have hawk eyes? They saw Daryun going back to back with the sea man from the PORT.

And you know what makes no fucking sense? Why Andragoras didn't kill the older brother dude before throwing him off the carriage. The pursuers would've stopped to check anyway, so there was no gain from letting him go unscathed...

[lelouch]

And you know what makes no fucking sense? Why Andragoras didn't kill the older brother dude before throwing him off the carriage. The pursuers would've stopped to check anyway, so there was no gain from letting him go unscathed...

If he's thrown off alive, at least some of the guards (if not all) need to stay back to keep him safe.

Also the port isn't that far away.

Androgoras is a sweet name though. Totally off-topic I wish my name was Androgoras V. Barocruz.

[shinta|hikari]

Wasn't that far away? You can't have ship battles close enough to the port to see that much detail. There were tons of ships surrounding the pirate fleet from the overhead shot of the battle. It's not like 50 feet away.

Having some of the guards stay behind is irrelevant. None of the guards caught up to him after getting delayed. More guards chasing after him won't matter because none could reach him, which is also nonsensical because he's in a carriage on they are on horseback.

[Munsu]

Here's episode 6:
http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=837910




Easily the best episode this season. Now, there was no Arslan and company in this one... not sure if it's a coincidence.

Also, with everyone so fractured, we really don't have that big impregnable force we had in the beginning on the series, which should make things easier, but we'll see how goals change after this, if any.

[shinta|hikari]

Etoile confirmed as Arslan's bitch.

[Munsu]

Etoile confirmed as Arslan's bitch.

I wonder how no one commented on her being a girl, except Alfreed's brother. Once she let out the long hair, which she has always been careful to hide, it should've been obvious to everyone there, yet no one seemed to care for it... unless I miss something.

[shinta|hikari]

Does it matter to them? She's just a criminal to be executed from their POV.

[Kraco]

I wonder why the former princess was to be burned, though. Isn't that a fate reserved for heretics and witches? She was of the same faith as the ones intending to burn her. Since Etoile was about to simply lose her head, the same should have been happening to the princess as well, considering they shared the exact same accusation.

Episode 7 - HS



- - - - - - --



The plot was painfully transparent in this one. I suppose it's true that if the rotten merchant friend hadn't really needed to use his head for a long time, getting away with elementary tricks like this, then he wouldn't immediately recuperate enough to cook up a plan that would fool Narsus. But still, pirates gleefully telling of some fabulous treasure hidden on a deserted island... That's something a 10 years old would come up with. Even Arslan himself wouldn't have swallowed that one. It's something meant for greedy idiots like the previous viceroy.

I don't even know what to say about Etoile's request. Is she bereft of her wits? She comes to Arslan to ask him to help the very leader of the invaders who caused so much death and suffering in the country. It's possible the loser king would make a deal of immediately withdrawing if he's saved, but even considering such a hypothetical case, Etoile is acting like an entitled fool. Arslan could never help the enemy king. Even if he ended up saving him, it would need to be a side effect of helping Pars.

[shinta|hikari]

It'll be a side effect of conquering that king's country.

And are you joking about Narsus? NO ONE can trick that guy.

[lelouch]

EPISODE 8:

---------------------------------------------------

Androgoras is such a fucking alpha male yo

[Kraco]

Etoile promising all those things with no backing whatsoever was pretty funny. I'm glad they pointed it out to her. While the weak king indeed might readily agree to anything, it's also true that a weak king would as soon forget what he promised if he was faced with another tough situation, such as all of his generals (and his brother if still alive) arguing against withdrawing. There's no promise a man like that could give that anyone sane would believe until everything is finished. Another detail worth noticing is that Etoile only readily gave those empty promises, but promised nothing that she would actually be capable of promising, such as a offering her own sword to Arslan. But then again, if Arslan wouldn't be likely to think her way to begin with, she wouldn't have come at all. One might instead think that her personal mission was to bring the news, that's it. The soft and naive Arslan would be doing things this was even if she hadn't begged so pitifully.

A battle of 3.5 armies ought to be interesting in any case.

[Munsu]

And season 2 comes to a close, didn't care for much of it. I thought season 1 was much more stronger. If they don't make season 3, season 2 was pretty much of a waste of an effort.

Things were going to get interesting now with a free-4-all of armies.

[shinta|hikari]

Why the hell do people in this show keep letting enemy leaders go when they have such great chances of killing them? A lot of this story feels cheap, but that's the cheapest part.

Etoile better let Arslan dip his stick in her for rebelling at her request.