Heroic Legend of Arslan

Episode 11

This week's installment of The Heroic Legend of Arslan starts with its most interesting material. We're back with the royal family of Lusitania, where Guiscard is cleaning up after other leaders' messes again. High Priest Bodin has unleashed his army on all heretics—so, basically the entire population of Pars that hasn't swiftly converted. Guiscard doesn't like this, seeing it as unnecessary violence that could lead to an uprising. He doesn't think the war against Pars is actually the church's business in the first place. Bodin disagrees, insisting that this is a "holy war." He marches his army on Ectabana in spite (or perhaps because) of Guiscard's disagreement. This lands the younger brother in hot water for standing up to a religious leader and failing.

Guiscard is probably the most fascinating character among the Lusitanian camp. He's a far more capable leader than anyone around him, but denied the chance to really use his talents by mere birth order. That makes him an interesting foil to Hermes, who we spent more time with this episode. Hermes insists that the Parsian throne is his right purely by inheritance. At the same time, he tried to convince Guiscard that he should rule due to his talents earlier, even if he's not the oldest brother. They also contrast in how Guiscard remains loyal to his brother's rule—for now—while Hermes is determined to do whatever it takes to win back his title. It's a fascinating dynamic, but unfortunately that's not where this episode focuses.

The focus then turns to Hermes's plots and the battle his new commander, Xandes, unleashes on Arslan and company. This is Hermes's backstory episode, and while that could be potentially worth watching, it isn't done so well here. We learn that Hermes admired his father and was the apple of his dad's eye, in a sweet scene from the day that the previous king was murdered by Andragoras. This is all stuff we could have inferred from Hermes' behavior. We've already been told that "revenge for his dad" motivates Hermes's actions as much as his own lust for power. I liked seeing it, but I would have preferred to see more to really justify this diversion. The stronger parts of Hermes's section featured his ability to intimidate people into following him. His burned face is that scary, I guess. At the same time, this still just builds on what we already know: Hermes is underhanded and creepy, and Andragoras is a jerk who didn't deserve his throne.

From there we move into an uninspired battle sequence. Kharlan's son Xandes suddenly kneels in front of Hermes, demanding to lead the army against Arslan and Friends. He specifically promises to bring back Arslan and Daryun's heads, so Hermes gets excited and lets him go. Xandes has some unique talents, like super-strength: he completely uproots a tree with his sword! Somehow, even that doesn't save this boilerplate battle. Daryun is very honorable and kind and that works against him. Farangis saves the day with her mad archery skills. Gieve tries and fails to win her over some more. (Dude, you're never going to get the ladies with that creepy cat-foot earring you're wearing.) This sequence tries to differentiate itself by shifting the focus to Elam and his relationship with Arslan, but then it makes the scene all about Elam's intense loyalty to Narsus. Again, it's stuff we already knew.

The most interesting nugget of this half comes at the very end of the episode. It's been built up throughout the series that Arslan has a special respect for people below him on the social ladder that's atypical of nobles. He risks his own life to save Elam's, which shocks the kid. We previously thought that Arslan was that way because he was just sweet as pie, but a conversation at the end between Arslan and Narsus dangles a more interesting tidbit; he lived among the common people as a young child, with his nursemaid. Now, I haven't read the novels or manga, or seen the old OVAs, but I have read up on some spoilers, so I do know that this is an important bit of foreshadowing. I also liked seeing Arslan ponder Narsus's previous advice and ask questions about what makes a good leader. Even if that also merely builds on last week's themes.

That brings us to the presentation. The Heroic Legend of Arslan has been plagued with animation problems throughout its run, and I've largely stayed away from them for fear of repetitive harping. However, it's just so noticeable this week that it can no longer be avoided. The characters' faces are frequently off-model in shots where they're the focus, even if they're at a little bit of a distance. The fact that the plot is less interesting makes it all the more obvious. At least when the action on screen is interesting, it can distract me when the show looks bad. This week, that just wasn't happening.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan can do a lot with flashbacks and philosophizing when it wants to, but that requires deepening those ideas beyond what we've already seen. Simply reinforcing things by playing them out in different ways is pointless. As the Talking Heads once said: "Say something once, why say it again?"

Rating: B-

Heroic Legend of Arslan is currently streaming on Funimation.

Rose is a musicologist who studies film music. She writes about anime and many other topics on Autostraddle.com, her blog and her Twitter.