The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance

Episode 4

This episode of Arslan started off by proving me wrong on one of my earlier concessions to it. Even without a lot of fight scenes, the animation still lags. There were some very off-model faces, even when the main characters were just riding on their horses through the desert. Putting aside the less-than-impressive visuals though, The Heroic Legend of Arslan improved this week by indulging in a rare fun detour.

This episode moves back entirely to Arslan and his gang, as they hit the road to the port city of Gilan. Before that though, the characters get ambushed by bandits who turn out to be from the Zot Clan. Because Alfreed is now the leader of the group, they defer to her and agree to lead everyone to Gilan, where Narsus meets up with another of his old academy friends, Shagad. Shagad is now one of the leading merchants in the city, and he offers the group a place to stay while they plan their next move.

Before they get there, they all gallivant about the city, showing both very expected (Gieve leers at the pretty girls) and less expected (Jaswant gets cooed over by women as they dress him up in jewels) sides of their characters. I wish we had more of the latter, but it's fun to see everyone let their hair down in any fashion after a long series of repetitive battles. Even the tired jokes about Alfreed marrying Narsus feel fresh now that we have more people taking it seriously, so both characters have to deal with the repercussions of that. Narsus is now the Chief of the Zot Clan! Even all his political planning could never have predicted that one.

This episode largely feels so buoyant thanks to its use of music. The Heroic Legend of Arslan has always had generic music for its genre, with the big sweeping symphonic sound we've all heard in many an epic fantasy on both sides of the Pacific. The new series seems to be changing the music up a little—keeping it string-based, but more folk music than orchestral. I really like the Spanish-sounding trumpet-and-violin melody it's adopted for battle music this season, along with the danceable fiddle tunes we heard this week after the arrival in Gilan. It helped to make their stroll through the city feel like as much of a break for us as it was for them. The series is also showing a better understanding of where not to use music, shutting up while Narsus is plotting, for example.

Speaking of Narsus, he becomes the star of the episode as the plot revolves around his uneasy reunion with Shagad. In their school days, Narsus and Shagad had both been idealists, promising to outlaw slavery in Pars as soon as they could. Narsus has kept hold of these ideals, but Shagad, not so much. He brings up that Gilan is a little miffed with Arslan's plan, because the port city relies heavily on slavery, especially the merchants. Narsus then asks if Shagad is one of the slave-owning merchants, becoming disappointed when his suspicions are confirmed. Shagad even goes on to praise the institution as "practical," appalling his old friend with how much he's let his business interests overtake his morals.

The scene is a nice reminder of Narsus's true nature. The Heroic Legend of Arslan has a bad habit of introducing characters in a way that makes them look interesting, but then once they're a part of the main cast, reducing them to just one or two characteristics. Narsus is one of the worst offenders here, someone we first met as a goofy artist who also had a great mind for politics, but he's been nothing but Arslan's Perfect Strategist ever since. We never see him do much except explain his perfectly-laid plans to Daryun. This episode reminds us of who Narsus is and why, making him more than just a coldly logical character—like Shagad. This old friend contrasts with Narsus to show us that he's really still an idealist and dreamer deep down.

I'm sure Shagad is up to something. He seemed to be acting suspicious even before the reveal that he's a slaveowner. I wonder if he's going to end up betraying Narsus or have his hand forced. I hope that the show does it in a way that really hammers home the history of their relationship and why they took divergent paths, but I'm not holding my breath. I don't think the story is particularly interested in that plotline compared to others. One of those is politics, so it's good to see the series getting back to debating issues like pragmatism vs. idealism, even if it's in a form we've all seen before in similar series (it's basically identical to the Meereen storyline in Game of Thrones). The show still handles this stuff better than the endless battles.

We won't know what Shagad's plan is until next week though. First, there are pirates to battle! I like that the show introduced this by having the Viceroy of Gilan, Pelagius, use "pirates" as an excuse when answering Daryun's question about why this rich city didn't come to the aid of the crown. It turns out that his "excuse" was actually pretty true. The heroic performance of Arslan's gang will probably endear them better to the people of Gilan, but will it be enough to override their plan to upend the local economy? And what is Shagad up to?

This episode still suffers from the same problems that have plagued the entire series: distractingly bad animation, characters who are simplistic to the point of being boring, and extremely slow pacing. At least the series is learning how to work with that last one, turning the cast's latest detour into a fun little adventure. For the first time in a while, I feel a need to watch more Arslan and find out what happens.

Rating: B

The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance is currently streaming on Funimation.

Rose is a music Ph.D. student who loves overanalyzing anime soundtracks. Follow her on her media blog Rose's Turn, and on Twitter.