What They Say:
With no time to absorb Bahman’s shocking revelation, Arslan must decide how to deal with the invading army led by Rajendra, Second Prince of the Kingdom of Sindhura.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
If you were wondering if there should’ve been anything on Arslan last week, I’ll take this time to point out that it was not only a recap episode but a “halfway” episode (13.5), indicating that it can easily be removed from regular viewing of the series, and as that suggests there’s nothing new to it, just a clip show of the first cour. The only thing to take away from it was the second ED, coming from one of the most welcome groups in any production, Yuki Kajiura’s Kalafina. As we move into the second cour, we also get the second OP, appropriately by the same artist as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’s second OP, NICO Touches the Walls. Along with both sequences featuring music from excellent bands, the OP has probably the finest animation in the series.
Arslan has just heard a bombshell that could change his life pretty substantially, but he doesn’t quite have the luxury of pondering all the implications with all the madness going on around him. No sooner does Hermes leave than Rajendra from Sindhura shows up and decides that attacking Arslan is a pretty fun trend. As is often the case, he throws large numbers at Arslan’s small party with little regard to the all-important element of strategy. The fighting skill of most of Arslan’s party aside, Narsus is exactly the strategist to turn a situation like this around and use the advantages at his disposal to completely overwhelm even the most massive of armies. Narsus divides them into time, terrain, and harmony, and masterfully manipulates each in their favor to win the day once more. Arslan’s supporters are all quite proficient at their respective jobs, but even in the disarray the recent revelations almost put him in, Arslan himself is coming into his role at the future king very well, leading his men like a true ruler, and ultimately introducing yet another former foe to his unique methods of negotiations, valuing camaraderie and loyalty over the threats and oppression that defined his father’s rule. With a dash of clever deception he accepts from Narsus, Arslan is able to bring another powerful enemy force under his alliance, which promises to be an immense boon to the goals that would’ve still been out of the scope of what such a small group could be expected to accomplish alone.
Opinions on CG in anime of course vary, and while I do appreciate many cases of very excellent blending, I tend to prefer quality 2D animation over what is far more often than not cost-cutting measures through use of CG models. With SANZIGEN being one of the two studios behind this production, I had always worried that there would be as much CG as 2D animation and I’ve always been pleasantly surprised by how much that turned out not to be the case. In this episode we see perhaps a bit more CG than we have in the first cour, but while it does have a certain distracting incongruity to it, it’s also some of the most dynamic and intense large-scale battle action we’ve ever had, and so for the purpose it’s meant to serve it actually works out for the best.
In Summary:
The second cour has begun, and even with major uncertainties looming over his head, Arslan is making great strides toward becoming the king he was always promised to be. Each member of his party proves an excellent contributor as much as ever, with Narsus in particular proving just how invaluable he is as a strategist. The animation leans a bit too much on its CG crutch, but at the same time the intensity is most definitely in the right place.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Roku 3, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.
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