My goodness, Lidenfilms – I didn’t think you had it in you… The mantle pretty much falls to Arslan Senki for a Sunday anime that actually has a chance to see a real ending. Yeah, we’re already through the manga and into novel material, and even though the novel series […] Read more
Flushing Meadows and the Kanto Junior aren’t the only places where it’s Showdown Sunday… Arslan Senki had a resolutely discernible strategy for this episode – simplify. There’s been a lot of preamble, politics and permutations building up to this point, but that was pretty much all stripped away this week, […] Read more
Are we there yet? Not quite. Military epics share a common element with sports anime, and that of course is the setup episode. Every big game has to have a buildup, a time of quiet reflection on what’s to come – and the big battles are no different. It just […] Read more
If you gotta be cruel to be kind, our young prince still has a long way to go. In many ways, Arslan Senki has a lot in common with Baby Steps, and it makes a fine companion piece for these Saturdays that are disproportionately the home of good anime this […] Read more
Seriously, Arslan – that face isn’t ringing any bells by now? I must say it’s been a great month for Arslan Senki, which has really come into its own over the last few episodes. I was hugely impressed by the fact that the series was subtly setting up the dilemma […] Read more
Meanwhile, back in Pars… If “Why” is the keyword of the moment in Gangsta, in Arslan Senki I think it’s “Should”. As in, should Hilmes be the king because he has the stronger legal claim, or should Arslan be the king because he seems to be the better man? I’ve […] Read more
When will the dog learn – this cat has claws… The anime competition is pretty fierce at the moment – Ushio and Tora, Working!!!, Baby Steps and Gangsta have put on a masterful display this week of how to execute their genres and demographics pretty much flawlessly. But let there […] Read more
Well, that trial by combat sure brought on flashbacks, but happily the ending was slightly different. I had a suspicion (espoused in last week’s post) that this turn in the plot might just prove to be a good thing for The Heroic Legend of Arslan, and boy was I ever […] Read more
Shall I call that episode “Game of Rings”, or would “Lord of Thrones” be better? The epic pedigree is certainly strong here. Obviously guys like Tanaka, Martin and Tolkien read the same books as kids – and a lot of them were history books. Sometimes no fiction can be as […] Read more
OK, so I’m just going to pretend I didn’t see that end card… Sooner or later, the sneaky bastards in this series are going to realize that it’s just not smart to fool with Narsus. But for now, his genius continues to be the driving force in the narrative, and […] Read more