The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance

Episodes 1-3

Well, there's one thing you can definitely say for The Heroic Legend of Arslan; it's nothing if not predictable. The first episode of the new series, The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance, came rushing in like no time had passed. Other than listing the names of all the major characters, there's no attempt to remind you of what happened. It just plunks you right down in the action, assuming you remember everything from last time—or at least attempted to look it up online to refresh yourself.

It works, because The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance is indeed just a continuation of the previous series. Plenty of long-running anime that take breaks will show changes in their approach when coming back in later seasons. This is especially true if it's built up popularity in the meantime, getting the opportunity to improve anything that might have been holding back the production (see Sailor Moon Crystal). I had wondered if there would be an uptick in the production values for this series, given that it was now crunched to just eight episodes. Nope! It basically looks and feels the same as it ever was.

All that is great news if you like what this series was doing last year! Unfortunately, I'm not among that camp. I had a lot of issues with the 2015 anime adaptation of The Heroic Legend of Arslan. I wasn't a huge fan of the two-dimensional characters, especially given a plot that begs for a more complicated moral landscape. The underlying story requires characters grasping with realistic emotions, not just bundles of tropes. It doesn't help that the main character is a cipher of a good guy, who just seems to magically know what's right and how to inspire people with his pure goodness. It would be easier to root for Arslan if he seemed more like a teenage ruler, or if he was more personally affected by the adversity he's experienced over the course of the series (beyond getting emotional in the moment before bouncing back immediately). The same is true of the other major characters; I liked Narsus better when he was goofier, not just a logical perfect strategist. It would be nice to see Alfreed have a character beyond "obsessed with Narsus," or Farangis beyond being an ice queen who's brilliant with an arrow. Gieve is used better than ever this time, but even he feels too simplistic.

Additionally, the pacing in this series can be glacial. The battle with Turan at Peshawar that opens this new season doesn't bode well for this problem going forward. While it certainly allows for some intriguing worldbuilding, it's a little too late in the story's runtime to be adding more characters and more subplots. Even if this one is largely resolved by the end of episode 2, that's still two episodes that could have been spent advancing existing subplots. The same is true with Andragoras forcing Arslan to assemble a larger army. Andragoras's escape was promising, as is more attention spent on the fraught relationship between king and prince. Still, this feels like extra time spent on the road when they should be moving closer to their destination. Perhaps this is paced better in the original novels, but it feels like more stalling for time when we're so close to the finish line.

Luckily, the other new subplots fare better, advancing rather than slowing down the storyline. This is especially true of Hermes's side of the story. His search for the mysterious sword of his ancestors (and the dives into his backstory in episode 3) are what I hope to see more of at this point in the story. In the home stretch of its run, it's good for a show to explore and deepen the characters and plots it already has running.

The other huge elephant in the room is the animation, which continues to stumble. This is especially true of large battle scenes, which are already difficult to animate—but the noticeable amount of off-model shots, awkward facial expressions, and clunky movement really brings you out of the story. A lot of anime struggles to animate this stuff, but in the case of The Heroic Legend of Arslan, it's probably all the more noticeable because of the faithful character designs from Hiromu Arakawa's manga version. Her trademark art style was handled beautifully in the adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood by Studio BONES, so it's hard to keep that successful articulation of her art style away from the forefront of your mind when watching Heroic Legend of Arslan struggle. Additionally, the battle scenes are an enormous part of this show—there's usually several per episode. That's another check in favor of seeing more Hermes backstory: fewer new reasons to battle. More intimate storylines mean scenes that are less tricky to animate.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance is obviously working with strong material. The original novels are popular classics in Japan, with a manga adaptation from one of the medium's most celebrated artists. It's all in the adaptation, which just doesn't come off as careful and inspired as it should be. Whether it's production problems, or sloppy character writing and plotting, The Heroic Legend of Arslan doesn't get the tender loving care it deserves. Still, episode 3 shows promise. It's just a little too late in the show's run to keep talking about "promise."

Rating: C+

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.