Hiromu Arakawa
The Heroic Legend of Arslan
Origins
- well-developed story
- interesting characters
- a bit generic
- main plot develops slowly
| category | manga |
| genre | shōnen |
| author | Hiromu Arakawa |
| published | 2013 - present |
In the XXIX century, a Persian storyteller Muhammad 'Ali Naqib al-Mamalik wrote a fascinating tale about Arslan ('lion' in Persian), a semi-noble child born in unusual circumstances.
Widely skilled in fighting and super-intelligent at the same time, Arslan grows up to challenge the political establishment from which his family has been banished by the cruel European invader King Patras.
The story has become immensely popular and it continues to be so in modern Iran. Its current shape is different though, and it's all thanks to Mohammad Dja`far Mahdjoub. This Persian culture enthusiast updated it in 1961 with a more complicated plot. It became twice as entertaining, if not more.
Lack of translation to popular world languages stopped it from gaining ground outside of only few countries, but in those it has become a cherished classic.
In 1986, its influence reached Japanese shores. Novelist Yoshiki Tanaka decided to tackle the subject and began publishing new series of stories, which soon became his trademark, called Arslan Senki (meaning "Arslan's war records").
Despite decent popularity in Japan, the language again proved to be the barrier - there was no official English translation to help it reach international audience. Tanaka continues to publish new chapters to this day (more than 3 decades and counting) and because his best work still attracts readers, it was converted to other mediums.
In 1991, an anime mini-series debuted. Few months later, Chisato Nakamura's manga adaptation saw the light of day. Nakamura decided to wrap things up and provided an original ending to the story.
That manga had some distinctly female qualities. Woman's touch is especially noticeable in the drawing of characters. Faces look way too triangular, but on the other hand whole bodies are very nicely drawn, often with great amount of details.
Its reception was generally good, but not good enough to stand the test of time in the crowded market. The work was published in Asuka Fantasy DX magazines, which now serve as collector's items. The manga is very hard to get and there are no full online scans.
Capitalizing on its popularity, two anime adaptations and an unfinished OVA were made. Neither was particularly impressive, but they finally made it possible for non-Asians to appreciate it, due to subtitle translations. This was the second time Westerners got the chance to meet Arslan, after Mohammad Dja`far Mahdjoub's rework was translated to German in 1965.
In 2013, Hiromu Arakawa became the second Japanese person to approach the classical Persian tale. Two years after the first chapter of Silver Spoon was released, 'epic' was out of the equation for the mangaka who was now busy with stories of milking cows and naming piglets.
The Heroic Legend of Arslan was her comeback to the world of swords and magic.
The direct inspiration for Arakawa was Yoshiki Tanaka's novel, and it is no surprise. Both are Japanese who are very passionate about Chinese culture and try to inject it into their works whenever they have a chance to. They share a common niche passion (China is not exactly a subject of admiration in Japan and vice versa), so no wonder that she got to know his best work.
After Silver Spoon, Arslan's tale is Arakawa's second work released outside Square Enix. The long and fruitful relationship with the publisher has clearly come to an end. This time, Kodansha's Bessatsu Shonen Magazine was chosen as the place for her new child.
Review
Hiromu Arakawa takes us on a journey to ancient Persia, camouflaged as the Kingdom of Pars. There lives Arslan, a character very similar to the main protagonist in A Bat in a Blue Sky. An honest, good-hearted successor to the throne.
For that throne he is challenged though when his country is attacked by their arch-rivals Lusitania, who after being tormented for centuries finally decide that enough is enough and exact their revenge. The capital is captured, nobody knows what happened to Arslan's father king Andragoras, while his mother is held hostage by Lusitania's ruler Innocentis.
The boy manages to escape, but enemy forces are out to get him. Able to get in touch with only few, albeit powerful allies, he seeks to chase away the barbarian invaders and get Pars back in order.
Just looking at this incarnation of Arslan, it's already clear who draw him. He looks like a combination of Fullmetal Alchemist's Edward Elric and Winry Rockbell. Fortunately, no other characters resemble anyone else from Hiromu's earlier works. Her characteristic drawing style is very much present here though.
We get to experience the ancient Persia (even including Mithra and a bird named Azrael), but it doesn't feel as that particular place anyway. It could be many other historical places just as well. The names make it Persian, but the architecture, the interior designs are mostly universal.
There aren't too many typical Persian geometric wall and ceiling paintings, unconventional room shapes etc. An occasional name-dropping doesn't fully cut it. Here, Arakawa's manga pales in comparison to its predecessor.
And then there are Chinese influences. For starters, the manga title starts with words 'heroic' and 'legend'. How much more Chinese can a title get?
Some pages contain battleground maps, where units and groups of units are selected to give the reader a clear idea of the current situation. Numerous characters (Narsus being the most eager one) talk about war strategies - how to approach, provoke, evade enemies, how to spot their weaknesses and exploit them etc. All that sounds strongly inspired by Sun Tzu's legendary book The Art of War.
Not only military strategist angle brings Chinese atmosphere into this manga. Some characters and the way story is told meet many requirements for a Wuxia work (Wiki). This kind of presentation clearly has roots in Hiromu's previous flirtation with Wuxia - Hero Tales.
Unfortunately, it suffers from the same predicaments as Hero Tales. The unique exotic setting is dragged down to make a more universal background for events, despite the fact that it could serve as that one thing which makes the manga unique.
The subject of slavery present in here also plays a vital role in Hero Tales, and is one of Hiromu's favorite themes overall. In Fullmetal Alchemist, she has shown how powerful of an impact it can have.
However, in her other works it's like a dull echo which repeats the same thing over and over again, without giving each one a tone that would make it unique. She's trying to teach us about the dangers of class/culture/race segregation, but she has run out of ways to say it.
The Heroic Legend of Arslan redeems itself slightly in one moment, when freed slaves make an unexpected choice. This nice surprise brings in another life lesson from Arakawa - that even clearly obvious choices can sometimes be harder than we think they are.
Another weak point which it shares with Hero Tales is the main hero - he's so boring! That kind of straightforward personality would serve a one-shot well, but in this prolonged lecture more is necessary.
During the entire adventure so far, we occasionally hear that he is smart (which he never proves) and we hear once that his sword fighting skills are better than he thinks. The only time we get to see him in action, he has a problem with some nameless chump, so even that remains in question.
The original Arslan - smart, cunning, crafty, skilled in combat - is someone to look at. Arakawa's version just experiences things. He doesn't make decisions (even acknowledged by his compatriots), he just sees events unfolding and we're left hoping that he at least makes the conclusions which will aid him later in his travels. Seeing him "in action", it's just a matter of time before one starts looking elsewhere.
Luckily, the manga delivers. Second line of characters is all interesting. Each one has a distinct personality, their motifs are sometimes clouded and provoke theorizing, relationships between them are interesting, too. My favorite part of the manga is the one where, ironically, neither of the "good bunch pack" is present even for a second.
Somewhere around chapter 30, we get a close look at the Lusitian court. We learn what kind of person their king is, what is his relationship to his brother, what is their relationship with the highest-ranked priest (hint: not exactly a best friend material). At one point, even Knights Templar make an appearance.
This strictly political net of intrigues and backstabbings is super-interesting, it hits the same kind of tone that made George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones so popular.
The comparison of Hero Tales to this manga is brutal for the former. Hero Tales gets duller the longer it goes, while Arslan's tales can really hook the viewer in. Generic or not, it just works, the story is interesting.
This is a great achievement, given that not enough major things happen to Arslan (and with him), while plenty did in Hero Tales. Yes, he moves around, joins and parts with people and has numerous encounters of many types, but given that we are past chapter 40 at the moment of writing this article, more should have happened.
If the manga would to continue the main plot events in that tempo, the whole thing would have to reach something close to 300 volumes to produce a natural-feeling climax.
But once you forget about it, it's interesting. So what if it's about to last God knows what? If it continues being fun to read, that's a good thing. The risk they run is that the project might one day have to come to an abrupt end due to some business decisions, which would be a shame. To get an example, we don't have to look far - Arslan Senki OVA ended abruptly after just 4 episodes.
There are some story deficiencies which drag down the experience a little. For example, after solving the problem with Hodir, why didn't the crew try to use the enormous assets to their advantage? Would anyone really object if the rightful heir to the throne would decide so? Doubtful.
Alfarid makes a storming entrance, just as if she would serve some critical role in future events. The beginning of the next chapter brutally cracks down on that assertion. Bahman's problem is too clear for everyone to see. For too long, he remains in this alien state, which everyone fails to notice until much later in the story. We get too many reminders that he's hiding something before anything related to it actually happens.
The idea that solving Sindhura's conflict is in Pars' interest is peculiar. Enemy neighbour torn by inner conflict is usually a guarantee that the country will be too consumed with each own's matters to act aggressively towards others.
It's absurd that when two brothers who are fighting each other, one takes his army and decides to storm towards a much stronger military might of Pars instead of concentrating on fighting off his brother. After all the tactical lectures that the manga is full of, better understanding of the art of war would be nice.
Those are just details though and they don't hurt the overall experience that much. This review is filled with manga's shortcomings, but that doesn't mean it is not worth your time. They just stand out more, compared to their generic background.
As a whole, it is an interesting read and while you probably won't be super-excited about what is going to happen next, there's plenty of fun to be had here.
