is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series by

Hiromu Arakawa is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known for the manga series ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' (2001–2010), which became a hit both domestically and internationally, and was adapted into two anime television series. She is also known for ''Silver ...

, based on the original novel series of the same name written by

Yoshiki Tanaka is a Japanese novelist. Early life and education He was born in Hondo, Kumamoto, Hondo, Kumamoto Prefecture and took his doctorate degree in Japanese Language and Literature in the Graduate School of Gakushuin University, Gakushūin Universit ...

. It has been serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's ''

Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Kōdansha. The magazine was started in September 2009 as a spin-off of another Kōdansha magazine, ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine''. Currently running manga series Past series * '' ×××Holi ...

'' since July 2013. The manga is licensed for English release in North America by

Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, USA, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and mang ...

. A 25-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation by

Liden Films is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise headquartered in Kamiogi, Suginami, Tokyo, and has animation studios in Kyoto and Osaka. Establishment Liden Films was founded on February 22, 2012 and, shortly after, joined joint-holding ...

and

Sanzigen is a Japanese animation studio specializing in CGI animation. The studio was founded in 2003, later becoming formally incorporated in 2006 by former employees of Gonzo, and has contributed to various anime series and films. Its name is derived f ...

was broadcast in Japan on

MBS MBS may refer for: People * Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985), crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia * Mohan Bikram Singh (born 1935), Nepalese politician Places * MBS International Airport (IATA code: MBS), Freeland, Michigan, US * Mari ...

from April to September 2015, followed by an 8-episode series, titled ''The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance'', broadcast from July to August 2016. The anime series is licensed in North America by

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

Plot

Media

Manga

The manga adaptation of

's ''

The Heroic Legend of Arslan is a Japanese fantasy novel series written by Yoshiki Tanaka. It was published from 1986 to 2017, with sixteen novels and one side-story in the official guidebook ''Arslan Senki Dokuhon''. Set in ancient Persia, it is loosely based on the ...

'' by

was announced in the June issue of

's ''

'', released in May 2013. The series began in the August issue of the magazine, released on July 9, 2013. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes. The first volume was released on April 9, 2014. As of December 9, 2022, eighteen volumes have been released. In North America, the manga was digitally published in English by ''

Crunchyroll Manga ''Crunchyroll Manga'' is a online magazine, digital manga anthology published by Crunchyroll in North America. It began distribution on October 30, 2013. The service launched with a lineup of twelve titles, with chapters released simultaneously ...

'' from 2014 until 2018, when the company announced that they would no longer publish manga from Kodansha.

began publishing the manga in print and digital format on August 19, 2014.

Anime

An anime television series was announced in November 2014. The series is directed by

Noriyuki Abe Noriyuki (written: 紀之, 紀行, 敬之, 記之, 徳行, 憲幸, 範之 or 範幸) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese anime director *, Japanese musician *, Japanese motorcycle racer *, Japanese ...

, with scripts by Makoto Uezu. The series aired from April 5 to September 27, 2015 on

's Nichigo timeslot and other

Japan News Network The , or JNN, is a Japanese commercial television network run by TBS Television. The network's responsibility includes the syndication of national television news bulletins to its regional affiliates, and news exchange between the stations. Its m ...

stations. The series' first opening theme is , performed by

Uverworld Uverworld (stylized as UVERworld) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band consisting of six members and originating from Kusatsu, Shiga. They have released eleven studio albums and over thirty singles and have sold over three million records worldwide ...

, while the first ending theme is , performed by

Eir Aoi is a Japanese singer from Sapporo, Hokkaido, signed to Sacra Music. After being discovered through the Japanese video sharing website Niconico, Aoi made her major debut in 2011 with the release of her first single "Memoria", whose title track ...

. The second opening theme is , performed by

Nico Touches the Walls Nico Touches the Walls (stylized as NICO Touches the Walls) was a Japanese rock band formed in 2004. The band members were: Mitsumura Tatsuya, Sakakura Shingo, Furumura Daisuke & Tsushima Shotaro. In the same year, they won the Lotte Prize at the ...

, while the second ending theme is "One Light", performed by

Kalafina was a Japanese vocal group formed by composer Yuki Kajiura in 2007, mainly to perform theme songs for the anime ''Kara no Kyōkai'', but later expanded to include many other theme songs for other anime shows and films including the '' Madoka Mag ...

. An

original animation DVD , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

(OAD) was bundled with the manga's fifth limited edition volume, released on May 9, 2016. In North America,

announced the license to the series in April 2015, and began a broadcast dub in June of the same year. An 8-episode second season, titled , aired from July 3 to August 21, 2016. Another OAD was bundled with the manga's sixth limited edition volume, which released on November 9, 2016.

Video game

A '' Musou'' crossover game developed by

Koei Tecmo is a Japanese video game, amusement and anime holding company created in 2009 by the merger of Koei and Tecmo. Koei Tecmo Holdings owns several companies, the biggest one of those being its flagship game developer and publisher Koei Tecmo Game ...

, titled , was released on

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

in Japan on October 1, 2015. The game was released in North America on February 9, 2016 and in Europe on February 12.

Reception

Manga

Alongside ''How Are You?'', ''The Heroic Legend of Arslan'' ranked 17th on

Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...

's ''

Kono Manga ga Sugoi! is an annual reference mook series published by Takarajimasha since 2005 featuring yearly rankings and reviews of manga. The rankings are compiled by surveying people in the manga and publishing industry. The series is part of Takarajimasha's ...

'' list of best manga of 2015 for male readers. The manga ranked 8th on "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2015" by the Honya Club online bookstore. The series was nominated for the 42nd

Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially w ...

in the ''shōnen'' category in 2018. The series ranked 35th on ''Da Vinci'' magazine's 17th annual "Book of the Year" 2017 list and ranked 45th on the magazine's 19th 2019 list.

Sales

As of June 2018, ''The Heroic Legend of Arslan'' manga had 5.5 million copies in circulation. The 3rd volume of the series was Kodansha's #11 manga volume with biggest first printings from the period between April 2014 and March 2015, with 370,000 copies in circulation. The 7th volume of the series was Kodansha's #6 manga volume with biggest first printings from the period between April 2017 and March 2018, with 358,000 copies in circulation. The 11th volume of the series was Kodansha's #8 manga volume with biggest first printings from the period between April 2019 and March 2020, with 265,000 copies in circulation.

Critical reception

Kate O'Neil of ''The Fandom Post'' ranked the first volume of the manga as B+, and wrote: "''Arslan'' has an appropriately dark start for a story about war. The action is strong, vicious and bloody. The stakes in the war are high, with death all around the young prince and his loyal retainer. It’s a solid start to what will hopefully turn out to be an excellent tale. While the leads haven’t grabbed me yet there’s plenty of time to develop them further". Rebecca SIlverman of ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

'' gave the first volume a B and wrote: "If you enjoy an epic fantasy with plenty of historical detail and battle scenes and don't mind waiting for the story to really get going, ''The Heroic Legend of Arslan''s first volume is worth reading".

Anime

Theron Martin of ''Anime News Network'' ranked the anime series as B. Martin called ''The Heroic Legend of Arslan'' "a cross between ''

Yona of the Dawn is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mizuho Kusanagi. It has been serialized in Hakusensha's shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Hana to Yume'' since August 2009, with its chapters collected in thirty-nine ''tankōbon'' ...

'' and ''

Guin Saga is a best-selling heroic fantasy novel series by the Japanese author Kaoru Kurimoto, in continuous publication since 1979. A record 100 volumes were originally planned, but the final total stands at 147 volumes and 26 side-story novels, ...

''", and said that the series is "often most interesting when focusing on anyone but Arslan himself". Martin concluded: "''The Heroic Legend of Arslan'' is an ambitious series, inviting plenty of discussion about slavery and religion and politics in general. While its first half has its flaws, if you are looking for an epic fantasy story largely free of romantic distractions, then you could definitely do a lot worse".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heroic Legend of Arslan, The 2013 manga 2015 anime television series debuts 2016 anime television series debuts Films with screenplays by Makoto Uezu Funimation High fantasy anime and manga Hiromu Arakawa Historical fantasy anime and manga Kodansha manga Liden Films Mainichi Broadcasting System original programming Manga based on novels NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan Persian mythology in popular culture Sanzigen Shōnen manga TBS Television (Japan) original programming War in anime and manga