08/17/2016

Welcome back to Blog Medley and Anime Wednesdays! Have you went to watch Arslan Senki since my post from last week? If you have then you would have enjoyed the story like I did but even though it has a great storyline, the lack of depth in its characters makes it hard for the anime to resonate with my heart. When compared with other top tiered animes from the same adventure/historical genre like Kingdom, an anime that has a similar storyline but based on real events, the lack of characterization and character develop in Arslan Senki stands out like a sore thumb.

Kingdom, is a fictional anime based on the Warring States period in China and follows the young King Ying Zheng and the young slave boy turned increasing famous 1000 men General Xin as they struggle to fulfill their dreams and walk the treacherous path to uniting all of China. The two met in a fateful meeting when Zheng fled the palace after his younger brother rebelled. Due to certain events, Xin was forced to help the young King retake his throne and after successfully quashing the rebellion with the help of new allies, Xin was freed and took to the battlefields to earn achievements as he pursues his Dream of being “The Greatest General Under the Heavens”. Zheng, however, was forced into a political battle against Chancellor and regent Lu Buwei, who was originally a merchant from the State of Zhao but used his business skills to obtain his position in Qin after “helping” Zheng’s father obtain the throne (poor guy dies 3 years later). Zheng must defeat Lu Buwei at all cost if he is to fulfill his dreams of unifying China and become the First Emperor. As you can see the two storylines are  somewhat similar, both have young rulers struggling to rule/retake the throne and their respective state/country and both are based during the times of war with famous generals taking on the battlefields. Here I’ll take a look at 2 themes that occurs throughout both series and how the lack of characterization or character develop hinders Arslan Senki from being considered a top-tiered anime.

1. Loyalty

Throughout Arslan Senki, we see Crown Prince Arslan’s inner circle being questioned by allies and foes of their loyalty. The usual and obvious replies that are along the lines of “Yes having been with him all this time, I feel that he’s a man worthy of serving and he’ll become a great ruler” made by his comrades are frankly tiresome and doesn’t enhance the plot. However, we see it displayed in multiple ways throughout Kingdom be it soldiers rushing to protect their Generals or Generals displaying their loyalty to their Kings and States through decisions on the battlefields. My favourite example from Kingdom was Season 1, episode 5, where Changwen-jun, retired warrior turned minister, having been separated from Zheng during the escape charges in to slay the assassin trying to kill Zheng. Afterwards without caring for his wounds due to multiple attacks on his way to meet Zheng or taking off part of his armour, he crosses the river in full armour to kneel before Zheng and express his joy at seeing his King safe and sound. That was brilliantly done by the author as it shows the audience another side of Changwen-jun besides his old fiery minister/warrior self. It not only showed his unquestionable loyalty but also his compassion and respect for the young King, like that of a grandfather worried about his grandson.

2. Dreams and Resolve

In both animes, there are big dreams with Arslan wanting to repel the Lustanian invaders and rule Pars with a kind heart in Arslan Senki and Zheng with his dreams of uniting China after 500 years of war while Xin dreams of becoming the greatest general ever lived. While each of their dreams are big, the authors does a great job in both animes to make the audience believe that these young men will succeed some day. However, there is a clear difference in that belief as shown clearly in, ironically season 2 for both animes. I certainly believe Arslan will become a great and just King if he has Daryun (strongest warrior), Narsus (wisest strategist), and the rest of his inner circle with him. Conversely, I believe Zheng and Xin will achieve their dreams even if they lose comrades along the way during the treacherous battles both on the battlefield (slayed by enemy troops) and on the political stage (assassination). This is due to poor character development by the scriptwriter and author for Arslan Senki. In season 2, after Arslan was banished by the King, who escaped from the enemy’s prison, to Gilan he immediately loses his will to becoming a great ruler and enforcing his newly minted law on abolishing slavery. One would think after all he had been through up to this point from battling invaders, to learning to govern from Narsus, to wrangling a peace treaty out of a cornered enemy (with Narsus’ help) that he would have learned to grow a backbone. Instead, he sighs and laments his bad luck and wonders if he should just live a free (but poor) life in Gilan before his loyal friends and followers knocked some sense into him having gone after him after his banishment. In Kingdom, both the audience can clearly see both Xin and Zheng’s resolve to follow their dreams growing as the series goes on with Xin declaring to Lian Pothe last of the original Three Great Devas of Zhao, that he would pursue his dreams to be the greatest general by uniting all of China through his battles after defeating General Lun Hu, one of Lian Po’s “Four Pillars”, and Zheng not yielding an inch to Lu Buwei but instead accepting “poison” (the younger brother and supporters that led the rebellion) into his faction and temporarily thwarting Lu Buwei’s plans. This character development was shown perfectly as both characters are now able to not just declare their dreams but were forced to act on it under pressure by mighty antagonists.

I could continue on but just by exploring these two themes alone Kingdom shows why it is superior to Arslan Senki in a variety of ways. I find this very disappointing because this is the third time Arslan Senki has been re-written and adapted in manga which the anime is based off of. To any aspiring novelists and writiers, take note of this as good plot and storylines can only take you so far. You have to develop and show your characters in different lights, even minor ones. This Friday I’ll be talking about Japanese food on Travel Fridays here at Blog Medley so be sure to come back and check it out!

© 2016, Anson Wu. All rights reserved.

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