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The gallant prince of Pars is looking concerned at the field of battle filled with a heavy mist as the scene changes to the King’s tent where one the Kingdom’s bravest warriors is demoted of his rank and branded as a coward. Shortly after, two armies clash as and a bloody battle entails.

Based on a Japanese fantasy novel series of the same name, the author Yoshiki Tanaka begun writing the story as early as 1986 that is still ongoing. The story elements are based on Persian history, where many references to names are from the epic of Amir Arsalan.

Different studios lead the different OAVs where Animate Film made the first OAV is also known for Cat Shit, and where the second OAV was headed by the studio Aubec; which is known for Secret Garden: The Animation. Where the studios Animate and J.C. Staff made the following episodes up to the fifth, and final one that at the time was based on the latest novel released.

The story mainly follows the group of Prince Arslan and their exploits during a time of crisis in the kingdom of Pars. Where enemies from all sides attempt to invade, and further intrigue takes place.

The story itself has some mythology of its own and elements of mystery, and despite that each episode is made by different studios it has a certain consistency in the art style which is the average one for the early 90’s fantasy anime, and characters who are quite loyal to the story; the core issue lies, however on the amount of cut parts from the novels.

Fitting everything in something that is supposed to last an hour at best somewhat forces certain things to be cut, and short time skips between the episodes that are not fully explained. Furthering that someone may need to actually read the novel to purely understand the ongoing story and this highly damages the OAV; it doesn’t manage to handle the very story it is tasked with at the fullest extent.

The soundtrack befits the OAVs, and it is dark, mysterious and also gives a support to each film. Where men with swords clash, and intrigues are explained, the music plays at the right time, and in battles it also restraints itself to let the sound of flesh, arrows and metal clash take place. The feeling of certain tracks feels like a far echo to the much later Diablo game soundtracks as they use similar techniques, and rhythms to give a similar feeling on what is shown.

What the viewer leaves with after following the OAV’s is thirst; a thirst that might be quenched in the near future as an anime is on the works. As the story of The Heroic Legend of Arslan is a rich one, and sadly, the OAVs never truly used to the most.

I have and I don't feel that the author of Full Metal Alchemist, meanwhile a great mangaka, it wasn't the best choice for The Heroic Legend of Arslan. It's a dark world, and yet the art style with its features doesn't feel to match within the context.

http://www.mangareader.net/the-heroic-legend-of-arslan-arakawa-hiromu
i feel the need to bring this up. have you seen this?

An appealing style isn't necessarily the best choice to go for. For example the enemy soldiers are never portrayed as evil, and the style also worsens the characters by overly exaggerating their personalities in some cases. It feels like a dumbed down version of the story with "Oh, you know, these people are evil, and the heroes are the good guys" which isn't what the story is like in the first place. I am not sure what mangaka would be fitting; but someone with more experience in darker and more serious plots.

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it has an appealing style. then again im a bit biased, i loved FMA. im guessing you would have liked to see something similar to a realistic style. if you could have picked an artist, who would have done the manga?

Yes, just a play in the sequence of the words; Original Video Animation or Original Animation Video.

Hmm it sounds quite good, I might give this one a watch <.<

Is an OAV the same as an OVA?