is a Japanese anime television series. It is an eight-episode sequel to The Heroic Legend of Arslan anime series which is based on Hiromu Arakawa's The Heroic Legend of Arslan manga, a retelling of Yoshiki Tanaka's original novels with the same name. The narrative continues to focus on Arslan's work as the Prince of Pars and how he is sent into exile by his own father, King Andragoras, forcing him to create his own army with several returning characters swearing loyalty to him rather than the king.

Multiple staff members from Liden Films returned to animate the series but with Felix Film's aid. It is directed by Noriyuki Abe and written by Makoto Uezu. Due to the anime's change of setting, the staff worked properly to design different types of clothing fitting for the heated weather in the new areas the cast visits. Yūsuke Kobayashi returns as the lead's voice actor but also has several new members for the characters.

The season was well received by critics for the handling of both Arslan for now having reached the closure of his character arc while having a more refined relationship with the antagonistic Silvermask. However, when it came to production values several critics saw the animation as inferior to the first anime and objected to its low episode count. Despite these issues, the series ends on a cliffhanger and Liden Films never handled the series again, which was another negative part.

Premise

Following the events of the first The Heroic Legend of Arslan, the title character has managed to protect the Kingdom of Pars using his new army. After being kidnapped in a war, King Andragoras III returns to Pars where he resumes his role as the king but exiles his son, the Crowned Prince Arslan. Arslan is sent to exile until he generates his own army but his previous allies join him even if he no longer has power.

Production The positive reception to the first season of the animated adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa's The Heroic Legend of Arslan manga led the staff to quickly produce a sequel, Dust Storm Dance. Just like the first anime, Dust Storm Dance is originally based on Yoshiki Tanaka's light novel which Arakawa adapted as a manga. The anime was first announced in March 2016 in the official site of the first Arslan series. Despite having multiple staff members, it was broadcast on Sundays at 5 p.m. on MBS and TBS, which is the "Nichigo" timeslot. While the first anime was a collaboration between Liden Films and SANZIGEN, this time Felix Film is replacing SANZIGEN with the 3D computer generated animation. In order to promote it, NBC Universal aired gag video of the returning cast working in modern life.

For the second season, returning director Noriyuki Abe said the staff aimed to give each season a distinct setting as well as a different story. They created appealing fight scenes by experimenting with different visual styles. Writer Makoto Uezu sought to focus more heavily on Narsus and to further develop the relationship between Arslan and his subordinates. With the setting changing in the new series, the cast's costumes were designed to be lighter. Uezu received the feedback from viewers of the first season, which led to expanding on the parts that they enjoyed. He claims they want viewers to like Arslan and his companions even more. Since this season only has eight episodes, they took advantage of that and decided to include an episode set in a port town, which was not originally planned. Meanwhile, the characters were designed by Shingo Ogiso, who created different outfits under the supervision of Arakawa. The new series featured several new characters. Ogiso commented characters like Merlein and Princess Irina are very unique and charming. The sequel's keyvisual is meant to contrast the original's as it shows the title character in a more dignified and stronger figure when compared to the first TV series. Ogiso noted that due to the new setting explored characters like Narsus and Farsus wear skimpier outfits.

Kyo Yamashita and Tatsuya Shimano were the new directors of modeling. Eir Aoi and Kalafina returned as the main singers of the series; the opening theme is "Tsubasa" and the ending theme is "blaze", respectively. The "Tsubasa" single reached number 9 on Oricon, 5 on Japan Hot 100, and 2 on Japan Hot Animation having spent 9, 9 and 7 weeks respectively. Taro Iwashiro also returned as composer.

Casting Multiple actors reprised their original characters. Yūsuke Kobayashi voiced Arslan in Japanese. He stated that the protagonist had already fully developed his awareness and capabilities as a king in the first work, and that in the second, his words carried even more persuasiveness and strength. These scenes surprised Kobayashi himself, as they also surprised Arslan's closest subordinates, Daryun and Narsus. Other voice actors included Daisuke Namikawa and Yoshimasa Hosoya as Narsus and Daryun, respectively; they felt their characters' relationships with the prince were strong and became softer the more screen time they shared. Returning as Etoile, Yumi Uchiyama noted that there were few female voice actresses. Yuki Kaji looked forward to Hilmes being explored more especially with his sense of justice.

Release The series aired from July 3 to August 21, 2016. An original animation DVD (OAD) was released on November 9, 2016. Funimation licensed the series in North America. MVM licensed the series in May 2018.

Volume Date Discs Episodes 1 September 7, 2016 1 1–2 2 October 5, 20163-4 3 November 18, 2016 5–6 4December 7, 2016 7–8

Episodes

Reception Popularity The first episode of the series appeared in Japan's TV ranking at 9th with a 2.4 rating. The home media release was popular in Japan, appearing in Oricon charts of anime. Kotaku regarded as one of the best anime from 2016 thanks to the fictional elements based on real life and praised the world-building and fantasy. The anime was one of the most highly anticipated works from 2016 according to a Kadokawa research and Anime!Anime!.

Critical response When it came to critical response, Chris Beveridge from The Fandom Post praised the protagonist's character arc despite his lack of charisma compared to other characters. The new alliances the protagonist forms also received positive response from the reviewer, who highlighted the commentary on the "next generation" and praised the handling of fight scenes. In retrospect, IncendiaryLemon noted that a major complaint about the anime was the rushed ending of the first season and that the second season still has flaws; the writer believed there was little progress in the second season and that the character development was poorly handled, with the exception of Arslan's rival, Prince Hilmes. After criticizing the animation, the writer concluded that the second season was a weak sequel. While noting that Arslan properly developed as a character, Anime UK News lamented the writers did not try to expand the character especially with the nature of the season where the protagonist is poorly treated by his father. Martin objected to the second season's small number of episodes compared to the first but noted that it retained the strengths of the original anime through its handling of multiple fight scenes while exploring the protagonist's role from a different perspective than his portrayal as a mere dependent in the first season. The handling of Silver Mask having a stronger role in the new due to his connection with Arslan enough to be considered his rival despite Etoile filling that role in the first animated work.

In regards to the production works, Jay's reaction to the second season was more positive, praising the animation that combines 2D and CGI art. The English localization by Funimation was also praised by Jay for delivering strong voice performances, while Martin expressed mixed thoughts about Dismuke's work in the leading role. Besides praise on the art, Martin also liked the animation when it comes to fight scenes. The two theme songs were also praised by the writer. Beveridge says it was a well-designed series, citing the sound effects of horses the warriors ride that give the anime a realistic style. IncendiaryLemon was more negative about Liden Film's work, claiming the animation felt inferior to the first series as CGI and traditional animation no longer mix properly. Moreover, the writer lamented Liden Film never grabbed the franchise again and left the protagonist's story unfinished even after three years of its release which is the time of the review in Europe.

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