Enjoy Full Metal Alchemist? Read and adored what we have of Vinland Saga? Or enjoyed the Heroic Legend of Arslan OVA released a million years ago? Combining that art, tone and story, you’ll love this new license from Kodansha Comics:
The Heroic Legend of Arslan – Yoshiki Tanaka/Hiromu Arakawa
The Heroic Legend of Arslan series was originally a light novel, and has since been adapted as multiple manga series and an animated mini-series that Central Park Media released in English. Ah, my high school anime club days.
The series follows a young prince named Arslan, who is the only remaining son of a deceased King and now the heir of a country at war. Arslan and an unlikely, and vastly unnumbered, group of warriors work together to try and take down an army of thousands to save his country.
The artist for this manga adaptation if Hiromu Arakawa, best known for Full Metal Alchemist (one of my all-time comic favourites), and is currently releasing Silver Spoon.
While I’m over the moon happy that Kodansha Comics has licensed The Heroic Legend of Arslan, my excitement was a bit smaller than it would’ve been had Crunchyroll not announced acquiring the series for simulpub just a couple weeks ago. Arslan and more Arslan! I’ve since read all the chapters Crunchyroll has, and am very eagerly awaiting the next installment. And the first printed volume when Kodansha Comics releases it in print this August, of course. I want this beauty in print!
The Heroic Legend of Arslan (Vol. 01) is available for pre-order now from Amazon.ca | Amazon.com.
Kodansha Comics did announce they’d be releasing the book digitally as well, so I suppose we can assume simulpub now from Crunchyroll, digital compilation from Kodansha Comics and a print edition following that. With so many hopes riding on digital delivery giving certain higher-risk series a chance at English release, it almost seems a little silly watching titles licensed by multiple companies in multiple formats. Although, it’s not that surprising seeing a company as big as Kodansha – parent company of the English arm, Kodansha Comics – splitting the piece of manga pie for some of its titles. Arslan isn’t the only title announced this month that is having a publisher time share after all.
(Post cliffhanger!)
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