A strange mist descends upon the kingdom of Palse, and ominous lights in the sky portend approaching strife in the land. A treacherous turncoat, General Kharlan, helps the forces of Lusitania capture the brave, yet heady, King Andragoras. Silvermask, the shadowy figure coordinating the insurgence, longs to claim the throne stolen from his father. He is also determined to destroy those that murdered his father, raising the question of who is the rightful and true heir-apparent to the throne of the magical land of Palse.

A simultaneous surprise attack at the Palsean frontlines puts young Prince Arislan's life in danger, but the faithful Daryoon rescues him and the pair flee into the countryside. Fourteen year-old prince Arislan and the gallant soldier set out to overpower the mutinous general and reclaim the kingdom. Daryoon also wants to redeem himself in the eyes of the king who dismisses him as an overly cautious coward.

The difficulty of recapturing the throne demands that the pair of wayward warriors seek the help of Lord Narsus, an intellectual, artistic, alcoholic nobleman who reluctantly agrees to be Arislan's advisor for the journey. The prince promises to appoint him Court Artist once they obtain victory, but will Narsus' ambivalence towards the task help or hinder Arislan's quest?

Neither heroic nor legendary, young Arislan inactively observes more than he pro-actively contributes to his own floundering story.

With "The Heroic Legend of Arislan," storytellers Haruki Kadokawa, Shugo Matsuo and Yutaka Takahashi attempt to deliver Yoshiiki Tanaka's epic saga (originally told in seven novels) of Prince Arislan's quest to regain his father's stolen throne in an OAV series that collapses under its own weight. Cramming too many characters and sub-plots into the folds, the screen adapters construct a claustrophobic story from which the main character recedes without a strong voice or distinguishing personality of his own.

The film's title suggests a story about a dynamic young prince's adventures. However, Arislan fails to satisfy any criteria for a hero. Instead of a brave and gallant upstart, he proves to be an inexperienced and sullen fourteen year-old boy without a clue about what to do next. His protector and friend, Daryoon, evinces far more bravery and quick wit than said eponymous prince could ever hope to obtain. Time and time again, Daryoon rescues Arislan from situations in which the prince's sheer cowardice puts him at his enemies' mercy. Daryoon's constant struggle to keep this royal buffoon alive consumes much more screen time than Arislan's attempt to regain the throne.

Daryoon, and other more interesting characters like him, given their own significance, would drive a richly textured script. But here they drown out the central arc making for a cacophony of subplots shuffling around in the periphery.

And it is a populated portrait. The kingdom of Palse boasts over 500,000 inhabitants, and the scriptsmiths attempt to incorporate as many of them into the story as they can, choking through lines left, right and center. Just when one character becomes a prominent cast member, three more ride up to complicate the plot, but none propel it toward a worthwhile ending.

Within the first thirty minutes of the OAV series, the cast swells with a king, his son, his liege, his liege-in-waiting, a sorcerer, a sorceress, a crafty hood, an enchanted fairy, an alcoholic land baron, a devoted slave girl, a faithful slave boy, an evil masked knight, a dark alchemist, brave soldiers, avaricious underlings and an assortment of others. Of these characters, the hood, the alcoholic and the masked knight undergo dramatic motivational shifts and provide what little depth there is to be found in a movie whose main character is so flaccid and one-dimensional.

In the end, too many characters grapple for too little screen time, leaving Prince Arislan on the wayside as more of a gawking bystander than a dashing hero - mettle for the stuff of bed wetting rather than the pages of lore.