The heroic legend of arslan vol 2 by Yoshiki Tanaka

Arslan and a trusted general, Daryun, have found the hide out of the former royal strategist-turned-hermit, Narsus, and they try to get Narsus to join up with Arslan even though the king grew to despise Narsus. According to Daryun, there is no better war strategist, and Narsus does live up to his reputation several times while they are in his home. While Arslan is trying to remount a force to protect the capital city of Ecbatana, the Lusitanian forces descend on the city and try all manner of dirty tricks to get the sturdy walls to fall. They try torturing prisoners of war in front of the other soldiers to demoralize them; they appeal to the slaves inside to revolt against the solders; and they send assassins through secret water passageways to try to kill or capture the queen, who is the lone royal family member left in the capital to help keep everything together.

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This volume has a lot of the terrible realities of war with the Lusitanians torturing people, killing children, all in the name of this holy war. The Parsans are heathens, and the Lusitanians are better because they believe in one god. There have been so many conflicts throughout history, and some still raging today, because of a difference of religious belief. For some readers, this. might be too close to reality, even though the setting of this series is the past. There are a lot of bloody moments and some quite disturbing when they get to torturing people, so this series might be a good one to attach a warning to. 
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Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1

Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: November 4, 2014​
ISBN: 9781612629735 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 7/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, War, Fantasy, Kodansha