Orphen

Original Title: 魔術士オーフェン
Romanized: Majutsushi Oofen
Literal: Black Magic Warrior Orphen

Plot Synopsis

The story takes place in a rural world with a few bits of technology laced throughout. Our hero, known only as Orphen, is a sorcerer who has been staying in a small town for the past year. He's been living with the owner of a little pub/inn. He's behind on his rent, but has been teaching the owner's son, Majic, well... magic. As it turns out, he has a motive for staying in this town: The Sword of Baltanders, which is being housed in a mansion along with a mother and her two daughters, the youngest being a spunky, quick-to-judge girl named Cleao. One day when Orphen is keeping an eye on the sword, Cleao spots him and automatically assumes he's a Peeping Tom. That turns out to be the least of everyone's worries as the infamous monster, Bloody August, suddenly appears. But Orphen somehow knows the beast and keeps referring to it as Azalie. Who is Azalie? What is Bloody August's connection with the sword? And why does that annoying Dortin keep always seem to keep popping up with his sister Volcan to cause more trouble? Majic and Cleao will have to journey with Orphen in order to find out!

Quick Review

Rating: 3.5 / 5
Reviewer: Legion
Review Date: 2003-09-02

Orphen is nothing earth-shattering but generally well-made, entertaining and fun to watch. Fans of both serious and comedic fantasy anime will likely find a happy middle-ground with this series. While Slayers is mostly off the wall and goofy, Orphen is more down-to-earth. While Berserk is dark, gritty and violent, Orphen never takes itself too seriously. The visuals, save a few minor oddities late in the series, are attractive, with particularly nice backgrounds, and the acting in both languages is fine (though ADVs translation leaves something to be desired in both cases).

If you're looking for a good fantasy anime with some nice characters and an engaging plot, Orphen should satisfy those needs. It's not perfect, but I found it pretty worthwhile in the end.

US DVD Review

Available as 6 separate DVDs for a full retail of $29.99 each or collected together as a "brick" (multi-disc keepcase, in this case six) for a mere $89.98, these DVDs are decent, standard ADV productions. The video transfer is only decent at first (some noticeable grain and ghosting can be seen) but things get cleaner and sharper as the show progresses and the two digitally animated episodes look great. The Japanese and English audio are decent and come the appropriate subtitle tracks: full dialogue, songs and signs for the Japanese audio and a stream for songs and signs for the dub. As far extras go they're pretty repetitive. All volumes have creditless opening and closing sequences, production portfolios and ADV previews, but the fifth volume has a Japanese commercial and the sixth one has a roughly five minute Japanese featurette. There's also a funny Easter Egg concerning the dub on the third volume. Both language casts are well credited.

Content Guide

About 13-up for some violence and mild mature content.

Violence: 2 - A few deaths and some violence, but nothing overly graphic.

Nudity: 2 - Some skin, but the really naughty bits are either covered or are not detailed.

Sex/Mature Themes: 2 - Cleao frequently freaks out. Everyone's a pervert in her mind (she's right only once, I think).

Language: 1 - Pretty light on the Japanese side.

Notes and Trivia

The original title, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, was shortened by ADV to Orphen at the request of the Japanese licensors, supposedly so it would help build a stronger bond to the PlayStation 2 video game. Probably not the greatest strategy on the part of the Japanese, as the PS2 game was rather poorly-received over here.

Availability

Available in the US from ADV on six bilingual DVDs or a "Perfect Collection" box set of the whole series; both are currently out of print. It was also available on six dubbed VHS volumes earlier. (As of this writing RightStuf still has the individual volumes on close-out for cheap, if you're looking: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.)

Looking to buy? Try these stores: RightStuf (search) | AnimeNation | Akemi's a(nime)Store