Story & Characters
Continuing with the trend of reviewing animated series from the late 90s, I'm actually diving back to a show that
I've been rather fond of over the years. Well, I should say that I'm really fond of the first season.
It's a show I've watched numerous times and had a bit of controversy for what the English adaptation did to
the script. It's also got a bit of sword, sorcery, and a whole lotta anti-hero! I'm talking about Sorcerous
Stabber Orphen!
Sorcerous Stabber Orphen (I will simply refer to it as Orphen from here on out) is the product of Yoshinobu Akita and
Yuuya Kusaka. It first started out as a light novel, which expanded into a manga before getting an anime adaptation and
a video game release for the Playstation 2. Orphen can be classified in the same category a series like The Slayers
can. It's a fantasy adventure series with a cast of various characters and all sorts of spells and other such
fantasy creatures. Orphen was adapted into an anime by J.C. Staff during 1998 and went until 2000, when the second
season stopped. I'm going to be doing something a bit different for this review, since I found that both seasons
of Orphen differ slightly and can actually be viewed on their own.
With that in mind, I'm going to break things down a bit differently here and do two reviews at once, since
technically they are two seasons of a series. Let's jump right in, shall we.
Season One starts us off by introducing us to Orphen. Orphen himself is sort of a stereotypical these days, but back
then (at least in my eyes) he was unique and memorable for being this "badass" anti-hero type character.
He's rude, unapologetic and to the point, but he's also got a heart of gold deep down inside. Orphen was also
regarded as a gifted sorcerer who originally studied at the Tower of Fang, an infamous magic school, before leaving due
to a horrible incident involving his childhood friend, Azalie. Five years after he left the school, he has been
diligently working towards trying to save her, all the while trying to stop Childman, his former professor at the Tower
of Fang, and others he use to call his friends from destroying this "Bloody August". Just how does Azalie and
this "Bloody August" tie together?
Orphen finds itself in the traditional world of sword and sorcery, and while being fairly unoriginal at times, I found
that the story itself was rather nicely told. Orphen finds himself in a small town called Totokanta, where he is
"training" a young man named Majic, who just happens to be the son of the landlord of the place he is staying
at. I put quotes around training, because Orphen spends most of his time lazing around and sleeping, you know, like
what most sorcerers do. This all changes when a young woman named Cleao comes back from her boarding school to find
Orphen peeping upon her. The reality of the situation is Orphen is there for other reasons, which involve a mysterious
sword that is kept in Cleao's family house. The plot unfolds and we find ourselves following Orphen, Majic and
Cleao as they embark on an adventure together.
When looking at the first season, it would be rather easy to simply put the series in sort of the traditional anime
section. You've got the loner badass (Orphen) a tsundere (Cleao) and Majic, who seems to be a mish-mash of bland
personalities. However, if you were to simply take it all at face value, you'd be greatly missing out on what the
show has to offer. As the story unfolds, we learn more about these characters and find that these assumptions are
greatly mis-informed. Cleao, while seeming as a very naive and spoiled child, actually works hard to support Orphen and
prove her worth as a part of the group, while Orphen opens up to Cleao and Majic more as things progress. Characters
are given greater depth and as a result we care about the adventure that's going on and more importantly, we get to
enjoy watching each of them grow. We want Orphen to succeed and more importantly, overcome all obstacles in his path
and this is what really makes Orphen stand out.
Season One isn't going to turn heads or set new standards, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do and as a
result it not only is very enjoyable, but it's also a blast to watch. Being a fan of the fantasy genre, I've
always found this season to be a treat and it's a show I've come back and watched several times before because
of how they hit just the right notes. There are definitely faults, and the show doesn't truly push past anything
to make itself a memorable adventure, but when all is said and done it is an enjoyable adventure.
First season : 7
So with the first season being an enjoyable romp with some clichés here and there and some filler used very cleverly,
one would bet that a second season would greatly build upon that, right? Wait.. Why is Orphen in some weird, ugly
looking world, running away from something and oh look, there's a bunch of barbie-doll looking Cleao's calling
out his name and now he's missing his shirt? Oh wait, it was a dream? So Orphen wakes up and Cleao is sleeping
right next to him. Oh, so Orphen is in her bed? Or probably the more likely she wandered into his bedroom at night, I
think? Wait, so she's using Leki, a wolf-like creature that she acquired in the first season, to attack Orphen
randomly and now there's a huge dip in the quality of animation?
What's going on, and what have you done to my Orphen series?!
Orphen Season 2, or referred to as Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Revenge is the second season produced by J.C. Staff. Since
the series is considered to be a second season, I will be reviewing it as such and boy, I really wish it wasn't.
It's really hard to begin explaining what my problem is with the overall story and character aspect of the second
season, because it seems like this is almost an alternative universe to the first season, even though the difference
overall aren't terribly major. Majic is now a huge ladies man, or at least the show plays him up to be far more so
than the first, and every episode ends with Orphen's signature attack. Everything about Revenge strikes the
audience as cliche and what's more, a complete opposite of the first season.
What exactly do I mean by this? Revenge sort of comes across as a by-the-numbers type of show, where it loses most of
it's identity to branch off into something that's more stereotypical. I've got a hunch that the studio
got together and had a meeting to discuss this and I'm thinking it might of gone something like this.
"Well, the first season of Orphen did pretty well, and while the storyline was rather dramatic with bits of comedy
nicely woven into it, there were some people that thought it was a bit angsty. What should we do about the second
one?"
"I know! Let's make it more comedy based, with a lighter color palette and a more simplistic art style along
with a more upbeat music."
"That's a great idea, but what about the story"
"That's not important right now! Right now, we need to focus on making sure that the opening intro is
absolutely stunning to lure people in, and improve the soundtrack over the original, but confuse fans of the first
season. We want to pull in more people, because the first season wasn't the big success we wanted it to be. So,
let's try to make it more comedic and still keep the action from the first season to make it more like The Slayers
was, except without the likeable characters or depth! However, since we want to make sure not to invest too much money
into this show, the overall quality is going to be subpar for animation, but that's fine because the show itself is
more whimsical! "
"Wait, that doesn't sound like a very good idea..."
"MEETING ADJOURNED!"
I want to emphasize that Revenge is not a terrible show. You can definitely do worse in the fantasy area, but the
problem is Revenge is touted as the second season to Orphen, and not a alternate universe or a re-telling of the series.
By drastically changing the tone of the show, along with other tweaks, they ended up with a product that's only
similarities are a few things here and there, and the characters. Even then, I would say that the characters themselves
seem to be a downgrade of the first season.
Speaking of characters, wow. Boy are characters a huge downgrade . Remember all that progression between Cleao and
Orphen? Apparently the team behind Revenge didn't. Matter of fact it seems like a lot of the development and
character descriptions were torn up and thrown on the floor and then just sort of stabbed at randomly to newly construct
the characters for Revenge. Cleao and Orphen spend so much time childishly bickering about the last piece of food on
the table, or about her for stumbling into Orphen's bed and then using Leki to attack Orphen. Seriously? My
previous words might of been a bit harsh, but after watching the first few episodes of the show it really becomes
apparent that while there are similarities, they most certainly aren't the characters that we've grown with.
The only characters that has truly stayed the same is Volkan and Dortin, and considering that these are just secondary
characters that isn't enough to help push the show back up.
However, keep in mind that this comparison is based upon what was developed in the first season. The comedy is
definitely a hit and miss aspect, with some parts being absolutely hilarious and others a bit too excessive and cliche,
but I have to admit even despite these additions, they just feel out of place in Orphen. I hate drawing upon
comparisons, but considering that this is the second season I can't help but to critique it more harshly because of
that. Yet another example of what would of done just fine had it been a stand-alone addition.
So what about the story?
Not very much better, to be honest. The story itself has minimal linking to the previous season and devotes far too
many episodes to simply pandering around with filler that doesn't really help show character growth, or progression
of any sort.
Honestly, one would be forgiven if they simply dropped the show after five episodes, because honestly nothing happens to
keep the viewer interested and when the plot finally does get going, unfortunately it's at a point that I like to
describe as "Too-far-gone". I simply did not care what was happening or what could end up happening, because
the show had taken so long to establish itself. Honestly, I was just simply watching episodes just to get them out of
the way after awhile, and that is never good in a series.
By no means is Revenge terrible, but it's sadly apparent that not much care was given in terms of how the story
progressed. While the story itself isn't actually too bad, it was just set up far too late and couldn't save
the mess the show had already made.
Second Season : 4
End score was rounded up
Rating: 6
Art
The first season of Orphen has a very distinct look to it. There's no doubt that J.C. Staff really wanted to give
the first season that special something and for a good portion, it shows. Characters are rather detailed, lighting is
nicely done and spells have a nice oomph to them, with each one being rather distinct.
Animation, overall, is fairly fluent and when it looks good, it really looks good. However, the animation itself is a
mixed bag. While there are points when this series really looks incredible, the quality seems to be all over the place
as sometimes characters will look more muddled at one point and others look rather detailed.
J.C. Staff certainly wanted to make this a high quality series and I give them props for trying, but unfortunately time
hasn't been kind to the other potions of this show, as backgrounds sometimes look a bit flat and characters
don't exactly fit properly, but this is very rare. There is one constant throughout and that Orphen has a much
darker, old school look to it. This is actually what I've always loved about the first season is the excellent
choice of art direction, even if the quality overall was varied and ultimately the show definitely shows it's age
after fourteen years and at times that isn't a pretty thing.
On a completely side-note, what the heck is with the different art style featured in the last episode of the first
season? I seriously kid you not, it's completely different in appearance than the rest of the show, and sort of
jarring. It looks great, but my gosh is it different.
FIrst season : 6
Sadly, this huge transitional change the story made is also shown through in the artwork. The animation itself
isn't nearly as sharp or detailed as this time around, and seems to have a much more whimsical and light-hearted
look. While this isn't a bad thing, it's definitely a huge drop in overall quality than from before. And
when I say a huge drop in overall quality, I mean it fell-off-a-cliff kind of drop.
To be honest, I'm not actually too sure what happened, but the show definitely looks like there wasn't much of
a budget to work with. Characters are very lazily drawn, and animated. There's a much greater difference in
quality overall than the first season and the backgrounds look even worse. It's really hard to come up with
positives when it seems like they took the problems of the first season and focused expanding them. I really can't
stress enough that while the art is still tolerable, it's a huge dip in both animation and backgrounds. By far the
only thing I can truly compliment is that the show stands more on average ground sometimes and the intro is rather
nicely done. However, that simply cannot save the incredibly noticeable downgrade in animation, and it's even
worse when the series actually looks pretty decent because these blemishes are significantly more noticeable and far
more common than they were in the first season.
While there are definitely more series out there with more flimsy animation, this definitely sets a low bar for the
series and by far is my biggest gripe with it. Truly, what a shame.
Second season : 3
End score was rounded up
Rating: 5
Sound
Orphen season one is a bit of a unique character when it comes to the sound. Let's deal with the elephant in the
room first off. The English dub was handled by ADV Films, and as previously mentioned in two other reviews I covered
that were series dubbed by ADV Films in the 90s, this one has a modified script. To be completely outright, modified
wouldn't do it justice as they have completely changed large aspects of the dialogue when it was dubbed over. This
was the series that got me into the habit of watching anime with subtitles on, just to see how much was changed in the
dialogue. While I applaud ADV for their creativity to branch out and try something new, the unfortunate result is
characters are completely different in some cases, saying things that are completely unlike their original dub counter
parts. I'm surprised they didn't draw on Goatees and make them speak in a deep voice to symbolize some sort
of parallel evil twin. This was viewed as a huge issue by those that watched this series, since it ended up changing a
lot of the cast and story elements and in some cases completely removing them.
However, despite this the dub isn't actually terrible. It's actually rather amusing to see how they chose to
handle things and we are still told an interesting tale. For myself, it was the voice work that really made it worth
the experience and I personally considered the overall difference to not be that significant. David Matranga (Orphen)
brings an incredible dynamic range of vocals and really helps us feel Orphen's pain and happiness while Hillary
Haag (Dortin) and John Swasey (Volkan) do a fantastic job of providing some hilarity throughout the series as the duo
that is constantly pestering and following Orphen around. The dub isn't truly spectacular, but the cast certainly
did their best to work with the new script.
However, it's the sub that's the true winner here. While the dub was far more varying in depth, the sub
itself presents a level of subtly with the work. Showtaro Morikubo did a great job of keeping Orphen level headed and
calm throughout, while still giving us a dynamic range. The show stealers, for me, were Mayumi Iizuka (Cleao) and Kazue
Ikura (Volkan). While Iizuka's vocal work may come across as a bit annoying, I felt that she truly fit the role of
Cleao perfectly and felt far more natural despite being rather high-pitched, while Kazue Ikura was just absolutely
hilarious to listen to playing Volkan. My only complaint is they decided to make Omi Minami play Majic's VA, which
is a bit odd since Majic isn't exactly a little kid, he's a player! but seriously, the voice work just did not
stick with the character at all. That, and Leki, the pet that Cleao claims as her own during the show, gets rather
annoying too. Not ear-grating annoying, but after awhile it does start to wear on you.
With so much to say about the voice work, sadly the music takes a back seat and in a big way. The series offers decent
mood pieces to match each scene, with the exception of the intermission music (I can still hear it in my nightmares) the
soundtrack itself is fairly standard fair part of the time and mostly poor for the rest. There are a few tunes
throughout that standout, but sadly can't help make the sound section anything more than average. The exception to
this being the few tracks that involve guitar work.
First Season : 6
So, with all of these negatives for the second season, how does sound fair? Well, surprisingly well.
Ironically, with the change in tone, the English dub this time comes out straight ahead and swinging. I found that it
seemed to fit the theme of the show far more overall than the Japanese. While the Japanese certainly wasn't bad,
there was just something about the way the English VAs handled the script that really fit far more so this time around
and made it more enjoyable to watch. While the script wasn't modified to the same extent that the original was,
the change actually fits more appropriately with the show itself. Both dubs are good, but the English gives it that
little extra something.
Sound itself also sees fit to rise above the previous season, and being the only category that does so as well. This
time around we're treating to a bit stronger of a soundtrack that, while not memorable at all, felt far more
fitting and more dynamic than the first season. A huge improvement overall in the entire score. Especially compared to
that equivalent to nails on a chalkboard song in the first season.
Second Season : 7
End score was rounded up
Rating: 7
Presentation
The first season of Orphen is one interesting experience. By today's standards, a lot of the show is pure cliché
and slightly below average, but the story itself holds up remarkably well. When the show shines, it really does shine
brightly and when it doesn't, it's very noticeable. I wouldn't expect anything less out of a show
that's now fourteen years old. Orphen has a few issues here and there and it really shows in the sound, art and
some of the plot. However, it still doesn't change the fact that the first season is a very enjoyable journey with
characters that grow and a fairly interesting world and plot to boot.
With all of this in mind, it's even more of an embarrassment that the second season of Orphen is what it is.
Everything seems to take a back seat with the exception of the sound. However, the biggest question of all constantly
popped up when I first watched this show, and during my re-watch. Why would they completely stray away from what worked
during the first season?
Since my adventure back into the world of Orphen, another question popped up. Why did we even get a second season in
the first place? Everything was nicely wrapped up and the story left on an open ended note. Making another season
that greatly breaks the formula that worked so well and focusing on the problems that were scattered throughout the
first season only makes this even more forgettable. I'm not even too sure what the connection between both shows
is, as one does not need to view the first season in order to watch the second, with the exception of the characters
that were introduced in the first season. The only saving grace is the fact that this time around, things are much more
light-hearted and the comedy is pretty decent.
Overall? Go watch the first season if you're a fan of fantasy series and don't mind a bit of age. It's
an enjoyable journey with a few bumps along the way. Just be careful if you plan on venturing down Orphen season
2's path, because it's a destination that few ever come back from with a smile on their face. It's such
a shame too, because the world, characters and lore in Orphen could make for something truly outstanding. Sadly, that
will never be realized to its full potential.
First season : 7
I just don't know what to say. This is the second time I've watched Revenge, and for the first time I find
myself with the exact same feeling I had back when I first watched it. I've wanted to really like this show. To
really get into it. Sadly, no matter how much I want to, I am just completely unable to.
Had this been a completely different show, or an alternative universe with the same characters, I have a feeling that
Revenge would of faired so much better overall as a show. The first season of Orphen wasn't a masterpiece, but it
had a lot of strong concepts going for it that really could of been expanded upon to make it one. Sadly, J.C. Staff
decided to stray away from the majority of the elements that made the first season strong in the first place. It really
is such a shame, because by itself Revenge isn't terrible.
However, Revenge is quite far from good. Poor art and unmemorable characters introduced to this season really
don't help anything. Then, taking the previous season of characters and throwing it all in a blender just ended up
leaving this show as a blemish on the series itself. The show is definitely watchable, but if you were a fan of the
first season and wanted to see more of that then Revenge is going to be a test of patience and tolerance. If you
disliked the first season and wanted something a bit more akin to The Slayers, and that's only in comparison to the
sheer level of comedy and the fact that it's fantasy based, the second season might be more up your alley.
The more one looks at both of the seasons, the more one gets the impression of that they weren't meant to be
joining seasons. Although, they have been re-released in the United States under a complete collection, so therefore it
is being treated as such.
Second season : 4
End score was rounded up
Rating: 6
Final Verdict
6.0000 (average)
Reviewed by CyanideBlizzard, Mar 08, 2012
