[TV series] Orphen

[/Aifa|]

(Woo! Might as well post in this new section!! Im tha first person ta post babay! ooh yea!! XD ) ...as you requested Muzonaz, i reposted it with a poll :P


Anime: Orphen
Source: Madman release: Orphen volume 1 - 6. English Dubbed.
DVD Release: 2002
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http://www.animeforum.com/uploads/orphen_rev2.jpg
Orphen and the Bloody August

Well, im going to rate the anime "Orphen", which is also known as "Sorcerous Stabber Orphen". Im not sure how to begin this so ill just sum up some of the elements of the title... O wait, here's a bit of the story first:

"When the most prestigious university of magic loses Orphen, their most talented student, they'll do anything to get him back. But Orphen has bigger plans than majoring in spellcasting, namely tracking down a mysterious dragon, the Bloody August." Orphen sets out in his quest joined by his apprentice Majic (also known as Magnus) and a spoiled heiress named Cleao. As they set to uncover the secrets and mysteries of the events that surround them, they realise Orphen's past, his relation with the university and the Bloody August plays a huge role in unlocking the truth.


Storyline: (6.5/10) The storyline was interesting enough. But most of the twist is derived from the bonds between characters, namely Orphen's feelings for Azalie, a once powerful sorceress he admired. The viewer actually isnt given much info on the world, so without some description of this unknown world its really hard to bring much clarity into the storyline which is why i found the story to be confusing at some stage. I should also note that the world of Orphen seems desolate, creating an emphasis on the main characters to pull the story ahead.

Characters: (8/10) The characters in the anime are cool i guess. But one character will probably annoy a lot of viewers. This character is Vulcan, a constantly ranting Orphen hater that barely develops at all throughout the series. There are twists and feelings that develop between the characters, ones of friendship, hatred and love. Love is a big theme in Orphen.

Animation: (6/10) The quality in the anime is standard at the best. Viewers that expect top knotch action scenes and eye candy-ish animations will be dissapointed. The art styles will tend to waver from cartoonish to realistic in different episodes, which is probably a result of different animators being employed, but annoying to view. Not a strong point for the series.

Plot: (7/10) The development in the plot is good and moves at a decent pace, and if not, a quite slow pace. There are a few episodes that sidetrack from the story, but most of the episodes will provide enough plot to unfold. And with 24 episodes, there isnt a great deal of it.

Audio: (7.5/10) The english dub is good, with familiar voice acting talents making an appearance such as the voice of Majik being the same as Akito from Nadesico. Unfortunately, you will have quite a few 'lost in translation' effects as the japanese dub is actually quite different in terms of the dialogue. The music is good, nothing special though. The songs that feature in the endings and openings are great pop titles, especially "Last Kiss" by Tanpopo (a small pop group derived from Morning Musume).


Overall: (7/10) I found it to be a good series, but i only recommend it for fans of stories involving sorcery/magic, love, and comedy. Orphen will provide laughs, but this element of comedy will tend to be overthrown by the theme of love, which is predominant in the series. Keep in mind that brilliantly animated action scenes arent a strong point in this series.


http://www.animeforum.com/uploads/orphen_rev1.jpg
Orphen and Cleao

[JustAGirl]

Storyline 8/10: I enjoyed this series immensely and I thought the plot was different than any other I have watched. I won't go into depth because I don't want to spoil.

Characters 9/10: Most of the characters brought together the plot and others provided comedy but there were one or two that just could have been "tweaked".

Animation 8/10: I can imagine that animation is difficult, so any of these would be plenty good enough for me. I always enjoy the silly faces they make, or how they can go from making something beautiful and then immediately making it comical. It's magic!

Plot 9/10: I do agree that the plot gets sidetracked, but I do enjoy all the adventures they go on throughout the series. It kind of gives a break from being serious I think.

Audio 9/10: I'm not too familiar with this section, but I did enjoy the music and I think the dub is pretty well done.

Overall 9/10: I have to admit that I'm a little biased, because I enjoyed it so much, I think overall it's a great series to watch, even if there are a few parts that need tweaking.

[Ami~chan]

Storyline: 7.5/10 While there was a few unusual twists and turns throughout the series, most of the show is pretty straight forward. The world in which this series takes place is unknown, as is the time. Knowing if this series took place on Earth or not would have been helpful to much of the audience.

Characters: 9/10 If there's anything the series does really well, it is supply a variety of characters, all of which are different and "cool", for lack of a better word. Many of the characters have some depth to them, though some of them are annoyingly shallow.

Animation: 8/10 Any series that has something to do with magic needs pretty good animation to pull it off well. Orphen does supply some pretty good animation, but nothing overwelmingly awesome. The animation will neither leave you saying "wow" or "yucky", but it's just good enough. There may be some eye candy here and there, but don't have too high of expectations.

Plot: 7/10 The plot is so-so. While on their main adventure, Orphen and the gang have some mini adventures along the way. Orphen has some humor in the dialogue, to keep the comical side of the audience entertained. But don't expect to be weeping with sadness or laughing your brains out at any point of this series.

Audio: 9/10 I love music, but while the music in this series is not Yoko Kanno quality, it is still pretty darn good. The intro and endings were especially lovely to me. The dub is really good; the voices provided for the characters fit exactly, and there aren't any cheesy lines. Pretty dang good, actually.

Overall: 8/10 The majority of people will like this anime. However, if you want something really deep that will leave you pondering, don't bother. Orphen is a relatively good anime with humor, romance and action. It's not the brightest crayon in the box, but pretty dang close.

[The Wing Man]

Story.8/10:The story was very good and interesting to see unfold but what i really like about orphen.Is just how original it is what i mean is that i have not seen a anime quite like orphen.It is a decent story that seems to not getworse but stay's pretty good the entire time.It deserves a 8 for being good and for staying good .

Characters.8/10:I like most the characters to this anime and i think it is great how they all are so different in personality.Like how orphen is kinda a jerk yet cleao can seem more of a jerk.I though orphen himself is a very cool and well done character that is great for a show of this type.But all the characters really are all pretty good and it get's a 8.

Animation.7/10:The animation is kinda old looking and it really has nothing impressive in it.But the animation is good with the show and i am impressed on how good it went with the show.It get's a 7 for not being great but it really was just allright animation that went well will orphen.

Audio.8/10:The music in orphen is pretty good and i enjoyed listening to it and besides the music.The show really has not much else to give you in the audio department the only thing i can think of.Is that how well the voices went with the characters so perfectly so it deserves a 8.

Overall.8.5:It is a pretty good animation with a nice combination of action,music and it has good characters.It deserves a 8.5 and i really can not think of giving it a less or better rank.

[Gjallarhorn]

Story: (8/10) Its original, and is very interesting, but it shifts very easily between being childish and deep...there are some good twists to the story, but the ending was not very impressive, and there was several loose ends, such as Magic's sorceror training....

Characters: (7/10) Most of the characters are interesting, Orphen, Magic, Cleo, and all the sorcerors from the Tower of Fang, although a lot of un-important and single-episode characters were very annoying, some seemed un-developed, but the worse was the trolls, whose names i cannot remember....

Animation (6/10) The animation was decent....it just looked old, as though it were something from the mid-80s. The art itself decent as well, although certain things seemed to change throughout the series, although they were small things...I am very picky when it comes to art styles....

Audio: (8/10) I did not find the music to be very good, although the dubbing was very good, the voices for each character fit perfectly....the sound effects were average.....

Overall: (7.5/10) It was an entertaining show, interesting as well, but if the viewer wants a good-looking anime with nice artwork, they can look the opposite way....other than the art, the quality was good, as for OSTs, it might be better to ignore it.....