Akadot - Review: Orphen: Spell of the Dragon page 1


Akadot Retail - Pop Japan Mercantile

by Shawna James

Episode 1: "The Sword of Baltanders"

The great sorcerer, Orphen, and his apprentice, Majic, vigilantly watch a mansion that contains the mysterious sword of Baltanders. Inside, Orphen's informants Volcan and Dortin, whom he forced into the task for losing to him at cards, monitor the sword up close. Home from boarding school, the resident daughter of the house, Cleao, learns that her older sister, Mariabelle, is in love with the cool, handsome stranger spying into the mansion from afar. However, when Cleao catches Orphen spying on her through binoculars, she races outside to attack him, sword in hand. But the attack suddenly triggers in Cleao an old memory in which she too loves Orphen, much to her chagrin, and the appearance of the Bloody August dragon monster, much to Orphen's delight.

Episode 2: "The Blood of August"

Just as Orphen almost completes a binding spell on Bloody August, his sorcery teacher from the Tower of Fang, Childman, impedes with a fire bolt. Bloody August retreats, but Orphen resolves to attract her again. Meanwhile, the Tower of Fang's faculty agrees to stop Orphen from going after Bloody August, forcibly if necessary. Orphen duels the Tower's messenger, and his once best friend, Hartia, in a magical battle. But as they fight, Bloody August returns to kidnap Cleao and Mariabelle and hold them hostage, demanding the sword of Baltanders as ransom.

Episode 3: "Battle of the Dragon"

Orphen is determined to rescue Cleao and Mariabelle without having to surrender the sword of Baltanders to Bloody August. This time Orphen is able to complete his binding spell on Bloody August without interruption. Unfortunately Orphen's spell is not strong enough to hold the dragon - she breaks free and grabs the sword from him, intent on using its power to transform her back into human form. But the sword alone can only cause injury to Bloody August. As she abandons the sword, Orphen vows to help the dragon.

Fantasy seldom adapts well. Realized mythical creatures fall short of their written descriptions, the awe of magic shrivels to a gaudy light show, or the basic plot waxes cliché in the hands of non-subtle actors. "Orphen" surmounts the hurdles of the genre to create a believable fantasy world in which believable characters flourish.

Heat waves undulate across a rocky landscape overlooking the main city as "Orphen" emerges onto the screen a loner antihero, a perfect illustration of how Shinichiro Kobayashi and Kenji Kato's art direction illustrates the underlying tones and feelings of this central character with aplomb. Across the board, the gloss and hue of "Orphen's" characters competes on par with what a written description in any fantasy novel might express.

But just as "Orphen's" animation brings the story to life, a balance of humor and suspense maintains the story's health. Most refreshing about the piece as a whole is that Mayori Sekuma and Masashi Kubota's script (as well as Steven Foster's careful adaptation) wittily acknowledges the fantasy and anime conventions it employs while telling the story of Orphen and Bloody August; however director Hiroshi Watanabe lightly blends technical slapstick with personal, heartfelt comedy to make this fantasy effort more than the sum of its parts, allowing the story and the characters to emerge as full developed entities rather than trip off the joke as clowns. The troll characters Volcan (overdone at times) and Dortin (steadily amusing) dole out sanguine supplies of comic relief. But the more engaging comedy occurs when Orphen saves face in front of his apprentice, Majic, or awkwardly answers to the love-smitten Cleao. This comedic warmth that spreads between the friends often outshines the slapstick trolls-that is, until Dortin drolly comments on another of Volcan's follies.

Watanabe also wisely injects suspense into this saga by keeping the Bloody August's past a secret shrouded in dark undertones. Orphen defies the Tower of Fang, his magic university, in order to summon the Bloody August and transform her back into human form. Orphen appears to be a force of benevolence, and the Tower of Fang casts an ominous pall over the land, but their relationship remains murky. Both the Tower and Orphen hint at knowing more about Bloody August and her motivations, but neither reveals anything. The mystery continues, hopefully, in other "Orphen" installments.

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