Sorcerous Stabber Orphen - Season One DVD

Krylancelo was once the most gifted student at the Tower of Fang, the most prestigious sorcery academy in the land. Then the Chaos Witch Azalie — his closest friend and something like an older sister — stole the Sword of Baltanders, a weapon of terrible power, and vanished after a catastrophic transformation left her trapped in the body of a monstrous dragon called Bloody August. The Tower declared her a threat to be destroyed. Krylancelo abandoned everything, renamed himself Orphen, and has spent years since running from the Tower's pursuit while desperately searching for a way to restore Azalie. He is brilliant, abrasive, and chronically broke — forced to operate as a moneylender to fund his search, which has saddled him with the cheerful moron Majic as an apprentice and the aggressively wealthy, aggressively irritating Cleao Everlasting, who wants her family's sword back and will not stop following him until she gets it. The Tower of Fang wants Orphen dead or returned. Bloody August keeps appearing in cities and destroying things. And the Sword of Baltanders may be the only key to the curse — or the thing that makes it permanent.

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen is a 24-episode dark fantasy series produced by J.C. Staff, based on the hugely popular light novel series by Yoshinobu Akita that ran from 1994 to 2003 and sold over 7 million copies in Japan. It aired on TBS from October 1998 through March 1999 and is notable among late 1990s fantasy anime for its unusually serious and emotionally committed protagonist — Orphen is not a comedic lead but a genuinely haunted one, and the series balances its lighter moments against a central tragedy that carries real weight. A second season, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Revenge, aired in 1999–2000. Released in North America by ADV Films on DVD beginning July 10, 2001.

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Hiroshi Watanabe (Slayers: The Book of Spells)
Original Light Novel: Yoshinobu Akita (serialized under Kadokawa Shoten's Dengeki Bunko label)
Studio: J.C. Staff (Slayers, Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Metal Fighter Miku)
Music: Takashi Nakagawa
Opening Theme: "Unchanged" by Sharon Q
Ending Theme: "Dear my friend" by Sharon Q

Japanese Cast:
- Showtaro Morikubo as Orphen
- Hikaru Okamoto as Cleao Everlasting
- Akemi Okamura as Majic Lin (One Piece, Now and Then Here and There)
- Yuko Miyamura as Azalie (Evangelion, Apocalypse Zero, Rurouni Kenshin, Sorcerer Hunters)

English Dub Cast (ADV Films):
- David Matranga as Orphen
- Shelley Calene-Black as Cleao Everlasting
- Spike Spencer as Majic (Evangelion, Nadesico)
- Christine Auten as Azalie
- Hilary Haag as Dortin (Princess Nine, Steel Angel Kurumi)
- Jason Douglas as additional cast (Sorcerer Hunters)

DVD Features

- ADV Films Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: 魔術士オーフェン (Majutsushi Ōfen / Sorcerous Stabber Orphen)
Runtime: ~600 Minutes (Complete Season 1, 24 Episodes)
Director: Hiroshi Watanabe
DVD Release Year: 2001–2002 (U.S. Release, ADV Films)
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): October 3, 1998 – March 27, 1999 (TBS)
Publisher: ADV Films
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Themes: Cursed Sister as Dragon, Tower of Fang, Sword of Baltanders, Rogue Sorcerer, Light Novel Adaptation

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.