is a Japanese

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

series written by Yoshinobu Akita. It was adapted into

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

, five

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series (''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen'', ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 2: Revenge'', ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen'' (2020), ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Battle of Kimluck'', ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Chaos in Urbanrama'') and a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

. As of December 2019, the novels had over 14 million copies in circulation.

Plot

The young man Orphen engages in money lending activities in the back streets of the commercial city of Totokanta. Once, he was known as one of the Tower of Fang's most promising black sorcerers. One day, Orphen was approached by Volkan and Dortin, who had a very profitable money making scheme set up. Under the guise of wealthy merchants, they set forth toward the Everlasting household to partake in a marriage fraud. But, there was one problem: Volcan's plan was full of holes, leading one of the sisters to find out about their plan too. Then suddenly, a huge monster attacks the mansion. Among all the commotion, one name rings out: Azalie. This monster was what he was looking for for five years: his older sister Azalie who transformed into a dragonic monster. Between those who seek to kill the monster and Orphen, giving everything to protect it, his peaceful days are at an end. Trying desperately to transform his sister, Azalie, back to her true form leads to a treacherous journey that, ultimately, allows Orphen to learn the vast secrets of his world.

Media

Light novels

After publishing an award-winning Japanese-style fantasy novel ''Inside a Sparkle from the Snow'' Yoshinobu Akita who possessed deep admiration for European and American literature started his work on a European-style fantasy about the magically created world of Orphen inhabited by characters with deep personalities that make a reader empathize with them. The series ''Orphen'' came about when author Yoshinobu Akita with Yuuya Kusaka as illustrator created a series of

s called ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey''. It consists of 20 novels which were first published by

Fujimi Shobo , formerly , was a Japanese publisher that specialized in light novels, manga, role-playing games and collectible card games. Founded in 1972 and reorganized three times, it was at times an independent company and at times an imprint of Kadokawa F ...

under their

Fujimi Fantasia Bunko is a light novel publishing imprint (trade name), imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company Fujimi Shobo, a brand company of Kadokawa Corporation. It was established in 1988 and is aimed at young adult male audience. Many light nov ...

label in the ''

Monthly Dragon Magazine , frequently abbreviated as "''Doramaga''" or "''DM''", is a Japanese light novel and manga magazine aimed at young adult males, first published in 1988. Since March 19, 2008 the magazine has been published every other month. The light novel maga ...

'' between 1994 and 2003, and was the basis for the first anime and manga series. In November 2019, a light novel known as the ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Anthology'' was also released. It features a collection of original stories written by the author, Yoshinobu Akita, as well as guest writers such as Hajime Kanzaka, Yutaka Kono, Koushi Tachibana, Miya Kazuki, and Yomi Hirasaka. Ryo Mizuno was in charge of commentary while the illustrations and cover were drawn by Yuuya Kusaka. Two years after the beginning of the main novel series, Yoshinobu Akita created a second series called ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Reckless Journey'', which is a collection of side-stories that depicted more light-hearted and comedic adventures that took place during Orphen's journey, and chronologically set before the events of the main series. The novel series spanned 13 volumes between 1996 and 2003, which were published the same way as the first series. In 2009, he published an additional chapter for the novel on Akita Yoshinobu's Sadami BOX, the author's personal website. In 1997, he released ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Detour'', a short light novel series that consisted of side stories that took place during the first half of Orphen's journey with Claiomh and Majic. The novels spanned two volumes. In September 2011, T.O Entertainment released a brand new series of the ''Orphen'' novels known as ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: New Wayward Journey'', which takes place more than two decades after the original series. Orphen is now older and is married to Claiomh Everlasting, both of whom give birth to three daughters that become Sorcerers. Majic is a Sorcerer lecturer at the new school that Orphen runs. Orphen is known as the "Demon King" due to his exploits in the original novels. The main protagonist of the new series is Mayor MacCredy, who is the son of Leticia MacCredy and Forte Puckingham. The novel series originally spanned into 10 volumes between 2011 and 2015. In September 2019, Yoshinobu Akita announced that in commemoration of the series' 25th anniversary, he will be writing a new novel for the main novella series titled ''Sorcerer Stabber Orphen: Comicron's Plan'', a prequel that takes place four years after Orphen departed the Tower of Fangs to search for Azalie, which was released on December 25, 2019. It is tentatively referred to as the "Gap Edition" in the author's afterword which will fill in gaps within the main series' timeline with new stories, with three new volumes currently being planned. The books are published in a standard version and also a special edition version which comes with a behind the scenes booklet about the book and a Drama CD which is based on the new novel series itself. The original ''Orphen'' novel series received a reprint as well. The ''

Slayers is a Japanese light novel series written by Hajime Kanzaka and illustrated by Rui Araizumi. The novels have been serialized in ''Dragon Magazine'' since 1989, before being published into individual volumes. They follow t ...

vs Orphen'' novel was a special collaborative novel between Yoshinobu Akita and Hajime Kanzaka and was published in 2005. It was later reprinted in 2013. During their panel at Anime Expo 2018,

J-Novel Club J-Novel Club is a publishing company specializing in the translation of Japanese light novels into English. It streams light novels and manga in regular installments before publishing finalized e-books. As of August 2021, J-Novel Club has license ...

announced that they have licensed the light novels.

Manga

The

adaptation was created by writer Yoshinobu Akita and artist Hajime Sawada. The manga is split into two separate series: ''Majutsushi Orphen Haguretabi'', which is six volumes long, and the two volume side story known as ''Majutsushi Orphen MAX''. The first volume of the manga series was released in English in March 2005 by

ADV Manga A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gree ...

. A doujinshi collection was released called ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Special Parody'' (''Majutsushi O-fuen Haguretabi Spesharu Paarodi''). A new manga adaptation based on the main novels (the "Stray Journey" arc) was created and released by Yoshinobu Akita and illustrator Muraji from March 2017 to November 2018 and collected in five volumes. In July 2018, Seven Seas Entertainment announced their acquisition of the manga's license for English distribution. They released the first two volumes in 2019. In August 2018, a manga adaptation based on the light novel spin-off series, ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Reckless Journey'' (''Majutsushi Orphen: Mubouhen''), was released. It is written and illustrated by

Yu Yagami is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for the manga ''Those Who Hunt Elves'', which was adapted as an anime series. His works ''Those Who Hunt Elves'', '' Dokkoida?!'', '' Go West!'', and '' Hikkatsu! Strike a Blow to Vivify'' have been ...

(The author of ''

Those Who Hunt Elves is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yu Yagami. The plot revolves around three travellers, the eponymous "Elf Hunters", and the elven sorceress Mistress Celcia. The anime was released in North America on VHS and DVD by ...

''). In July 2019, J-Novel Club announced the acquisition of the manga's license for English distribution. In December 2018, Kirouran and Yoshinobu Akita released the first volume of a two-volume manga adaptation known as ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Youthful Journey'' (''Majutsushi Orphen: Pre-hen''), which adapts the side-stories from ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Reckless Journey'' light novels. The manga chronicles Orphen's childhood and misadventures at the Tower of Fangs with his classmates. J-Novel Club released the manga in English.

Anime

The original ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen''

series was animated by

J.C.Staff , is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was ''Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Food ...

and produced by

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...

, ''Orphen'' was airing simultaneously on the TBS and HBC from October 3, 1998, to March 27, 1999, then it was released in North America on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and VHS by

ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gre ...

in 2001. It has 24 episodes in length. The original ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen'' anime series was later released in Australia by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatri ...

in May 2002, the

MSRP The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...

for the first series of ''Orphen'' in Australia were initially $29.95 AUD for DVD version, $22.95 AUD for VHS version, and $11.95 AUD for DVD version (which include the first three episode of the anime) that shipped with a

PC PowerPlay ''PC PowerPlay'' (''PCPP'') is Australia's only dedicated PC games magazine. ''PC PowerPlay'' focuses on news and reviews for upcoming and newly released games on the Microsoft Windows platform. The magazine also reviews computer hardware for us ...

Magazine. A second series called ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 2: Revenge'' ( Hepburn: ''Majutsushi Ōfen Ribenji''), or ''Orphen Revenge'', was later broadcast in 1999. The second anime series was released on DVD in North America in December 2003 by ADV Films. It has 23 episodes in length. In 2009,

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

released a box set featuring all 47 episodes of the two seasons of Orphen in an economic box set. A 2-disc SD Blu-ray of the entire series was released on 20 August 2019. A new TV anime adaptation has been announced to commemorate the series' 25th anniversary. The series was initially set to premiere in 2019, but was rescheduled to premiere from January to March 2020. The new series premiered from January 7 to March 31, 2020, on AT-X, BS Fuji,

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

, and Wowow. The new series is animated by

Studio Deen is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1975 by Sunrise producer Hiroshi Hasegawa and ex-Sunrise animators. The studio owns three subsidiaries: Danny Donghua (丹尼動画), a Chinese sub-contracting studio; Megumi (め組), a digital work sub-c ...

and directed by

Takayuki Hamana is a Japanese animator and director known for directing ''The Prince of Tennis''. Career Upon graduating high school, Takayuki Hamana joined Ajia-do as an in-between animator for four years. Hamana left Ajia-do and joined I.G Tatsunoko, where ...

, with

Reiko Yoshida is a Japanese screenwriter. She has written and supervised numerous screenplays for anime series, live-action dramas and films. Her major works include ''Kaleido Star'', ''Aria'', ''Maria-sama ga Miteru'', '' D.Gray-man'', ''K-On!'', ''Bakuman' ...

handling series composition, and Takahiko Yoshida designing the characters.

Showtaro Morikubo is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer who has voiced characters in anime, drama CDs, and video games. He was formerly affiliated with I'm Enterprise, Sigma Seven and VIMS. His most notable roles were Shikamaru Nara from ''Naruto'', Souji ...

reprised his role as Orphen, while the rest of the characters had new voice actors.

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

licensed the show outside of Asia. An English dub premiered January 21, 2020. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll. It ran for 13 episodes, with an unaired episode bundled with the series' second

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

volume on 8 May 2020. A second season of the 2020 remake was announced with the title of ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Battle of Kimluck''. It aired from January 20 to March 31, 2021.

licensed the second season and streamed it on its website in North America and the British Isles, in Europe through

Wakanim Wakanim SAS was a French subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by U.S.-based Funimation, a joint venture of Sony Corporation of America's two subsidiaries: Sony Pictures Television and Sony Music Entertainment Japa ...

, and in Australia and New Zealand through

AnimeLab Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd., trading as Madman Anime, is an Australian distribution company focused on anime and Japanese media. The company handles licensing and distribution of anime in Australia and New Zealand. Originally part of independent film ...

. The English dub launched on its service June 9, 2021. A third season was announced on September 26, 2022, titled ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Chaos in Urbanrama''. Kenji Konuta is replacing Reiko Yoshida as the scriptwriter. It is set to premiere on January 18, 2023. The opening theme song is "Hysteric Caravan" by

, while the ending theme song is by

Mai Fuchigami is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Fukuoka Prefecture, affiliated with the talent agency m&i. As a singer, she is signed under record label Lantis. After passing an audition held by the talent agency Sigma Seven, she played her first m ...

Video game

A single player console

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

was released for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

in 2000 by

in Japan as ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen'' and by

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

in North America and Europe as '' Orphen: Scion of Sorcery''. It included a whole new adventure and a few video scenes with more sophistication but a minor difference in the voices and personalities of the characters. Reviews of the game were mixed.

Reception

As of December 2019, the novels had over 14 million copies in circulation. In the 21st Anime Grand Prix polls conducted by ''

Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine which Tokuma Shoten began publishing in July 1978. Hayao Miyazaki's internationally renowned manga, ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'', was serialized in ''Animage'' from 1982 through 1994. Oth ...

'' in June 1999, Orphen was voted the second "Favorite Male Character", the TV series was vote the eight "Anime Title Of The Year" and first Ending themes from the anime, "

Last Kiss "Last Kiss" is a song released by Wayne Cochran in 1961 on the Gala label. It failed to do well on the charts. Cochran subsequently re-recorded his song for the King label in 1963. It was revived by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, who took ...

" by

Tanpopo was a sub-group of the Japanese idol girl group Morning Musume and associated with Hello! Project. It was formed by Up-Front Promotion in November 1998 as Morning Musume's first sub-group. While the main group Morning Musume features predominan ...

was ranked 16th placed for "Best Theme Song Of The Year". Mike Crandol of the

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

called the series a "fairly enjoyable fantasy adventure" but criticized it for falling into "a pitfall common for anime sword-and-sorcery series." He later called the anime "all-around average...in terms of art, music, and animation."

References

External links

* {{Studio Deen 1994 Japanese novels 1996 Japanese novels 1998 anime television series debuts 1998 manga 1999 anime television series debuts 2005 Japanese novels 2019 Japanese novels 2011 Japanese novels 2020 anime television series debuts 2023 anime television series debuts ADV Films Adventure anime and manga Book series introduced in 1994 Comedy anime and manga Fujimi Fantasia Bunko Crunchyroll anime J.C.Staff J-Novel Club books Kadokawa Dwango franchises Light novels Medialink Role-playing video games Seinen manga Sentai Filmworks Seven Seas Entertainment titles Studio Deen Sword and sorcery anime and manga TBS Television (Japan) original programming Upcoming anime television series