Sorcerous Stabber Orphen
Sorcerous Stabber Orphen is a Japanese light novel series written by Yoshinobu Akita. It was adapted into manga, four anime television series and a.
As of December 2019, the novels had over 14 million copies in circulation.
Synopsis
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 light novels called Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey. It consists of 20 novels which were first published by Fujimi Shobo under their Fujimi Fantasia Bunko label in the Monthly Dragon Magazine between 1994–2003, and was the basis for the first anime and manga series. 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 will be released on 25 December 2019. 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 Majutsushi Orphen Mubouhen, 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 1996–2003, 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 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 spanned into 10 volumes between 2011-2015. 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 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 announced that they have licensed the light novels.
Manga
The manga adaptation was created by writer Yoshinobu Akita and artist Hajime Sawada. The first volume was released stateside by ADV Manga in March, 2005. 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 2005 by ADV Manga.There is also a special manga that was released called "Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Special Parody," or "Majutsushi O-fuen Haguretabi Spesharu Paarodi." It is a collection of doujinshi of Orphen put into one volume of Orphen.
A new manga adaptation based on the main novels was created and released by Yoshinobu Akita and illustrator Muraji in March 2017. In July 2018, Seven Seas Entertainment announced their acquisition of the manga's license for English distribution.
In August 2018, a manga adaptation based on the light novel spin-off series, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Reckless Journey, was released. It is written and illustrated by Yu Yagami. 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 manga adaptation known as Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Youthful Journey , 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 fellow classmates. J-Novel Club acquired the licensing rights of the manga for English distribution.
Anime
The Sorcerous Stabber Orphen anime series was produced by TBS/Bandai and first released in Japan in 1998, then in North America on DVD by ADV Films in 2001. It is 24 episodes in length.A second series called Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 2: Revenge, 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 is 23 episodes in length. In 2009, Sentai Filmworks 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 August 20, 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 in January 2020.
The new series premiered from January 7 to March 31, 2020 on AT-X, BS Fuji, Tokyo MX, and Wowow. The new series is animated by Studio Deen and directed by Takayuki Hamana, with Reiko Yoshida handling series composition, and Takahiko Yoshida designing the characters. Showtaro Morikubo reprised his role as Orphen, while the rest of the characters had new voice actors. Funimation has licensed the series for a simuldub. It ran for 13 episodes, with an unaired episode to be bundled with the series' second Blu-ray volume on May 8, 2020.
A second season of the 2020 remake was announced with the title of Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Battle of Kimluck.
Video game
A single player console role-playing video game was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2000 by Kadokawa Shoten in Japan as Sorcerous Stabber Orphen and by Activision in North America and Europe as . 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.Glossary
;Dragons;Weird Dragon - Nornir
;Deep Dragon - Fenrir
;Red Dragon - Berserker
;Mist Dragon - Troll
;Fairy Dragon - Valkyrie
;War Dragon - Sleipnir
;Magic
The magic that the Dragon races handle is as follows:
;Silence Magic:
A sorcery wielded by the Weird Dragons which uses runes as a medium. Typically, the caster can trace runes in the air to execute a spell. Furthermore, by engraving magic characters on objects, it is possible to create products with added magical functions. These are called "The Legacy of the Nornir" and have various shapes and functions such as rings, clothes, weapons, armor, robots, and large-scale facilities.
;Destruction Magic:
A sorcery wielded by the War Dragons which only requires thought as a medium. It specializes in utter annihilation and is considered the strongest magic in terms of sheer power and magnitude. However, there is no specific description of "destruction magic".
;Dark Magic:
A sorcery wielded by the Deep Dragons which uses sight as medium. Using a person's line of sight, Dark Magic imposes and dominates everything, including organic and inorganic matter. It easily allows an individual to manipulate space itself, deflect physical and magical attacks, erase minds and extinguish souls, eradicate objects instantaneously, etc. If a normal human becomes the familiar to a Deep Dragon, they will gain access to their magic and, in the case that the familiar is a sorcerer, their magical capacity increases substantially as well. Additionally, their five senses are linked with the Dragon's and vice versa. This can also prove potentially detrimental due to the distinct possibility that the consciousness of the human and Deep Dragon may merge after prolonged exposure to one another's psyche.
;Spirit Magic:
A sorcery utilized by Fairy Dragons by signing contracts with spirits. A mutual agreement between both parties are necessary to use the contract as a medium, and it does not act at all outside the scope of the contract. However, the called-upon spirit will overcome all obstacles to fulfill the contract, even if the contract entails conditions such as the obliteration of an entire city. By using the magical tools that were left behind by the Fairy Dragons, humans can reproduce this magic to a limited extent.
;Beastization Magic:
A sorcery used by the Red Dragons that requires one to use their body as a medium, which will allow them to change into various states. It allows one to gain powerful shape-shifting abilities in combination with augmenting the user's strength, such as the ability change the shape of their limbs into weapons such as whips or spears, regeneration, fluidization and complete transparency of the body.
;Atmospheric Magic:
A sorcery wielded by the Mist Dragons that uses smell as medium and gives one the ability to manipulate the weather. While the power itself is regarded as weaker than that of other dragon races, the effective range of this magic spans for several kilometers.
;The Tower of Fang
;The Three Goddesses of Fate
;Demon King Swedenborge
;Kimluck Church
;Dragon Faiths
;Thirteen Apostles