Product Details

• Actors: Shotaro Morikubo, Mayumi Iizuka, Omi Minami, Hekiru Shiina, Satsuki Yukino
• Directors: Hiroshi Watanabe
• Writers: Steven Foster, Masashi Kubota, Mayori Sekijima, Yoshinobu Akita
• Producers: John Ledford, Michihisa Abe, Steven Foster
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Adv Films
• DVD Release Date: July 10, 2001
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005JIX5
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,633 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Orphen - Spell of the Dragon (Vol. 1)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very. Good., July 22, 2002

By 

R. Dauthi "Raph" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orphen - Spell of the Dragon (Vol. 1) (DVD)

I remember seeing the cover to the first volume of the Orphen DVD, Spell of the Dragon. I also remember saying, "Hey, looks cool" and five minutes later I was walking out of the store with a new DVD in hand, and thirty dollars shorter than before. Yet, when I popped it into my DVD player, I realized that this was a real keeper.

Orphen starts out just about the same way as any other anime or TV series does. The characters are introduced: Orphen, the main character, and his I-don't-care attitude, Majik the innocent apprentice, and Cleao the annoyingly stubborn girl that gets sucked into the plot by a twist of fate. Seeming too cliche for you? Well then, perhaps I forgot to mention the unwelcome teachers from Orphen's past chasing after him. Or maybe the fact that Orphen is trying to save a terrifying dragon named the Bloody August from those teachers for his own personal reasons.

Yes, it's the lovely thing called foreshadowing that makes us want to throw down another thirty bucks for the next DVD, and it works so wonderfully. Granted, there are only 3 episodes on this certain volume, but there is so much promise in these three episodes that you can't help but love it. Characters quickly begin to develop and plot quickly begins to thicken. Yet beneath all the dark thoughts and mysterious memories, there's comedy that will put a smile on your face. The sarcastic attitude of Orphen is what made me laugh, and get this, it was the ENGLISH track that did it.

Yes, you heard me right, the ENGLISH track. The voice acting is professional and doesn't sound forced like most anime. I actually think that the American dialogue was much sharper than the original, but maybe that's just because I'm not Japanese. But in any case, there's something to be said about the translation job in the Orphen series. It's so surprisingly good...it's almost scary.

Orphen is for just about anyone who enjoys some good magic action every now and then, and perhaps for even the people that don't. Give it a try and decide for yourself.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bad game....Great anime...., October 13, 2002

By 

Jonathan Odwyer (Glenside, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orphen - Spell of the Dragon (Vol. 1) (DVD)

Now for those of you who played the dismall PS2 game titled "Orphen," I want you to forget that period in your life.... Now that you have done that...sit down and get your hands on this anime. It combines a well organized plot with the commical antics of those involved in the story.

The plot in itself is amazing, purely because it takes until the last episode to have every piece in place. Most movies leave you with a few pieces missing or too quickly bring them all into focus. This story spawns over many years with flash backs that lead the viewer a bit closer into the world that is being displayed. This anime's plot is worth five stars in itself actually and is far more evolved then most animes on the market these days.

Orphen also uses top notch animation. The characters are well draw and look more realistic then most on the market today. The spell casting and action sequences are gripping. The humor animation really adds to the jokes as well.

The music track has a few decent scores, but overall is quite average. The voice overs are really really really good. I can't say it enough, they are great. I really can't say it enough, I love the voice actors for this series. If they do a sequal series, they had better have the same voice actors.

The lighter comedy aspects of this story are wonderful as well. They are well placed and don't detract from serious scenes. Some of it is so funny because of the randomness. If you love comedy I suggest this series strongly.

So overall this series is what real animation is about. Funny, serious, story to die for, great animation and great voice overs. A truely excellent series that I hope has a sequal.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive, June 30, 2001

By 

"pyrapaws" (Richmond, Va United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orphen - Spell of the Dragon (Vol. 1) (DVD)

I first got a glimpse of Orphen at my fist con, AMA. They showed the three episode, which I think are all that's on the DVD, which is sort of disapointing, but in the way of the animation, this anime immediatly caught my attention. It was actually the talk of the con for a good while after it was shown, and I immediatly came here to find out when and if the DVD was coming out. I was happy to find that it was.

The story starts out in what seems to be the middle of a complex storyline. Orphen is a sorcerer of some power, who left the Tower of Fang, where he trained. He picks up an apprentance called Majic (yes, it's pronounce just like magic) in a small town where he is also doing a little 'birdwatching' and no, it's not what you think at first either. The storyline picks up very quickly after a little bit of introduction, when a dragon called bloody august shows up, and it's even more interesting that Orphen seems to know the dragon. The series has a good amount of comedy, brought by two short trolls, and a girl who is tha wanna be love interest of Orphen (I find her kinda annoying, but berable), plus having Orphen do a good amount of angsting in only three episodes. I think it does a good job of bringing both of these elements together nicely, and I'm hoping that with the release of these DVDs, they'll be an upsurge of good websites for him as well.

I don't know much about the extras on the DVD, since I don't own it quite yet, but ADV isn't exactly known for having lots of extras, only trailers really. Evangelion only had the character bios, so this DVD may have that. The opening and closing themes are really good too.

All and all, give this series a shot, because it's really good, and Orphen's cute to boot.