Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Orphen Revenge

Orphen Revenge should come with a warning: do not judge based on first two episodes. These two first episodes are so under-animated and under-thought that it is hard to believe that they made their way in. With only 23 episodes at its disposal, Orphen Revenge can barely afford that, yet it picks up steam and becomes the sort of thing I love in anime.

Continue reading Orphen Revenge…

Orphen – episodes 13 to 24

The second half of Orphen has a twist at the very beginning that sets the tone for the rest of the series. It was a very good twist, but the episodes that surrounded the turning point were animated oddly, with Childman never looking quite right.

Cleao’s relationship with Orphen becomes very important, not in a romantic way but in a caring way. In fact, so much so that Majic seems to have become rather extraneous to everything – that there is only room enough for four characters: Cleao, Orphen, Azalie and Childman. Majic does get to do some things, such as his time in the library, but the early promise he showed as a sorceror becomes ignored as the episodes progress.

Dortin’s heart was always a nice thing to see, and her/his/its compassion for Bloody August was touching. Of course, the whole fake nudity thing is always annoying. The snowy mountains were a great setting for the last few episodes, and while some of the threats were dispatched of with no difficulty, it was a satisfying series. Even the giant tree episode didn’t seem so bad.

When I watched this the first time I was obsessed with video quality, but I was able to appreciate the subtler nuance of Orphen this time around. At times there was a genuine sense of wonder about it. Its final bold move was to actually finish the story with half an episode to spare – which allowed for a very nice wrap up.

Orphen II might find its way here soon, and I hear that it’s less of the same. If there’s more Volcan and Dortin, I simply can not complain.

Orphen – episodes 4 to 12

The Garden episode was reminiscent of Laputa, in a good way.
I liked the Deep Dragon episodes more the second time around, because the first time I was obsessed with the picture quality. Any Azalie episode in this series is good, and Dortin and Volkan are always hilarious. And, of course, the part where Dortin showed that s/he really cared about his/er brother was good, too.
No surprises any more (you can’t be surprised by something you’ve seen, unless you’ve forgotten or it’s transcendentally magical), but firmly enjoyable.

Orphen – episodes 1 to 3

I’ve seen this (two years) before, but I didn’t like it much until the third disc – but this time through, knowing the general lay of the land, I found it heartily enjoyable. Volkan and Dortin are marvellous!