Bruce Von Stiers

There is an animated series that features a renegade sorcerer. This series is called Orphen. ADV Films has brought out all 24 episodes out on DVD. The final sixth and final volume in the series is called The Third Talisman. It features the last five episodes of this saga.

Being this is the last volume in the series; the DVD disc has an added Extra. There is an interview wit the Japanese cast and crew. A bunch of production sketches are available to look at and clean opening and closing sequences can be viewed. A few trailers of other ADV Films offerings like Wild Arms and Excel Saga can be viewed from the ADV Previews section.

As for the language options, you can have Japanese or English. You can turn the subtitles on or off. You can just have the subtitles for the songs too.

In the first episode of this volume, Shakes In The Temple, the gang goes back to Baltanders island and discovers a room filled with magic crystal shafts. One of these crystals holds the key to finding the third talisman that Orphen needs to turn Azalie back into a woman again.

For those of you who haven’t seen any of the series, it is about a young, renegade sorcerer named Orphen. He is searching for a way to turn his friend Azalie back into a woman from the horrible dragon that she’s become. Orphen has help from his apprentice, Majic, and a girl named Cleao. The girl is in love with Orphen, only he has blinders on.

The trio has to go up against members of the Tower of Fang. This is a training center and hub for all the mighty sorcerers. Orphen and Azalie once trained there. They were both under the guidance of Childman.

The second episode is called Revelation of the Runes. In this episode Orphen finally realizes what needs to be done with regard to Azalie. There is a third talisman that is needed to join Orphen’s sword and a bracelet. When all three of them are together, the magic of the sword can change Azalie back to a woman.

Three’s A Charm is the next episode. Orphen determines that the third talisman can be found within the Tower of Fang. They go there try to find it. In the meantime, the two creeps who are always trying to get one over on Orphen have begun to bring the dragon back to health. It was supposed to have been killed by Childman.

In the fourth episode, we find out that even though Azalie thinks Childman was out to get her, he actually loved her and was trying to help turn her back into a woman. Another wizard, Flameheart, takes over the combined talisman and tries to destroy the dragon. He succeeds in putting both Childman and Azalie to death. But Orphen will try to bring them back.

In the last episode, Journey’s End, Orphen finds a way to unite Azalie and Childman. Then each of them goes their own way. But in the end, Orphen just can’t stay away from Cleao and Majic wants to explore the world with his master. This last episode neatly ties up the saga. But they leave it open for the possibility of further adventures from this trio.

The English Language cast has David Matanga as Orphen and Shelley Calene-Black as Cleao. Spike Spenser does the voice of Majic and Christine Auten is Azalie. Jason Douglas is the voice of Childman. Other voice actors include Suzanne Wilkins, Hilary Haag, Randy Sparks and Ty Mayberry.

The DVD was produced by John Ledford and Sharon Papa. It was directed by Steven Foster. It was based on an original story by Yoshinobu Akita. The screenplay was written by Mayori Sekuma and Masashi Kubota.

All in all, this was a good series. This last volume wraps everything up, but somehow leaves you with the need for more than what it gave. I would have liked to see Majic stand on his own and Cleao get together with Orphen. But maybe that will happen if they move the saga forward.

The animation in the episodes was really good and there weren’t any noticeable problems with the dubbing. It had an interesting soundtrack and the sound effects were well done.

Pick up a copy of The Third Talisman at your local DVD retailer. But I would advise getting the other volumes and watching them in order. That way you get the whole story and don’t have to worry about what you might have missed.

For other information about the Orphen saga, visit the ADV Films web site at www.advfilms.com.