Bruce Von Stiers

I just got done watching the fifth volume in the Orphen anime series. This DVD disc comes from ADV Films. The title of this volume is The Soul Stealers. It pits Orphen against his own mentor.

There are five episodes in this volume. They are Sister of the Moon, The Black Tiger Returns, Of Swords, of Secrets, Birds & Bees and Dark Deception.

The volume has a few extra things added in. There are a few production sketches (line drawings) and both a clean opening and closing for the show. A few trailers from other ADV Films features can be checked out. And you get to choose your language options as well.

The first episode, Sister of the Moon, finds Orphen having bad dreams about Azalie. Orphen is the hero of this saga. He is a sorcerer who wants to turn one of his mentors back into a human from a dragon. We find out a little bit more about Orphen through a flashback. This flashback reveals his true name and how Childman and Azalie trained him to be a sorcerer. We find out that Azalie wants to use the power of magic to advance herself. Childman lets her know that you should have “magic within your heart and soul”.

Flameheart is another sorcerer from the Tower of Fang. He is sent out to find Azalie and bring her back dead or alive. He attacks Azalie and suffers for it. And then there is some strange interaction between Azalie and Childman.

The second episode is The Black Tiger Returns. It starts out with Orphen arm wrestling a bartender. Later we find out that the bet was for a wagon and a horse. Winning these items lets Orphen and his gang move forward in their task of finding Azalie.

The gang meets an old couple who are nursing a dog about to have puppies. And all at once, the Black Tiger shows up again. This time he is trying to warn Orphen about something. And there is a volcano nearby that is threatening to erupt.

Of Swords, of Secrets is the title of the third episode. The plot for this episode has the gang going out to meet Roxroe, a sorcerer who had mentored Childman. He has some secrets to share with the gang about Childman, only he gets there first to stop the old man.

We get to see, via a flashback, how Azalie became the dragon. And later, in a final whisper from the old man, Orphen learns that there is more to the sword than he thought.

In Birds & Bees, Orphen has to try to get the sword back from those inept thieves, Volkan and Dortin. They have to fight it out with some giant bugs and insects that these two bumblers had brought forth.

The last episode on this disc is Dark Deception. The search for Azalie is now very intense. She has visited the Mountains of Anaruba and Orphen is trying to reach out to her. Flameheart is out to get rid of both Azalie and Childman.

The Black Tiger makes another appearance and tries to assure Orphen that Childman only wants to help Azalie. But is that really the case? There is a huge battle between Childman and the dragon that seems to indicate something different entirely.

The Soul Stealers is a fine example of how storylines keep going on. In the Orphen saga, there are a whole bunch of episodes and ADV Films are putting them out in this set of volumes. This fifth one makes you want to make sure that you’ve watched the previous episodes and ensures the taste for watching the remaining ones.

You can find The Soul Stealers or other titles in the Orphen saga at your local DVD retailer. You can also order it online from ADV Films at www.advfilms.com.