The Winter anime season has been one of the most dull seasons in a very, very long time. Unlike the Fall, which had returning shows like My Hero Academia and Sword Art Online: Alicization, continuing series like Fire Force, and new series like No Guns Life or Beastars, this series has...well, not much. Basically just Smile on the Runway...and the remake of one of the most popular fantasy series of the early 2000’s.

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Sorcerous Stabber Orphen was popular enough to run for two seasons and get a video game, with the visual novel going on for nearly a decade. It’s recently received a remake, and this exists to get anyone that doesn’t know about the series up to speed with minimum spoilers.

10 DO I NEED TO WATCH THE OLDER ONE?

Absolutely not. While watching the original series is fine for those who want to engage in a bit of old-school nostalgia, looking back at the style of anime back then, there’s no reason to watch that series as it doesn’t tie into this one at all. One might feel the need to go back though if they wanted a longer series however, as this one gives fifty two episodes. Having said that though, much of what exists in this series is filler, so the primary use people would get out of it would be from watching a series with their favorite characters in it.

9 HOW LONG IS THIS RUNNING?

Currently, all we know is that this series is running about thirteen episodes. This is a good sight shorter than the original anime, which ran for two twenty-six episode seasons. However, it’s also a series which should run a lot more faithful than the original did, which stretched out a plot which only had to be three or four episodes into an entire season. As far as anyone knows, there’s no confirmation that there will be a second season, which likely means it will depend on the popularity of the remake for there to be additional seasons.

8 WHAT'S THIS SERIES ABOUT?

An image from Sorcerous Stabber Orphen.

The series is about Krylancelo Finrandi. If that sounds like a mouthful, it is, and that’s why most of the series he goes by Orphen. Krylancelo was once a member of the Tower of Fang, along with his adopted sister Azalie. One night, he catches her while she’s casting a spell that goes horribly wrong, and Azalie transforms into a monstrous dragon.

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She flies off, and the Tower of Fang decides to disavow her existence to make sure their name isn’t sullied. Angered, Krylancelo swears off being a member, deciding to call himself Orphen and hunt down Azalie so he can transform her back to normal.

7 DOES THAT TAKE THE ENTIRE SERIES?

Surprisingly, no. This series isn’t strictly about Azalie. Without giving away spoilers, early on the story finds a way to transform her back to normal. But of course, Azalie being transformed back into her original self doesn’t mean Orphen’s life can go back to being what it was. It’s not like being a dragon is something one can simply shake off. How Orphen deals with what happens after Azalie transforms back—that’s what this series is really about.

6 WHAT ABOUT THE SUPPORTING CAST?

Obviously Orphen isn’t on his quest alone, though he starts out that way. Thanks to his status as a moneylender bringing him into contact with shady individuals, he meets Claiomh Everlasting, a member of an important royal family in a town he was visiting. The other character is Majic, a young boy who finds himself fascinated by Orphen’s ability to use magic, and begins paying Orphen to teach him how to use magic as well. These two both tag along, each both having a specific hold on Orphen that makes him agree to letting them follow.

5 ORIGIN OF MAGIC

Anime Sorcerer Stabber Orphen

Early on in the series, Orphen gives us a brief overview of exactly how magic started to exist in this world. At first, magic belonged to the gods alone. But then six highly intelligent beings from completely different races learned how to use it as well, like how the humans supposedly got fire from the gods.

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Eventually, one of the races, known as the Nornir, started to consort with humans, having kids with them, and those kids would develop the power of magic as well. This is how humans would master magic, coming to be referred to as “dragons” same as the originators.

4 WHAT'S THE TOWER OF FANG?

The Tower of Fang is where they send sorcerers. Typically, they pick up only children who have shown a modicum of talent and have been orphaned. The lead character suggests this is because no parent would willingly send their child to such a place, and he would know considering not only did he graduate from it, but so did all the people he grew up with. This implies the Tower of Fang is actually a horrible location, though from what we’ve seen it mostly teaches talented people how to actually harness and use their magic.

3 WHITE MAGIC AND BLACK MAGIC

There’s a huge difference between black magic and white magic in this world. While in most worlds it’s expected that white magic means healing while black magic means destruction. Fantasy RPG fans might associate a Black Magic practitioner with elemental spells. But in this world, White Magic is typically associated with stopping time or reading minds, things that are less direct, while things like healing or even barriers belong to a different sort of mage. The power of White Magic is typically far less common, and comes up as an important bit early on in the series.

2 NOT EVERYONE VIEWS SORCERERS THE SAME

In this world, sorcerers aren’t viewed the same everywhere. In many areas, sorcerers are viewed as highly-respected individuals thanks to their power and connection to different royal courts. But then there’s the Kimluck Church, which worships the three sisters, and have a problem with sorcerers, often forcing nations near them to strictly monitor them. Then there’s the Dragon Faiths, which follow the Celestials, who command that all sorcerers be killed for daring to rob them of magic. Those who follow the Dragon Faiths spent years hunting down Sorcerers, before the Celestials went extinct and people stopped hearing from them, causing sorcerer hunts to ease.

1 WHERE TO GO FOR MORE?

For those who are particularly eager to watch more after this season finishes, there’s a ton of different places to go. As mentioned before, it’s possible to go back and rewatch the first two seasons for anime only fans. But there’s also a series of light novels which ran for over thirty volumes. If that’s no good, there’s also a series of manga a few of which have been quite faithful to the light novel series.

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