Eien no Filena (Eternal Filena) is a 1992 OVA series with six episodes. It's based on a series of light novels written by Takeshi Shudou and illustrated by Takada Akemi. In 1995, it was made into a role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Although the game was only released in Japan, patches and walk-throughs are available in English.
Eien no Filena is set in a fantasy empire vaguely similar to the Roman Empire, but with most mod cons - TVs, telephones, and cars, but not airplanes. Like Rome, this Empire has gladiatorial contests, between slaves called Battlers. Unlike Rome, the contests are scripted, sort of a lethal version of today's professional wrestling bouts. (The opening episodes' gladiatorial combat scenes contain graphic violence.)
The protagonist of the story, Filena, is the surviving princess of a kingdom called Filosena, which is wiped out by the Empire in the opening moments of the story. Raised as a boy, Filena fights as a Battler, using her wits and speed to compensate for her small stature and lack of strength. With the help of friends, including her "wife" Lila - another slave - Filena must outwit and outlast her enemies in order to reclaim her destiny and her throne. The show is, after all, "the story of a hero," as the opening narration repeatedly proclaims. Except... the show never gets there. Rather like Wolf Guy, it gets to the Big Reveal of the Big Bad and then stops.
Perhaps the OVAs were just a teaser for the novels. Also, they were released before the light novel series was finished. Either way, the inconclusive ending make the show a bit of a disappointment. In addition, the possibilities of Filena's gender switch and her "marriage" to Lila are never explored. Filena's disguise as a man is thin: she has a nice figure, and it shows.
Nonetheless, the male characters don't seem to catch on.
This project started in Stardust Fansubs. At Stardust's request, konnakude brought it to Orphan to be reworked and completed as a joint project. Exode of Stardust did the original translation, and Mitsora of Stardust translation checked episodes 1-3. tenkenX6 checked the last three episodes. Yogicat timed, I edited and styled, and Calyrica, konnakude, and VigorousJammer did QC. The raws are Laserdisc rips from the Internet and are fairly good.
Filosena was played by Andou Arisa, a veteran voice actor with many roles to her credit, including a number of h-animes. For example, she appeared in Doukyuusei Climax, which Orphan translated. Lila was played by Mizutani Yuko. She too has many normal and h- credits, including Pinoko in all the Black Jack properties and Rika in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, another Orphan project. Horiuchi Kenyuu (Nest) has an extensive resume, including Jin Akira in Wolf Guy and the title role in Guin Saga. Hori Hideyuki (Baraba) also had a lengthy career. The background music and ending song, by guitarist Jinmo, are spare and very effective. The character designs by Koizumi Kenzo, based on Takada Akemi's original illustrations, are unusual, featuring normal noses and eyes rather than the usual anime conventions.
I'd really like to know how Eien no Filena turns out. Everything on the web seems to reflect the game. If anyone has read the light novels, feel free to post an extensive spoiler in the comments. Meanwhile, you can get the OVA at the usual torrent sites, from bot Orphan|Arutha in IRC channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. You can also get the original soundtrack on the usual torrent sites.
Eien no Filena is set in a fantasy empire vaguely similar to the Roman Empire, but with most mod cons - TVs, telephones, and cars, but not airplanes. Like Rome, this Empire has gladiatorial contests, between slaves called Battlers. Unlike Rome, the contests are scripted, sort of a lethal version of today's professional wrestling bouts. (The opening episodes' gladiatorial combat scenes contain graphic violence.)
The protagonist of the story, Filena, is the surviving princess of a kingdom called Filosena, which is wiped out by the Empire in the opening moments of the story. Raised as a boy, Filena fights as a Battler, using her wits and speed to compensate for her small stature and lack of strength. With the help of friends, including her "wife" Lila - another slave - Filena must outwit and outlast her enemies in order to reclaim her destiny and her throne. The show is, after all, "the story of a hero," as the opening narration repeatedly proclaims. Except... the show never gets there. Rather like Wolf Guy, it gets to the Big Reveal of the Big Bad and then stops.
Perhaps the OVAs were just a teaser for the novels. Also, they were released before the light novel series was finished. Either way, the inconclusive ending make the show a bit of a disappointment. In addition, the possibilities of Filena's gender switch and her "marriage" to Lila are never explored. Filena's disguise as a man is thin: she has a nice figure, and it shows.
Nonetheless, the male characters don't seem to catch on.
This project started in Stardust Fansubs. At Stardust's request, konnakude brought it to Orphan to be reworked and completed as a joint project. Exode of Stardust did the original translation, and Mitsora of Stardust translation checked episodes 1-3. tenkenX6 checked the last three episodes. Yogicat timed, I edited and styled, and Calyrica, konnakude, and VigorousJammer did QC. The raws are Laserdisc rips from the Internet and are fairly good.
Filosena was played by Andou Arisa, a veteran voice actor with many roles to her credit, including a number of h-animes. For example, she appeared in Doukyuusei Climax, which Orphan translated. Lila was played by Mizutani Yuko. She too has many normal and h- credits, including Pinoko in all the Black Jack properties and Rika in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, another Orphan project. Horiuchi Kenyuu (Nest) has an extensive resume, including Jin Akira in Wolf Guy and the title role in Guin Saga. Hori Hideyuki (Baraba) also had a lengthy career. The background music and ending song, by guitarist Jinmo, are spare and very effective. The character designs by Koizumi Kenzo, based on Takada Akemi's original illustrations, are unusual, featuring normal noses and eyes rather than the usual anime conventions.
I'd really like to know how Eien no Filena turns out. Everything on the web seems to reflect the game. If anyone has read the light novels, feel free to post an extensive spoiler in the comments. Meanwhile, you can get the OVA at the usual torrent sites, from bot Orphan|Arutha in IRC channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. You can also get the original soundtrack on the usual torrent sites.
domo
ReplyDeleteWow, I watched this untranslated several years ago. It's nice to finally know what's actually going on. Thanks for the release.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for translating this series!
ReplyDeleteWatched it some time ago (not in English), and it was... good enough, but I have to agree that absence of any real conclusion is frustrating. So frustrating in fact that I had to play the game to find out how the story ends)
Just an FYI, the magnet link doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteI stumbled upon an article written by the novel author. He's not happy about the anime and says originally it was planned to be 52 episodes!
ReplyDeletehttps://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.style.fm/as/05_column/shudo84.shtml
Very interesting; thanks. I'm glad to know that the author's frustrations with the show reflect mine.
Delete