Eternal Filena

 is a fantasy light novel series by Takeshi Shudo (best known for writing the scripts for "Magical Princess Minky Momo" and "Pokémon") which was serialized in Japan in "Animage", illustrated by Akemi Takada. The series has been collected into nine volumes published by Tokuma Shoten. An OVA series based on the novels was released from 1992 to 1993. The novel series was also adapted into a role-playing video game released by Tokuma Shoten for the Super Famicom in 1995. It was only released commercially in Japan.
Plot.
"Eternal Filena" follows the adventures of Filena, the only survivor of the royal family in the ocean kingdom of Filosena which is destroyed by the ruling empire. She is brought up as a boy slave and gladiator, and enters the gladiatorial games designed by the Empire to keep the masses happy. Young slave boys are trained as gladiators and girls are forced into prostitution. Filena befriends Lila, a slave assigned to be Filena's bed-mate before her first gladiatorial bout, and sets off on a journey with Lila to free her homeland from tyranny and discover her true past.
Characters.
Nest
Milika
Laris
Amanela
Gappe/Gappy (Hunter in fan translation)
Black Devil Baraba (Black Demon Baraba in Japanese)
Zenna
Fis
Media.
Light novels.
The light novel series was serialized in "Animage" from 1985 until 1994. Interior illustrations as well as cover artwork for the collected volumes were done by Akemi Takada, known for her work on series such as "Kimagure Orange Road" and "Creamy Mami". The series has been collected into nine volumes.</small> The series was popular enough to place in "Animage" polls for readers' all-time-favorite series as late as 1999.</small>
Anime.
A six-episode anime OVA series, with original character designs by Akemi Takada, was released by Tokuma Japan Communications from December 1992 through February 1993 at a rate of two 30-minute episode per month.
A soundtrack for the anime series was released on October 23, 1992, two months prior to the OVA series. The soundtrack was performed by guitarist Jinmo, with vocals for the opening theme song, "Ocean", performed by Azumi Inoue.
Video game.
A role-playing video game based on the series was first released on the Super Famicom in 1995 exclusive to Japan. The game was developed and published by Tokuma Shoten. "Eternal Filena" was released late into the Super Famicom's life, but despite this it had somewhat dated graphics that were reminiscent of "Final Fantasy V" and a battle system similar to "Final Fantasy Mystic Quest".
The game's story begins with Filena, a girl raised as a boy by her grandfather Zenna. Filena is raised as a boy because the Empire ruling the country forces girls into prostitution and turns boys into gladiators. After turning sixteen, Filena prepares to make her debut in the imperial coliseum, however before the battle she and her fellow gladiators are assigned concubines. Filena ignores her assigned bedmate, Lila, but Lila forces her way into Filena's room and learns the truth about her gender. Filena later fights through the gladiator ranks and discovers that their battles to the death are all scripted by behind-the-scenes writers. Filena then sets off with Lila on a quest to bring down an empire and reclaim her rightful place in a lost kingdom.
The gameplay is typical of role-playing video games of its time, using a turn-based battle system with random encounters with monsters to gain experience and level up. Characters can equip up to three weapons and switch between them. Weapons have different abilities and a character can perform a technique at the cost of ability points.
On release, "Famicom Tsūshin" scored the game a 23 out of 40.