Scrapped Princess

Publisher
Bandai
Director
Souichi Masui
Production
BONES, WOWOW
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
24 episodes
Year
2003

Scrapped Princess V. 2

By David Rasmussen
6th Oct 05

Previously…
Second verse, same as the first.
Yes, it IS bad to be the focus of some strange cryptic weird “destiny” thing, but it’s worse when you’re the focus of a strange cryptic weird “destiny” that requires you to be killed!
Yeah, pity they don’t hand those destinies out more often to the “Special” people who deserve it, but we’re not talking about THOSE people, we’re talking about this person.
This person, of course, being one Pacifica Cassul. Sure, be harsh on her. It’s not bad enough that she’s burdened with one weird name, oh no, she also has to be stuck with the bad mojo rising of a strange and not very good “destiny” attached to her like certain baseball players are attached to ‘roids.

Seems she is the so-called “Scrapped Princess”, ala the title of this anime, and she is destined via prophecy to be the poison that will destroy the world. Yeah, right. Anyway as most ignorant people in times such as the one she lives in are apt to do when faced with people who are the “poison” of anything (be it the party, social gatherings, or just poison in general) they are driven to make her do a “vanishing act” (the kind you don‘t usually reappear from -- like Jimmy Hoffa only without the fame that comes with said vanishing.)

Good thing for her she has two powerful (I.e. related) people out to protect her.
One is her brother (Shannon), who is a great swordsman. The second is her sister (Rachel) who is powerful with magic. With their help she’ll travel in secret to avoid getting into trouble... except that, wouldn’t you know it, her kind of character just doesn’t know how to do ANYTHING in secret! That can’t be a good thing when most people want her to be as dead as Steven Seagal’s acting career! And if it’s not one thing trying to ax her (some whacky religious “cult”), it’s another (this so-called “SpecOps” people who work for the big “bad” of the series from what I could garner from the story)!

So far however the jury is still “out” on the truth behind Pacifica and her “role” in the end of the world.
But as we enter Volume 2 we are presented with what might be proof of her “guilt”… or “innocence”.
One or the other, though not both… hopefully.

DVD Vol. 2 - Melancholy Wagon Tracks
Episode 5 - Lullaby of the Troubadour
Let’s see… so what has been happening since we last left off. Well it looks like there’s the matter of a brand spankin’ new bounty on the head of Pacifica (to the tune of 5 million no less). Of course there is probably more to it than her just being “cursed” to be the end of all life, especially since it sounds like they’re more worried about the little people rising up against them than the end of the human race.

As for the foursome of Pacifica, Raquel, Shannon and newly added Leo (from last DVD)? They’ve run into a Troubadour on the road. A Troubadour, a traveling musician, seems to be just what the doctor ordered… unless of course it’s ANOTHER person out to snuff the “Scrapped Princess” which, surprise surprise, it is.
Utilizing “bugs” that seem to be made of technology, the guy (named “Silencer”) poisons Pacifica with one of his bugs which leads to a desperate search for an antidote. A search which leads to a confrontation between Raquel and Leo and this “Silencer” in the remains of what looks like old technology spanning from… wow, didn’t really notice this was a Future Shock world… anyway what Leo learns in this confrontation shakes his fate severely in Pacifica (once he learns she’s the so called “Scrapped Princess”).

Meanwhile it looks like a new commander coming in to the forces (The Baroness) that is after Pacifica is out to dig up the truth of the Scrapped Princess, so much so that she’s got herself a conspirator who is now her adopted son complete with official title. Son? All the better to get him into dark dark places of knowledge to dig up the dirt on the truth behind the Scrapped Princess -- including her relation to a certain Prince and his desire to find her.

Episode 6 - The Pied Piper Song of the Knights
Things are not going well. More powerful forces by the name of “Peacemakers” have stepped into the fray against the “Scrapped Princess” (though this particular Peacemaker has appeared before as you’ll see in a flashback) and has gone and stripped Pacifica of her protectors (Raquel and Shannon). Now it looks like she’ll have to depend on Leo to help her, if only he wasn’t moping intensively about the revelation that Pacifica’s the “Scrapped Princess” and all his confusion over said revelations.
Speaking of revelations it seems the person who helped Raquel find the antidote to the poison that affected Pacifica has a deeper connection to her, which you’ll learn here.

Anyway if it’s not bad enough Raquel and Shannon has been abducted, that Silencer guy pops up at the wrong time to confront Pacifica… now what? How about another appearance by that Silencer guy. Only it looks like Silencer is going to do something you might have seen coming. One minute he’s the enemy, next (after a bout of self sacrifice by Pacifica and Leo) he’s going to use his tech to hunt down the Peacemaker who is holding Raquel/Shannon (which he does).

What comes next is ANOTHER major brawl, as Shannon comes into “possession” of a powerful new “weapon”, a dragon spirit that merges with him to take out the Peacemaker in a dramatic fight. Nice!

Episode 7 - Waltz of the Abandoned Dog of a Girl
As if the previous two episodes haven’t landed enough woe on Pacifica’s plate, now she’s about to have a bout of the evil jealousies as the gang is about to adopt a stray girl. After gaining a new weapon last episode (and new enemies in the form of the Peacemakers) it looks like Shannon is about the become Mr. Mom as he becomes the unexpected guardian of a young homeless girl named Cin, which makes Pacifica jealous.
Cin? No, not as in “Sin” from Final Fantasy X… at least I don’t think so… of course that might all change after Shannon’s new dragon spirit (whose spirit human form is that of a young girl) tells Pacifica that she has to kill Cin.

Episode 8 - Nocturne of Bonds and Prayers
No more notes. If you want to know what happens you’ll have to stay tuned to find out… or wait for the next review for my spoiler note on this episode. But it looks like Cin might be dangerous, or is she? Why must she die, and why will Raquel/Shannon die if she does not die? You’ll find out next time.
That’s that. Let’s break it down now.

Scrapped Princess Breakdown the 2nd
What’s Hot?
It’s still good. Yes, I said it once again, it’s good. Same as the first time I still like it.
Once again the story is fairly original, for once the prophecy of the day not being a very good one... just how good is it to be hunted down and murdered because people think you’ll poison the world when you turn 16! Well, you might have heard this story before, but it’s still fairly original.
Add to that the pick up of action with the arrival of the Peacemakers, and the twist ending makes for strong drama that‘ll keep you going right into DVD Vol. 3. I think we have ourselves a pretty good pick up from all that, don’t you think?

The characters are likeable, the story is solid, the music is still good and the animation looks fine.
I think it’s going to be a nice little keeper, one of the year’s good views. And while I don’t think it’ll be up for Best of 2005 for it’s category… well.. It’d be nice if it had a chance since it’s fairly decent viewing.
I have to say that I can’t find much fault in this series. Solid and good, nice to watch and interesting, it’s just something worth checking out.

What’s Not?
Hmmm… well… I can’t think of a single thing that isn’t good about this. It’s good, and there isn’t much fault to the series so why complain about nothing? I like it, and recommend it, so there.

Moments to Remember?
It’s got it’s moments, the trio of Pacifica and her brother/sister delivering the moments left and right. And the little tussle near the end of Episode 5 & 6 is nice too (for instance).
It’s nice, and it’s funny and it’s good. Liked it so I remember quite abit about it.

What to Ignore?
Leo emoting in the first half of the DVD. Get over it guy. I didn’t like you that much when you joined up last DVD and I still don’t like you that much. Stop it. Guess that’s why Leo… well, I won’t say since you can see that for yourself.

Overall?
The series is rolling forward and I still think it’s going well. A rather intriguing series that should only get better as all the pieces fall tightly into place and the full story is revealed. And from what I‘ve seen of the next DVD things should start to fall into place.
Otherwise you know the drill. The characters are likeable, and the series is nice on all counts from animation to story. In short I don’t have any complaints about the series, and recommend this to you once again. And, once again, I don’t know if BANDAI will ever puts it out on R2 DVD release for my UK readers but I hope they do. It should be interesting viewing.

-- David Rasmussen 6th Oct 05

Scrapped Princess Images