Ranked #611

Scrapped Princess

Scrapped Princess is an anime that's been overshadowed by many of the shows that have been released this past decade. Just because it's underrated doesn't mean that it's not good. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

The story of Scrapped Princess is very RPG-inspired; otaku gamers who are familiar with the genre will feel right at home with this anime. The first half of the series is light-hearted, dedicating its episodes to introducing the characters and establishing the main plot. The second half of the series is much darker, with plot twists and turns every so often, character developments, and in-depth looks at the villains' schemes. As I watched it, I couldn't help but feel that I was playing an above-standard RPG. Don't let that distract you from the experience, though. Not only does the story take place in a world of its own, but little clues are planted here and there in the dialogue to establish the period of time it takes place. They're kind of hard to miss. All the characters are pretty much likable, despite their flaws. Overtime, they start to grow on to you, making some of the major moments of the series more memorable. The story, overall, is well paced and brings everything together into one satisfying conclusion.

The art is what one would come to expect from BONES studios (Fullmetal Alchemist, Ouran High School Host Club, Soul Eater). The colors are vibrant and the character designs cheerful and, in some cases, cute. They work well for the first half of the series, but at first, feel out of place during the series' apocalyptic second half; You tend to get used to them after a while. The animation shines during the action and fight scenes, but when the scene is simple, such as a conversation between two characters, the animation tends to be a bit stoic except for some wind blowing. This issue only occurs for several episodes, though. The positive side of that is that the animators are focused more on making this series look beautiful, which they have accomplished. The art in Scrapped Princess is truly a feast for the eyes.

The audio in this anime didn't really shine as much as I expected it to. The soundtrack overall isn't memorable, but the orchestral compositions soar during the more climatic moments of the series. The music is fitting, but it doesn't make me want to go buy the soundtrack. The series' opening theme "Little Wing" by JAM Project has a nice Celtic-inspired intro that quickly makes the transition into an upbeat Pop/Rock song (with vocals provided by Masumi Okui). The song is all right as an intro to this series, but the song itself is good. It's one of those songs that grows on you. Same with the series' ending, "Daichi no la-li-la" by Yoko Ueno and Masumi Itou. The brass at the beginning of the song makes it seem old fashioned, but then this song proves that this is no ordinary J-pop song. The singers' canons fit well into the song (and it's darn catchy too!) and the song itself fits the fantasy/adventure fell of the show well. I watched the English dub of the series, and I was once again impressed at the effort put forth by Bang Zoom! Entertainment to make this dub sound good. This show has an all-star cast, starring voice actors such as Kari Wahlgren (Pacifica Cassul), Crispin Freeman (Shannon Cassul), and Steve Blum (Luke Storm). They each took their roles and made them their own. At times I felt like I wasn't even watching a dub of a show from Japan. The dub has to be one of the best parts of the show.

Scrapped Princess is one of the most pleasant surprises I've seen in a long time. I really wasn't expecting much from the show, but I really enjoyed it. If you're not satisfied with any anime you're currently watching, give Scrapped Princess a try. I guarantee you that it will not disappoint. read more

Scrapped Princess is a quite interesting genre mix...in the beginning it is a fantasy world which gradually gets a few sf touches. This adds a nice touch to a story which is quite logical (if somewhat predictable) and has a satisfying ending.

The animation is quite average – nothing to complain about…a bit boring at times. Nice character designs even for some of the supporting roles.
Sound – the ending theme caught my interest, nice arrangement, a bit different. The beginning suited the series and the score was fitting too, although nothing that stuck longer.

Now, the characters are one of the strong points of this anime…I somewhat came to like them…even Parcifia who can be a bit annoying sometimes with her: “Perhaps it’s better when I die” attitude. This aspect is just a bit to heavy. The development of some of the protagonists (especially Shannon, my personal favourite^^) is consistant; their dilemma and how they cope with problems is interesting and understandable.

Looking at this it is quite clear that I enjoyed it…it’s sad that this anime just couldn’t reach far enough to be truly amazing…but still a recommendable series.
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Overall/Enjoyment:
As you can see, I really liked Scrapped Princess. It's a familiar song played to a different tune. The way it starts off gives the appearance of being slow and uneventful, but it all depends on your point of view. The action is light, and it builds up gradually to some pretty big battles as the story progresses, but what the show may lack in action it makes up for with some really potent drama. In this way it excels beyond the usual sword and sorcery fare. If you prefer the myth and the magic over character dynamics then this may seem dull and ordinary to you. I enjoy stories about escalating climactic battles, but life isn't always an epic series of conflicts, so stories like this are nice as well.

Story:
The story of the Scrapped Princess is one of prophecy and death, and it never lets you forget that. There's always an essence of tragedy and suffering looming in the air. There are moments of endearment and playfulness mixed in with those of doom and gloom. So on the surface it may appear to be just another medieval adventure, but beneath it lies an emotional one as well.

Sure there's the occasional sword fight or spell casting or sci-fi tangent (there's even some mech-like things), which are interesting on their own, but what I found myself instantly drawn to were the characters. Even though in the beginning I could tell the action was pretty low key, I was still no less interested in watching more. There was an allure not so much in what they were doing, but how they were going about it.

It's a very well written story. The character's are surprised when they are supposed to be, they're not omniscient and are often ignorant of knowledge the viewer already has. Events and precedents are recalled correctly so there's no plot holes. There are no real loose ends to speak of and the ending is solid. There's plenty of good humor, romance, and really touching moments. It's one of those stories where there's a big world of big burdens and a decisive destiny waiting for them at the end, but it's the journey itself and the little things inbetween I enjoyed.

The only flaw, if I had to pick any, I could see was that the whole Peacemaker angle was never explained too clearly or thoroughly. This leads to an ending that's wrapped up just a tad too neatly/ideally for my taste. In fact, I'd say the whole sci-fi thing probably hurt the series more than helped. It could've done just fine without it. I would've liked a little more definitive clarification on how things got to the way they were, and some kind of indication of where they were going to go from there (such as what happens with magic?).

Characters:
Given the kind of story this is, I think you get a pretty good feel for the characters, though none quite as well as Pacifica and Shannon. Everyone else are just supporting characters by comparison. Still, characters are fleshed out fairly well. Even if you don't particularly like a character, you get some kind of sense of who they are. Not just in actions, but how they feel and think.

People are not one-dimensional automatons programmed with a set of unshakable and predictable reactions. They have moments of fear, doubt, impulsiveness, and weakness. It's essential to establish these things as well for any story to have any semblance of authenticity. Some of the extra characters may not have been necessary but I think Scra-Prin did a good job anyway. No one was particularly overpowered or unbelievable, and the main character's "spoiled innocence" lent itself well to this story.

The one oddity I would say is that the Winia character looked bizarrely identical to the Senes one. Were they related or did the character designer reach his creative limit?

Art:
Maybe it's just me, but I really like BONES art. Their shows are always vibrant and colorful, their lines are sharp and clean, the character/outfit designs are beautiful, the backgrounds are lush and the animation is always fluid. I guess it may seem pretty "average" by modern standards, but I'd still say they're my favorite to date.

Sound:
Well, although no particular tune comes to mind, I'd say as far as setting the mood and tone are concerned, the music was always right. There were never any odd moments of silence and when a scene called for action or suspense there was always the appropriate music to accompany it. I thought the dubbing was pretty good, which is not a compliment to take lightly as I'm pretty critical about, well, everything, but especially dubbing. The subtitles on the other hand were littered with spelling/grammar errors.

Other:
Scrapped Princess is a rather misleading title. As a show it doesn't sound quite right, and it's certainly an awkward way to keep addressing someone. That is, it makes about as much sense as calling her the "Killed Princess" or the "Trapped Princess". Perhaps Cursed or Forsaken would've been more appropriate, though certainly less original.

This show was kind of strange for me because it had the flair of Fullmetal Alchemist and the heart of Eureka 7, but wasn't as good as either of them in those regards. However, I would say it had the more complete ending of the three.

I'm not sure why, but in the world of Scra-Prin the average woman is very.... voluptuous, that or they are wearing some of the most form fitting clothing ever made. This is either a statement about the lack of bras in medieval times, or that women in our future will be very well endowed.

O_o read more

This is one of those anime taking place in older times, with knights and a medieval stuff, for a while anyway.

This show has a relatively slow moving plot, but once it picks up, you really start to get interested in it. I will admit though, even once it picks up, the plot still moves slow, but its the interesting things that happen that keep you wanting to watch more, and trust me, the ending is pretty sweet and worth watching.

The magic is pretty cool and the "bad guys" have some pretty unique talents that make battle scenes pretty fun to watch. there is plenty of sword/physical fighting as well as magic and dragons to balance it out.

The characters are pretty interesting, although i have to say the secondary characters are more often than not more interesting than the main, even though the main characters is supposed to be wrapped in mystery. All the characters grow on you, and they balance out pretty well with each other.

The art work is done well for a medieval setting, and although some of the characters are lacking in the fresh look department, others more than make up for it.

Overall enjoyable series. I've only seen the dub which wasn't too bad, but the sub is probably better so watch that one if you can. read more

Scrapped Princess tells the story of Pacifica Casull, who is prophesized to be 'the poison that will destroy the world'

Travelling with her brother, Shannon (a master swordsman) and her sister, Raquel (a mage) Pacifica travels the world trying to avoid the attention of the mysterious 'Peacemakers' and seek out the truth behind the prophecy.

Story: (8)

Scrapped Princess begins very unpromisingly, in fact for the first few episodes I nearly dropped this as it seemed a fairly generic fantasy title to begin with.

However, when the plot starts to move (I found it shifted a gear about 4-5 episodes in) it really does become very engaging.

Not only does the plot focus on Pacifica and co and their various experiences, it also moves the focus onto a more global scale, and we get to see the various political and religious elements at work, this all helps build a very believable and rich world.

The story gathers some real pace towards the end but never feels rushed, better, when the final episode comes to an end all the loose ends have been tied up and the story is concluded, something that doesnt seem to happen in anime all that often!

Art: (7)

By and large the art is pretty nice, its not the best art out there but its far from the worst. Character designs are nice, backgrounds are detailed and attractive, actions sequences are pretty fluid (something which a lot of shows fall down on), the magic in particular is particuarly nicely animated.

The show falls down on an inability to draw horses particuarly well, also, people riding horses look ridiculous in this show, which is a shame because the characters spend a LOT of time on horseback, compared to some of the slick action sequences later in the show its a bit hard to see how the animators could do such a bad job with horses...

The only other thing worth mentioning is the female character designs tend to all feature fairly large breasts, theres not much by way of fanservice in this series but the tendency of women to be fairly heavily chested is noticable

Sound: (7)

The OP and ED to this series are both quite nice, both fit in with the feel of the show (the ED sounds very much like the ED to Azumanga Daioh in fact...)

Music in the show itself does its job, it neither stands out nor takes away from the show.

The voice acting is pretty good too with some decent performances, though again, nothing that stands out as being great.


Characters: (8)

Characters in this story are pretty good, with some really good side characters too, my only gripe would be that development wasn't very even, having watched the whole series theres some (admittedly minor) characters whose names I still didnt know.

The bad guys too also felt a little underdeveloped, this doesnt really detract from the series but I cant help but feel that perhaps an oppurtunity was lost for a bit of extra depth to the series.

The main characters are very nicely fleshed out, Shannon and Pacifica standing out as very strong and likable characters in their own right, Pacifica in particular was done very well, she could have been bratty/spoiled and annoying but instead managed to come across as a very well balanced and optimistic young woman.

The only protaganist letting the side down I felt was Raquel who remained somewhat underdeveloped throughout the series, however she's made up for by some of the more charismatic side characters, such as Leo the trainee knight.

Enjoyment: (8)

Aside from a bit of a slow start Scrapped Princess is a solid fantasy anime, it has nice animation, decent characters and a very well conceived storyline, once it gets started the show doesnt drag its feet, nor does it leave its audience behind, it has a good mix of humour, action and character-driven storyline which makes it an enjoyable show to watch.

Its not enormousely deep so it doesnt take huge amounts of concentration trying to figure out whats going on either, making it a good light anime to watch.

Overall: (8)

Overall Scrapped Princess is an enjoyable anime series, its not the best anime ever made, nor is it particuarly unique or groundbreaking, however it is a solid show thats easily better than many of the other swords and sorcery type anime out there. read more

Scrapped Princess has been a show sitting on my shelf for quite a while and for some reason I had never gotten around to viewing it. For that I am rather disappointed in myself as it turned out to be a wonderfully entertaining and charming series.

When starting the show you will be treated to what is seemingly your normal medieval era sword and sorcery fantasy adventure. And for the first half of the series that is exactly what you get. The second half in some ways almost feels like a completely separate show as mecha like combat starts to replace your standard swords and magic fighting. I imagine some people who are expecting a more traditional kind of adventure might feel a bit disappointed but I thought the transition was logical and seamless. Pacifica, known as the Scrapped Princess is on the run with her two older siblings because everyone wants her dead as she is prophesied to destroy the world on her 16th birthday. Of course it will become obvious to the assassins sent after her and the viewers that she is nothing but a sweet girl who poses no threat to anyone. The plot moves along fairly slowly but the pace was quick enough that I never got bored with it. A number of interesting twists emerge, some predictable others not so much but all and all I found the mix of the old and modern technology quite fresh and original. The action and special effects are quite good but my one complaint with it is that towards the end it does feel like it drags on for a few episodes with little really going on. The ending was also pretty solid and I felt very satisfied with how many of the storylines wrapped up.

Pacifica shines as the main protagonist of Scrapped Princess. She is a very likable and character and I think most people will find it very easy to relate with her. Rounding out the rest of the main cast is the siblings and Pacifica's guardians, Shannon and Raquel. They were very fun characters and I liked them both a lot. Unfortunately we didn’t ever get that much back story on either of them. Things were hinted at with them both but I was left feeling a little let down that these were not better developed. The supporting cast is also very strong as several characters shine, particularly Leo, but others feel a bit flat and stereotypical.

The music was very good. Both the opening and ending songs felt very appropriate and set the tone of the series. Voice acting is also very strong. Do to some issues I had with the subtitle timing on my DVDs, I was unfortunately exposed to the English dub of this show for an episode before I couldn’t take it anymore and had to download the corrupted episodes online. Honestly I don’t know how or why people watch English dubs, particularly from Bang Zoom! who has some of the worst actors in the industry. Why do I always feel like you’re trying to hard when you speak? Just talk normally, you don’t have to talk like your trying to be 12 years old. Just stay away from the dub. Remember: friends don’t let friends watch dubbed anime.

One of my favorite elements of SP, is the artwork and animation. The backgrounds and spell effects were beautiful. The character designs were truly exceptional though. The girls were all adorable and the guys were handsome and manly and bishounen free. Some of the girls bosoms were a bit out of hand though, particularly Winia's. Those looked like they might get in the way.

Overall I am left with a very favorable view of this anime. A satisfying ending, great characters, I am sad to see this one end. The story feels very original and delivers a unique cautionary tale about mankind and his struggles to not destroy himself.
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Never seen another anime quite like this one, there are so many surprises thats it's unpredictable but not in a stupid fashion. It has a bit of everything, romance, war, parent/ child love, magic, sword play, memorable funny scenes and mecha, yep thats right, MECHA.

But for those of you who hate mecha anime, dont go just yet, cuase the anime's not heavily based on mecha, but more on the story (you'll understand why mecha was used in the end). The fanstasy land that the story is set is akin to animes such as Full metal alchemist or naurto, a mix of science and medievil theme. Animation is average but enjoyable and some pretty nice music.

It has a cool storyline where you've basically got this princess who everyone hates and is protected by her elite brother sister pair. It keeps you interested becuase you want to know why she is hated and called the "scrapped princess" and the surprises that the story line chucks at you kepted me excited :D.

However, the main heros are your aveage cool brother whos pretty good with a sword and your typical princess who knows she has to die but puts on a brave face and enjoys life to the max but some of the scenes cracked me up big time.

If you enjoyed Full metal alchemist i think you'll find this anime to your taste as both are set in a similar sort of world and both are series yet funny at the same time. Enjoy :D read more

you know when some people hear the word princess they think its all girly or they think that it will be full of happy ever after.
well this is something much different . this anime has vivid drawing and every move is very clear, you will not be confused at any cost .
this story is about a princess of course but she is not like all the other princess. the princess was suppose to be killed after she was born but she was not she grew up happily not knowing her fate. it is said that when she turns 16 she will destroy this world.
when the king found out that was not dead he sent people to kill her. after her foster parents has been killed she found out whats going on. so her step brother and step sister and she is taking a journey to some place where they will be safe. in there journey they come across many problems and powers that will help them or kill them.
there is some twist and turns along the way you might like it. i give scrapped princess all the credit she deserves.
the anime is funny and sad it has drama it has fighting and it has more .
let me know if u have any question.
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One of the first characters introduced in Scrapped Princess is Leo, a naive, incompetent knight wannabe. He's annoying right away, but mercifully his role diminishes after a few episodes. The action picks up, the sci-fi world details become intriguing, and things start to look up. Based on the other reviews here, I figured that I'd made it through the "slow start" and could settle back to enjoy the show.

Unfortunately, as the series progresses, Leo returns to prominence, and two other main characters sink to his level. Shannon, the princess's brother, takes willfully stupid and rash actions, at odds with his "protector" character archetype. The princess herself is revealed as a spoiled brat obsessed with baths, clothes, and perfectly cooked eggs, who won't fight and won't even expend any effort trying to understand the role she's been given. It becomes impossible to root for her because she doesn't even try.

If you watch the first couple of episodes and find Leo tolerable or even charming, then you'll probably enjoy the series. If you hate his guts like I did, save your time and move on, because you'll probably end up hating everybody else, too.
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I am sure that not a lot of people are going to find this very helpful, but I'll try my best.

Scrapped Princess is somewhat funny and sad. There are quite a lot of deaths, and I remember crying at about episode 20. It is a very touching story of betrayal and trust, and the art is really good.