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I first watched Scrapped Princess back when it was originally being fansubbed. I decided then that it was the best anime I had ever seen, and my opinion hasn't changed. To this day it's still my number one favorite and I've watched it over at least three times. Recently I decided to watch it again, and I was inspired to write this review from the perspective of a long time fan.

The story of Scrapped Princess is remarkably engaging. The setting, middle-age fantasy with elements of science fiction, is still believable. This is the kind of fantasy world I would like to live in. I find ... myself almost drawn in as I watch. Coupled with great character development, each episode is enjoyable and the plot never feels like it's dragging on for too long. I only wish the backstory would have been explained in more detail regarding the Dragoons and Peacemakers, as well as their creators.

Speaking of characters, I don't think there's a single genuinely unlikeable person in this whole story. Even the baddest of the bad ones I can hardly bring myself to hate, and I really feel like I want the good guys to win. Each character has his own distinct personality traits, but they aren't overplayed, and tragic moments actually feel tragic.

Everything is drawn well in Scrapped Princess. The characters are never off-model and the backgrounds in most scenes are nothing short of beautiful. The fantasy-sci fi setting is presented incredibly well. Ruins of a highly advanced, long dead civilization dot the landscape, but scenes still evoke an "old world" feeling.

I can't really say much about the music. It seems pleasantly understated, if anything. Nothing stands out in the soundtrack, but it always fits the mood.

Regardless of its faults, I can't possibly recommend Scrapped Princess more. I've never seen anything else like it. It doesn't get old no matter how many times I watch. To me, the plot is still just as fascinating as it was when I first saw it.

Toaru Majutsu no Index starts off strong, but quickly fizzles out. I, like many others, was intrigued by the fantastic world described in the first few episodes, a world where everybody has a superpower, as well as the mystery surrounding the title character. Sadly, the series fails to deliver a single solid story past the first arc and stumbles blindly onward to a barely sub-par ending.

The anime actually had me hooked at the first few minutes of the first episode. The character of Touma, who inexplicably possesses the power to nullify any supernatural force with his right hand (and also seems to attract misfortune, something ... I can relate with) was very appealing. Upon his encounter with Index, a girl who inexplicably has perfect memory recall, things really started to take off. Now there were two mysterious characters and a decent plot to go with one of them. By the third episode, I was convinced that I was in for a rare masterpiece.

Admittedly I was concerned about Touma, because his mysterious power is essentially god-mode, and overpowered characters tend to ruin a story. I set those concerns aside, though, reasoning that the title character is Index, not Touma. Little did I know that after the first arc concluded, the title character would have little to no influence in the overall plot, in some cases barely managing to make an appearance in most later episodes.

Very few of the characters past the two main ones are genuinely likable. I have to admit I liked Touma's teacher, Komoe. She provided some of the best comic relief, but didn't do much else aside from acting as a plot device. Index's two guardians, central to the plot of the first arc, were also among the better personalities. At the very least, they weren't completely unlikeable. The same can't be said for the rest of the cast: almost offensively dull supporting characters; a series of super-powerful girls, each who thinks her life is the worst and she'd be better off dead; a select few villains to do battle with Touma; and behind-the-scenes bad guys who never do anything but make vague references to the story. Before I move on, I'd like to give an honorable mention to Accelerator. He had probably the coolest power of them all, and would have made my list of likable characters if he had dropped the angsty emo-kid act. Just one more wasted character among many.

If there's one thing they did right, though, it was the art and animation. But if all your anime can do is look good, there's hardly any point to it. Overall I have to say I was really disappointed with Toaru Majutsu no Index. It had such a great buildup and they could have done great things with it, but once Index was no longer a central part of the story it all fell flat. I wouldn't recommend this series to anyone. I watched it from start to finish, and now I wish I hadn't.