Scrapped Princess Vol. #1 (also w/ Limited Edition Figure)
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September 06, 2005
by: Kevin Mullett
"Scrapped Princess is a show that can be recommended to everyone looking for a fantasy series..."
Review Hardware Used: Panasonic 52” Wide screen TV, Proscan DVD
Disc Description
Pacifica Cassul is known as the "Scrapped Princess." According to prophecy, she is the poison that will destroy the world on her 16th birthday. In order to avoid being killed, she must secretly wander the lands along with her two siblings who vow to protect the princess every step of the way. But being the Scrapped Princess means you must stay one step ahead of your enemy. Just how long will they journey before time runs out?
Disc Features
Animated Interactive Menus
English & Japanese Stereo
English Subtitles
Limited Edition Comes With Collectible Figure
Disc Review
Content: (This section may include spoilers)
Scrapped Princess is an original story about a Princess who is destined to destroy the world. The show grabbed my attention from the start and it really does a good job at keeping you entertained throughout. What I found so intriguing about this story was the way they describe her Brother and Sister as well.
We are first introduced to the Scrapped Princess A.K.A Pacifica Cassul traveling on the back of a wagon. Her brother Shannon and sister Raquel in front accompany her in this journey. We see a group of assassins come out of the bushes to confront them. They are all wearing what can best be described as drapes over their faces with some insignia on it. These fine folks are followers of the church of Mauser; who want Pacifica dead. At this point, we see that she is in good hands as her brother and sister easily dispatch the would-be assassins fairly easily. We learn that while Shannon is a first grade swordsman, Raquel can wield some rather devastating magic.
It seems as though everywhere Pacifica goes, she has people wanting her dead around every corner. Throughout the interaction between the characters and how the story unfolds, we also learn a lot about this prophecy that has predicted that she will be the one to destroy the world.
Each episode is geared towards letting you know just a little bit more about the world in which she lives in and what type of people she has to deal with. Pacifica can be an annoying and self-centered person but we quickly learn that she is not that way all the time. In fact, she is ultimately very caring and even though she cannot fight, you can sense that she wishes she could. It’s hard to believe that someone; somewhere could think that this girl was destined to destroy the world and everyone in it.
Another character that is introduced in this volume is Leopold. He provides a lot of comic relief and is a very lovable character at the same time. The interaction between Leo and Pacifica; as well as Shannon; provide some really funny moments; and are a welcome addition to a rather serious underlying story.
In conclusion, Scrapped Princess is a wonderful show. The story and the characters thus far are really well done. It is a very entertaining show that handles a major subject like the destruction of the world but manages to keep a lighthearted and loveable feel to it without going over the top on comedy; thus keeping the fact at the top of your mind that something darker and more sinister is at work in the grand scheme of things.
Video:
The animation in this show, for the most part, is good. It lacks the CGI aspect that other anime shows or movies have; which I find to be nice since I am not a huge fan of CGI animation in this type of fantasy setting. There was also a lack of great detail in some of the scenes. For example, the way the scenery was animated cheapened the show. However, the animators make up for the lack of detail by showing the effect of casting spells. Lines form some sort of diagram that head towards the target. I found this to be very interesting and original. The characters are drawn very well and I like the attention to detail they put in to the outfits and just each of the separate characters in general.
Audio:
The overall sound quality is good in Scrapped Princess. All the action scenes contain just what is needed to make it feel convincing. The theme song was very enjoyable in that it was very uplifting and light hearted, in addition to also having a very catchy tune.
Menus:
The menu system on this show is quite basic and not at all complicated. There are only a few options. The options are: play all episodes, Features, Extras, and Episode selection. The bad part is on the other side of the screen you see the Cassul siblings on their wagon. The background is moving and the wagon is kind of bouncing up and down and the horses in front of it are moving separately. Not a visually impressive menu. Overall, a little disappointing.
Extras:
Textless opening and endings and coming attractions highlight the rather spare treatment of extras. There really isn’t much else; unfortunately.
Dialogue:
The English voice acting in this show is of good quality. The actors really portray their characters very well. There wasn’t much overacting which you can get quite often on the English audio track. Voices were very emotional which helped make this so much more convincing. Bandai did not try to cheapen this show with poor voice acting. Bang Zoom, like usual has done a great job.
The Bottom Line:
Overall I found Scrapped Princess to be a real joy to watch. First, the story is very well written. Most importantly, the story behind the show is very original. It gives it such a light hearted feel while keeping the seriousness of the matters at hand intact. This is a show that is easy and fun to sit back, relax, and enjoy with only a few details like the lack of extras to slightly mar the overall score of this disc.
Scrapped Princess is a show that can be recommended to everyone looking for a fantasy series that strays from the norm and offers a lighthearted yet serious tone that blends unquestionably well together to form something special.
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Content |
An original idea blended with a great story make Scrapped Princess very enjoyable to watch. |
8.7 |
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Video |
Very good animation quality and video quality. There isn't much to complain about here. |
8.2 |
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Audio |
Great theme song and stereo tracks. Could have benefit from a surround sound track though. |
7.6 |
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Menus
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Lackluster main menu but it is forgiveable. Secondary menus work fine. |
4.6 |
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Extras
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Textless opening is nice and all but there could have been so much more... |
3.1 |
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Dialog
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The voice acting is very convincing and the characters were cast well. |
7.8 |
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Verdict
Scrapped Princess is very fun to watch and it is easy to get caught up in the excellent story and likeable characters. Some things on this disc could stand improvements but nothing that should turn you away from having this in your collection.
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8.5
[not an average]
+ Great story and characters.
+ Voice acting is both believable and consistent.
+ Excellent character development.
- The menus feel cheap.
- A surround sound track would have been great.
- The extras... oh wait, what extras?
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