15 years ago, a knight threw a smiling infant girl off a cliff and then resigned his position in disgust. She had been foretold in the Grendel Prophecy as the poison that would destroy the world on her 16th birthday. Somehow she survived the fall and was raised in secret. Now it’s coming closer to that ill-fated birthday and more people are becoming aware of her existence. After her foster parents died, she and her adopted brother and sister began to travel the countryside to keep her safe and find out more about the prophecy that has shaped her life.

Scrapped Princess, also known as Sutepri, is a high fantasy story by studio Bones, who also brought us Angelic Layer and Wolf’s Rain. It centers on the life of Pacifica Casull, the dethroned princess, a moody, bratty blond teenage girl with a heart of gold. Her adopted brother, Shannon, is an overprotective and gifted swordsman who has an awkward relationship with Pacifica. Raquel, her adopted sister, is an air-headed magic user with incredible power who mothers both Shannon and Pacifica. They travel across the countryside, staying in small villages and meeting new people and running into the occasional assassin or magical creature that needs defeating. As the series progresses, you find out more about the prophecy, as well as the religion that spawned it and those who oppose it. The series seems at first glance like a stereotypical fantasy tale, but there’s a definite air of mystery as more and more of how the world works and how it got to be that way is revealed.

Visually, the series is excellent, though this is beginning to mean less as more studios adopt digital methods of animation and the quality of all series increases. The backgrounds of every scene are vibrantly colored and richly detailed. The animation is always smooth and there’s no use of stock footage to be seen. The character design is very distinct to the series, if somewhat baffling at times. Pacifica’s standard giant fantasy shoulder pads seem to actually be screwed on to her outfit, for instance. The series is also not above some cheap fanservice at times: Pacifica takes lots of baths, and pretty much any secondary female character is destined to have large breasts-- and only some bizarre clingy fabric to cover them.

The sound for Scrapped Princess is quite good as well. The opening theme is a bizarre, catchy little tune that is almost country in flavor, but that fits the optimistic tone of the series fairly well. The end theme is performed by Yoko Ueno & Masumi Ito, who also did music for Azumanga Daioh. The music used during episodes is a mixture of pop and fantasy which sets the mood for scenes well without interfering with what’s going on onscreen. Sound effects are crisp, and the Japanese voice acting is quite good.

The tone of Scrapped Princess can vary wildly, but it never shifts so suddenly as to shock the viewer. You can go from the comedy of a bumbling knight-in-training suitor to his very serious reaction to learning who Pacifica is, and his dilemma as to whether or not it’s his duty to kill her. The serious situations are set up well, and play out well without ever dragging the series down into an irreversible spiral of depression. Pacifica herself plays a large role in keeping the series from getting too serious, from her nonchalant reactions to her incredible ability to bounce back from near anything. This is not to say that Pacifica is an invulnerable heroine; she does grow and change as the series progresses. Her spirit and determination to live happily despite her fate is what keeps her going and what makes her someone worth rooting for.

Overall, Scrapped Princess is a promising series with a decent, if somewhat cliché premise. It has good characters, but the real reason to watch is for the intrigue building up as more of the world is revealed. While the series can be slow building up to important revelations, the trip getting there is pleasant enough that it never really irritates one enough to stop watching all together. - Angie 'Foodbunny' Dietrich