The titular princess Pacifica finds her life in danger due to a prophecy. But instead of despair, she chooses the path of hope.
By: Nicole S. Castro on September 15, 2022 at 13:49 PHT
The 2003 anime Scrapped Princess may be an obscure series for many, but in the early 2000s when local TV channels were airing it in countries like the Philippines, this was a familiar household name. Therefore, it deserves a throwback!
About
Scrapped Princess (スクラップド・プリンセス) is a Japanese light novel series written by Ichiro Sakaki and illustrated by Yukinobu Azumi, who is also known as the popular adult dōjin artist Nakayohi Mogudan. In 2003, it was adapted into a TV anime series by studio Bones.
Plot and Throwback (anime)
Scrapped Princess stars Pacifica Casull (CV: Fumiko Orikasa) from the royal family of a kingdom called Leinwan. She was abandoned at birth due to a prophecy that predicted she would destroy the world if she reached her 16th birthday. To prevent this, she is thrown off a cliff as an infant.
But a court wizard saves her and leaves her in the hands of the commoner Casull family. For the majority of the series, foster siblings Shannon Casull (CV: Shin-ichiro Miki) and Raquel Casull (CV: Sayaka Ohara) use their excellent sword and magic skills to protect Pacifica against the many parties out to kill her.
How did the anime end?
The series goes for a plot twist in the sci-fi direction when it is revealed that Earth had actually progressed into the distant future but that humanity's development stagnated to the progress level of the Middle Ages due to the actions of the Peacemakers.
The Peacemakers, who were created by humans as weapons against aliens, switched sides and assisted the aliens by imprisoning the humans in an artificial environment called Providence.
Pacifica, who had been led to believe she was the greatest threat to humanity, was actually humanity's last hope, as she is the only one immune to the Peacemakers' control. After turning 16, she will be able to pass on this ability to others. But her twin brother Prince Forsyth (CV: Junji Majima) stabs her (and himself) just ten hours before her 16th birthday. This causes Pacifica's consciousness to transfer to the phase sphere that houses the god-like being Celia Mauser (CV: Fumiko Orikasa). Here, Celia asks Pacifica to choose whether or not humanity should remain imprisoned. Pacifica chooses freedom.
Pacifica's choice results in the destruction of Providence as well as her and Forsyth's revival. After everything is done and the world is finally safe, Pacifica returns to her family farm with Shannon, Raquel, and Zefiris (CV: Kaori Mizuhashi).
Summary
Pacifica's character development is somewhat similar to Yona from Yona of the Dawn. Both girls start out as spoiled and incapable of protecting themselves, but gradually become wiser and stronger as they realize the level of responsibility they hold.
In terms of combat ability, Pacifica doesn't change that much (since her overpowered foster siblings are more than enough to take care of most enemies). Instead, it's her sunny and frank personality that stands out as a stark contrast to the dark mood of the series and of the other characters. Despite her moments of weakness and all the people against her existence, she chooses a path of freedom that isn't perfect but makes life exciting precisely because it is open to the potential unknown instead of set in the ways that are safe.
Digest by AniradioPlus
NICOLE S. CASTRO
Author
Nicole is based in the Philippines and works as a freelance Japanese Translator/Interpreter and copywriter (English). She is a JLPT N2 passer who watches anime to "study" for N1. She has a long career history on LinkedIn (with primary focus on media and translation), but her anime watchlist is much, much longer.
