Scrapped Princess: Family Ties

Reviewed By: Carla Land

Bandai Entertainment DVD

Review based on volume 1 (episodes 1-4)

Rating 13 up

What it’s (basically) all about: Fifteen year old Pacifica is a princess who prophecy claims is the poison that will destroy the world when she turns sixteen. Escaping death at birth, she is taken in and adopted into a family that must now protect her from assassins sent by religious zealots, the army special forces, and even her own royal family. Fortunately her bother Shannon and her sister Raquel aren’t about to let anyone hurt their baby sister. Is Pacifica really the poison of the world, or is this Scrapped Princess really its only hope?

Nitty Gritty: Language in this is limited to “damn” and “hell” in the dubbed version and one “bastard” in the subtitles. Pacifica is seen using the bathtub a couple of times and also wears a pretty skimpy swim suit in one episode, but the fan service isn’t much more than that. There is also some stylized nudity in the closing credits. Violence is limited to the sword and magic fantasy type, but people do occasionally die, especially when the army comes in and decides to destroy a whole town instead of seek out the Scrapped Princess and just kill her.

   Throughout the whole series, Pacifica must deal with the fact that most people want her dead and think she’s evil, when she’s really a sweet and caring individual. She also has self doubt- her bother and sister are capable of taking care of her, but she can’t do much of anything. Pacifica also realizes that it may come to a point where her brother will have to kill her to save the world, and she asks him to do this if it comes to that. The story is interesting and the characters are inviting, and even the bad guys aren’t out to get her just because they are evil. There’s more to what’s going on than meets the eye.

Special features include clean opening animation, DVD credits, and previews for Gundam Seed, Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, and Kaze No Yojimbo. All of the previews are a little on the violent side, but are still teen appropriate.

Survey says: The show itself is really well done and the storyline is very engaging. I say this is appropriate for teen collections. Nothing in the show or special features is enough to send up any red flags.

Personal Ad: I really liked this one. Pacifica is a little annoying (aren’t all little sisters?) but I have a feeling that by the end of the show she’s going to come into her own.