Manga: Scrapped Princess, Vol. 1 Posted February 13, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Before we get started, I should say that I’m a big fan of the Scrapped Princess anime. I was originally exposed to the series through a set of fansubs released shortly after each successive Japanese air date and it quickly rose to the top of my short list of good fantasy anime. I was naturally interested if the Scrapped Princess manga could also live up to the expectations set by the anime series.
For those unfamiliar with the series, Scrapped Princess follows the story of a princess, one Pacifica Casull, who is cast away at birth following an eerie prophecy that she would doom the world to destruction upon her 16th birthday. Presumed dead, she survives in obscurity under the care of an adopted family. Events pick up with Pacifica, now 15, traveling as a fugitive under the protection of her capable foster siblings, Shannon and Raquel, and a handful of friends and allies she gains along the way. The series plays the popular “save the world” card, but it does so in an intriguing way. Pacifica is both the cursed child hated by an entire world and would-be savoir of that same world so determined to cast her out.
Scrapped Princess was originally set down in a series of Japanese fantasy novels co-authored by Ichiro Sakaki and Yukinobu Azumi. The story was later adapted into a major anime production by studio BONES. The anime received significant distribution in the English-speaking world as a fansub during the prolonged period prior to Bandai Entertainment picking up the rights to a US release. The original authors returned to handle writing duties for a manga series and Go Yabuki was commissioned to create the artwork. Tokyopop subsequently licensed the manga for States-side distribution, which brings us to where we are now.
Despite the common lineage, the manga feels curiously foreign coming from the anime. Vol. 1 takes us through two episodic story threads unique to the manga and devoid of any of the familiar supporting cast. These stories are sufficient to introduce the main characters, but they aren’t particularly memorable. It’s just the Casull siblings and some chance encounters who enter and exit within a couple chapters. A major element of the anime was watching Pacifica build up a core group of friends and allies who would actually stick with her to the end. The episodic stand-ins from the manga aren’t entirely dissimilar, but they don’t stick around long enough to make a memorable impact. With the manga’s rapid ingress and egress of episodic supporting characters, I still feel like the Casulls remain very much alone in their search for peace.
I also found that Go Yabuki’s renditions of the Casull trio didn’t exactly mesh with impressions left by the work of anime studio BONES. Yabuki’s artwork has a gritty, sketchbook quality that renders the characters in a different light than the smooth, polished look from BONES. The two are different enough to bother me, but then again, I’m already predisposed toward the ultra clean-cut art styles of Ken Akamatsu, CLAMP, and the like. Maybe I’m just hung up on aesthetics. But I had similar feelings about the Trigun manga, and I haven’t gotten past the second volume as a result.
I would feel negligent if I didn’t state that comments above come from a very myopic view of Vol. 1 standing alone. Subsequent volumes of the Scrapped Princess manga could entirely change my opinion of the series. I’m hoping Vol. 2 will introduce a proper supporting cast (i.e., Chris, Leo, and/or Winia). The artwork will probably continue to bug me, but I can deal with it if the story is as memorable as that of the anime.
One thing bugs me though: Tokyopop only lists three volumes for the series on their web site, which gives me the impression that it is a short series. I’m afraid the manga might not have time to get off the ground before it is already finished. On the other hand, Tokyopop may only be slightly behind the releases in Japan and there may be plenty more Scrapped Princess to come. We’ll just have to wait and see.