October 10, 2003
Scrapped Princess Episode 24
"Symphony of Those Who Protect"
Since this is the last episode of the series, let me do a quick rundown of unsatisfactorily wrapped up (or perhaps just strangely handled) side stories:
1. Sim vs. Cz. Maybe I've just watched too much cliched anime and was expecting this. But I absolutely expected that eventually Cz would return to being Sim (or Sim's personality would win out), and she would join the side of good. I don't think I'm completely off my gourd with this, because there are parts where Cz questions Socom's plans. Either way, let's just say Cz/Sim is not a well-handled plot thread.
2. Winia and Chris. Okay, it's kind of wrapped up, but let's face it. One sentence wasn't enough... Though, perhaps proportionally, it was okay.
3. Bergens. He looks exactly like Raquel and Shannon's dad. Was it just complete and utter coincidence?
4. Pacifica and Leo. Like all the other romantic involvements, one sentence is all it needs. It got two, so maybe we should be happy.
5. Demon Lord Browning. Well, we sort of know his deal, but there seemed to be a good amount of buildup for him early on, which falls by the wayside in the end.
6. Leo Learning About Chivalry. I suppose we're supposed to assume he figured it out, but being that it was the primary focus of his character in the early going, it'd have been nice for Leo to acknowledge that he'd actually figured it out.
7. Guardians. Some people have what it takes, but not very. They sort of serve their purpose, but what's really behind people becoming guardians? Why do Raquel and Shannon look exactly like Mauser's brother and sister? And why was Lord Beckenham, Zephiris' original master if Zephy was against Mauser?
8. Zephiris' Plans. She always said that Shannon was only her master for the time being. There are hints that Zephiris may have motives other than what she comes out and says. In the end, it looks like she only wanted Pacifica to succeed. Ain't she cute, though? Much better than Sim.
9. Soopy-kun. Come on... light-hearted ending like this, and not even a whiff of Soopy-kun? What's going on...
Now that I've dwelled on the bad stuff, let's talk about the good stuff. This show has been awesome. The characters have been spot on the whole time, and the animation quality was top notch. The plot faltered a little at the end, and I never really could totally buy into the more Matrixy parts of the story. There are some niggling plot holes, like why the Peacemakers are sometimes so good and sometimes so useless, but all in all this show has been a real joy to watch.
The last episode is no exception, with some good action and some good character building (almost entirely with Pacifica). It's hard to really talk about it without major spoilers, but I was satisfied, if not overjoyed with the ending (it's anime... the endings have to suck!).
The burning question... Do I want a sequel, OVA, or movie? Hmm... well, I definitely feel like there's more story to be told, except that I think that it should have happened somewhere between episodes twenty and twenty-four. I'd definitely watch if they added more, and they certainly left the door open for another series, but I would take some convicing that a story extension wouldn't feel too cheesy to me.
What I will say is that the adventures of Pacifica, Shannon, Raquel and Leo were an extremely entertaining and fun ride. The series is definitely up there with the best.
Rating: A
Posted by Kei at October 10, 2003 01:38 AMEr, you missed a few finer points of the anime, methinkst.
There aren't really gods known as Browning or Mauser, they're just people from the war against the HI.
If you recall in Giat, there's a short story about Seers, who were used to turn the tide of the war. One of the Seers was Seria Mauser (Pacifica's ancestor, we are led to believe). She had two siblings (Beckenham and the Raquel-clone), who she figured would perish if the war was allowed to continue.
As such, Seria basically sold herself out to the HI. Beckenham and the Raquel-clone both perished anyway, sort of ruining her main point of changing sides.
In the end, she somehow ends up as the person to watch over the Earth. I suppose the HI determined her worthy for her earlier decision.
The whole religion is a sham and so forth, as you've probably begun to realize. But, er, yes.
Beckenham was against Mauser, simply because Seria Mauser turned on everyone. He had to do something.
Posted by: Passerby at January 15, 2004 09:16 AMOh, yes, yes, very good points, Passerby!! I would like to add that somewhere around the middle-teens episodes when Pacifica is in the Skid, it is mentioned that the people of 5,000 years ago scattered DNA strategically in order to create the Guardians. I would assume that they took DNA from either Seria Mauser or her siblings, which would explain why Shannon is a duplicate of Lord Beckenham and Raquel a duplicate of Seria's younger sister. I thought it was rather amusing seeing that image of Raquel in a scientist's outfit, myself. Anyway, hope this clears some things up, and glad to know that you enjoyed it as much as I did!! -TBO
Posted by: TBOtaku at April 16, 2004 07:19 PMPersonally, I don't want a sequel, I want the PREQUEL to this whole thing. I want the Genesis Wars, and I want the mahou explained.
Posted by: jc at June 29, 2004 07:40 PM*Spoilers*
Okay, I loved eps 1-23, this ep was terrible though, every problem was too easily solved (Do you want this war to end? Just say yes or no and disregard the fact that I killed so many people trying to get rid of you but now I dont really care any more) And why not just bring everyone (well for the most part) back to life at the end? While we are at it lets disregard that outside of the small triangle the world was sealed in was a highly advanced technological age that was fighting with aliens (who also disappeared) but when a medieval age is thrown into it no one notices. The gigas? What were they? Also why were they invincible yet the Peacemakers thought they were weak? Some of their fights were cool but they seemed a little too powerful for my taste. I wish this would have ended in the direction it was heading in (Pacifica dying, lets keep her dead). They should have killed a few more at the end if they were going to end it happily...
1) The mideval age wasn't dropped into an advanced world, it was dropped into a world that hadn't seen a wiff of humans for 5000 years (they were ALL sealed into the Dust-Bin Continent.
Two, the Giga's aren't invinceable. They can die to, and like one of the Dragoons said : "They are later versions of us, without personalities etc."
Three, you can quite clearly see it is a square of world.
Four: I don't think that Mauser really wanted anyone to die, she is has a lot less power than you give her credit for. Her job was curator. The System the HI set up is what gave the Killing orders. Remember? "We have permission from the system."
Note: HI = Higher Intellegence.