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SCRAPPED PRINCESS: SONG OF THE FORGIVEN (VOl. 2) |
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Sunday, 28 January 2007 |
 | | ▪ | PUBLISHED BY: | | TOKYOPOP | | | ▪ | ARTIST/AUTHOR: | | YUKINOBU AZUMI / ICHIRO SAKAKI | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 232 | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 01/09/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/29/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | CHRISTOPHER SEAMAN |
Pacifica leads a life few would envy. She is a princess, but she wears a crown of thorns, condemned to death by her countrymen for being identified in a prophecy as the agent of the world’s destruction.
One could only begin to imagine how any diary written by this royal would read…
SCRAPPED PRINCESS, inspiring the successful anime series of the same name, is one of the books in that should have an ease of recognition because of its television cousin. Yet, being a novel instead of either a manga or anime, it gives prospective fans a chance to experience the story with a little more depth of characterization and more ‘in your head’ imagination that the ‘in your face’ imagery its more visually literate cousins would offer. It is still richly illustrated in the manga style by Yukinobu Azumi, but the images definitely take the back seat to Ichiro Sakaki’s writing.
As noted, the story is about Pacifica, the titled ‘scrapped princess’ and her life on the run from just about everyone in the world. She is accompanied by adopted siblings Shannon and Raquel Casull, who despite not being blood relatives honor their late father’s wish to see Pacifica protected from those who wish to harm her. The price for this is high for they end up leaving a life of privilege for a more tenuous existence on the road. Being essentially a chase story in the style of THE FUGITIVE, one can expect pitched battles, dire dilemmas and political intrigue to propel the plot along at a fast pace.
In this volume where the action is set in the town of Taurus, a sleepy hamlet where the last thing one would expect to find agents of the church and crown on the hunt for the scrapped princess, let alone the woman herself, our heroes arrive seeking rest, but quickly find themselves fighting for their lives again, quite literally tearing up the place in the process of shaking off their enemies. They wreck an inn run by Winia, and end up staying to help her fix up the place, becoming residents after a fashion. However, rumors about their history spread throughout the place and soon the friendly townsfolk are ready to run them out on a rail. Add to that, Christopher Armalite, a warrior on their trail with a special grudge against Shannon, who has bested him in battle, shows up looking for a rematch. Purgers, tentacle monsters, nasty rumors and sore loser hitmen abound in this story, giving the sleepy town of Taurus and its residents a decidedly nasty case of insomnia.
While not exactly the most unpredictable of tales, SCRAPPED PRINCESS has a real charm to it, and a solid message for readers about what true love and friendship can be about. We empathize with the characters, share the love they have for each other and appreciate how that love compels Shannon and Raquel to put their lives on the line for Pacifica, who literally has no one else to turn to and is often despairing of the fate that could await her. This becomes poignant when a beast turns Shannon and Raquel against her, and Pacifica sees just how horrible her situation really is. Surrounded by enemies, she is closer to death than at any other time, and the scene as described in the text underlines the tragedy which is really the foundation of this story. Also in this scene are some genuinely violent and disturbing moments which make this novel more appropriate for middle to older teens. Essentially, this ‘fairy tale’, like many others written in Asia or Europe has a darkness to it that belies the lightness people in the west have erroneously associated with stories of this nature.
IN SUMMARY:
SCRAPPED PRINCESS is a royal feast of magic and mayhem that also stirs the heart with its inspired tale of friendship and loyalty in the face of adversity. Beasts in body and spirit, assassins around every corner, and humor to break the tension fill the pages of this epic fourteen volume story from TOKYOPOP, making exciting reading for fans of novels looking for the kind of adventure one often finds instead in manga. |
