Ranked #476

Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre

I'll let you know right off the bat I am extremely biased toward Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre. One, as of this moment, this is the only thing on my anime list that I've rated a ten (not even Rozen Maiden or Rozen Maiden: Träumend gets this honour); two, I think Tanaka Rie (Suigintou's seiyuu) is spectacular; and three, my favourite doll is Suigintou.

Now, to the important stuff: Why do I like this so much?

Simply enough, it explains why Suigintou is the way she is. Haven't you watched or read enough things where there are incredibly evil antagonists, and you hate their guts, but you have no idea why they're doing what they're doing?

Suigintou starts to change in Träumend but as viewers we still don't understand where her attitude comes from. Those who have watched Rozen Maiden will know why Suigintou's particularly sensitive to certain insults, but Ouvertüre tells us the real reason, and I am inclined to believe even Suigintou-haters will empathise (or at the very least, sympathise) with her, even if only for a fleeting moment.

And even though the events in Ouvertüre take place before both Rozen Maiden and Träumend, I highly suggest watching Ouvertüre last to fully appreciate it.

In other news, the art and animation's wonderful, and as for "sound", I tend to weigh the seiyuu's performance more heavily than the music. Both Tanaka Rie and Sawashiro Miyuki (Shinku's seiyuu) were outstanding in Ouvertüre. And I'm not kidding about that at all. I don't think it's possible to watch Ouvertüre and come away thinking, "The seiyuu could've been better than that."

I do wish it were longer-- for how can two episodes sate the insatiable? -- but I think it's a suitable length for Ouvertüre as far as things go. The point of Ouvertüre isn't to answer and explain all the unanswered questions thus far; it's to give Suigintou character development.

And in that regard, I think it's succeeded in a most spectacular fashion. read more

Title: Rozen Maiden Ouverture

Anime: Ouverture was animated by the same studio that did the other two seasons (Nomad), directed by the same guy (Kou Matsuo), and ran on Japanese TV from December 22nd to December 23rd, 2006. Again, this may or may not correspond to the manga; since I have yet to read it, I'll have to get back to you on that.

Story: Ouverture focuses on the first meeting between Shinku and Suigin Tou, mainly through a flashback as Sousei Seki tells the tale to Jun. The flashback part takes place back in Victorian England, and the modern day part takes place between episodes six and eight of Träumend.

Wow. It's amazing, seeing what a violent 180 everyone's personalities took to become what they are today. Well, everyone except the Sekis, really.

Still, I felt that something was missing from this OVA. But that falls more under Length. Overall, though, the plot for the OVA was pretty good, about the same as the writing for Traumend. Definitely dark, definitely revealing, but it felt like there could've been more.

Art: This is the pinnacle of the art that Rozen Maiden has shown thus far. The tones are definitely darker, and it's absolutely beautiful.

Music: No original music for this OVA; instead, it uses music from the previous two seasons. Except for the OP (again, done by ALI Project), which is probably my least favorite of all their OPs. Again, though, the ED (done by kukui) is made of awesomeness, and is my favorite of the three.

Length: The OVA really feels like it's missing something. The plot only starts picking up in the last third of the first episode, and it wraps up pretty quickly in the second (and last) episode. If it had been given an episode or two more, it probably would've had a chance to really shine. (Personally, I would've liked a whole twelve-episode series centered on Suigin Tou, but hey, that's just me. :P)

Seiyuu: Ouverture keeps the same seiyuu from the previous two seasons, so I don't feel the need to repeat what I've said the last two reviews.

Overall: Ouverture is a pretty good OVA, but it's not ZOMG material. Maybe if it had been given a few more episodes, it could've been.

Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Music: 8/10
Length: 7/10
Seiyuu: 8/10

Overall: 38/50; 76% (C) read more