Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre

As Jun Sakurada fights and lives alongside the Rozen Maidens, special lifelike dolls made to battle each other, he enjoys a rare break in which he is told a story during the events of Rozen Maiden: Träumend.

When Jun buys a brooch as a present for Shinku, the fifth doll, she refuses to accept it at any cost. Souseiseki, the fourth doll, then recounts the story of how Shinku and the first doll, Suigintou, first met. This tale tells of the cruel and heartbreaking circumstances surrounding Suigintou's birth, and how the many misunderstandings between her and Shinku shaped their longstanding rivalry fueled by Suigintou's unfettered hate towards Shinku.

The stage is set in Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre in 19th century London as the story delves into the past of these one-time friends and the secrets that they hold.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Suigintou Main

Tanaka, Rie Japanese

Shinku Main

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Suiseiseki Supporting

Kuwatani, Natsuko Japanese

Souseiseki Supporting

Morinaga, Rika Japanese

Hinaichigo Supporting

Nogawa, Sakura Japanese

Barasuishou Supporting

Gotou, Saori Japanese

Kanaria Supporting

Shimura, Yumi Japanese

Sakurada, Jun Supporting

Sanada, Asami Japanese

Detective Kun-Kun Supporting

Tsukui, Kyousei Japanese

Laplace no Ma Supporting

Tsukui, Kyousei Japanese

Nakamura, Shinichi Producer

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Tanaka, Junichirou Assistant Producer

Matsuo, Kou Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Mar 23, 2022

BurningCarnation

Recommended

If you're a Suigintou fan, you're in luck. This OVA series cuts out almost all of the 'irrelevant' side-characters and focuses strictly on Shinku and Suigintou, their past, and the start of their mutual animosity. Despite Ouvertüre technically being a prequel, it's best to watch the previous two seasons to understand it in its entirety.

Shinku cannot stand imperfection, for to accept imperfection is to deny her purpose in life--to become the perfect doll, Alice. Suigintou is by design imperfect--for Shinku to deny imperfection, to deny the possibility of a defective doll like herself ever seeing their father again is to deny her very existence, and ... their friendship. It was all sweet lies: Shinku's kindness was one born of pity, and oh did she revel in the fact that her poor, inferior sister could never meet their father. Shinku's mere existence feeds Suigintou's insecurity, one that quickly transforms into spite and malice. This fundamental divide in disposition spirals out of control, with both of them losing something precious to each other. Hate born from affection is so much more potent than mere contempt: such uncontrollable hatred leads to a relationship beyond reconcile.

These two episodes play on this very simple difference between the two dolls, mainly from Suigintou's point of view. The moment that love turns into hate, showing the contrast between the tones and emotions of both states is what makes the drama coming from this simple premise work. Such drama does not benefit from complex sub-plots and numerous characters with varying motivations and allegiances: Suigintou herself is single-minded towards her goal, and wears her emotions on her sleeves. The simplicity of premise and plot amplifies the gravity of the exchange of raw emotions between Shinku and Suigintou: everything they say and do is genuine, because it's all they have. To hell with subtlety: from the opening and ending visuals and lyrics, to every single line of dialogue between the two characters, these two episodes perfectly encapsulate Suigintou's descent from insecurity and confusion into madness, borne of love towards her father, fueled by hate towards everything that would get in her way. The dialogue and use of props is just beautiful, only made better by Tanaka Rie's marvelous acting, who's able to act out both the meek, dependent, and weak side of Suigintou and her boiling rage and jealousy towards Shinku superbly.

I'm slightly miffed at the very end of the second episode because I don't think it showcased the full outburst of their conflict: the pay-off suffers a bit as a result.

If only the entire series was as intense and well-executed as these two episodes.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Nov 25, 2012

MiaSkyler14

Recommended

I loved overture!!! Anyone who reads this review and likes rozen maiden must watch it! The story was very good though I did think it would be a little longer, that's my only qualm. The relationship between Shinku and Suigintou is one everyone must know about. The art was pretty good too, the same as the other 2 seasons.
I loved the opening! One of my favorite anime openings right now! :) It's very...beautiful. Sadly I don't usually pay much attention to anime endings so I have nothing to say about the ending.
The characters were wonderful. As usual, I loved Shinku though she ... is different from how she is the other 2 seasons. More cold and harsh.
I had a love/hate thing for Suigintou, at first she seemed quite sweet and determined but towards the end overture I think she goes too far. You will have to watch it to know what I mean, I'm not gonna spoil it for you. ;)

My overall enjoyment was indeed a 10! The only thing is it left me craving for more, a third season of rozen maiden is a must!

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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May 14, 2015

angelsreview

Mixed Feelings

I am not exactly sure when this series actually ends up starting as there are many characters from Traumend but yet there is also a lot more information about the Alice Game that Jun doesn’t seem to know at the end of the series. There is also a lot of information on Suigintou.

Because of the fact that most of the story revolves in a different era then the rest of the series, it makes it so the animation is a lot different as well. I believe the story is actually in Europe as well meaning a different look to the backgrounds. The personality of ... the only few human characters we see also show this different world well in how strict they are to their daughter in how she acts. The young girl, Sarah, who is Shinku’s medium in that time can’t seem to act like a child at all. She is always talked down upon by her mother and her father doesn’t seem to notice her all that well for the times we do see them. On the other hand, Sarah is also quiet harsh, especially about the ideas of Shinku fighting. She seems almost to light up when the subject of fighting dolls comes up a bit.

The other part that is in the normal world is pretty much normal to the slice of life storyline but it is very short.

The animation is very similar to the other seasons except since most is a flash back, we have a sort of slight sepia tone to it. The area in the flashback is very early 20th century Europe and has a very gray looking area. The N-field that they fight in is also a bit gray even if it still retains its color. No matter if they are looking back in time or the normal time, the dolls still seem like they are not part of the human world. They still seem more detailed and stand out.

The opening song is actually a lot more calming then the first two. It has an even more haunting presence to the song, I think because it sort of focuses more on Suigintou and her feelings rather then the others. The ending has a bit more of an up beat then the opening which is opposite to the other seasons.

Though this was a very short ‘OVA’ (or at least I think it was an OVA), it had a lot of information that I really do think was needed about the dolls and the Alice Game. It still had a lot of questions but it answered more then it gave.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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	Poll: Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre Episode 2 Discussion aero - Jul 1, 2008	36 replies	by Pentagonion »» Sep 9, 5:48 PM
	Poll: Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre Episode 1 Discussion cyruz - Jun 22, 2008	16 replies	by gannoncannon55 »» Jan 28, 11:09 PM
	Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre General Discussion Crystal - Jan 2, 2007	8 replies	by AirStyles »» Mar 2, 2010 12:26 AM
	SHINKU REACH NUMBER 8 IN ANIME CHARACTER OF THE DECADE! AirStyles - Feb 20, 2010	3 replies	by AirStyles »» Mar 1, 2010 5:10 PM