Ranked #729

Rozen Maiden

By some coinsidence on the internet, I came into contact with Rozen Maiden through the probably all to known DESU meme, and random recommendations from several websites. I started watching Rozen Maiden somewhere during fall, and finished watching somewhere before December. Here comes my review of the anime.

Story - This is one of the highlights of the Rozen Maiden. The story about Jun and how he comes in contact with the dolls is an action-filled, emotional, yet humorous sotry. The makers of Rozen maiden has managed to make a fine mix between humor, drama and action, and it is rather clear what nature each scene is of. It should be clear what episodes make the story go forward. Some things, however, may be confusing, but these are explained in one way or another through the anime. The plot holes in the story leaves the watcher with some questions. Many of these plot holes are filled in in träumend, however, so this makes it even moe worth to keep watching.

Art - There's really only one thing I can say here. The art is outstanding, and is also one of the major qualities of the show. Ranging from the modern Japanese suburban style of where most of the story takes place, to a more 19th century Victorian style of the N-field, the visual range of the anime is simply amazing. The dolls clearly differ from the humans in design. The 19th century style of the dolls clearly stand out from the modern look of the human characters.

Sound - This has to be the only downside of Rozen Maiden. The opening credits may be interesting to hear the first few times, but after you've heard it some times, you will start to feel it gets on your nerves. The opening credits are not really the best I've heard, by far. As for the ending credits, it is not at all as annoying as the opening credits. It is even quite calm and enjoyable, and does not get annoying after a few times, unlike the opening credits. The music that occurs in the show is in good touch with the scenes, with distinctive music for all types of scenes. However, many are played so commonly that you start to recognize them every time you hear them. It is not annoying, unlike the opening credits, but when you've heard the same song for every scene of the same nature, you'll want some different music for a change. As for voice actors, I believe they couldn't have done a better job for the japanese voice acting than what they already did. The voices fit the characters great, and I can't think of any flaws. If there is something that stands out in the sound department, it is definitely the voice actors.

Characters - This has to be another of Rozen Maiden's shining points. All of the characters have their own distinctive traits. For example, the main Character, Jun, is a secluded, traumatized young boy who has an interest in buying supernatural things. As the story progresses, however, one will notice how he changes as a response to the dolls that he comes in contact with. The dolls themselves are rather unique themselves, each housing their own distinctive traits and personalities. For instance, while Shinku may be aristocratic and dominant, Suigintu is cold and full of sorrow, while Hinaichogo is as innocent as a child. The character that seems to help the bond grow between the characters, is Jun's older sister Nori, who treats both Jun and the dolls with lots of love and care. While she is not the most prominent of the characters nor a very integral in the main plot, she is an important character nevertheless, and a strong support to everybody.

Enjoyment - To put it shortly, this is the best anime I have seen. It is rich of humor, action and drama, and is put together in a very good way. You may want to watch this many times just to catch all the aspects of the anime. This is truly an anime to remember.

Overall - As I said before, this is the best anime I have seen. If you like action and drama with a good sense of humor, this is an anime for you. I promise you, that you will not be dissappointed. Wonderful story with a beautiful style, and much diversity makes this anime something you can relate to. And if you like the original anime, then Träumend and Ouvertüre is a must to watch.

Overall score: 10/10 DESU read more

Title: Rozen Maiden

Manga, Anime: Rozen Maiden was originally a manga created by Peach-Pit (also well-known for the manga for DearS and Zombie-Loan), and began running in Monthly Comics Birz in September of 2002. Chapters were released regularly up until March of this year, when it abruptly disappeared from the magazine. No one’s quite sure what happened; the two main rumors are that the editorial department supposedly lost the chapter that Peach-Pit submitted, or that there was a disagreement between Peach-Pit and the editorial department. Either way, the final installment showed up in the July issue, and was the cause of some controversy, as it abruptly ended the story, but still left it open to continuation. The manga consists of eight volumes, all of which have been released in Japan. The manga was licensed by Tokyopop Stateside, and the fifth volume was released the same month that it ended its run in Japan (July 2007).

The anime itself was done by Studio Nomad (well-known for their animation work on sola and Chocotto Sister) and directed by Kou Matsuo (well-known for directing Red Garden and his role as producer on Millenium Actress). It ran from October 7th, 2004 to December 23rd, 2004 on TV in Japan. Geneon has licensed it Stateside, and the third volume is due to be released next Tuesday (August 28th).

Story: Jun, a rude little brat who refuses to go to school, much less out of the house, because of mental trauma, spends his days in his room ordering supernatural items over the internet, proving them false, and then sending them back before the return period expires. His latest purchase turns out to be a doll named Shinku who comes to life when wound up, and is involved in a supernatural battle with other living dolls. To that end, she needs a medium to draw power from. Guess who the medium gets to be? xD

I have to give this show credit, though. It has some of the most dislikable characters in the leads. I mean, the one that I ended up liking the most and you feel most sympathetic to is the villain! But they give reasons for it. And most of the characters end up improving a little bit, so it’s not all that bad.

The plot’s not especially remarkable. But more on that later, in Length.

Oh, and by the way? The series so did not need the Shinku/Jun hints, kthnxbye.

Art: It’s not anything to write home and gush about, but it’s not absolutely miserable, either. No particular color scheme. CG and not-CG blends well. So, for the most part, pretty standard.

Music: ED and the background music for the series are pretty unremarkable. I’ll probably download the OST, though.

But the OP is ♥. ALI Project for the WIN.

Length: This is where the series has some issues, which tie into Story.

The show has one of three categories that the episodes fall into: Filler, New Doll, or Alice Game. And the thing is, the show brings up so many mysteries, and doesn’t even cover them all. Most of the mysteries are still left hanging by the end of the series, and are shunted aside in favor of Filler, more often than not, which is disappointing. At twelve episodes, it can't really afford it.

Then again, there is a second season, and an OVA (not the one I’ll be covering further down). So maybe there’s some hope.

Seiyuu: Suigin Tou’s seiyuu is made of WIN. Otherwise, I don’t have any problems/standout roles.

Dub: N/A, haven’t bought the DVDs.

Overall: Overall, this anime has some standout moments, but it has some issues. Perhaps the OVA and second season can rectify those.

Story: 6/10
Art: 8/10
Music: 8/10
Length: 7/10
Seiyuu: 8/10

Overall: 37/50; 74% (C) read more