This review is to shed some light on the direction of the anime as it is very different from the original plot and story, but it's so good and I don't want people to be discouraged by the first episode like I was!
I really loved the original story of Rozen Maiden. It was so addicting and I was completely on an emotional roller coaster, especially once the Alice Games really started. When I saw that they had made a new anime of it, I assumed they were doing what they did with Sailor Moon and doing a new release that condensed Seasons 1 & 2 into one season. However, I was mistaken. This Anime takes that story and rewrites the Alice Games into an alternate reality. The creativity is amazing with what they've done to the story and I won't go into detail because it'll ruin the whole anime. It's better to watch this plot develop as you watch for the first time!
When I watched the first episode, I was angry. I didn't understand what they were doing, and I didn't understand why things were happening as they were. I also went into the series thinking it was a condensed version of the original though, so that has something to do with it for sure. You get no character development on the Rozen Maiden dolls you meet in this episode, and you feel no connection to what happens in the first episode unless you have seen what happens in the original and know their relationships and personalities. It's a shocking and confusing first episode for sure.
However, when you watch the second episode you begin to understand more clearly as you switch and start following the life of some other guy in university who works at a bookstore. Pay attention to his name. When you hear the name and see what he finds, everything begins to make sense. It's in this episode that the series plot and direction become a little more clear. As you go into the third episode, there's no doubt what the direction is and you'll look back on episode one and see why things happened as they did and what it all meant in retrospect.
So in short, don't be discouraged by the first episode. It's a great series that puts a new spin on Rozen Maiden and is full of the characters you know and love, just in a new storyline. In later episodes you get glimpses of the original story and you get more character development that complements what you learned in the original story. You'll really enjoy it!
