Rozen Maiden: Träumend

Anime: Träumend was animated by the same stuido as the first season (Studio Nomad), directed by the same director (Kou Matsuo), and ran on Japanese TV from October 5th, 2005 to January 5th, 2006. Probably corresponds to some point in the Rozen Maiden manga, not sure which, though.

Story: Träumend picks up an unspecified amount of time after the first season. All the dolls are still living at Jun's house, and he's definitely better than he was, but still not going to school (though there's good reason for it ' he's playing catch-up). Shinku is having guilt-related nightmares, and after one of these, ... she and Jun end up being drawn back into the mirror in his attic (why haven't they gotten rid of that yet?!) and meeting the seventh doll, whose appearance basically means that Father wants them to get on with the Alice Game, already.

This season is everything I wanted last season to be, and more. There's not so much filler as there was before ' and when there is, it actually advances the plot! --, and there's actually an overarching plot/urgency that wasn't there last season. And moreover, we get to see the darker tones that were only hinted at in the last season. There are so many more standout episodes, and the writers really show their talent by making you feel for characters you might not have necessarily liked last season.

However, it's not perfect. There is a character who turns into a bad running joke for most of the series. And it looked like it was going to resolve things up till the last minute, but in the second half of the last episode, there's a nasty plot twist that leaves things open for a third season and several mysteries in its wake.

Art: I don't know why, but the colors seem richer this season. Maybe it's because there are so many scenes where they can use certain color schemes/tones. Either way, it looks like it did last season, but better.

Music: Again, about the same as last season. The background music has its instantly recognizable songs (some that carry over from last season, too, which is really nice). Didn't like the OP as much as last season's (ALI Project, again), but it grew on me. Liked the ED instantly, though, as it's done by the same group who did Nishi no Yoki Majo: Astraea Testament's OP, which is one of my favorites (kukui).

Length: No real issues with length, this time. Length is the same as last season's (twelve episodes), but it definitely goes by quicker. When there was filler, as I said before, it ended up advancing the plot, so that was good, and there was an overarching plot/urgency to drive things forward. However, the eleventh-hour plot twist in the episode, while it leaves things open for a second season, leaves a bit of a bitter aftertaste, because they were this close to resolving things, and they've only bought up more mysteries.

Seiyuu: I recognize Enju's seiyuu from TmoHS (Koizumi) and Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~ (Asuta), and Suigin Tou's seiyuu continues to rawq (Leandra from Nishi no Yoki Majo ' Astraea Testament and Lula from Red Garden!), but no other standout roles. Decent seiyuu all around.

Dub: N/A, has not been licensed as of yet.

Overall: A definite improvement on the first season, but still has its flaws. The ending leaves things more than open and ready for a third season, so Nomad should follow up on the implied promise and fix what few problems there are, kthnxbye.

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

Overall: 39/50; 78% (C)

alright so here is my thoughts on this anime Rozen Maiden Traumend, full of comedy, action , and a little love

The Story line of this anime was very good showing not only the beauty of the dolls outfits and personalities, but adding the final touch with intense fighting scenes. Although I do not want to give out alot of info this series is about a young boy named jun who is locked up in his room because of cracking under pressure on entrance exams, we do not find out about that until later on in the series, so as a result he is a ... hermit in his own home refusing to go to school and buying "stupid" mystical items off his computer. Then he gets possesion of Shinku, a wind up doll in search of Alice (the perfect doll) for his creator or "Father" to be happy, and for that to happen she has to defeat all the other dolls known as "Rozen Maidens" and take there life which is called a "Rozen Mystica" Now as the story goes on you see the characters unique personalities and powers. I believe that this series is a great recommendation to people who are interested in mystical and almost sci-fi'sh anime. The story was overall good and had me wondering what would happen next although I thought that the ending was a little weak because it doesn't explain what happened to everyone else but gives an idea.

The Art in this Anime is absolutely amazing. For the most part when I watched this I felt like there was a normal feel (as in the regular japanese home and life) with a little class into it. there is detail in every background although the characters do stick out more. There is one scene I absolutely adored the art and that was when one of the Rozen Maidens (Suigin Tou) goes to her world and it is snowing with Crystals all around. I really did love that the backgrounds fit the characters nature and personalilty for the fighting scenes and the comedy scenes.

now the music was great, I loved the opening for this anime so much, it was creepy and yet energetic and was so well done. I love that the ending was great too because it was classy and modern at the same time , with a fast beat but still had that classy feel. I also loved the background music for this anime. the Orchestra was great for the serious scenes and the not so serious scenes. I really did enjoy the music

Now I know in this review I talk alot about the characters but I cannot help it they were great. The way they acted was amazing to the outfits they wore. As a person who thought I'd never watch this anime due to the fact that I am personally afraid of dolls, felt like these characters were real with every step they took. Each personality was different in there own way and that is why I fell so in love with them. I especially fell head over heels for Shinku. She may act serious at times, but there have been times I felt that she was funny and overall the most beautiful of the Rozen maidens. the costumes fit each of the personalities with different colors on everyone's costume, and the fact that each is very unique made my heart jump. I also loved the supporting characters too as they were very great at there personalities and expressions, plus their designs fit their personalities greatly.

my overall enjoyment for this anime is splendid. The only problem I had with it was probably the design of barasusishou because the other designs of all the characters were amazing and detailed while her design felt like it did not belong, though I did enjoy this character repeating what everyone said, I did not like how she look because she stood out too much. I also as I said earlier did not really like the ending because I wanted to see what happened to the other characters in the story that got there Rozen Mystica's taken away, but it was an overall 9.5 out of 10

Story (7.8) - Some improvements were made, if we compare to the first season. However, the story still has flaws. This time, more dolls appear and the "true" Alice game really begins.
The story this time is more interesting, is a little bit more original and the plot advances faster. However, it lacks some details about the story that i think werent very well explained.
Still, is better than first season, so i pass from 7 to 8.

art (7.3) - Not much difference in this aspect..i really didnt notice any change at all, still an average aspect.

Sound (8.0) - Sound is a little better than ... first season, however, is not enough for a 9. Background music this time fits better with the plot, the ed and op are about the same opinion i´ve had in the first season, just acceptable.

Character (8.0) - (read my review in the first series, so you will understand) Again, its what i said in the first season. My opinion didnt change much with the new story and with the new characters. However, with more action it gets a little better, but not enough to give a 9.

Enjoyment (8.0) - This time, there is more action, more mystery. There is improvement in this aspect, this time i will give it an 8.

overall (8) - Second series of rozen maiden is definitevely better than the first. However, there are still flaws, and even with this improvement, i still say that this is what i call an average anime. However, if you have a lot of spare time, you can check it, maybe you will like it.

Rozen Maiden: Traumend differs significantly from its predecessor. Where the first season followed an agoraphobic boy as he learned to overcome his fears and demons in order to help those he loved, the second gives center stage to the Rozen maidens and their enigmatic Father. Where once Jun broke the Alice Game and repaired what was thought to be beyond repair, he is now swept to the side offering little more than moral support. This shift in narrative focus had potential. After all, Jun’s story arc was neatly completed by the end of the first season while the dolls were ripe for development. How long ... have they existed, who is Father, must they obey the rules of the Alice Game, should they even want to?

These latter two questions become especially pertinent as the commencement of the game threatens the harmony of the sisters living with Jun. As the show progresses, so too do the characters: Shinku struggles to deal with the consequences of the first season, the twin sisters find their intentions drifting apart, even the (mostly insufferable) comic relief character Hina-Ichigo concludes a surprisingly emotional character arc. Several new characters are introduced, such as the (completely insufferable) comic relief character Kanaria and the fabled seventh Rozen maiden, Barasuishou, as well as an inscrutable trickster rabbit and a mysterious dollmaker. Far and away, however, the breakout character is Suigintou, who develops into an equal parts sympathetic and badass anti-hero as she and some of the other maidens seek out mediums in order to attain an edge in the Game.

The stakes continue to rise and a series of frustrating, yet justifiable decisions are made, investing one emotionally as the plot starts to heat up. Philosophies regarding the Game and the dolls’ involvement in it clash as characters arrive at different conclusions concerning what is right. I, for one, was rivetted to the screen by the later episodes as they steamed ahead towards their uncertain conclusion.

And then episode 12 hits.

I have never seen a more abortive climax than the one that waits in episode 12. The momentum the show has built collapses in just a few minutes as the ending is rewritten, live, before your very eyes! The writers make a bold statement about the futility of resisting fate and the insignificance of our main character in the grand scheme, and then change their minds 30 seconds later as one is left to weep over the corpse of the last several wasted hours. It isn’t a bitter, sweet, or bittersweet ending, it’s just junk.

It is difficult to get further into this review without spoilers, so I will leave you with this: Rozen Maiden Traumend is a lot of buildup for very little payoff. There are other flaws, such as Jun’s consistent inaction in the face of major events and Kanaria’s entire existence, but these pale in comparison to the ending. If a bad ending spoils a show for you, don’t bother watching, or maybe just watch up to episode 11 and imagine your own ending under the influence of whatever drug/drugs you have on hand.

This was a great series. I chose to watch it, after seeing the "desu" memes all over the internet. The characters in this series are really enjoyable. You kind of get attached to them (which i hate when that happens because theres not that much episodes >.>) One thing i fell in love with was hina ichigos voice. (im a sucker for kawaii things like that.) I also really enjoyed how Jun went from being a shut in to falling in love with shinku. I really wish they would of ended the series better though. I hope they make a 3rd season. Withouth it ill ... never know who became alice!

STORY:

I was very impressed with the story overall, I thought it was pretty unique. There were some great plot twist thrown in that took me by surprise, I was glad to see that things were not as obvious as they seemed. The story moved at a great pace and had no filler episodes.

ANIMATION:

The art is the same as the previous season although it seems a bit better this time around, the animation during the ending song was particularly beautiful.

SOUND:

I have to say I was extremely impressed with the voice acting, Mona Marshals performance as Jun was no less then outstanding, the same goes ... for Mela Lee as Shinku and everyone else.

The music is the same style used in season 1. It fits very well and there wasn't any song I disliked.

CHARACTERS:

I loved all the characters aside from the true antagonist, they were all very interesting and I ended up rooting for most of them. I enjoyed Jun and Shinkus development the most. For me the characters are the main draw of the show.

ENJOYMENT:

Rozen Maiden is a truly unique show that should not be missed I ended up enjoying the show even more then I'd hoped I would, none of the episodes were boring or unsatisfying. I had a great time watching this show and hope it continues.

the anime was awesome, it would most likely suit people who wants to see, comedy with a mix of drama, i myself, dont usually watch that much anime, but i really liked this one, because of the story and how the characters dramatically mourn over their loved ones who have, eventually died, if you ask me, the anime was completely one of the coolest animes ever xDDD

its my opinion though, since many of you might not agree with me on this, but well, i hope everyone watches this and would have a great time doing it ^^

Nope, nope, nope, didn't fool me one bit. I saw exactly where this one was headed early. The series reeked of a tear jerker from almost the very beginning. Right off the bat, the writers attempted to continue the character development concerning the dolls, with the intentions of establishing an emotional link with the viewer by over exploiting the dolls cute antics. This isn't a full blow against the series at all, because the driving force behind any work is the characters, and the viewer should feel for them. My only gripe is that because of this, the possible events were too spelled out in ... light of the tragedy that was soon to strike.

Rozen Maiden: Traumend is a solid follow up to its predecessor but it's not on the same level and it fails in some areas. The entire first half is a serious mixed bag, and can be looked at in a number of ways. At times, it can almost come off as complete filler, but there are things going on such as character and light plot development. The first seven episodes is drowned in its comedy which is hit most of the time; but those whom were used to the action scenes of the first season will be bored most of the time. Others whom enjoy the dolls very presence will be thoroughly entertained.

My biggest problem with this season is that the writers try too hard to establish an emotional connection. They simply just didn't let the characters work and everything has to be pushed more. This will be the very first time I have an issue with character development. There was too much focus on the main dolls antics, and even their feelings to the point were Jun is almost left out completely. Adding to this, there were pacing issues as well that heavily effected the plot this time around. Even the two new characters whom were introduced weren't very well developed, and they felt more like cheap carbon copies.

The drama in the series is also heavily over done but don't get me wrong here; when it's time for the drama to work, it does work. There are some good moments that will provide a few tears for those whom are attached to certain characters. However, at one time, a scene already achieved its desired and full effect, but would be heavily damaged due to its length. This worked against the series for me, and when someone else bit the dust it had that "oh well" feeling to me. The series eventually shifts to a darker side, but I think it was introduced a bit too late and simply didn't mesh right. Although the ending may satisfy most, for me it was one of those type of endings that I love to hate, and I'll leave it at that. However, there are plenty I know whom pretty much love it.

The animation and artwork is still pretty much on par with the previous season. The action scenes are very well animated at times, and can be cool to watch. The artwork is still outstanding and one episode showed the dolls off pretty well displaying them in multiple outfits. This is actually one of the most creative uses for stills. I really enjoyed the soundtrack. There were a variety of songs with a few displaying some beautiful piano melodies, and each song worked well for its particular scene; but this time around, I didn't care too much for the opening and closing themes. The voice acting was very solid for the English cast to me. The voice actors fit very well with each of the character's appearances and personalities.

Overall, as a non fan of the mahou shoujo genre. This is still a series that I enjoyed. I will admit that there was a bit of disappointment here since I enjoyed the first season so much. Still, this is a good series that I think is worth checking out.

Highs: Some characters continue their development, character designs are still pretty

Lows: Tries too hard to work emotion, some characters under-developed, pacing problems

Rozen Maiden Traumend is the follow up to the original. Due to the lack of a proper interpretation of it's plot in the parent series of Rozen Maiden, for that reason I started watching this second season(also for more Suigintou) and since the first wasn't too bad, there's still hopes for development in this sequel.

Traumend starts off from where the first series stopped; after the victorious battle with Suigintou, Shinku starts to feel the guilt of eliminating one of her sisters, all because of the Alice Game. In fact, Shinku simply made her into a "piece of junk". Is it wrong to feel sad for ... an enemy you've just defeated?

Anyway, after completing Traumend, it's an improvement(but not massively) on the series, if you compare it to the original. Focusing more into the story, providing adequate explanation and reducing the number of trivial episodes. The story can be quite unpredictable sometimes; just when I thought THAT "Father" was the REAL "Father", turns that he isn't. There's also a considerable amount of drama with some fighting sequences and comedy going on. Final episode was more intense and better than in the original. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed with the results of the Alice Game.

Why climb when you can fly? - the characters' actions can be amusing. So, these dolls have the ability to fly(depends on the location or perhaps their mood). When I noticed that few of the them were "climbing their way out of danger", only for the enemy to catch up with them because she simply flew. You can sit there, relax and be amused by some their actions.

Episodes 3, 5 and 7 are mostly just filler episodes, haphazardly placing keypoints of it's story that only lasts few minutes(sometimes mere seconds) and most of time, near the end. But hey, they're fairly watchable. It does focus on the story from time to time but at least 1/3 of the anime consist of very, slice-of-life-ish episodes. Like the original, pacing is slow as a snail.

Traumend also introduces new characters and most of them play a major role in the story. First thing's first, Traumend has a new antagonist, the seventh and youngest Rozen Maiden doll, Barasuishou. Nevertheless, even with the new bunch of people, Suigintou remains as my number one character in the entire series and will always be.

Comparing the original and Traumend and there's no enhancement on visuals. After all, Traumend retains the whole same old visuals; colors are dull; not bright but Rozen Maiden dolls still look beautiful as ever, just like in the first. The visuals are sometimes inconsistent - characters faces differ from scene to scene. Just the same old, same old.

ALI PROJECT performs the OP for this one too. Sadly, the majority of her songs including this is just not for me. Listened to the ED, and it was actually quite good. But it gets old pretty quickly. BGM ranges from rock music(sadly the epic rock music is very rarely played) to same orchestral music pieces back in the original.

To sum up, there's improvement in the overall storytelling, but even with that, I still wouldn't recommend it to everyone. After watching both seasons in the franchise, I must say that this is more recommended to the casual viewers. In any case, this is one series you have to see for yourself. You might enjoy it...or not.

Story - 8

The storyline is much better than in season 1. Less boring casual fillers (and empty space at all - first season was very, very emty, so that it could be cut to 8-9 episode without any harm to the plot). More reflection and philosophy (we even see them talk about God on the example of Master Rozen). Briefly, the story of Traumend is just smarter. Although, the illnesses of past times did not vanish utterly, and some episodes are still rather sleepy. And in plot there appear time after time illogical or rude lines that freak me out and spoil the enjoyment greatly.


Art ... - 9

I can hardly see differences between 2 seasons, but there are more cute dresses (photos at Kanaria's), 2 more lolitas with their own styles and all that awesome crystal stuff coming out of Barasuichou's hands. Rozen Maiden style remained stable and good.


Sound - 9

What is undoubtedly perfect in Rozen Maiden series is its breathtaking soundtrack. Piano and violon plays suit lolita-fashion so well that any action is exciting with this music playing. Opening is not great but alright, ending is dull, but at least you may skip it. What really doesn't let 10 to be set is the invariability. OST melodies are not to criticize but they are less, and after 20+ episodes of non-stop watching they don't please one's ears as much as in the beginning.


Character - 9

Rozen Maiden dolls are the collection. The collection of faces, haircuts, dresses, and psychological types. Of course, it should not be considered as serious "panorama of social types" or some that way. But this variety helps the comedy action a lot. Besides, some characters' personalities are not as primitive as in season 1 (Suigintou, for example, turned in flesh-and-blood girl (if it can be said this way of talking doll) from Ominous-Villain-Demon-With-Non-Stopping-Nasty-Laugh), Shinku kicks Jun no more (annoyed me a lot) and, in general, became the most ample character in anime (she is principal char so that is natural, but I couldn't see it clearly before). All Maidens became more amiable and cute, I love them all after this season. And it's not because of their lowened agressiveness... they just got more alive.


Enjoyment - 8,5

Greatly spoiled by shortcomings of story, it is still high... I can make a conclusion in five words: I Would Rewatch This Anime.


Overall - 8,5

Rozen Maiden is original and outstanding yet using classical comedy-drama-system, and this is anime for everyone (no nudity, no violence, no profanity, purely platonic love storyline), so it is undoubtedly worth watching. It may please more or less depending on what to pay attention to most in general picture, but I think there are less people who watched RM and considered it a class-B shounen anime or so.
I Would Rewatch This Anime.
Would You Join Me?

This takes place a bit after the first one and I have to say the character development is actually rather surprising. We have Jun not afraid to go outside anymore, and is actually trying to get into school again. There isn’t much development in the dolls but I guess that’s to be expected slightly. I have a small feeling that their artificial spirits are made to have a certain personality. I’m going to talk more about my theory later on in this review about that. We don’t really see much of the other human characters and so their personalities seem slightly the same. Jun’s sister ... is still a caring clumsy girl, Jun’s classmate is a very quiet girl who wants to help sometimes, and there are a few new humans too.

During this show, we are introduced two two new dolls, Kanaria and Bara-Suishou. I have different feelings on both these new characters. Where as the fact I love Bara-Suishou as sort of a new antagonist for the dolls in light of what happen to Suigintou (Spoilers for the first series, sorry), I do not really like the addition of Kanaria. Kanaria felt like she was only there for comic relief. Her personality seemed to be similar to Suiseiseki in that she would get into trouble a lot and trying to sneak into the house. She also seemed slightly like Hinaichigo in how childish she is sometimes.

With how deep the story gets, that doesn’t stop them from still doing the slice of life type of story arcs. They do end up making me annoyed slightly because there is so much story that can be given to the main idea of the Alice Game, the story behind the dolls and so on but what do we actually do get? Suiseiseki stealing Hinaichigo’s snack again, Shinku sitting reading or watching Detective Kun Kun, and Kanaria’s comedic attempts at going after the other girls. I can understand they are trying to give the characters more personality and show the personal growth of each of them but sometimes there is no growth at all. Then we are left with a kind of pointless run around with the story.

Besides the slice of life stuff, the story does get a bit deep and sad. If I told you any more about that, then it would just be spoilers but there were times that tears did fall from my eyes.

I said I was going to talk about my theory about the spirits. If you keep watching each of the dolls, it seems they have a bit of a collective soul. What I mean when I say this is that the personalities of each girl don’t always feel whole. Shinku is very proper; almost princess like where as Hinaichigo is very childish. Suiseiseki is a very mischievous girl who likes to tease others while her ‘twin’ sister Souseiseki is a bit more tomboyish. Suigintou is jealousy, and Kanaria is… I’m not fully sure but I think her personality is a bit of the sneaky planner. Sort of the personality of a girl who will sneak around someone to get what she wants or two get back at someone. If you look at all these dolls as personalities, it would seem that if all of them were put together, they would be the perfect being, the perfect ‘Alice.’ My theory of them and of the game they play is the idea that Rozen, their father, wanted to make the perfect daughter he named Alice and that the dolls must collect each part of Alice’s soul in order to become her. I do have another theory though, a back up theory if you want to take it as such… one that might be a very surprising turn of advents if this actually were to be true. My theory is that there is actually no real Alice Game. That the Alice Game was made up by someone to explain why they were ‘abandoned’ by their father. Their spirits though are pieces of their father’s daughter Alice who died at some point in time. In order to save her spirit, he placed parts of it into the dolls. It’s a large grasp at straws here but it’s another idea that I have from watching this series.

The artwork is very beautiful when it wants to be and then it can also feel like they didn’t try. It’s much the same as the first series in both aspects. I still get the feeling that there are two different art styles from slice of life to occult in one show. The dolls are still rather detailed when not making funny faces or in a really comedic scene while the human characters feel a little lack luster. I am not sold on the face of Shirosaki, the salesperson at the doll shop in the show. I understand who he is from the moment I saw him (Not spoiling it though) but his face does not look like a humans. In fact, I really thought he might have been a doll himself with the way his eyes were and how his face was. It just looked way to flat and white to be real.

The music is something I forgot to talk about in my review before that I will touch here. Both the first and this one have amazing music, most of it orchestra related. My favorite pieces are when the dolls are in some serious mode. That’s when the beautiful and yet haunting melody seems to come out that sounds slightly like a music box. I can’t help but get chills up my spine hearing that beautiful haunting melody. The English dub is basically the same so what I said before goes for this. I’m still not to keen on Hinaichigo’s or Suiseiseki’s voices much. Again, Hinaichigo’s high pitched childish whine is annoying and I really don’t understand why Suiseiseki’s voice has to be that high as well. They did grow on me more though since the first series which I guess works out. As for the newcomer, Kanaria is about as annoying as Hinaichigo’s voice. It’s high pitched and the way she talks reminds me of Naga the Serpent from Slayers. It’s that snarky little announcing voice that will say everything she is thinking no matter what. She hasn’t really had a chance to grow on me as much as the other characters though and maybe that’s why I can’t stand her right now.

The story was actually really done and I liked how they dove more into the Alice Game and the story behind it but again they left more questions then answers. They had a very open ended ending that makes me wonder exactly what they mean by it. I still love the story and can’t wait to watch the rest of the seasons.

This season is more exciting than the first season of Rozen Maiden. It really picks up, more characters are introduced, and rather than focusing on the main character of the last season, the focus turns to the dolls, themselves. I found this one to be more enjoyable than the first season, but I would recommend watching them both if you are interested, because I don't think this would be good enough as a stand alone anime by itself.

The music is still pretty good, and the art is still about what you would expect.

I really liked that they added more characters, and we got to know ... them all better. There really isn't a single character that I hated. Even the "bad guy" had my sympathy.

This is a very good anime for anybody who appreciates dolls. And, as somebody who as a little girl imagined that my dolls came to life when I was asleep or out of the room, it was very enjoyable.

The only thing that disappointed me about Traumend is that the story was never completed. As a matter of fact, PEACH-PIT decided to reboot the manga, so Im guessing that the anime will never continue.

SPOILERS for both seasons:


Another contrived sad ending just to get a cheap emotional response out of the watcher. In the first season it was established that Jun had some special magical ability to "bring back what was lost" as demonstrated with the clown doll and with fixing Shinku's arm during her battle with Suigintou. The ending would have worked a lot better if this power was built upon / explained and then he used that power to restore all of the dolls after he found out they had been tricked - including Hina-Ichigo and Souseiseki, instead of having a Deus Ex Machina moment with the ... appearance of Rozen.

And for some absolutely pointless reason, Rozen decides to leave Hina-Ichigo and Souseiseki dead, again just to create cheap sadness with no logic. There is no reason Rozen or Jun should not be able to restore all of them.

This ending is a huge disappointment because I really loved the unique concept of this show and the characters were very special, as I felt a real connection with all of them. I would have rated this a 9/10 if the ending wasn't so illogical, but I have to go with 8.

I'll keep this one short (especially relative to the absolute MONSTER of a review I left for season 1!) because most of what I have to say applies to both season 1 and Träumend.

I appreciate the effort to make this anime a little more serious in tone, and the sincerity of that effort. I like that certain obvious questions we had about the nature of the dolls was answered in a sensitive and fulfilling way (trying to be vague here to avoid spoilers!).

What I don't like is the end. It was rushed and unfulfilling. It really felt like the writers had written themselves into a ... corner and had to find a way to keep the action going until the end without leaving us on a sad note. I will chalk this up to trying to appeal to much to the action side of the anime (which was ALWAYS an afterthought). Unfortunately, the way in which they chose to do this robbed the most important characters of agency. And seeing these characters exercise that agency is what makes Rozen Maiden great in the first place (apropos that it is a franchise about ostensibly inanimate objects with animacy!).

Nevertheless, the characters were treated with such respect and their personalities depicted well that I can forgive the very end of the story. Everything else about it was fantastic. I treasure Träumend in the same way I treasure the first season. Both of them are very close to my heart.

I recommend this to anyone who wants to see the conclusion of the stories of the characters from season 1. Yes, I still recommend it even though the ending was a little lackluster for me. If you loved season 1, you will at least like Träumend.

Never had I expected myself to be sinking into my bed trying to cover my eyes under my blankets to deny what just happened in an anime about dolls to say the least. This anime makes you do that.

Rozen Maiden was genuinely a lovely watch, the characters were quirky in their own ways as well as adorable. The action was at a decent level with final fantasy-esque music to beautifully compliment it making you feel all the more immersed. The story... The story is unique to say the least, although there weren't any mind blowing twists or anything, The animators and writers did an ... amazing job at conveying emotions through the dolls and other characters. With good pacing and some episodes there to just make you laugh and feel good followed by the story-rich episodes never really left me feeling starved of both, so you could say this anime had a great balance when it comes to the genres it displays.

Although the ending may not cater to everyone, I really do believe that everyone enjoyed the main course.

This anime gets a solid 8.0/10

If you love Rozen Maiden , then it’s probably already known to you that Traumend is a sequel of the series, and things continue exactly where they finished off in its previous run. Traumend is an almost direct continuation of the first series. If you haven’t seen that, this one probably isn’ t worth bothering with at all. Trust me, you'll be lost.

While Rozen Maiden was more about evolving characters, Traumend makes the jump right into action and keeps things moving at a fast pace throughout. There are still some fights between the dolls, however, it is more related to drama and action rather than ... comedy.

The new character Kanaria gives some laughs and eventually wears on the audience. But, Traumend is a bit darker than its predecessor and the dolls have to go through some hard times. There are even sacrifices, broken dolls and deaths.

The darker tone suits well for character development and we see important changes in the main characters. The ending was somewhat surprising, but perhaps some would mention that it lacked something – turned out as a bit of a cop-out. Nevertheless, it is a satisfying end to the series.

Traumend, overall a highly recommendable watch for fans of Rozen Maiden. It is quite fantastic, intense and it has an outstanding character development. Just make sure that you’ve watched the first series before watching this.