Reviews

Rozen Maiden Zuruckspulen appears to function as a sort of reboot on the Rozen Maiden franchise as we are reintroduced to Jun and the Rozen Maidens as they deal with an enemy threat in the form of new Maiden Kirakisho and crossing into a parallel timeline where an adult Jun never gave life to Shinku. Before I address the new content of this addition to Rozen Maiden, I do want to address the major issue of this series coming with familiarity of viewers to the franchise. The show's creators make it under the assumption that you are already familiar with elements and characters to the series, thus quickly pacing through events in the first episode of the series in introducing Jun and the six Rozen Maidens from the 2000s adaptations of the series to get to the main plot of the series involving Kirakisho. This already alienates new viewers of the series since the last animated adaptation of Rozen Maiden came seven years prior with the release of Overture. Other than providing background on Jun's issues due to focus on adult Jun, other characters who existed from earlier adaptations of Rozen Maiden don't get their backgrounds as fleshed out, limiting any connection new viewers would have to care for them since the show assumes you already know about their issues.

In terms of the new storyline, it is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, seeing a scenario with Jun never bringing life to Shinku creates some unique development with his character as we see he never got over his issues of self-doubt and lack of confidence into adulthood, even after finally getting over being a shut-in. This leads him to not consider the other possibilities in front of him that he could take advantage of due to moping in his insecurities. This aspect of his character is exploited by Kirakisho for her personal gain in a rather sinister scheme for later episodes that lead the Maidens to take a more direct role in events for the second half of the series. If you cared about Jun's developments from the earlier adaptations of the series, you are likely to get enjoyment out of this aspect to the series.

On the other hand, Kirakisho's character is a bit underwhelming for a villain despite her rather unique origins as she doesn't have much dimension or depth to her character beyond being crazed for human hosts she can drain energy from. If you cared more for developments with the Maiden dolls, you aren't gonna like this series as much since they don't have any major influence on Zuruckspulen's plot until the show's second half and are not properly fleshed out due to the show's greater focus on Jun and its rushed pacing in introducing them. Plus the series ends inconclusively as Kirakisho is still causing trouble for Jun and the other Rozen Maidens and we are still left wondering what the true nature of the Alice Game is supposed to be since this was also not properly addressed in earlier anime adaptations of the series.

Overall, I'm mostly indifferent on this chapter of the Rozen Maiden franchise. While it does have some interesting ideas to explore with the alternate timeline story with Jun, the show's reboot makes itself only accessible to seasoned Rozen Maiden fans as it immediately tosses you into Zuruckspulen's events without allowing any accessibility for new fans to get attached to the series. Also, the greater focus on Jun could alienate said seasoned fans if they cared more for the focus on the dolls. Would only recommend watching this if you're a diehard Rozen Maiden fan.