I was never a big fan of Rozen Maiden. In fact, I've dropped it when I first attempted watching it years ago.As for today, I've seen all the seasons and still have multiple friends worshipping this anime for reasons I don't understand. Do I need to say I was reluctant to watch this new Rozen Maiden related thing? Because I truly was, and if not for my OCDs regarding anime kicking, I wouldn't. But, god, to think what a loss would it be!
The very first thing I've noted upon starting the first episode, was a significant change in drawing. Although the previous series had pretty details and outstanding character design, it's the bright colours that seriously irritated me for I'm not a fan of overly bright palettes. The joyous brightness made the anime seem less serious than it truly was, and possibly that's why my first attempt of watching it had failed and I never got past episode three. This lovely return of Rozen Maiden, however, had a perfect colour scheme in my understanding. It was darker, therefore suggesting the anime was to concentrate on the inner world people prefer to keep hidden. The outfits remained as detailed as before, but I must note faces of dolls had changed a bit. I've mostly noticed that on Shinku, but that's not a minus. In fact, I like it much, much more. Probably what made this season particularly enjoyable to me, unlike all the others, was that I can proclaim it as one of my personal eye candies. Suigintou gets an extra point because, damn, those wings! In my humble opinion, art is what truly brings the most enjoyment in this season and with no hesitation I voice my rate
Art: 10/10
As I've started the first episode and finally got over the pleasant shock of the newly adopted art, my curiosity got a bit of a tickle. At first I decided it was what I feared - a new adaptation of the old series, meaning that the art was in fact the only thing that changed. However, things were progressing too fast for it to be true. Although even if it was indeed just a new re-cap of the first season, I'd probably watch it anyways. My OCDs are the worst. As I watched, I noticed there were some changes, I even started wondering if it was by the same creators due to multiple errors because, well, those were the basic things anyone familiar with the previous seasons knew, such as messing up a character's name. However, by the end of the episode I started suspecting that everything is actually alright and there was no mistake...By episode two, when I was proved it's a brand new anime with new characters and story, my doubts disappeared and I could finally lay back and enjoy the show. Which, I won't hide, I did. Just as the darker tones suggested, it was less humorous, and that's a big con for me, who was irritated by filler-like episodes before rather than amused. There were a couple of herp-derp moments, but they were not excessive and put right where they had to be. What I lacked, however, was Kun-kun. But it was perfectly alright given the fact how little of Hina-Ichigo I've got to see/hear, and if only it keeps the annoying doll off the anime, the Kun-kun can be forgotten. RIP. I must admit liking the idea of parallel dimensions, which gives anime a little of a mindfuck which Rozen Maiden had always lacked, but that had also cut down the fight scenes which I found quite good before. Alice Game and Father had not been the main goal of the dolls, and ugh, that's what left me uneasy. Basically, an entire anime was dedicated to escape a psycho doll who had no body? Erm...That's not quite exactly how does the anime work, unless it's something like Naruto, where it would take at least 50 episodes instead of 13. However, the cliff hanger in the end offers there is another season coming. I can't say the story was bad, in fact it did suck me in, but there were times I'd lose that connection and grow bored of talking about nothing or showing Jun being bullied at work. Therefore my score is
Story: 8/10
Rozen Maiden was always famous for it's music, and although I dropped the anime before, I had downloaded the first opening straight away and been listening to it all along the way until I finally manned up and gave RM another shot. The quality of music had not failed this time, too. However, although I've only finished the anime today, I can now only remember the opening and brief fragments of the ending. The soundtracks during the anime itself appear to be so insignificant I did not even pay my mind to them, and if not the basic knowledge of them having to be there, I would probably wonder if they were there at all. I can't truly rate a thing I have not paid much attention toward, so I will just stick to the fact I had not noticed it and lower the score I first intended to give
Sound: 8/10
Characters never truly got much development in the franchise, except for Jun himself as the series were always rather aimed to discover his inner world. The dolls had all pre-set characters already in the earlier series and knowing they were, well, dolls, I never expected them to develop much. On the other hand, while changes with Shinku and Suigintou were clear during the earlier seasons, here nothing really changed. In fact, the newly introduced characters, such as Kirakishou, had no development whatsover. And, well, Jun was the only one to receive some development at all. The score of mine on characters is this high only because the characters stayed true to what they were portrayed before, such as Suiseiseki being a rude midget obsessed with her twin.
Characters: 7/10
As I've stated before, I did enjoy the anime. I watch it in gym, while sweating fat on cardio machines, therefore if the anime is crap, I'm likely to have a very long exercise which will leave me exhausted. With the newest season of Rozen Maiden, however, the time flew rather fast, and in my book it's an indication I did like the anime. Of course, there were flaws that made me want for the episode to finish faster, but in general I found it very enticing and likeable. In comparison to the previous series I struggled with, I'm very impressed and pleasantly surprised. Hopefully, if there is another season, it will bring me as much joy.
Enjoyment: 9/10
As I've mentioned in the beginning, I never truly liked Rozen Maiden. I forced myself to watch it 7 years after the first attempt, thinking that the older, university and part-time working me will understand and appreciate it more than the 13 years old middleschooler who still struggled with English. The current me did not drop it, but did not feel fond of it either, and only finished it by convincing myself it was a "classic" that had to be seen. But this season is an absolute game-changer. I finally found some enjoyment in Rozen Maiden rather than feeling as if I simply MUST watch it. I was interested in development of the plot and eternally astonished by the art, therefore I actually liked it. There were things that buggered me, and I stated them all above. All summed up, they make a score I think this season truly deserves
OVERAL: 8/10
