Reviews

Mar 31, 2021
Despite the age - and the concept, which is probably off putting for readers more accustomed to big muscly punchman shonen - Rozen Maiden is still a great read with a lot of charm. In part this is because it's not really a shonen or at least is only partly one: it's a NEET rescue story embedded within a shonen shell.

The young, average boy main character isn't powerful or ambitious or heroic, as we might expect in typical adventure manga - he's a socially withdrawn hikikomori with an internet addiction. All of the action, the little there is, is handled by the titular Rozen Maidens, and this is the weakest part of the manga (apart from its unfortunate conclusion...). The concept of the fights, the characters' designs, the rose motifs, their projectiles, are all cool - it's just that what exactly is happening is often unclear.

I don't think that's as detrimental as it typically is though as, like I said, the fighting isn't really the point. There's a lot of silly, puerile humour (in a good way) and the relationship dynamic of all the characters is well done and often quite touching.

Perhaps this was too much for its audience though - hence its legendarily bad conclusion. Fortunately this was reconciled with its follow up manga, but consumed in isolation you can't get away from the disappointment. There's several plot threads, all interesting and exciting, and they're all dropped in favour of preparing for a "final battle" type scenario - which is never depicted. It's perhaps better than trying to complete that final battle in the limited chapter, but I can't see anyone who enjoys the manga not finding it a bummer, although obviously it was outwith the artists' control.

That being said, this manga is often given the status of an amusing relic due to its impact on early internet culture, and it's a shame because it's really great. The reader will find it to be a superior experience to the animation, in all ways except its conclusion.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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