Rozen Maiden Volume 1
It’s quite amazing how such a simple item can have multiple different references and meanings. Dolls are commonly associated with innocence; being a girl’s play thing during pretend tea time, yet at the same time dolls can be seen frequently in supernatural and horror based mediums. What is it that makes such a simple toy to be seen in complete opposite ways? No idea, but Rozen Maiden takes the idea of dolls being linked with the supernatural and creates a drama of good versus evil, mixed with a dash of comedy.
The series opens up in modern day Tokyo with Jun Sakurada, a young teenager locked up in his room. Suffering from agoraphobia he refuses to go to school and spends all day in his room ordering item after item from the internet. One day, he receives a letter saying that he won a prize and asks him to choose if he wishes to ‘wind up’ and place the letter in his desk drawer. Seconds upon doing so, a mysterious wooden case appears in his room, containing a beautiful doll dressed in French aristocratic clothing, which also happens to be very much alive! The doll, named Shinku, is the fifth doll of the ‘Rozen Maidens’, and shortly after her awakening, Shinku & Jun are attacked by a mysterious clown doll. In order to protect Shinku and her ‘Rosa Mystica’, Jun agrees to become Shinku’s servant, by lending his energy to become the source of her magical powers.
The first disc of the series contains a very generous 6 episodes, which covers the first half of the series. During this time we’re introduced to Jun’s sister Nori as well as 2 other dolls who join the household, Hina and Suiseiseki. We’re also given a quick glance at the antagonist, Suigintou and ‘The Alice Game’. In the game 2 dolls must fight each other, the loser gives up her ‘Rosa Mystica’ and relinquish her life in the process. The winner gains the other doll’s crystal and becomes one step closer into gaining the title ‘Alice’.
Admittedly the plot is fairly unique, with its supernatural flairs and quick glimpses of dark drama, but even the most basic questions are left unanswered even though we’ve reached the half way mark; where do the dolls come from? Who made and originally owned them? Why were they sealed away until now? Why is Jun afraid to go back to school? Why is it important to earn the title ‘Alice’? Nothing is explained, leading me to believe that we’ll get a far too heavy info dump in the latter half of the series. Sure, it gives quick scenes that lead us to think we’re getting closer to the actual plot, but since the main characters are too naive to ask questions about what’s going on, we’re not meant to either.
The characters themselves are mostly clichéd and flat, especially the human characters who are your typical ‘klutzy school girl’ and ‘slightly pervy teenage boy who happens to be special’, and comedy is nothing you wouldn’t have seen in previous series, such as Shinku slapping Jun for looking at her funny, but the voice actors sell the characters and one-liners as they all give very convincing, high energy performances.
Music is one of the stronger aspects of the series; dominated by authentic instruments such as violins, piano and harpsichords, it works well with the old-fashioned, mysterious aura that Shinku gives off. Even the fast paced J-pop opening has a violin driving in the backing track to make it all flow nicely together. Sound effects can be dull at times but they play the parts they’re given.
Animation is very colourful, clean and polished – no major faults to be seen. Character designs are nice too; a lot of attention was gone into the doll’s clothing and hair style to give them that period look with a magical edge. The human character’s aren’t as appealing but are still detailed enough to not come across as generic as their personalities.
Due to the large amount of episodes on 1 disc, there are no extras to be had, unless you count the DVD credits at the end of episode 6! Both the English and Japanese languages are available; subtitles are in thick yellow lettering with a black edge, making it easy to see. I was also pleased to see that they kindly provided the meaning of some Japanese phrases used to allow the English viewer to follow, such as baka (idiot) and kaba (hippo).
Rozen Maiden is a fairly averagely delivered show with lots of visual style to cover it up. Thankfully though, as the disc ended on a cliffhanger, it’ll most likely convince fans to pick up the 2nd half of the series to hopefully answer all questions and keep us entertained until the end.
If the series appeals to you, it’s worth a rent at least, just be prepared to look at your doll and soft toy collection differently at the end.
The series is rated PG; contains mild fantasy violence and random swear words in episode 4 thrown in for good measure!
