Rozen Maiden Volume 2
Following the cliff hanger ending of volume 1, Shinku suddenly becomes a lifeless doll in deep slumber with no means of waking her up. In a desperate attempt to save her life, Jun faces his fears and steps into the world to learn more about the Rozen Maiden dolls, only to discover that they’re considered a myth amongst doll collectors. Left with no other choice, Jun steps into his school, the place he promised never to go back to, in order to find the only book with the information to revive Shinku.
In the following 2 parter, Suiseiseki discovers that her twin sister, Souseiseki, is still living with Motoharu Shibasaki, an old man who mistakes the fragile doll for his deceased son. Using the man’s delicate sanity, Suigintou lures the twin dolls to the dream world for her own devious plans.
The season then concludes with a 3 parter that sets the stage for the grand showdown between Shinku and Suigintou for the title of Alice. But with Jun trapped in the world of dreams where his nightmares are now reality and the other dolls powerless to stop Suigintou – will Shinku’s Rosa Mystica be taken?
My feelings towards volume 1 were mostly lukewarm; although the story was appealing, the delivery of it was not up to scratch. Thankfully volume 2 contains the stronger episodes that focus less on filler and more on plot progression. The stories in each episode are better written and paced compared to the first half of the series, plus character development takes a centre stage – especially Jun who eventually overcomes his fear of the outside world towards the end when his friends need him most, making him a much more likeable character in the long run. Battle scenes are very well choreographed with nice uses of magical powers from all dolls (especially in the final battles, I was very fond of Suigintou’s wings forming into dragons).
The volume is far from perfect though, there’s still niggles that remain even after 13 episodes; despite a minor mention of what the title ‘Alice’ actually means and a brief montage of why Jun developed agoraphobia in the first place, the series refuses to show anything more, despite teasing in numerous occasions. The best example to give would be when Jun finally gets hold of a book regarding the history of the Rozen Maiden line, no mention of the book is made again, even though if anyone else was involved they would start reading the damn thing to find out what the Rozen dolls actually are, how they talk, make magic and so on. It’s like having a date licking their lips and playing footsie with you throughout dinner, only to give you a peck on the cheek at the end of the night.
In addition, the hinted romance between Jun (the 14 year old boy) and Shinku (a doll) is uncomfortable to watch. It’s quite unsettling seeing Jun blush when he thinks about the dolls only wearing their undergarments, I guess I should be thankful that his nose doesn’t bleed though.
Comedy still continues to be a hit and miss throughout the series, but special mention goes out to Yamamoto, an anime only character, who happens to be in love with Nori. You can’t help but feel sorry for the guy as his advances go unnoticed and has a horrible habit of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but at least he provides the best comic relief in the series.
Animation and music are still up to code across all 6 episodes, but the overuse of the opening theme (in the main menu, 3 of the DVD extras and, of course, at the beginning of the episodes) can get tiresome, especially as the theme is sung in a very fast, high pitched way.
Speaking of DVD extras, MVM managed to cram some in this time with the clean opening and closing, a promo video, TV commercial and trailers for Fate Stay/Night and Aquarion.
Although volume 2 is much stronger in content and was more enjoyable to watch, it’s not exactly a series I’d recommend you’d move to the top of the ‘anime to buy’ list. But it is one to see without shame if you happen to be stuck indoors on a rainy day.
