Don’t let anyone fool you, Suigintou is the true star of Rozen Maiden.

Thoughts:

A lot of things now make sense after watching this OVA series, especially this episode. The reason as to why Suigintou hates Shinku and Souseiseki. And the reason to why Shinku hates Suigintou. Speaking of Shinku, I think I now see just what the issue is with her. Whether or not she does it on purpose, Shinku can be rather full of herself. Bits of it are in the previous Rozen Maiden series but it stands out here. That is, she believes that all Rozen Maidens are supposed to be perfect and that she herself is the superior of the seven. This, I think, is one of the reasons she couldn’t accept Suigintou to be one of the Rozen Maiden. Even though she did help Suigintou be able to walk, I don’t think she did it out of genuine concern but more out of pity. This, in my opinion, showed that she didn’t see Suigintou as an equal/Rozen Maiden from the very beginning. Not only that, she hid the truth from Suigintou about the Alice Games and didn’t even attempt to save her when she was disappearing.

Suigintou had thought that Shinku really accepted her for who she was only to find out that she pitied her and saw her as inferior, incomplete, and ‘different’ from the other Rozen Maidens. Suigintou, having had her pride wounded by Shinku destroyed her treasured brooch. Was it bad that she did that out of anger? Yes, I will admit it. But do I blame her? I certainly don’t. I don’t blame her for going all out on Shinku after her infamous “junk” comment either. So all in all, both Suigintou and Shinku are equally mean to one another in the OVA. But then again, none of this would’ve happened if Shinku had helped Suigintou out of pure kindness and Souseiseki’s scissor-happy actions. On another note, it was pretty funny (or should I say ironic?) that Souseiseki’s Roza Mystica was taken by Suigintou later on in series in Traumend. Poetic justice for the win?

As for Rozen or ‘Father’, I still don’t understand a single thing about him. Why didn’t he give Suigintou her Roza Mystica when he first created her? Why did he leave her incomplete and not fix her when he gave her the Roza Mystica? I have to wonder if he’s some sort of sadist that enjoys the suffering of his creations. Laplace is still as strange as ever and I’m surprised that Enju was even in the OVA’s time period. I hope Peach Pit makes a third season soon to explain all the other unanswered questions because it’d be a shame to leave a great series as such Rozen Maiden to go unexplained and without a true ending.

My Verdict: 9.6/10 – This was an outstanding episode and overall an excellent OVA series which flawless told Suigintou’s background. Suigintou definitely was the star of Ouvertüre and her didn’t disappoint. I look forward to seeing more of her in a third season.

She who transcends the mere definition of Beauty: Her name is Suigintou.

OP Sequence

OP: 「薔薇獄乙女」 – Baragoku Otome by ALI PROJECT

Thoughts:

I could already from the very beginning that Suigintou has had some tough times. Although this episode doesn’t really delve deep into her past it did show how she was neglected by Rozen in the beginning and was left unfinished while the others were getting all of the attention. The majority of the episode, once Souseiseki starts telling Jun about the past, has to deal with the Alice game once again. Shinku, in my opinion, seemed somewhat different than her current self. I say this because of the way she treated Suigintou the moment she arrived. She didn’t even check to see if she was all right and immediately threw her against the well when Suigintou held onto her. It’s obvious that this Shinku only cared about herself at the time. My, how a shift in POV in the telling of a story can make characters seem a lot different.

More importantly, Suigintou really surprised me. I didn’t know Suigintou could make such gentle and heartbreaking expressions. That said, I really don’t know why Rozen treated her so badly and left her incomplete. Did he not feel up to the task of completing her because of laziness? Or did he just not care anymore even after going through all the trouble to make her clothing? It’s not wonder Suigintou is the way she is in the present Rozen Maiden and I honestly can’t blame her from what I’ve seen so far. From birth she was shunned and literally had to crawl to get someone, anyone to notice her existence. It was all too much for me to bear to watch and to make things worse witness Suigintou cry brought tears to my own eyes as well. Nevertheless, there’s still a few more questions to be answered in this OVA that I hope are answered in the second and last episode.

ED Sequence

ED: 「空蝉ﾉ影」 – Utsusemi no Kage by Kukui

Interesting choice of style for the ED animation…. But I do like the song, though I think the OP is much better.

Preview:

My Verdict: 9.5/10 – Suigintou and her surprisingly gentle and frail side makes up at least 9.0 of this score. She’s shown herself to be more breathtaking and captivating than ever.

Rozen Maiden Träumend returns with yet again wonderful music. Most of it comes from the first series but the opening and ending themes are totally new. Once again ALI PROJECT graces the series with a wonderful piece and the ending is just as good as the previous one in the first series. I was wondering what to expect from Träumend since my favorite character, Suigintou, was trashed at the end of Rozen Maiden. Or was she?

What Träumend brought to the table was the awakening/revealing of the remaining dolls that’ll mark the end of the Alice Games. Barasuisho is that doll who signals the end of the games to be exact. I can’t help but feel that they were trying to replace Suigintou with her. She’s alright but she’s no Suigintou. However, I’ll give her credit for possessing an awesome amount of power just like Suigintou but I do dislike her very much. As the series progressed and much to my joyful soul, halfway through the series…Suigintou-sama appears once more! However, she lacked the memories of what occurred in the original Rozen Maiden but that problem is quickly remedied. Honestly, I don’t think Rozen Maiden would be as good as it is without a character as deep and complex as Suigintou. Personally, she is the one that allows me to enjoy Rozen Maiden so much.

Back to Träumend, it follows Rozen Maiden in that there is somewhat an even balance between everyday life/comedic episodes and those with serious drama and battles. There couldn’t be a better way to carry out both series. Speaking of comedy, I liked the addition of Kanaria to the series. She’s especially hilarious and I honestly couldn’t ever take her seriously. On the drama side…there’s a lot of it. Of course, Barasuisho was behind most of the drama in Träumend. Or rather, the instigator of it all. And as a result that led to the loss of Souseiseki (even though it was Suigintou who defeated her but it was a fair fight) and Hina Ichigo early on. I liked the gathering for the final showdown at the end a lot. Suigintou, Suiseiseki, Barasuisho, and Shinku in a tag-team battle? Awesome! Oh and I can’t forget Kanaria too. After all, she did save Suiseiseki’s Roza Mystica but alas she too was taken down by Barasuisho . Oh and remember when I said I disliked Barasuisho a lot? Yes, it’s because she defeated Suigintou by attacking her with her back turned. A cowardly bitch if you ask me. However, the big “whoa” as I call it appeared at the end after the battle ended. That is, finding out that Barasuisho was a false Rozen Maiden, that the Rozen Maidens were revived by Rozen himself, and that the real seventh doll was Kirakishou (a Rozen Maiden that appears in the manga but is not properly introduced in the series).

For me…the ending left me wanting more. Souseiseki and Hina Ichigo are still unconscious, Kirakishou hasn’t been introduced properly, and there’s more I want to know about Suigintou (although that last point will be solved very soon with the release of Ouvertüre). I’m hoping for a third season because I really love the characters in Rozen Maiden and it’d be a shame not to see everyone livingly happily once again.

Now the only thing to wait for is Ouvertüre! Must have more of Suigintou-sama!

Rating:

8/10

Feeling my curiosity spurn out of control, I’ve finally started to watch Rozen Maiden. I wouldn’t really call it an old series as it aired in 2004 but it’s been almost three years since then so it’s definitely on my Rewind. “Rewind” speaks for itself I think but I’ll still explain it: It’s basically a category/feature featuring old anime that I’ve either started, half completed, or completed. Some of the titles I’ve chosen for Rewind are ones that I’ve personally never gotten the chance to watch until now because of hectic schedules but now I hope to get at least 4-5 of them out. So, without further delay here’s my first Rewind on Rozen Maiden!

One of the first things that gripped me was the outstanding opening theme performed by ALI PROJECT. I’m very much a big fan of their songs and it delighted me to listen to it fully at the beginning of each episode. This series shines when each episode is stringed together to make up the whole. That is further strengthened when the goddess herself is introduced into the series. Yes, I’m talking about none other than Suigintou. Shinku is a great character, definitely the most mature of the group; Hina Ichigo is adorable but can be very annoying at times (well in her debut anyways); Suisei Seki is just plain awesome and has a certain level of adorable that makes me want to hold her tight (DESU, DESU! and heterochromia for the win!); Sousei Seki is more down to earth than the others; and the humans, namely Jun, Nori, and Tomoe are good characters as well but the Rozen Maidens own this series. However, Suigintou quickly became my favorite character in the series. She’s just too irresistible. It also doesn’t help my obsession with her knowing that Rie Tanaka is her seiyuu. Suisei Seki would be my second favorite.

When all of the cast is assembled they carry the plot in all its seriousness but doesn’t forget about the comedy that really made me laugh out loud a few times. This was especially the case for when Suisei Seki appeared. I liked the drama and action scenes that were littered throughout the series (which I’ve seen some people state that they dislike them). While I did enjoy the slice-of-life episodes, I also enjoyed the bits of action very much so. Especially when Suigintou was behind it all! I loved the ending episodes and the music (which is splendid by the way) accommodated the mood perfectly right up to the very last second of the series. But I have to say…I cried when Suigintou was burned and ‘died’. The ending was funny and uplifting but I still couldn’t forget about Suigintou. After all, she is my favorite character. Here’s to hoping I see her again in Träumend.

Here’s to hoping I can finish Träumend in time to watch and blog Ouvertüre!

Rating: 8.5/10