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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:1155#1552] |
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(Rent-/ Watch+) A shame how a solid first season usually spawns a subpar second season as I've dealt with in the past with Haruhi Suzumiya and Nodame Cantabile. From what I understand, this second season to Rozen Maiden was attempting to create its own anime original plot that diverges from its manga source material with the introduction of two new characters serving as this season's antagonists. Unfortunately, these new elements turned out to be quite weak as the first half to the anime had slow pacing which slowed the story to a halt and got further bogged down by comedic filler episodes with Jun and the Rozen Maidens. The second half rushes through the developments with Barasuishou and her mysterious creator creating enough dramatic moments that leave the viewer little breathing room to take things in which eventually leads to a big case of deus ex machina for an ending which makes all the drama from these moments pointless and leaves quite a number of plot holes over new details unveiled over the Rozen Maidens and their creator. Don't expect any kind of depth from Barasuishou and her creator either as they have quite the one-dimensional personalities when you come to learn of their motivations for why they are trying to get rid of the Rozen Maidens. The saving grace for this series which keeps it from falling into complete mediocrity is the characters of the Rozen Maidens themselves. While the comedy episodes do nothing to add to Traumend's ongoing plot, they were still quite funny as the comedic timing to said scenes were perfect and the Rozen Maidens are still the same likeable bunch as they were from the first series. Shinku and another prominent character (who I can't reveal as it would be a major spoiler) in the series also get their developments with their characters as they soften a bit after going through events from the first season of the series. Still though, I'm really disappointed that Rozen Maiden's second season turned out to be a rushed, shallow and plot hole infested mess as I got quite a bit of enjoyment out of the first season's existential elements with the dolls and its focus into the psychological woes facing the title's human characters. It felt like I was seeing two completely different anime titles and I hope the Ouverture OAVs can at least wipe away some of the foul taste I got from this second TV season of Rozen Maiden. Last updated Tuesday, April 17 2012. Created Tuesday, April 17 2012. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Stretch
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[series:1155#628] | ||||||
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An important aspect of storytelling, I guess, is how much of the story you tell people, and how much they are left to figure out--or imagine--for themselves. Both seasons of Rozen Maiden definitely leave a good deal to the imagination. The way the maidens (dolls) may eventually have no choice but to fight each other reminds me of Mai-HiME, in that you don't really understand why they must fight, but the drama is handled well enough that this lack of a thorough explanation doesn't spoil the story. The story seems to pick up right where it left off at the end of the original series. I was surprised at how silly the first half of this sequel series was, considering the vaguely dark and creepy atmosphere of the original. The newcomer Kanaria, who is arrogant, vain, but also goofy and cowardly, has become my favorite Maiden. The Maidens really have developed likeable, interesting personalities--it's a nice touch that even Sugin-Tou isn't completely evil, since it gives the story much more depth than it would have had otherwise. This is one reason why the plot doesn't have to make complete sense. I was afraid the plot never would make much sense at all, but with "Father"'s appearance towards the end things came together to an acceptable degree. The climax, involving dolls fighting with each other, could have been absurd or boring, but the fact that I didn't have the damndest idea what tricks they would employ, and what was dangerous and what wasn't, kept it interesting. As is so often the case, I don't exactly understand what happened (I read some notes from the Chachamaru fansub team which mentioned a "Real" and "Fake" Bara-Suishou in the final episode--that was news to me!), but it was a semi-happy ending. Definitely not completely happy, which is unusual and moving. My overall impression is of a show which employed a lot of clever touches--tricks which could have been done better (a certain character's "death" could have been more moving, for example), but most shows don't employ them at all, so I can't complain. The OP song was kind of neat; it probably wouldn't qualify as "J-pop", but it has a fast-moving, "flowing" style to it that I like. Considering the strange premise of Rozen Maiden (a boy who likes dolls?), it came together pretty well; a Rent- or Watch+ I'd say. One other thing: seeing Jun dressed in a 19th Century European outfit in the OP sequence was always good for a laugh!
Last updated Wednesday, May 11 2016. Created Friday, September 22 2006. | ||||||||
| Buy | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
 aoneish
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[series:1155#1615] |
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so, to the end of the alice games. the first one focuses on jun and his sister and all the relationships in the house. this one focuses mainly on the alice game. really, this doesn't need to be a sequel, it fits in nicely with the prequel, taking off right where it left off. the first couple episodes are dedicated to humor but it gets serious soon enough. the last couple episodes left me in a state of constant on and off tears. hinaichigo absolutely broke my heart. shinku's anger and pain in the last episode--just wow. suigintou's pain, while somewhat less--just wow. all of them, canaria and souseiseki and suiseiseki, just WOW. geez, i've said it once, for some dolls they have ALOT of angst. the last fight between barasuishou and shinku is the best. the animation is still beautiful. the action has picked up at least with the emergence of the seventh doll. the drama and angst intensified as the dolls grow closer to realizing their destiny. a couple more beautiful melodies, this time with some vocals, to add into the pretty soundtrack. if you liked the first rozen maiden, you'll like this one no doubt. if you haven't seen it, then you should because to watch this without the first, well, i think you'd miss a few things. but really this is a very well done and very well rounded series. Last updated Monday, September 04 2006. Created Saturday, September 02 2006. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Official Japanese Series Web Site | http://www.tbs.co.jp/rozen-maiden/ |
