Rozen Maiden - Ouverture

Title:Rozen Maiden - Ouverture
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , ,
Notables: Music - Ali Project
Music - MITSUMUNE Shinkichi
Original Concept - PEACH PIT
Jun is baffled by Shinku's angry rejection of a piece of jewelry. He learns of a painful incident from her past; an incident which took place during the previous round of the "Alice Game"...

Two episode TV special scheduled to aire in late December, 2006.

[edit]
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 8 7 8 8 7 8 Ggultra2764 [series:1506#1552]
Well I can't say this special resolves anything within Rozen Maiden, but it adds more to the series. Basically, much of Ouverture is back story which reveals how the ugly rivalry between Shinku and Suigentou came about in the previous Alice Game in Victorian era England as tragic developments with Suigentou and some misunderstandings create some engaging drama between the two. Just don't expect any of Rozen Maiden's bigger mysteries to be resolved at all within this two-episode special. At the very least, it was enough to wipe the sour taste of Traumend's shoddy developments from my mind and is worth a look if you enjoyed the two TV seasons of Rozen Maiden.

Last updated Saturday, April 28 2012. Created Saturday, April 28 2012.
Rent Stretch [series:1506#628]
I was assuming these TV specials would take place after the end of Rozen Maiden ~Träumend~, and would continue the story, but with only two episodes it soon became clear that they would in fact be a sidenote to the main plotline. At some point during Traumend (but clearly before it's end) Jun is told about how Shinku and Sugin-Tou came to grief with one another. From there the story flashes back to Victorian London (I thought I recognized Big Ben), and the last "Alice Game". It was pretty neat--though we know neither combatant can be permanently destroyed, it was an interesting way to add on a "prequel". One nice touch was meeting Shinku's previous medium, Sara. At one point in episode one I thought briefly that I might actually be about to get a concise explanation of the logic behind the "Alice Game"... silly me. Very cryptic (as usual)--I didn't notice any particularly shocking revelations in the first episode, and was left thinking that somebody had better hurry up and pull things together. But they did, and the second episode (which takes place almost entirely during the 19th century) was quite good. Though I didn't completely understand it (as usual), it was definitely powerful in a way. Of course the one thing I would most like would be to be told exactly why "Father" wants the Maidens to duel each other; but I suspect the makers of the various Rozen Maiden incarnations may have taken a vow never to reveal that!

Last updated Tuesday, January 02 2007. Created Wednesday, December 27 2006.

Other Sites
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Japanese Series Web Site http://www.tbs.co.jp/rozen-maiden/

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