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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Buy | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:864#1552] |
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This proved to be a solid watch for me and one I was glad to buy for my stockpile. Rozen Maiden mixes around elements of comedy and drama in exploring Jun and his interactions with Shinku and the other Rozen Maiden dolls. The drama of the series comes from the psychological traumas and conflicts of sense of being. Jun and some of the human characters that you get to see in the series suffer from some sort of traumatic situation that plagues their mind and effects how they interact with others. Their interactions with the dolls help to alleviate these issues as the series presses on and there are points where we get to literally see the inner world of these characters which display their innermost desires and fears. The Rozen Maiden dolls come with diverse personalities and have their own differing desires that they strongly value which define their sense of being as dolls and, with exception to main antagonist Suigintou, contribute to the show's comedy scenes as Jun has to butt heads with the more stubborn traits of the dolls such as Shinku's abusive, self-centered behavior; Hinaichigo's childish naivete; and Suiseiseki's mischievous antics. This is a beautiful looking series on the eyes as colors are vibrant and plenty of detail is displayed with scenery and character designs. Reality and the various dream worlds we see are vast with the latter being effective in conveying the inner world of human characters and the Rozen Maiden dolls we see throughout the series. Action scenes are creative considering the different powers used by the dolls to attack one another, though animation shortcuts are apparent at points. The series does suffer from some lingering plot elements surrounding the nature of the Alice Game such as who their creator was, the whereabouts of the two other dolls and Suigintou's intentions against the other Rozen Maidens. Fortunately, a second season is around to continue the series as I was enjoying the clever mix of comedy and drama provided to Jun and the antics he puts up with from the Rozen Maiden dolls. Last updated Wednesday, February 01 2012. Created Wednesday, February 01 2012. | ||||||||
| Buy | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
 Dreamer
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[series:864#2279] |
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Okay, so I got over my fear of creepy dolls for a split second.... which bought me enough time to get this and try it out. I've been avoiding it for the longest since I hate life-like dolls.... but wow, I'm glad I picked it up. Art, Animation & Character Designs The art was pretty darn good. The colors were rich and vibrant... in a dark way that is. There was a high level detail in not only the background but also the foreground and characters. The animation was pretty smooth. It seemed it was a bit higher than your average frame rate. As for character designs. Good! Again, we have a rich and vibrant colors. The characters were cute as well. I fell in love with the uber cute Nori (Jun's sister). Music The OP was sorta creepy. It was a "darkish", almost goth-like piece that actually fit perfectly well with the animated sequence. The music elsewhere had some classical pieces, and some organ strikes. The ED was equally as good as the OP. Another goth-like piece. Series and Episode Story This turned out pretty good. I had my reservations, but it surprised me. Normally, I don't do dolls... especially when they look life like. Just creeps me out. So, I thought this might be about some freakin' creepy dolls however, I played too much into it. What you have instead is a pretty serious anime that has some good fight scenes ( enhanced by the semi-creepy background music).... even though some of these dolls look cuter than anything. The plot itself took a bit of time to develop, but you know the saying... "good things come to those who wait". There was some elements of humor, which was good, and any ecchi moments was next to none. The "Alice game" I thought was a really cool concept and gave this series an almost "Mai Hime" feel... which itself was a great anime. Overall, this was a good anime. The plot was good, the music was pretty okay and it had nearly the perfect balance of drama, action, humor and a developed plot. Last updated Monday, April 20 2009. Created Monday, April 20 2009. | ||||||||
| Buy | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
 Anonymous #3026
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[series:864#3026] |
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All 12 episodes watched: A definite buy!!! I don't know and I haven't heard of this anime yet but I have been reading reviews AND YES-- THIS IS DEFINITE BUY :) I have watched the first ep and I just wanted to see more and more and more.. :) it's a mixture of, elegance, dolls, dolls battling each other. The story is nice and the characters were all amazing especially the dolls, But what really pulled it more is the concept and the action and the music helps. You can have an idea of the anime by watching it's intro, the music and sound of the opening really matches well. It's dark, lonely, beautiful and elegant. the ending is perfect, good thing there is another sequel: Rozen Maiden Traumend , then a special which is Rozen Maiden Ouverture. Last updated Saturday, December 13 2008. Created Saturday, December 13 2008. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
 chibi
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[series:864#2380] |
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I didn't expect to like this series. From the opening credit sequence and its rather creepy music, it looked like it was going to be a show about demonically-posessed dolls or something. Instead what I got was an engaging story about overcoming personal demons that covered the 12 episodes very neatly and is now one of my favorites. The second season ("Traumend") takes the story further, but I don't think it did as good a job as this first one at resolving the themes and keeping them coherent.
Last updated Tuesday, December 05 2006. Created Tuesday, December 05 2006. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Stretch
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[series:864#628] | ||||||
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After seeing it mentioned several times here at Mikomi, I thought I'd take a look at Rozen Maiden--I'd avoided it for some time because the only lengthy review I could find frowned upon it. Peach Pit, I believe, was the manga outfit responsible for DearS, which had a basic premise largely borrowed from Chobits. Rozen Maiden, on the other hand, seems pretty original, and was no doubt designed to cash in on the Goth-loli craze in Japan. Hearing Japanese VAs singing along with the gothic OP song was kind of weird, but both the OP and ED songs are well chosen and reinforce the atmosphere of the show. The character designs seem well-drawn and sharply focused. What bothered me was that both Jun, Shinku and the other dolls he attracts seemed pretty obnoxious at first, and it was hard to get to like them. Jun has some problems, being reclusive and agoraphobic, which makes him unusual as a protagonist (and perhaps a risky main character for a manga/anime). Finding himself drafted to serve as Shinku's "servant" forces him to deal with other people (of a sort), and he becomes more likeable with time. My favorite character is Nori, his kind but scatterbrained sister. The slapstick violence seems Girls Bravo-esque at times, i.e., not funny at all; but the humor as a whole is reasonably amusing. This show can be creepy, and given the problems I'd noticed, I was initially unsure whether or not I should commit the time needed to watch it in it's entirety; but it is only twelve episodes, after all. Fortunately it's not too creepy, and the characters finally started to grow on me. Episode three is encouraging, as we see that even Jun can be kind if he has to. Episode five wasn't exactly hilarious, but was a pleasant change as humor takes center stage for once. The series takes it's time revealling the nature of the "Alice Game", (perhaps a metaphor for the "Rat Race" we are pressured to take part in to get ahead in life?) and it does so vaguely, so it's kind of hard to understand the dolls' motivations. I think it was a mistake to try to reintroduce the humor after the climax of the final episode, as Shinku behaves arrogantly again and we get mixed signals about whether she has a soft side or not; but it's not a major problem. I can't tell you exactly how the characters have transformed in the course of this series, but something good has definitely come about. Nor can I promise that I'll ever rewatch Rozen Maiden, but I do intend to watch the sequel, Rozen Maiden ~Träumend~.
Last updated Thursday, September 21 2006. Created Wednesday, September 06 2006. | ||||||||
| Buy | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
 aoneish
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[series:864#1615] |
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wow. just in the first episode i've cried, laughed and marveled. the premise is entirely refreshing and very well executed. just in the first episode you already get a feel for the characters and the little bit of action that you see, while humorous to the viewer because it involves little cute fluffy toys, isn't at all cute and fluffy, and just sets you up for wanting more and you already know when the bad guys come you're in for a real treat. i've only just watched the first episode, but already i'm in love with this series. let's hope it continues. the drawing and artwork is flawless if not beautiful, the soundtrack is composed of strings and other orchestral instruments and just fits right in and is never overbearing. i'm in love with the track "bara no jubai", it's heartbreaking yet hopeful at the same time. fits entirely with our angsty heroes. lol episode five is all kawaii. okay, so i've seen the entire series. and really, while the fighting was disappointing later on, somehow suigintou seemed stronger than shinku without a medium geez. i was expecting great things out of that battle, because suigintou and shinku seemed to have that whole sephiroth and cloud vibe. but well, yea disappointing in that area. other than that, the humor delivers, the drama delivers, geez, for dolls they have a lot of angst. it's still a pretty good series, there's still some magical fights if halfhearted, but the ending, while has a resolution, doesn't really "end" things. there's still no end to the alice games. but it's still watchable, and enjoyable, and there's already a sequel. heh. edited to say, this plus the conclusive sequel is just one very well done series. Last updated Saturday, September 02 2006. Created Thursday, August 31 2006. | ||||||||
| Buy | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
 Jan-Chan
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[series:864#967] | |
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Wow, what an interesting series. Who ever created the manga or script must have a very twisted view of the world. Jun finds out that by agreeing to be the spiritual medium for Shinku, she now considers him to be her personal servant. And while Shinku is only two-and-a-half feet tall, there is always a door that needs to be opened or another cup of afternoon tea to be poured. And the magic world that Shinku draws Jun into is very strange. It is a world where puppets can be animated and made to attack, where mirrors are portals to other places, and he learns how the subconscious mind can be a very surreal place cluttered with the memor.ies and fears of their host. It appears that there are a number of Rozen Maidens who are all in a constant competition with each other in the hopes of being the sole surviving Maiden, who will be allowed the special gift of being able to meet their Father or Creator. Jun learns that Shinku is a very strong Maiden when she is attacked by two other Maidens. Shinku defeats them, but rather than destroying them, Shinku accepts them as her personal servants and Jun find himself catering to needs of not one, but three undersized and over-pampered Rozen Maidens. But together (along with Jun’s sister), they do form the family that was missing in Jun’s life, and slowly his world and concerns begin to change. Last updated Monday, October 26 2009. Created Tuesday, October 26 2004. | ||||||||
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