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R2 DVD Reviews
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Thursday, 25 March 2010 00:00 |
 Here's one that's taken its sweet time reaching UK shores - Rozen Maiden made its debut in Japan way back in late 2004, before being released in the US by Geneon and getting stuck in licensing hell for a while. It's also not exactly the sort of title that you would usually expect to see on UK shelves - which makes it all the more curious a release...
1 - Fräulein Rose (Rose Maiden)
Jun's a loner by anyone's definition of the word, keeping himself locked up in his room all day with nothing but the 'net to keep him company and not even leaving the room for meals or school, despite the efforts of his sister, Nori. Spending most of that internet time shopping only makes things worse. His latest 'acquisition' is an intricate doll, which turns out to be alive. Her name is Shinku, and she's decided to make Jun her servant - and if he refuses to do as she says, he'll be killed (by the cutest little clown doll you ever did see)...
2 - Kleine Beere (Hina-Ichigo)
It seems that Jun's not the only person who has a Rozen Maiden - young schoolgirl Tomoe also has one, Hina. Tomoe's a classmate of Nori's, and while she's visiting one day Shinku realises that she's connected to another Rozen Maiden. Problem is, Hina has an obsession with not being left alone, and in an effort to make sure Tomoe can't abandon her, draws her into a mirror world. Realising what's happened, Shinku sets out to save her...
3 - Mercury Lampe (Suigintou)
Jun's beginning to hate having Shinku and Hina around the house - his room's not his own any more, he has to deal with Hina drawing on anything that a crayon will write on, and Shinku insists on treating him as her slave. Add Hina's assertions that her & Jun are just like each other - after all, he leaves his room about as often as she's allowed to leave her case - and he's just about reached the end of his tether. It's even enough to make him leave the house. But while he's out, another doll appears - her name is Suigintou, and she's here to challenge Shinku...
4 - Jade Stern (Suiseiseki)
Seems Jun's just 'inherited' a third doll - although having a suitcase smash through his bedroom window wasn't maybe the best way of arriving. This one's name is Suiseiseki, and she really doesn't like humans, which begins to cause problems fairly quickly. She has the power to show people their dreams, though, and when she shows Jun his, Shinku and the others get their first understanding of why Jun became the recluse he is. Problem is, the dolls don't know how to get out of the dream world - but if they can't escape soon, they'll be trapped there forever...
5 - Die Treppe (Stairs)
Suiseiseki has a devious side - she's a master at the art of shifting blame onto other people, and the first victim of her scheming is Hina, who retreats to the bedroom in a huff when she's accused of stealing strawberries from Seki's cake. When Nori goes out on an errand, the battle lines are drawn, as Seki and Hina do battle. Nori's warnings that everyone had better be getting along by the time she comes home are completely ignored, as events in the house begin to run out-of-control...
6 - Tränen (Tears)
The Adventures of Kun-Kun have become a little scary lately, and it's rubbing off on the dolls - they're all too scared to spend time on their own. When Shinku decides to tag along with Jun for a while - not scared at all, you understand - Jun feels he's under some sort of pressure from her. Downstairs, meanwhile, Seki's relying on Hina to calm her own nerves, but when she hears a strange noise coming from the closet, it's not just her imagination playing tricks. Suigintou is back, and she takes Hina captive - and getting her back means a trip through the mirror to Suigintou's world...
This volume brings us the first half of Rozen Maiden's first season - MVM will be releasing both seasons, over a total of four volumes, so there's a decent amount to get through. This volume is mostly about introductions, giving us a chance to meet most of the dolls (there's still one to arrive, not counting season two's villain) and get a feel for their very different personalities and abilities before bringing the season's Big Bad, Suigintou, into the mix. Taking the "good girls" first: Shinku is calm, composed, and very assured in her own superiority for most of the time; Hina Ichigo fills the "cute" role while doing very little else of consequence; while Suiseiseki is the real comic relief of the piece, a real trouble-maker of a character who very quickly became the star of the show for me.
On the human side of the equation, Jun's one of those annoying male anime leads that seems to have very little in the way of real personality, and that makes him hard to like. He's a shut-in, with hints being dropped that school bullying is what's caused him to turn into a loner, but past that there's very little information given about him. Nori is his dedicated big sister, playing the role of mother in the absence of their parents (who go completely unmentioned throughout) - she's trying her best to get Jun back out into the real world but not having much luck. If there's anyone who may succeed where she's failed, though, it may be Tomoe, Hina's former contractor and someone who, despite only appearing in a few brief scenes past episode two, seems to form a connection with Jun.
Apart from Konoe, this bunch of misfits soon all end up living in Jun's house, creating chaos and generally making his life far more interesting than it used to be. That's one of the show's two main focusses: giving Jun a dose of "real life" (yes, I know that doesn't quite make sense when we're talking about living dolls delivering it) and making him realise that he has an inner strength that he doesn't yet realise. The other focus is on the Alice Game, where we get yet another series that channels Highlander's "there can be only one" theme. The dolls are fated to fight amongst themselves until only one is left, and it soon becomes clear that there are only two dolls who are really in the fight: Shinku, and Suigintou, who brings the real sense of threat to the series.
This is where things get a little split. The comedy side of the series is what makes Rozen Maiden for me, especially Suiseiseki's antics - but while Suigintou is an intriguing (and, frankly, batshit crazy) character in her own right, the more serious, combat-focussed side of the show simply doesn't work as well as the humour does. It also has to be said that, while Rozen Maiden is a series that is targetted at a male audience, it really doesn't do much for your feelings of manliness to be caught watching it by your other half. Let's hear it for breaking gender stereotypes, or something like that...
Still, over the six episodes that we have here, the comedy by far outweighs the serious, making for an enjoyable few hours' entertainment, so long as you're not in the camp that finds the subject matter a tad... disturbing. Well worth a look.
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