Rozen Maiden – 07

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Well this doesn’t look good.

…I have no idea where the time went. I apologize. OTL I did manage to finish a bunch of shoujo manga and catch up with Love Lab (and InuHasa) in my procrastination though, so there’s that I guess.

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Ah, now this is closer to the depressing Jun I remember. His views on how Saito is going to leave him pretty much sums up his view on the world at the moment. He think she only talked to him because the doll’s interference in this world changed it’s path a bit. So that’s why he’s desperate to make another doll. On the other hand though, Jun is still a pretty great protagonist aside from that. He handled Suigintou pretty well this episode, seeing through her bluffs, but at the same time accepting her deal anyways (and showing some concern for her well being). I still don’t have a clue about what the book is all about, but it did bring up an interesting concept of people wanting to leave something behind. Or in Jun’s case, he wants to keep something from the time the dolls are around since that will change the fate that this world is on.

On the other hand though, Shinku said pretty much the opposite. From her view, it isn’t the record of having something happen that’s important, but the moment itself and the fact that she remembers it. Of course, she’s lived a lot longer than Jun and has had a lot of experience with other worlds and such to draw from too. Other than if her Rosa Mystica is taken, Shinku pretty much has eternal life, and even if she does have her Rosa Mystica taken, her body will still remain (and even then, there’s the potential of her returning to life if her Rosa Mystica is given back). So her view on time is a lot different than Jun’s, and for good reason, since she’s pretty much immortal.

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…And then the wound Jun confirms that the wound Jun that unwound Jun is talking to isn’t actually any Jun at all. If it wasn’t painfully obvious by the white vines surrounding Jun this episode, the new doll that unwound Jun is handling is a part of Kirakishou’s trap. Even though she doesn’t have a body, and therefore, the body that Jun is working on isn’t her. …Er, well, I guess she does have a body now since she took over Hina Ichigo’s, but at the same time, if Jun was making that body, he would still technically be making Hina Ichigo and not Kirakishou. You’ll see. This would all make a lot more sense if they would just get to the confrontation of Kirakishou already. You have to admit though, her plan is going really well. She’s played on unwound Jun’s fears and insecurities brilliantly.

Anyways, wound Jun is stuck in the N-Feild with Kanaria (since she was the only doll who wasn’t screwed over by Kirakishou) with only Kanaria’s medium to talk to. …Which I imagine is good for company, maybe for practical advice, but not much else, since Mitsu is more of a doll fanatic than anything. She is relevant to the plot, in that she helped wound Jun get his confidence up after she sells a dress he made online (for a lot of money) and praising his skills, but she’s not the kind of relevant (like having a vast knowledge of how the N-Feild works or something else useful like that) that could help in this situation. Meanwhile, there’s Laplace’s Demon, the rabbit narrator of sorts. …Even I don’t know what his part of this all is, but he just seems to be watching everything and interfering whenever he feels like it. I don’t know if this is giving away too much, but he’s not really on a ‘side’ to this, but he’ll show up and give advice on occasion. Though he talks in riddles and nobody really likes him all that much.

The first part of the manga was equal parts about the dolls and Jun, and the first episode of the anime was all about the dolls. Both had waaay more action in them, which kept things interesting, but having this part of the story focus mostly on Jun is interesting too in a way. Seeing a possibility of how he could grow up gives quite a bit of insight on his character. Especially in the character traits he keeps, like his treatment towards the dolls and his limited view of himself. …Though most of this is probably lost in the fact that anyone who started the series with only this anime know nothing about unwound Jun. Plus it might be a bit early to talk about this, since the unwound Jun’s character has some interesting changes coming up.

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The next episode -should- be the start of day 7 for Shinku. …Probably.

About

University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
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19 Responses to “Rozen Maiden – 07”

  1. zztop says:

    So who is the rabbit-headed person, and how is it connected to the dolls? Is he their creator or something??

    • Karakuri says:

      Laplace’s Demon? Uhhh, he’s not directly connected at all as far as I know. He just kind of …watches them. He could be their creator, since the manga (as far as I’ve read) doesn’t go into who Rozen is or what he’s doing now, but I kind of doubt it. He’s more of an observer.

  2. BlackBriar says:

    With so many unseen white vines, I wonder how long the unwound Jun has been getting misleading messages and which were the geniune. From here and excluding Shinku’s appearance, it looks like he’s been tricked since the beginning. He sure is getting bolder because I liked the way he turned the tables and trapped Suigintou with his terms of agreement. From the point of view on the wound Jun, he nearly bit the dust himself. Things are getting complicated for them.

    • Karakuri says:

      Ahaha but complication makes things more interesting, doesn’t it? xD

      You’ll see how much was a trick or not soon enough, but it wasn’t really from the beginning.

      • BlackBriar says:

        True. Complications for the characters makes things interesting but as long as it’s done in the story in a way the viewer wouldn’t have any trouble following.

        • Karakuri says:

          Nothing to do with anything here, but I FINALLY finished Trinity Blood by the way! xD

          • BlackBriar says:

            Good to hear!! Did you enjoy it, who’s your favorite character, side character and did you like the interactions between Esther and Ion, especially that well done development with both of them in the prison? Just because I’m curious.

            • Karakuri says:

              Ahaha it was alright. …I have a feeling that I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the novel before since it felt like the plot wasn’t really explained well. I can’t really say that I had a favourite character, but I really liked the developments between Esther and Ion!! …I wish they had gone through with the blood drinking in the prison though. OTL Overall though, it was an interesting series once I actually sat down and watched it.

            • BlackBriar says:

              I agree with most of what you said. In some areas, the story was shaky. I have a few favorite characters but front and center is Astharoshe Asran. She is so disciplined and sexy, especially with that red streak in the middle of her hair. Esther and Ion would have made a great couple and like you, I wish he did drink her blood. It would have made things even more dramatic because the parts of him going crazy with bloodlust was well done. Maybe he could have turned her if she she still had a pulse.

  3. Highway says:

    This is still one of my favorite shows this season. Having Shinku show her petty but impotent jealousy of Saitou in fairly recklessly and savagely tearing the paper his “charming girlfriend” put on, but then settle in Jun’s lap to read the book, and her monologue about the impermanence of empiricism, and that it doesn’t change the fact of things happening. Personally, I love things that touch on solipsism and empiricism, and the struggle to determine the boundaries of existence.

    I do fear what will happen to Jun when he completes the doll (and also what will happen to him when Shinku finds out he was working on it, contra her decree), and almost wish that wound Jun could have Mitsu call unwound Jun and tell him to stop what he’s doing. But I’m happy to see how the story plays out, since it’s got just a tremendous atmosphere, like Suigintou’s attacking of the pocky while she talks to Jun or Shinku’s charity towards Suigintou to keep her alive. Definitely a show I look forward to, and yet hold off on watching as long as I can on Friday.

    • Highway says:

      And for silly Rozen Maiden tie-in things, I’ve come to think of the indicator light on my new phone in terms of Artificial Spirits. So Holie tells me that the phone is not charged yet, and Lempicka tells me that I have a message or notification.

      Yeah…

      • BlackBriar says:

        Are you sure you haven’t been drinking something potent, Highway? If so, it’s probably time to cut you off. 😉

        • Highway says:

          “What was that, Meimei? Tell BB to shush? Well, ok…”

          😉

          • BlackBriar says:

            Hahaha, well, I tried my best. Alcohol (or Chuunibyou) wins this battle but I will be back!!

    • Karakuri says:

      The trick is both as sinister and not as sinister as you’d think. I really liked what happened with it. …And I don’t think Mitsu can call unwound Jun. The only reason wound Jun could do it was because he was in the N-Feild. I’m rather happy with how this turned out as well. The original had a lot more action in it, but this version waaaaay outdoes the old anime in atmosphere. This one is more like an artwork or something.

      • BlackBriar says:

        The other version had action in it? That’s strange to hear seeing that this barely has such excitement going for it.

        • Karakuri says:

          The first season was like a lot like the first episode, only less rushed and with a lot of filler-ish scenes of the doll’s daily lives.

        • Highway says:

          Yeah, I get the impression that the old ones were much more fighting oriented, with spaces in between to set up the fights.

          In this, the long game is the key factor, and patience is required. They’ve shown enough of the fighting between Shinku and Suigintou to get the message across that they’re not best of friends, but not spent a lot of time with it. And I like that, because I far prefer atmosphere over fighting.

      • Highway says:

        Oh, I get it, Mitsu isn’t in unwound Jun’s world, she in wound Jun’s world. That makes more sense.

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