Rozen Maiden – 12
Saying “farewell”…
…Or not, since this has another episode to it. This was a really good wrap up to this… section(?) of the plot here though. The supernatural part of the plot with the dolls has all been brought to a rather nice conclusion. Now we just need the conclusion to the part of the plot that was about unwound Jun’s life. |
So to answer a question from the first episode that I didn’t really need an answer to: no, the first episode didn’t happen in the span of 48 hours or whatever. It was just an extremely abridged version of what happened in the wound Jun’s world before the plot moved on to the events happening now. Okay, Hina Ichigo might have annoyed me in the long run of when she was around in the first part of Rozen Maiden, but she was ridiculously cute here. As you can probably tell, she’s one of the dolls who was never really into the whole idea of the Alice Game. She was more concerned with being friends and playing since she was just so ronery. If I remember the manga correctly, it’s because her last medium (the one before Tomoe, aka the girl who appeared in the first episode) kind of just abandoned Hina Ichigo and that kind of traumatized her. I think even more so, since Hina Ichigo has the mentality of a child. So it makes sense that she would willingly give her Rosa Mystica to Shinku and help protect her body like that, since Shinku was her friend. Hina Ichigo truly cared (cares? I guess she’s technically still around…) about Shinku.
Of course, this whole thing is all new for Suigintou though. Like her little monologue said, she thought that the only way to win the Alice Game was to kill all of her sisters. Hina Ichigo provided an interesting alternative. Of course, her pride keeps her from saying that she might have been wrong, but this was eye-opening for Suigintou. Well, maybe she hasn’t entirely given up, since she basically tells Souseiseki that she’ll be back. At least this way, we get to see more of Souseiseki. She had a tragically small amount of time in the plot of the first season before she was taken out, so it’s nice seeing more of her here. …Or at least, we’d see more of her if the anime wasn’t ending in an episode.
I’m not sure if the part with Suigintou having more memories of her time with Megu was really necessary, since we got the gist of it with that other flashback they had near the beginning. However, I guess this ties in to the next part of the story. Hopefully this means that they plan on making more of the Rozen Maiden manga into an anime in the future. Obviously Suigintou’s part of the plot isn’t over, and the fact that the white vines were coming out of that doorway means that Kirakishou isn’t gone at all. …Though I guess I’ve been said that she’s not really gone since the last episode.
So maybe having wound Jun recover Shinku’s body and bringing it at that moment was very… convenient. However, the parts with Shinku saying goodbye to Jun were great. There was the mention of little girls eventually outgrowing their dolls, and really, that fits so well with the situation here. This Jun has grown up. He doesn’t need to rely on dolls anymore, he can get by in life without their company. Shinku knows this, and like a doll, she’ll just kindly watch his growth from afar. This is kind of what she was getting at too with that speech she had a couple episodes ago about how it’s not important to leave something behind, but the important thing is the moment itself. It was such a nice touch too in the story with him handing his wound self the key. Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference as to who actually wound Shinku at the time, but it was the unwound Jun acknowledging that he made his choice a long time ago, and he wouldn’t go back and change it, since he likes his life now. Having each Jun walk up a different tree branch was great too in the same effect.
As far as goodbyes go , this hit all of the right notes with me. It was really touching, and was a good balance between “it’s sad to see Shinku saying goodbye to unwound Jun” and “d’awww, look how much he’s matured; he doesn’t need Shinku now and she totally understands that”. I might be spoiling things here, but unwound Jun does get to meet up with the dolls again farther down to plot (not that he knows it’s coming, but still). So it’s not like this is a permanent “goodbye”, but more of an acknowledgement that unwound Jun doesn’t need them to support him constantly in life. The ending with Shinku in front of the mirror would have been an excellent place to end the series at, since we already had some closure with Jun seeing the end of the play/ the effects of his wish. The play actually looked really interesting, I wish we could have seen the whole thing… However, we get even more of a conclusion with the wrap up of unwound Jun’s new perspective on life the next episode. Bonus!
It should be a good watch. I’m still curious about the book narrative thing they have going on, so maybe this will all tie together. …Somehow.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, I’m actually looking forward to this coming episode because I love epilogue endings (well, usually, when they don’t mess stuff up).
This show is tremendous. If you had asked me at the beginning of the season, I would probably have said “I’ll give it a try, but I don’t know if I’ll stick with it.” And from episode 1, I’ve been captivated, even if 1 was fundamentally different from the rest.
This episode was a great storyline wrap up, continuing the same great qualities of the series so far: atmosphere, thoughtfulness, and great perspective. I know I talk about the scale of the dolls a lot, but that shot in profile was almost perfect: Jun with all these knee-high dolls around him. And the way the direction went, giving the dolls involved in the argument, Souseiseki and Suigintou, the spotlight without having Shinku and Suiseiseki make too much interruption.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
No need to fear here. This (shouldn’t) ruin anything. …Unless the book does something like that, but I doubt it.
Good to know you enjoyed this! Hopefully a lot of people had your reactions… I’m really hoping that this was popular enough for another season. Or if not, I hope the Rozen Maiden do well in next year’s Saimoe at least.
Souseiseki never had enough time to really shine in the first season of the story, since that was mostly Suiseiseki worrying constantly, so it’s nice seeing her here.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Souseiseki (I keep thinking of ‘him’) seems like the quiet reliable one, as opposed to the diva-ish Suiseiseki. I thought this series did really well not making any doll be overbearing. Even Hinaichigo was cute and relevant in her appearance this episode. I keep wondering where the rest of the dolls are, but of course this is it. And while it would be tremendous if unwound Jun could have some sort of alternate universe Shinku, I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t happen. Not that he needs her anymore.
And the play was kind of interesting looking, but I’m glad they didn’t spend a lot of time on it. I tend to find that stuff a little too meta (play within a play oooooooo).
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I am actually surprised that this is where the show is going to end. 0_0 I thought that this would end the Rozen Maiden series entirely.
I agree with this episode being a good ending point but it will be nice to see unwound Jun and his new outlook on life.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Oh no, the story goes on long past this. Though knowing Peach-Pit, they end it off with the most inconclusive ending possible. I was really disappointed with the endings to Shugo Chara, DearS and Zombie Loan (though SC’s epilogues made things better)
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A fairly uneventful but interesting episode. I know this series has 13 episodes but it felt like things ended right here so I have no idea what the last one is going to be about.
So once everyone returns to their original world, does unwound Jun lose all his memories of Shinku until they meet again or does he get lingering flashbacks now and again?
I forgot how demented Megu’s views are about the world and life itself. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that if she didn’t meet Suigintou, she’d most likely commit suicide out of despair.
Side note: I wonder how most people feel about having an anime they’ve seen in the past being rebooted for the current audience. I’m still new to the Rozen Maiden universe so it’s an experiment for me but surely those who’ve seen the original have been making comparisons. Speaking of reboots, Yozakura Quartet is getting its update for Fall. I’ve seen the 2008 version so I might be biased on some things.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I wouldn’t really call this Rozen Maiden a reboot. More of a continuation of the story. Although from what I know of the original anime(never finished it…) it doesn’t go the same route as the manga so that might have thrown some people off.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Well, the last one’s going to be about unwound Jun.
Uh, nope. He has his memories intact.
Like Liza said, I don’t think this is quite a reboot. More like a long awaited continuation. Yozakura seems like it will be a complete retelling though. I remember the manga being nothing like the anime (other than the first part), so we’ll see.