Rozen Maiden (2013) - Review

You would never think that a simple question of "Wind?" or "No not wind?" would change the world, but Sakurada Jun chose not to wind. That choice split the world into two different parallel universes: one where Rozen Maiden exist and the other where they don't. Unwound Jun lived a boring and unfulfilling life until he get an email sent from his old middle school email address. Is this some scam or is it really a younger Jun trying to inform the older about something? We will have to find out as the mystery of what these Rozen Maidens are unwinds.

Story

Rozen Maiden is probably one of the few cases where you shouldn't judge the anime by its first episode. It had the misfortune to start with a "recap" episode, even though it was technically a redoing of the series. So even with bad beginnings, it quickly recovered from the slight stumble and brought something more.

And what Rozen Maiden 2013 brought was something a bit more mature than its previous iterations, with the focus being more on Jun rather than the dolls. Now, I know there are probably a decent chunk of people that are drawn in to this series because of it's cutesy dolls and a certain character ending her sentences in "desu"; well, this Rozen Maiden has that, but the majority is actually focused on more relevant and interesting thing.

Although I do admit that developing the character of unwound Jun and the overarching story can be pretty slow. I still found it more compelling -- and showed far more potential -- than the previous attempts in the series, who's focus was on the dolls and the Alice Games right from the start. At times, I would even say that the non-Rozen Maiden stuff was more interesting, which is interesting because they are in the title.

Its just a nice feeling to have a richer world outside of N-fields and the seven dolls, before jumping into Alice Games and the more magical aspects of the anime.

Art

Compared to the previous Rozen Maidens, the colors used in this one certainly have dulled; however, because the show is in a higher resolution I couldn't complain that much about the change. The fact that the art style also fits more with the theme of the story helped in making the experience feel cohesive.

There is also an obvious distinction between the more seriously toned scenes, and comic relief. Even if those types of less serious scenes happen rarely, the colors do lighten up with simpler and brighter colors, along with a very prominent outline to the characters.

Characters

• Sakurada Jun [unwound] (voice: Ohsaka Ryota)
• Sakurada Jun [wound] (voice: Sanada Asami)

In this version of Rozen Maiden, I wouldn't consider the dolls as main characters anymore -- Shinku is probably the closest to one, but still there to support Jun and her sisters. Either way, every doll is distinct enough in both personality and physical design, to not get confused of which is which -- including the twins. They all play different types of roles, whether that be big or small, they had a purpose within the series despite having more minor roles overall.

As the Jun who chose to not wind, his life and the world he lives in is split off from the one that did wind. Even if he is older that don't mean that Jun is any less insecure of himself, as he was as a teen. And with that insecurity, he never really felt like he fit into the world he is living in. So he is desperate to find that place where he fits.

I always thought that it was sad that Jun, as a character, was barely explored past the dream arc with Suiseiseki and Souseiseki -- in the previous Rozen Maiden that is. So now that we are specifically focused on Jun's insecurities and problems in life, this was probably the main reason I enjoyed the time they spent on it.

Even if Wound Jun was a bit more of a support role, he was still the one person unwound Jun kind of looked up to. And that is a strange thing to see someone older look up to his younger self, but really the whole "grass is always greener on the other side", is probably what the anime was going for.

Personality wise, wound Jun is pretty much the same as unwound Jun, only he presents his outer self a bit differently; this is probably why unwound Jun thinks wound Jun is strong, but that contrast of Jun isn't delved into too deep to really comment on in detail.

Overall

I have a pretty good time with Rozen Maiden 2013. It wasn't something that blew me away, probably due to its slow pace; however, with the focus being on Jun outright, it gave me something that was missing in the previous Rozen Maidens. Even if the ending itself was open ended after the wrap up, so I am looking forward to a possible continuation of the story.

If you didn't watch the other Rozen Maiden, and you are fine with the darker feeling anime, this is probably a good place to begin. I wouldn't say that it is particularly impressive, but the experience and story is good enough to keep me invested.