Title: Rozen Maiden – Collection 01
Published by: Madman Entertainment (Australia) and Geneon Entertainment (US)
Based on: Rozen Maiden manga series by Peach-pit (Different Storyline)
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (16:9)
Runtime: 300 Minutes over two dual-layered DVD’s
Cost: $AUD 39.95 (JB Hi-fi a few months back), however there is now a Collection 1 and 2 box set with both seasons of the anime going out for about $AUD 55.00.
Copyright Information: © PEACH-PIT/Rozen Maiden PROJECT
As most of you may not know, one of the first reviews on this blog covered the Japanese version of this anime and was originally a planned episode by episode review, however being the young person I was, I dropped the title and never picked it up again to review. However, a few months back I found this on the shelves at my local JB Hi-fi and thought it would be good to watch it in English, after getting over my surprise that this was picked up for English release in Australia considering its age.
The Rozen Maiden anime was something that kind of got me hooked on anime in the first place, and has in turn encouraged me to follow the original manga series that was released by Tokyopop a few years ago. I hadn’t actually watched the series since I started the manga volumes, so it was good rewatching this with english dubs to fully enjoy the unique storyline. The question is… is this a worthy anime for the popular manga series and is the english dubbing sufficient enough to appeal to the english audiences, just as the Japanese version did? Read on to find out…. in my review of the first season of Rozen Maiden.
This is the story of an exquisite doll who wants to meet her doll maker. This is the story of one young boy and an exquisite doll, and their adventures as they strive to help each other overcoming their fears and the very real dangers of the Alice Game. However, in order to do that, they must overcome their distrust of each other.
The blurb at the back of the DVD cover is lacking, however it does leave the storyline open for those who know nothing of the series. However, the doll hunting for her maker is only a small part of the storyline, sort of a backstory for the whole series that is very rarely touched upon. Instead, the primary storyline revolves around two characters, Shinku the fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden series and the main doll in the series and Jun Sakurada, a hikikomori who shuts himself in his room and has a hobby of shopping for oddities and scam items online. One day, Jun receives a letter in which he must choose to wind or not to wind, and chooses to wind due to the prospect of “alternate dimensions and faeries”. He receives Shinku who originally treats him like a servant and acts snobbish to him. During the series, several other dolls join him such as Hinaichigo (A doll w ith a child-like appearance and personality), Suiseiseki (The oldest of two twin dolls and is the pranker of the group) and Souseiseki (The youngest of the twins who has a more serious personality and dedication to her own master). These characters join throughout the episodes of the series, usually with their own unique storylines that span over an episode or two. These unique character storylines, with the exception of Hinaichigo’s, is unique to the anime and generally have a more “Good End” to them.
Unlike the manga which focuses on the Alice Game as a whole (The Alice Game being where the dolls much fight each other until one remains), the storyline primarily has Suigintou as the antagonist whilst the other characters are all portrayed as protagonists. Most of the storylines, including the character individual storylines have some sort of root cause relating to her and involves the dolls and Jun fighting her off. The dolls get a balanced screen time so one character doesnt fall into the background after their storyline is over. If you were to compare the manga to the anime however, I would say the mangas storyline was more indepth, the anime used what it had well (Considering the manga was still being produced when this anime was being made) and allowed more of a backstory into Jun, including an extended look into his personality, and fears.
As stated above, the aspect ratio for the DVD’s are 16:9, and having watched it on my PS3, which is connected to a 32″ HD LCD television, I can easily say that the graphics quality presented is good. Taking into consideration that the anime series was released in late-2004, the quality is definitely better then I was expecting. Taking a look at the character designs, they are well detailed and represent the character designs for the manga series. Their facial expressions are well designed as well and do not look fake, except of course when they are going for a supernatural scene or a comedic scenes.
Environment designs are also well designed and during most scenes, they have added slight details such as cracks in glass or some items in a cabinet to show that they havent just designed a basic backdrop and left it like that, or worse… my least favorite thing when it comes to designs, the dreaded plan (Insert colour) backdrop, which is thankfully not in the series. Animation is smooth and detailed, and the fast paced scenes take place in a way that does not make it look like they drew every few frames of a sequence. Lip syncing to the english voice overs were perfect, and I did not notice any problems in the syncing.
Opening Theme: Kinjirareta AsobibyALI PROJECT
Madman Video Link: Click Here
Do note that the link above goes to the Madman Videos website, and whilst it states it is a trailer, it is actually the full opening sequence of the anime. Anyway, personally this is the ALI Project song that got me into their works, it has a nice fast-paced gothic tune to it, however at the same time, it actually works quite well as it is different from the overall tone of the series. Whilst this song has much darker elements to its tune, the series is a lot more lighthearted, and this song, at least to me, made me look at the series in a more darker light, and appreciate it more. To this time, it still remains one of my favourite anime themes.
Ending Theme: Tomei Shelter by refio and Haruka Shimotsuki
Youtube Link: Click Here
In contrast to the very epic opening sequence, I cannot say much to the ending theme except *yawn*. This is just my opinion and personally this song does not cater to my tastes in music or animation. The music is slow paced and for whatever reason makes me want to skip over it, whilst in terms of design quality, the artwork is nice and detailed, however the artwork also didnt appeal to me. I would say this song would depend on the individuals tastes.
In terms of music, there are a considerable number of tunes that are used during the series, with them catering for any scenario the series throws out, including softer themes for the periods at home, fast – action paced music for the numerous battles and the music for things inbetween. There is a variety of songs ensuring that the song is not repeated every single episode. My favourite tune would be without a doubt Battle of Rose, which is used during a few of the battle sequences during the series as well as the episode preview, and despite it most probably being the most used song in the series, I never tire of it.
In terms of English Dubs, the dubs do the series justice. Their tones and expression in their voices suit the characters and their respective personalities, in comparison to the Japanese dubs, I would put them on equal and would say that those who set the dubs to Japanese automatically, to give the English dub a try since it isnt all that bad. The only small issue I have overall, and it may be a reason to turn to Japanese dubs, is the absence of Suiseiseki’s ~DESU from her speech, that whilst possibly sounding awkward in the english dub, was something that is popular to Suiseiseki as a character.
Personally, I think this series is a definite watch for any fan of anime and I do not think you would be disappointed, especially with both Collections being in one set now for the same price (Althrough this review only caters to the first collection). This series does not keep to one tone and caters to people of many different genre preferences. The characters all have good development and whilst there are filler episodes, they are not ones that were added in for the sake of it, and instead feel like they contribute to the development of the characters.
