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Rozen Maiden – Volume 8

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Rozen Maiden - Volume 8 1

A GIGANTIC volume coming in at a whopping 98 pages long with no extras and being a great conclusion to the series…. oh wait, forget I just said that. Volume 8 is a very small manga volume in comparison to the other volumes, looking quite out of place on my bookshelf and resolving the storyline in the quickest manner possible…. without an ending. Now I am aware of all the problems surrounding this however I am here to review the manga as if there were no complications, so read on to see if this was worth me paying the same amount for the volume as every other one.

Artwork

Attack of the white background, most scenes were without a background in this volume. Character designs are thankfully still of a decent quality and the evil Kirakisho grinning at Shinku and the mirrors surrounding Jun were two scenes were actually pretty decent, so I cannot complain about the character designs. I am neutral on the artwork on this volume.

Storyline/Characters

Jun Sakurada is a reclusive middle school student that’s found himself master to seveal Rozen Maidens – mysterious living dolls that are in a battle for survival.

Jun has finally started coming out of his shell and is almost ready to go back to school, but as a result, he has turned a blind eye to those who need him most. Meanwhile, the battle for Rozen Maiden reaches a new high as they cross their youngest sister, the seventh doll Kirakisho. Kirakisho catches Shinku in her deadly web and only Jun as the ability to save her! Will he do what must be done? Read on as the final volume of Rozen Maiden comes to a  startling finish!

Two flaws with this summary. The first flaw is that sure Jun could save the day as one would expect from reading a summary like that…. but they actually cut the volume off before any of that happens. Secondly, I wouldnt call it a finish since they have another series of Rozen Maiden running in a sort of parallel world with a major cross over and all that, therefore I wouldnt say it is appropriate to call it then end.

However, the storyline of this volume is pretty solid until the ending, and considering the abrupt ending, at least they did a considerable job in leaving the ending open instead of saying everyone died or as I suppose most people would have expected – Shinku becoming Alice. All the characters get a small amount of development, however no character is prevalent in the storyline.

Extras

The only extras was a lone image of Suigintoh on the front cover and some advertising at the back. Nothing worthwhile looking at in other words.

Personal Opinion

In all honesty, this was not worth the money I forked out, especially considering most places over here seem to sell it at the same price as every other volume, I would have rather payed half the normal price for this volume. However, I think it would have been much more effective just added onto Volume 7 of the English manga set, I wouldnt have minded paying a few extra dollars for the three volumes to be added on. Other than that, pretty disappointing how the ended this season of the manga, however it doesnt lower my opinion of the series at all.

Total

Artwork: 5/10
Storyline: 4.5/15
Characters: 5/10
Extras: 1/5
Personal Opinion: 4/10

Overall: 19.5/50 (39%)

and seriously it really disappoints me to give the final volume of this high scoring manga series a failing grade.

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

2 COMMENTS

  1. You’re right! It does look out of place on my bookshelf! The first time I read it I was rushed, and I liked the ending, but later I re-read it and became less satisfied with the abrupt stop, especially after the maidens had begun to question the meaning of their existence as Jun prepared to return to school. One theme worth developing killed, on the double. However, even the poor ending couldn’t diminish the series’ greatness; it’s my favorite.

  2. At the very least I guess they are making a second season of the manga, which is quite interesting and does try and keep to the last minute ending the put on this one.

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