First off, I’m going to just assume there will be a third series. There is simply no way for there not to be. The first series ended in a way that at least had some closure, but Rozen Maiden Traumend essentially left us on an extended cliffhanger. What is the alternative way to become Alice? Can the other Rozen Maidens be revived? Will the real Bara Suishou please stand up? And what’s going on with that silly rabbit that doesn’t know that tricks are for kids?
On it’s own, Rozen Maiden Traumend had a lot going for it. The most successful aspect of the 12 episodes was the way it gave the viewers much deeper insight into the various dolls. In the first season, we really only got to know Shinku, and possibly Suisei Seki, but this time we got a really good look at Suigin Tou, Suisei Seki, and Hina Ichigo. Newcomers Kanaria and Bara Suishou were welcome additions, and Sousei Seki was as boring as ever (although she was revealed to be a know-it-all). Whereas last time the focus was on Jun and his hardships, the focus this time was almost entirely on the dolls and the Alice Game.
In terms of story, I’m a little ambivalent. The first few episodes were slow, plot-wise, but lots of fun. However, the way the action picked up so quickly near the last 3 episodes made it almost unbearable when the series simply ended without much resolution. I was also disappointed that they didn’t play the fantastic battle music from the first season, especially during the Megaman fight sequence between Shinku and Bara Suishou. Speaking of music, most of the music was reused, but I liked the new OP (wailing banshees and all) and ED.
On its own, Rozen Maiden Traumend is a bit iffy, but if it’s simply part of a larger series, I think there is a lot of potential for the whole story to be really super. I bet they could wrap everything up completely in 6 episodes. Or a long movie. Really I’d be happy with whatever resolution I could get. Even as I write this, my mind is abuzz with questions (Is Rozen supposed to be like God or something? How did he get his shirt so white? Where are the Elric brothers?). I really enjoyed the ride, but Rozen Maiden Traumend left way too many loose ends to be considered a complete success on its own.
Kabitzin’s Rating: 4.5/5
Related posts:
13 Comments
I d/lodaed this anime, and I had a firm resolution to watch every ep.Stopped at ep. 2,this is definitely not my cup of tea. I appreciate somewhat the design, but the story hasn’t caught me at all.
(These days I’m in bed with a HELLUVA tonsillitis, so I have a lot of free time to comment yer blog …. as you might have seen I’ve become a little graphomaniac)
Did you watch the *first* series before trying to watch the second? Because Rozen Maiden Traumend is the second season, if you will, of Rozen Maiden…
I think your analysis of Traumend is a bit harsh. I haven’t watched the first season (but I did follow the reviews of the first season in anime blogs) and yet I found Traumend to be rather enjoyable. Yes, there was no real resolution but I think you would agree with me that this is a general trend in anime now. In recent years, a lot of anime shows which are based on manga have started airing before their parent manga has finished serialisation. This has led the directors to use “no resolution” endings when the show reaches its last allocated episode simply because the manga is still running and hasn’t ended yet. Recent examples include School Rumble, Aria, Rozen Maiden, Full Metal Panic and Honey & Clover. You could argue that the director can come up with an original ending to the show if he/she likes but I think that Japanese directors these days wish to remain faithful to the original work and not tamper with something as pivotal as an ending to a good story. I also think that anime shows which are based on manga these days are largely playing a promotional role for their respective manga so they try to remain as faithful as possible to the manga. You will notice that both School Rumble and Aria have managed to get a second season because they are popular enough. I have no doubt in my mind that Rozen Maiden will get a third season if the ratings were good enough and/or the manga sales were encouraging. Having said that, Rozen Maiden Traumend on its own was really good in terms of animation, music, plot and character development if you realise that a “no resolution” ending was inevitable. It’s just a well executed stage in the series of stages that make up the Rozen Maiden story.
I think it’s harsh to say that Souseseki was boring. I admit that I prefer Suiseseki over her but Souseseki was still a very admirable person. She had determination and a strong will. She was also very calm (a definite plus in my book). Her confrontation with Shinku in episode 2 increased my respect for her even more. It’s true that she did a stupid thing by deciding to fight alone but that’s just because she is dedicated to what she believes in (a “woman of principle” if you like). If this show was a military strategy show, I bet Souseseki would have been a top commander or something. I think she deserves more credit from the fans.
Although the review sounds harsh, the score given by Kabitzin speaks for itself (I can’t recall if we have rated any series higher than 4.5). I would rate it around the same, not only because of all the great things that Kabitzin has already mentioned in the past, but also because it’s one of the few series that has awesome fillers. To be honest, I almost enjoyed the fillers MORE than the main plot episodes (even the silly post office box one that everyone seems to hate). I guess this series just really tickled all my hotspots, packing in the right mixture of cuteness, mystery, humor, and drama. For a series that’s about “a bunch of dolls sitting around and drinking tea”, that’s pretty darn good.
Ender’s rating: 4.5/5
As far as I can tell, the entire purpose of Traumend was to fix the inconsitencies between the anime and the manga.
As of the end of Traumend, the situation is pretty much what it is in the manga right now. Hina and Sousei are dead, and the seventh doll has just been revealed.
Alos, the doll at the very end was Kirakishou (Snow Flower Crystal), the real Seventh Doll. And she’s crazy. Crazier than Bara Suishou was.
You mean there’s a level above Bara Suishou’s level of craziness? Oh. That’s DEAD SCARY.
Well, you can’t really be very sane if you play basketball with Roza Mysticas.
Hmm… unfortunately for Mohammad, I agree with the review… somewhat.
Souseseki isn’t exactly boring, but she has no determination or will to stand up for herself. In the first season, she remained being under ‘Grandpa’ because she wanted him to be happy (even though it meant lying to him and even though she had to suffer) instead of finding a way to solve the problem (i.e. be honest) she remained as ‘Kazuki’ (I hope I got the spelling right) And in Traumend, she is willing to kill her other sisters for the sake of Father. Whatever she believes in is not good for her. It destroys her, like some person who would kill another to make someone he/she loves happy. And that shows that Souseseki has no love for herself. if you don’t love yourself, you will never learn to truly love anyone.
Anyway instead on blahing on my own comments, I should start my own anime blog if i wish to. Thanks for the review.
What actually fascinates me about the anime is that the story plays out pretty well, dolls die when they should and the music, the music is nice and Hina Ichigo’s hair. (i’m still disappointed over the rushed final episode, are they trying to squeeze it all to 12 episodes?)
I have digressed but Rozen Maiden is quite okay, that is, until I read the manga. Hopefully it will not be a complete flop like the Chrno Crusade anime compared to its manga.
On another note, I heard there was speculation about a second manga with a new storyline, or at least the same one re-done in color. Trust me, Kirakishou makes Barasuishou look SANE. Show ▼
Personally, I liked the manga better than the anime, despite the fact that Tokyopop messed around with some of the names (not cool). There are quite a few differences between the anime and manga. For example, Barasuishou never existed in the manga (same goes for Enju). Also, Shinku is slightly less serious, and actually gets flustered in the first volume when Suigintou says, “Oh, Shinku, when you’re mad you get so . . . ugly.” (Rozen Maiden Volume 1).
Man, I will never understand why fans keep panning the Chrno Crusade anime so much… I am not a manga reader, so I have never read the Chrno Crusade(CC) manga before, and in my opinion, the anime version rocked. As a matter of fact, I consider the CC anime to be one of my all-time favourites. It really reminds me of all the wringing over the LotR movies…
Anyway, before I get too side-tracked in my post…
I just started watching the Rozen Maiden(RM) seasons yesterday, and completed watching them in a day. After having watched them, a few things came to mind.
..) Suigin Tou is the greatest comeback queen of them all. It is almost as though she has the ultimate, Resurrection, or something…
..) Episode 5 is the designated hijinks episode.
..) No doll can have a non-emo death scene. Not even the villianous ones. In fact, if it is the death scene of a villianous doll, make the death scene so tear-jerking that the audience will feel bad for wanting her to die.
I very much enjoyed the first season, but my viewing of the second season was somewhat ‘tainted’ by the last few episodes. I suppose it would have been better of I had been watching an episode a week, but basically what happened was that so many dolls started perishing in the endgame, that unlike the earlier deaths, I became quite numb when they died. Sort of shellshocked, so to speak.
In the grand scheme of things though, I have very little to complain/whine/gripe/wringe about RM or RMT. Of those that I do,
..) The wasted potential of Suigin Tou’s character development in RMT was almost criminal. Her arrival was greeted with much funfare, but she became relegated to being a side character in the series. So much more could have been done with her character, which I guess is one of the greatest shortfalls of having a 12 episode series. Too many characters, not enough episodes. SO. MUCH. MORE.
..) Kanaria was annoying, period. Her death was probably the only one that I was looking forward to. The producers probably realised that Kanaria was not a fan favourite, because to further compound my misery over her, they had to make her be the one to ‘protect’ Suisei Seki’s Rosa Mystica. OH. MY. GOODNESS.
Talk about conflicted feelings. On one hand, I want Kanaria to die, die, DIE. On the other hand, I rather Hell freeze over before letting any of the ‘bad’ dolls take Suisei Seki’s Rosa Mystica. Grrrr…
..) The waffling of Shinku in RMT. Her pacifism was well-intended, but oh man, this is not Gundam Wing or something. Pacifism does not work on everybody, and her relunctance to fight caused a lot of her friends to die, not to mention her own death. If anything, choosing not to fight to defend your close ones is a bigger no-no.
I also want to grievously hurt Jun for the absurd lack of sense he had in distracting Shinku while her mortal enemy is still next to her consicous. Can he not at least tell Shinku to restrain Bara first?… …
~~~~ ~~~~
Next, my personal list of favourite Rozen Maiden dolls, in ascending order. :-)
..) Kanaria, oh Kanaria… Unlike Hina Ichigo, she basically got almost-zero character development, and became the laughing stock/punching bag of RMT. Maybe it is because she had less than a season to get better, but whatever it is, I just find her annoying.
..) Hina Ichigo. She was intriguing in her debut episode, and lovable in her death episode. While she was annoying inbetween, she really has grown up a lot. Too bad I cannot really connect with her personality. Her ranking here reflects more about my preferences than her faults really.
..) Bara Suishou. Her death scene alone propelled her to this status, because I have mucho sympathy for girls in extreme distress. It is kind of hard to ‘hate’ her when you reflect upon her situation. Her father is a freaking lunatic, and just imagine what kind of environment her father must have raised her in, and it is therefore not too hard to sympathise with her.
..) Sousei Seki. Sousei would most probably be ranked higher if it was not for one thing. She is currently dead, and it is kind of hard to get character development when you are dead. One of my biggest frustrations prior to watching the RM series was that I was unnecessarily spoiled on Sousei’s death. It made me very uncomfortable about watching Souseki from episode to episode, because of the impending doom over her. Despite all this, her personality struck a chord with me, and I strongly believe that had Sousei remained alive, she would have been a contender for top two.
..) Suigin Tou. Like Bara Suishou, the revelations during Suigin Tou’s first death made her very, very, sympathisable. I only wish that they chose to show more of the interactions of Suigin Tou and Megu, instead of her ‘faux evil’ side. This wasted character development potential is why Suigin Tou is not ranked higher on my list.
..) Shinku started out very strong in the first season, but waned in the second. Up until RMT, Shinku was actually my favourite; then she started to develop characteristics of Kira( from Gundam SEED) and Vash( from Trigun), and I was like OMG! NOOOO!!!!
..) Suisei Seki for the win. The sheer amount of time dedicated to her character development really flesh her out very well. It is also not too hard to like a girl( doll…) who is both diabolical and caring. Watching her break down over Sousei Seki was painful, and seeing her protect Kanaria was very aggravating. I was wary at first of her character when she was first introduced, but ever since the fifth episode of RM, she became a contender for the top spot.
ADD]
Oh yeah, I would also like to point out that it is very hard for me to explain RM to non anime-junkies… Just imagine trying to tell your friends what you are watching…
Friend: “So what is that, that you are watching?”
You/Me: “It is a show about dolls that have to battle one another in order to become the perfect girl, Alice.”
Right… I can imagine the stares already. I myself was very reluctant to pick up the series, till I read this article. An article that I read due to the Chidori vs Belldandy vote, which I found out about from this blog.
Simply put, I am a sucker for diabolical laughter, and anything that mentions good diabolical laughter gets my interest. The final nail was the OP of the first season. It really, really, REALLY got my interest then.
Rozen Maiden is an interesting series simply because the premises are very different from that of other “conventional” anime. Instead of focusing on humans and humanoids out to save the world, the world of Rozen Maiden combines aspirations for “perfection” with the trauma and deep psychological analysis of what it means to be “human”.
As everyone has well noted, the series draws you in, despite it’s silly premise. An anime devoted to dolls? How insane! Yet because it has a good story development, I found myself watching episode 6 of season 1 before realizing how much I was into the story. Yes, I must admit the ending of Traumend leaves much to be desired, but it is almost impossible to not “connect” with at least one character in the show. On all counts, the music, animation, storyline all combine for a powerful anime series not purely driven by money, but by the heart and love of it’s animators.
All the dolls are incontestably “human” in their own ways, displaying the different psyches, passions, and weaknesses of being human. Ultimately, each doll is identifiably alive and human, and precisely because of this, we can sympathize with them and feel anguish for their deaths. Ironically, dolls, which were first made to represent the prefection, are themselves not perfect unless they are willing to commit to killing each other. The audience grows to bond with these characters, however, making an interesting morale dilemna: is it best to fulfill one’s karma to become Alice, or to remain in harmony and peace?
I look forward to a third season of Rozen Maiden. However, the manga translations I’ve read so far from TOKYOPOP do not do the anime justice.
I’m very satisfied with every of Rozen Maiden episodes, but one day I found in Flickr image collections there are some screenshots that shows Suigintou makes up with Shinku like a true sisters,where Suigintou joins shinku having a cup of tea!!! A scenes that never been showed in any of Rozen Maiden series!!! Another is ,when Suigintou’s body was cut into two by Souseiseki’s Lenpica and I got shocked to see Suigintou’s crying like a small child!!! Who? Who can tell me that Rozen Maiden had already make additional episodes besides than “Traumend”
Aidil, “Rozen Maiden” had a first season, “Träumend” was the second. There are also two special episodes called “Rozen Maiden – Ouverture” which shed some light on the past.