<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/2015-10-11Rozen Maiden Z.jpg">
<b>Review of Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen by darkstorm</b>
‘Rebooting’ a franchise is something that the Western side of the world is very accustomed to but mostly in movies, from <em>Jurassic Park</em> to <em>Spider-Man</em>. Restarting a story from scratch in the TV landscape, however, is not as common, unless you look in the anime world where you have many examples from <em>Fullmetal Alchemist </em>to<em> Sailor Moon</em>, just to name a few. <em>Rozen Maiden</em> originally debuted in Japan back in 2004, animated by Nomad with two seasons and an OVA following thereafter. The anime started along the same path as the manga but branched off into its own entity, only to end on an unsatisfying note. However, in 2012 a new animation series by Studio Deen was announced, adapting the second season of the manga rather than a continuation of the previous anime that remains inconclusive.<br>
Reboot or not, the basic concept remains the same; there are seven unique and magical dolls by the name of Rozen Maidens, each with their own style, powers and soul fragments known as ‘Rosa Mystica’. Each doll is born with the sole purpose of playing ‘The Alice Game’. The rules are that the dolls must make a contract with a regular human to serve as their medium, using their energy to battle their sister dolls, and take each other’s Rosa Mystica. Once one doll has acquired all seven fragments, they can become the perfect doll and be reunited with their father and creator Rozen once more. <br>
The new season is called ‘Zurückspulen’ which is German for ‘rewind’. The name is fitting as it tries to play two different roles at once; a reboot to the original anime as well as adapting the second season of the original manga storyline, which in turn can sort of serve as a sequel to the first season of Nomad’s anime. The first episode of <em>Zurückspulen</em> exclusively tries to retell the whole story of the first season whilst incorporating the ending to the manga’s first arc, to tie it up with the second manga’s story line as though the second season of Nomad’s anime and OVA never happened. Following so far? If you’re wondering how they manage to accomplish this, the short answer is they don’t; at least not very well. The episode tries to invite a new audience in by laying the groundwork without spending too much time re-treading old ground but only succeeds in pushing them further away. It goes by so fast and haphazardly that we barely get the names of the dolls and rules of the Alice game before the ending credits play. Within one minute Jun goes from rejecting Shinku’s demands to be her medium, to suddenly going ‘OK!’ and kissing the ring, sealing his fate. What’s worse is that the insistence the anime had in name checking all the dolls was not necessary at all; out of the seven dolls, only three of them have any importance to the plot for the first eight episodes of the series. The others don’t make any physical appearance until episode 9, so the debut episode could’ve been trimmed to allow more time to explain the rules of the game better, rather than being in such a rush and tripping over itself.<br>
Once it gets up from the disastrous first episode however, the series quickly recovers to tell a compelling story of a Jun of a different kind. In the first episode, and the original anime, Jun chooses to ‘wind up’ the key and start the Alice game, but <em>Zurückspulen</em> begs to ask the question – what if Jun DIDN’T choose to wind it? The answer is that Jun grows up; he manages to overcome his internal battles, goes to college and lives an ordinary life. That is until fate intervenes when the Jun from the original world becomes trapped in the N-field created by the seventh doll Kirakisho, begging the help of his adult self in a parallel world to rebuild a body for Shinku and save them all from Kirakisho’s clutches.<br>
The idea of magical dolls coming to life and battling to become a ‘whole’ entity is an intriguing one but the magic - and rules of how it works - has never been <em>Rozen Maiden</em>’s strongest asset. Phrases such as ‘N-field’ are tossed around in exposition and the power of love and friendship are used to cover up the cracks in its logic of how and why a Jun in one world is able to communicate with another, or how a doll can exist in a temporary body. None of the logistics really matter because it’s magic, and allowances in imagination can forgive it; besides, the concept of parallel worlds is an interesting angle to work with. Most stories like this always assume that the hero will make contact with the unknown, the impossible, or have that magical power, regardless of what is actually possible in the real world. Yet<em> Zurückspulen</em> opens the curtain, allowing us a peek at an alternative timeline, and despite being a show about talking, battling dolls, the story of adult Jun is actually the main selling point and best thing about <em>Zurückspulen</em>.<br>
Unlike the Jun we’ve come to know, who had the assistance of magical dolls to help overcome his demons, the alternate adult Jun had to deal with his own issues the way normal people do; on his own, and by his own volition. And like real people, the conditions we face don’t suddenly ‘disappear’ the moment you conquer them, the battle continues every day henceforth, and the world doesn’t just start being a brighter place as a result. It’s heartbreaking to see the adult Jun, having grown out of his dark place, living on his own in a small flat and working part time for a jerkish boss who clearly doesn’t deserve the role he has somehow gained. As the boss from hell starts saying terrible things about him either behind his back or right to his face, Jun’s already-shaken world and resolve to not go back to the way he was start to crumble. But that’s what makes this new Jun so relatable; he’s trying his best to stay afloat and keep his own demons at bay, and when these magical girl dolls come into his world to offer a slither of light in his gloomy world, of course he’s going to take the chance to make his life better. Who wouldn’t, in his situation? The younger Jun in the original series was sympathetic to a degree but also obnoxious and annoying at the best of times, often complaining and yelling at his doll friends more than anything. Adult Jun, however, is softer spoken and appreciates their company, even when the time he spends with them is much shorter in comparison. Seeing adult Jun grow into his own, and change into a happier person overall by the end of his quest, is a rewarding watch.<br>
Outside of adult Jun’s arc the Alice game plays around him, and sadly it’s just as unfulfilling as in the previous series. Although the inclusion of the seventh doll Kirakisho and her unique powers lay a different playing field to the ones before, we still have head-banging situations where Shinku is looking solemn, saying she’s days away from dying, and yet chooses to waste her time teaching adult Jun to make a proper cup of tea. Speaking as a tea lover, that’s a good skill to have but if several lives, as well as the actual fabric of space and time, are on the line, then maybe you should have SOME urgency in trying to prepare the man who’s supposed to be saving you? The anime concludes on a cliff-hanger as well, hoping for a another season that currently hasn’t been confirmed, so there's another reason to seek out the original manga if you wish to finally know how the Alice game actually ends.<br>
Studio Deen makes a vast improvement on the visual quality of <em>Rozen Maiden</em>; the style is largely the same as the original but they thankfully don’t fall back on static images to tell their story. The backgrounds mostly have a water-paint smudge to them, even in adult Jun’s ‘regular’ world, and the character designs are more rounded and brighter in colour, so the whole series is pleasing on the eye. When it comes to the dolls and their battles it’s also far more atmospheric; Kirakisho’s vines worming their way into the normalcy plus the excellent score by Shinkichi Mitsumune, using haunting vocals to add that eerie ethereal element, make the <em>Rozen Maiden</em> world feel more alive that it has done previously.<br>
The DVD set only contains the clean opening, clean closing and trailers as extras. A word of warning however on the subtitle quality; it varies from episode to episode. Sometimes the on-screen Japanese text is translated, sometimes not. You may get an odd ‘note’ that help elaborate jokes within the script (like a VH1 'pop up') but it’s not consistent in every episode. It’s also notable that the opening song lyric subtitles in episode 10 are at least a second, nearly two, out of sync with the vocals.<br>
<em>Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen</em> is an interesting experiment; it doesn’t truly work of a reboot of the series due to its awful attempt at trying to skip explaining the main plot and go right to the manga’s second arc. As additional material for existing fans, it’s an unusual story that excels at telling adult Jun’s story, but it still fails to give anime fans the satisfaction of seeing the Alice game finally end. If you’re yet to dip into the <em>Rozen Maiden</em> pool you’re better off tracking down the original anime, at least the first season, if you want any kind of idea of what is going on. If you’re coming from the manga side however you can dip into this easily and enjoy seeing the untold story finally unfold. <br>
<b>Final score: 7 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_05_6.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_04_7.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_07_11.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_07_2.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_05_8.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_07_9.jpg">
<b>Review of Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen by darkstorm</b>
‘Rebooting’ a franchise is something that the Western side of the world is very accustomed to but mostly in movies, from <em>Jurassic Park</em> to <em>Spider-Man</em>. Restarting a story from scratch in the TV landscape, however, is not as common, unless you look in the anime world where you have many examples from <em>Fullmetal Alchemist </em>to<em> Sailor Moon</em>, just to name a few. <em>Rozen Maiden</em> originally debuted in Japan back in 2004, animated by Nomad with two seasons and an OVA following thereafter. The anime started along the same path as the manga but branched off into its own entity, only to end on an unsatisfying note. However, in 2012 a new animation series by Studio Deen was announced, adapting the second season of the manga rather than a continuation of the previous anime that remains inconclusive.<br>
Reboot or not, the basic concept remains the same; there are seven unique and magical dolls by the name of Rozen Maidens, each with their own style, powers and soul fragments known as ‘Rosa Mystica’. Each doll is born with the sole purpose of playing ‘The Alice Game’. The rules are that the dolls must make a contract with a regular human to serve as their medium, using their energy to battle their sister dolls, and take each other’s Rosa Mystica. Once one doll has acquired all seven fragments, they can become the perfect doll and be reunited with their father and creator Rozen once more. <br>
The new season is called ‘Zurückspulen’ which is German for ‘rewind’. The name is fitting as it tries to play two different roles at once; a reboot to the original anime as well as adapting the second season of the original manga storyline, which in turn can sort of serve as a sequel to the first season of Nomad’s anime. The first episode of <em>Zurückspulen</em> exclusively tries to retell the whole story of the first season whilst incorporating the ending to the manga’s first arc, to tie it up with the second manga’s story line as though the second season of Nomad’s anime and OVA never happened. Following so far? If you’re wondering how they manage to accomplish this, the short answer is they don’t; at least not very well. The episode tries to invite a new audience in by laying the groundwork without spending too much time re-treading old ground but only succeeds in pushing them further away. It goes by so fast and haphazardly that we barely get the names of the dolls and rules of the Alice game before the ending credits play. Within one minute Jun goes from rejecting Shinku’s demands to be her medium, to suddenly going ‘OK!’ and kissing the ring, sealing his fate. What’s worse is that the insistence the anime had in name checking all the dolls was not necessary at all; out of the seven dolls, only three of them have any importance to the plot for the first eight episodes of the series. The others don’t make any physical appearance until episode 9, so the debut episode could’ve been trimmed to allow more time to explain the rules of the game better, rather than being in such a rush and tripping over itself.<br>
Once it gets up from the disastrous first episode however, the series quickly recovers to tell a compelling story of a Jun of a different kind. In the first episode, and the original anime, Jun chooses to ‘wind up’ the key and start the Alice game, but <em>Zurückspulen</em> begs to ask the question – what if Jun DIDN’T choose to wind it? The answer is that Jun grows up; he manages to overcome his internal battles, goes to college and lives an ordinary life. That is until fate intervenes when the Jun from the original world becomes trapped in the N-field created by the seventh doll Kirakisho, begging the help of his adult self in a parallel world to rebuild a body for Shinku and save them all from Kirakisho’s clutches.<br>
The idea of magical dolls coming to life and battling to become a ‘whole’ entity is an intriguing one but the magic - and rules of how it works - has never been <em>Rozen Maiden</em>’s strongest asset. Phrases such as ‘N-field’ are tossed around in exposition and the power of love and friendship are used to cover up the cracks in its logic of how and why a Jun in one world is able to communicate with another, or how a doll can exist in a temporary body. None of the logistics really matter because it’s magic, and allowances in imagination can forgive it; besides, the concept of parallel worlds is an interesting angle to work with. Most stories like this always assume that the hero will make contact with the unknown, the impossible, or have that magical power, regardless of what is actually possible in the real world. Yet<em> Zurückspulen</em> opens the curtain, allowing us a peek at an alternative timeline, and despite being a show about talking, battling dolls, the story of adult Jun is actually the main selling point and best thing about <em>Zurückspulen</em>.<br>
Unlike the Jun we’ve come to know, who had the assistance of magical dolls to help overcome his demons, the alternate adult Jun had to deal with his own issues the way normal people do; on his own, and by his own volition. And like real people, the conditions we face don’t suddenly ‘disappear’ the moment you conquer them, the battle continues every day henceforth, and the world doesn’t just start being a brighter place as a result. It’s heartbreaking to see the adult Jun, having grown out of his dark place, living on his own in a small flat and working part time for a jerkish boss who clearly doesn’t deserve the role he has somehow gained. As the boss from hell starts saying terrible things about him either behind his back or right to his face, Jun’s already-shaken world and resolve to not go back to the way he was start to crumble. But that’s what makes this new Jun so relatable; he’s trying his best to stay afloat and keep his own demons at bay, and when these magical girl dolls come into his world to offer a slither of light in his gloomy world, of course he’s going to take the chance to make his life better. Who wouldn’t, in his situation? The younger Jun in the original series was sympathetic to a degree but also obnoxious and annoying at the best of times, often complaining and yelling at his doll friends more than anything. Adult Jun, however, is softer spoken and appreciates their company, even when the time he spends with them is much shorter in comparison. Seeing adult Jun grow into his own, and change into a happier person overall by the end of his quest, is a rewarding watch.<br>
Outside of adult Jun’s arc the Alice game plays around him, and sadly it’s just as unfulfilling as in the previous series. Although the inclusion of the seventh doll Kirakisho and her unique powers lay a different playing field to the ones before, we still have head-banging situations where Shinku is looking solemn, saying she’s days away from dying, and yet chooses to waste her time teaching adult Jun to make a proper cup of tea. Speaking as a tea lover, that’s a good skill to have but if several lives, as well as the actual fabric of space and time, are on the line, then maybe you should have SOME urgency in trying to prepare the man who’s supposed to be saving you? The anime concludes on a cliff-hanger as well, hoping for a another season that currently hasn’t been confirmed, so there's another reason to seek out the original manga if you wish to finally know how the Alice game actually ends.<br>
Studio Deen makes a vast improvement on the visual quality of <em>Rozen Maiden</em>; the style is largely the same as the original but they thankfully don’t fall back on static images to tell their story. The backgrounds mostly have a water-paint smudge to them, even in adult Jun’s ‘regular’ world, and the character designs are more rounded and brighter in colour, so the whole series is pleasing on the eye. When it comes to the dolls and their battles it’s also far more atmospheric; Kirakisho’s vines worming their way into the normalcy plus the excellent score by Shinkichi Mitsumune, using haunting vocals to add that eerie ethereal element, make the <em>Rozen Maiden</em> world feel more alive that it has done previously.<br>
The DVD set only contains the clean opening, clean closing and trailers as extras. A word of warning however on the subtitle quality; it varies from episode to episode. Sometimes the on-screen Japanese text is translated, sometimes not. You may get an odd ‘note’ that help elaborate jokes within the script (like a VH1 'pop up') but it’s not consistent in every episode. It’s also notable that the opening song lyric subtitles in episode 10 are at least a second, nearly two, out of sync with the vocals.<br>
<em>Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen</em> is an interesting experiment; it doesn’t truly work of a reboot of the series due to its awful attempt at trying to skip explaining the main plot and go right to the manga’s second arc. As additional material for existing fans, it’s an unusual story that excels at telling adult Jun’s story, but it still fails to give anime fans the satisfaction of seeing the Alice game finally end. If you’re yet to dip into the <em>Rozen Maiden</em> pool you’re better off tracking down the original anime, at least the first season, if you want any kind of idea of what is going on. If you’re coming from the manga side however you can dip into this easily and enjoy seeing the untold story finally unfold. <br>
<b>Final score: 7 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_05_6.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_04_7.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_07_11.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_07_2.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_05_8.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-10-11Rozen_07_9.jpg">
