Rozen Maiden (ローゼンメイデン) is a manga series created by Peach-Pit. The story centers on Jun Sakurada, a young hikikomori boy that forms a bond with Shinku, a living doll of the "Rozen Maiden" series, who was created by the mysterious dollmaker Rozen hundreds of years ago. The series examines the living habits and personality of each of the Rozen Maidens whom Jun encounters, as well as their quest to become the perfect girl, named "Alice".
Rozen Maiden was originally serialized in Monthly Comic Birz from 2002 to 2007 and in English by Tokyopop from 2006 to 2008. A new manga series started in April 2008, now in Weekly Young Jump, but still published monthly. The manga was adapted as a two-season anime: Rozen Maiden, airing from October to December 2004, and Rozen Maiden: Träumend, from October 2005 to January 2006. A following two-part special, Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre, aired on December 2006. The anime held various differences from the original plot of the manga.
PLOT
The plot revolves around Jun Sakurada, a junior high school student who refuses to go back to schoolgrace period ends. When Jun receives a letter
claiming he has won a prize and must follow certain instructions to
obtain it, he becomes skeptical, but follows the instructions. Soon
after, the letter vanishes and a wood case appears in his room. Inside
the box is a very realistic doll which, after being wound, starts moving on its own and introduces herself as Shinku, the fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden series.
after being traumatized by an embarrassing experience. Since then, he
avoids leaving his house and spends the day ordering goods online and
returning them before the
In the following, Jun becomes Shinku's "medium", a human host that provides the doll with his own life energy, allowing her to walk and use magic. This bond is symbolized by a ring worn by both parties. Now, Jun and Shinku must participate in the "Alice Game", a competition between the Rozen Maiden dolls
to capture each other's "Rosa Mystica", their primary life source. Once
a doll is defeated in combat, she loses her Rosa Mystica to the
opponent, and becomes an inanimate doll.
The last doll who remains standing wins the Alice Game, will become a
girl of utmost beauty and purity named "Alice", just as their creator Rozen wanted.
In the first season of the anime, the main antagonist was Suigintou
but was destroyed by a team effort led by Shinku. In the second season
of the anime Rozen Maiden: Träumend, Shinku, Jun, and the other dolls, meet two additional Rozen Maidens: Barasuishou and Kanaria. Suigintou reappears, as she is resurrected by Rozen himself, and this time she has a "medium", an ill girl named Megu. With all the seven dolls awoken, the "Alice Game" grows near to its conclusion. Adding to the mystery of Rozen, there is also Enju and Shirosaki, who operate their own doll shop, and the strange Laplace's Demon, who appears during battles talking in riddles.
In the last episode, Barasuishou successfully defeats the other dolls.
However, she was revealed to be Enju's creation and not a true Rozen
Maiden. She was destroyed when she was unable to contain the "Rosa
Mystica" of the other dolls.[1]unresolved as Rozen appears at the last minute, restoring the life of his dolls, except for Hinaichigo and Souseiseki and with Kirakishou, the real seventh Rozen Maiden, making a brief appearance. The series ends
Characters
Main article: List of Rozen Maiden characters
- Jun Sakurada
- The protagonist, Jun is at first a secluded boy, who refuses to go back to school because of a traumatic experience (hikikomori): After living with Shinku and the other Rozen Maidens, and experiencing their own struggles, he has a change of attitude and starts understanding the importance of friendship.
- Nori Sakurada
- She is Jun's older sister. In the absence of both of their parents, who work abroad, Nori takes care of the household. She cooks, does the laundry, and in general tends to Jun and the Rozen Maidens living with them, without getting too involved in their affairs and battles.
- Suigintou
- The first Rozen Maiden, she had a flaw in her design. Despite this, her love for their father and will to live are so strong that she can walk and use her powers without a human "medium". She holds a special hatred towards Shinku because of events in their past. In the anime, Suigintou was the primary antagonist of the first season. Her abilities involve using the feathers of her wings as weapons.
- Kanaria
- The second Rozen Maiden, she is childish and eccentric, becoming a perfect complement for Hinaichigo. In the anime, Kanaria was introduced only in the second season, Träumend. Her powers come from her skills with the violin.
- Suiseiseki
- The third Rozen Maiden, and Souseiseki's twin. She and Souseiseki are both referred to as "gardeners" for their ability to communicate and tend to plants, but also to the "soul trees" of humans. Notable in the original Japanese language, Suiseiseki ends every sentence with the word desu, making her a well-known character for this trait. In addition, she is depicted with heterochromia, her right eye red, and her left eye green, with the same colors but on opposite eyes for Souseiseki. She has the power to enter people's dreams and create vines and trees with her water can.
- Souseiseki
- The fourth Rozen Maiden, and Suiseiseki's twin. Souseiseki is sharp in her speech and a good fighter, much like Shinku. Unlike Shinku, however, Souseiseki has short hair, wears not a dresstrousers, and uses masculine forms in her speech (notable in the original Japanese language), making her more of a tomboy. In addition, her left eye is red and her right eye is green. She can enter people's dreams and cut through solid objects with her scissors. At the end of Träumend, Souseiseki is defeated by Suigintou and falls from the Alice Game. but
- Shinku
- The fifth Rozen Maiden, she is the main protagonist of the dolls. Shinku first makes a bond with Jun when he is attacked by a possessed doll. Then, Shinku is perceived as bossy and cold, but she is actually very protective of Jun and the other dolls. After living long enough, Shinku has become a pacifist and doesn't like fighting her sisters. Nevertheless, she is a good fighter, being able to fight back the ruthless Suigintou when she needs to. Her powers manifest by releasing rose petals out of her hands.
- Hinaichigo
- The sixth Rozen Maiden, she is quite childish and naïve, and is not much of a fighter. Hinaichigo has the best intentions for those that she cares about, and she is specially fond of Nori, and her cooking. Her powers work by creating strawberry vines from the ground. In the manga, her body is consumed by the seventh doll, Kirakishou. In the anime, she loses the power link that Jun provides her and falls from the Alice Game.
- Kirakishou
- The seventh Rozen Maiden, she does not possess a physical body and only exists in the "N-Field"[clarification needed]. Because of this, she consumes Hinaichigo and uses her body to step into the real world, becoming a major threat to the other dolls. In the anime, she was only shown briefly at the very end of the second season, Träumend, and she was not even called by name. In Träumend, which follows a story different from the manga, another doll, Barasuishou, poses as the seventh doll, and is the main antagonist.
Media
Manga
Main article: List of Rozen Maiden chapters
First series
The Rozen Maiden manga, produced by Peach-Pit, has been serialized in two different magazines: Monthly Comic Birz from 2002 to 2007, and Weekly Young Jump from April 2008 onwards. It has garnered quite a few followers, including Japan's former Prime Minister, Taro Aso, who gained the nickname "Rozen Aso" after being seen reading volume one of the Birz manga in public, allegedly while waiting at Tokyo International Airport. Aso remarked about the manga, "Although it looked girlish, I was impressed that its story was so deep."
After March 2007, publication of Rozen Maiden in Comic Birz
stopped for three months. Some speculated that the editorial department
lost Peach-Pit's draft, while others said there was some kind of
disagreement between Peach-Pit and the editorial department.The finale of Rozen Maiden was serialized in the July 2007 issue, with Peach-Pit apologizing to the readers for the abrupt ending, essentially a deus ex machina.
Second series
In March 2008, a one-shot manga titled Shōjo no Tsukurikata (少女のつくり方, lit. How to Make a Girl) appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine, briefly telling the story of the making of Shinku. Soon afterward, Peach-Pit announced that Rozen Maiden would start a new serialization in this magazine, a fact which was confirmed in the April 17, 2008 issue.
The second manga series began in Weekly Young Jump, though continues to release monthly. Individual chapters are referred to as "Tales" instead of "Phases". In this manga, Jun Sakurada is a university
student who finds himself in possession of a magazine titled "How to
Make a Girl", which comes with a box containing doll parts. He decides
to put together the doll from the parts and after receiving mysterious
communications from someone claiming to be a past version of him, is
soon able to awaken Shinku.
The series follows Jun's struggles to deal with his new life with
Shinku, and elucidates many of the mysteries brought about by the sudden ending of the previous manga
series. This series is an alternate reality where the middle-school Jun
initially received the letter telling him he had won a prize, but did
not follow the instructions to reclaim it.
In accordance with starting the serialization of the second series, Young Jump announced the production of a remodeled edition (新装版) of the original manga series. Young Jump promised to publish the remodelled edition on a monthly basis, with a total of 7 books.
The new books are adorned with golden covers and new cover art,
featuring each of the Rozen Maiden dolls in order of their creation.
Each book contains a promotional colored post-card, and new color pages
were said to be added.
Anime
See also: List of Rozen Maiden episodes.
The first manga was adapted into a two-season anime. The first season ran from 7 October 2004 to 23 December 2004. The second season appeared a year later, it was subtitled Träumend (トロイメント toroimento, German for "dreaming"), and ran from 20 October 2005 to 5 January 2006. In 2006, a two-episode special titled Ouvertüre (オーベルテューレ ōberutyūre, German for "overture") was aired on December 22 and 23, further expanding on the background of the characters.
The anime adaptation, although using the same premise as the manga, develops a different story, and introduces original characters that have not made an appearance in the manga. Both TV series and the special were directed by Kō Matsuo and aired in Japan in TBS and BS-i (now BS-TBS). The Japanese bands Ali Project and Kukui provided the opening themes and closing themes, respectively, of each production. In TV Asahi's "Top 100 Anime Ranking" polled in 2006, Rozen Maiden was ranked 9th on the list.
The second season, Rozen Maiden: Träumend, was an original arc that diverges from the manga. Continuing from the first season, Jun has not yet returned to middle school, but studies at home to compensate for the lost time. He is also more willing to socialize, especially with his classmate Tomoe, and he has grown fond of living with the ever-present Rozen Maiden dolls.
TV Special and OVA
A two-episode special called Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre gives insight on Suigintou's creation, and the start of her rivalry with Shinku. Ouvertüre is set at some point during Träumend, around episodes six and seven; the story is mostly told by Souseiseki, and takes place as a flashback to the 19th century in London.
The story reveals Suigintou was the first Rozen Maiden created, but she
was left unfinished without an abdomen nor Rosa Mystica. It was Shinku
who helped her walk on her. Suigintou suspects Shinku helped her out of
pity. Eventually, Suigintou was given her own Rosa Mystica and her
characteristic black wings by Rozen himself. Since then she vowed to defeat Shinku and win the Alice Game.
A 7 minute episode called Duell Walzer OVA tells the story of the fictional puppet show Detective Kunkun, the TV show that the Rozen Maidens enjoy watching while living with Jun. The story is about how Detective Kunkun foils the evil cat's plans to steal a gem from another character. The single episode was released on the Rozen Maiden: Duellwalzer video game.
Merchandising
CDs
Main article: Rozen Maiden Albums
Main article: Rozen Maiden Drama CDs
A variety of CDs have been released for Rozen Maiden, largely involving Drama CDs, or original soundtracks. Rozen Maiden OST and Rozen Maiden Drama CDs. In addition the Rozen Maiden Soundtracks were composed by Shinkichi Mitsumune.
Rozen Maiden – ローゼンメイデン ドラマＣＤ
- Translation: – Rozen Maiden – Drama CD
- Release Date: 6 June 2004
| Character | Voiced by |
|---|---|
| Shinku (真紅) | Horie Yui「堀江由衣」 |
| Sakurada Jun (桜田 ジュン) | Kobayashi Sanae「小林沙苗」 |
| Sakurada Nori (桜田 のり) | Hisakawa Aya 「久川綾」 |
| Suigintou (水銀燈) | Noto Mamiko 「能登麻美子」 |
| Hinaichigo (雛苺) | Kaneda Tomoko 「金田朋子」 |
| Suiseiseki (翠星石) | Mizuki Nana 「水樹 奈々」 |
| Tomoe Kashiwaba (柏葉 巴) | Kawasumi Ayako「川澄綾子」 |
| Laplace no Ma (ラプラスの魔) | Nakata Jouji 「中田 譲治」 |
This drama CD was released prior to the anime and used a different set of voice actresses than the anime.
Other
A PlayStation 2 visual novel, Rozen Maiden: Duellwalzer, was released on April 27, 2006. The game was developed by Taito.
Two versions were marketed for release: a "normal" one, which only
included the game, and a special edition which also included a Rozen
Maiden handwatch. Another PlayStation 2 game called Rozen Maiden: Gebetgarten was released on March, 2007. It is a 3D fighter developed by Taito with cell-shaded graphics.
Several Rozen Maiden artbooks have been published. Two artbooks called Rozen Maiden Entr'acteRozen Maiden ERINNERUNG have been released as well as two novels called Die Romane der Rozen Maiden - Schwarzer Wind and Die Romane der Rozen Maiden - Kalkgrun Augen.[9][10] Both fashion doll companies Jun Planning and Volks have released a series of Rozen Maiden dolls. The Planning dolls are based on their Pullip and Dal Doll models. Volks' Rozen Maiden-inspired designs are released as Super Dollfies.
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