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「TALE 11」
After last week’s episode, I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this one. One of the major factors that attracted me to Rozen Maiden in the first place was its gothic appeal and that seems to be lumped in very well this season. Kirakishou has to take the prize for being the creepiest villain I’ve seen in a while. She has this presence that gives you goose bumps and yet I can’t look away because I want to know what she’s going to do next. I’ll admit that her sudden demise was not what I expected and not the manner that I thought her death should’ve been handled. She kind of just self-destructed because her hopes of becoming a “real” doll and having a master were gone. Unwound-Jun was pretty harsh there, but she deserves it in my eyes. Kirakishou can’t claim someone after he’s already signed a contract with another. On the other hand, I always thought her situation was kind of pitiful and she would go down more as a sympathetic character rather than a straight-up evil doll. Her situation warranted a bit of discussion at least, but there’s been no resolution as to why she was created in the N-Field without a body and what Rozen was thinking. This kind of just makes me feel like she had no purpose in this show other than to be a catalyst to invite Unwound-Jun to the Alice Game. In the end, I feel glad that she’s gone – but is she really? She didn’t give up her Rosa Mytica (that I saw) so I expect that she could still exist in some dimension or another.
There are some aspects to this story that I feel are just glossed over without any real explanations. I can accept them at face value, but not without cringing sometimes because then the story really loses continuity to me. The giant grandfather clock represents the gateway between the different dimensions, but it also represents the actual time. Once the clock starts moving, the gateway closes and the dolls/Juns are able to go back to their appropriate dimensions. On the other hand, this also means that time has started moving again, and Shinku’s spare body has lived out its life. What I didn’t understand was why only Souseiseki and Suiseiseki had the powers to activate the clock again. I can understand that they’re gardeners and they bring “life” by being together and using their powers simultaneously… but that feels like a cheap resolve for this issue. I didn’t really understand why the clock stopped ticking in the first place (I guess that was Kirakishou’s doing because she opened up the N-Field), but I somehow can’t accept that only two twin dolls can start it up again. It doesn’t sit well with me because it feels like a forced plot measure to involve the twins for no reason. Maybe if the clock started moving again because of Kirakishou’s death, that might’ve made more sense.
Suigintou and Souseiseki strike a deal and it’s not one that Suiseiseki’s going to like. Souseiseki gives her up life to give her Rosa Mystica back to Suiseiseki and at the same time, helps Jun return to his Unwound world. It’s very noble of her, and I think it’s for the best because in some odd way Suigintou is right. The Alice Game is a game and Suigintou won Souseiseki’s Rosa Mystica. Not far and square, but she did and I think she shouldn’t have to give it up if the purpose of the game is to become Alice. Not to mention that she’s not even in this realm for Jun – but to find and rescue Megu. Suiseiseki on the other hand, just got more irritating when she came back to life. Not because of the “-desu” but because she can’t seem to live without her twin sister. All these other dolls who have lost their bodies/Rosa Mysticas are your sisters – if you’re concerned for one, you should be concerned for them all. If you’re in it to become Alice (like Suigintou), then it’s understandable if you’re impartial to others’ deaths. On the other hand, I thought it was adorable when she proclaimed her loyalty to Wound-Jun. I don’t remember if they showed it in the first episode, but Wound-Jun has a contract with both Suiseiseki and Shinku because he’s boss like that.
Overall I have mixed feelings about the ending to this anime. It’s not likely going to end but I don’t think it’s going to be a cliffhanger either. Wound-Jun just discovered Shinku’s original body and I think there’s a story to be told there since he’s going to return to his world with all the other dolls. Whereas Unwound-Jun still has no doll technically so how will his world change now? I feel like Shinku is somehow going to come back as both Wound and Unwound-Jun’s doll… but I don’t know how that’s going to work without dividing up the two Rosa Mystica she has. I also think that with the death of Kirakishou (if it is the true death for her), the N-Field will seize to exist and there’s no more time/dimension-jumping… unless Laplace has anything to say about it. It’s all up in the air for me. Up until an episode ago I still loved Rozen Maiden. I honestly had really high hopes that it’d be an underdog that everyone’s missing on so it can’t let me down!
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TL;DR – @RCCherrie: Will this be the end of Kirakishou? Not sure where this ending is headed… Very skeptical now. Wound-Jun still needs more screen time since everything else is beginning to make less sense to me.
Full-length images: 02, 04, 05, 34.
Preview
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They had to end the anime series somehow…if I recall correctly, she’s still alive in the manga and there are still several issues they have to address (e.g Shinku’s body not located yet in the manga, the 7th doll holding on to Suigintou’s master Megu and others)
I thought she was still alive too… that’s why I noted that her Rosa Mystica still hasn’t shown up. I guess that does leave chances for another season if this one goes well.
My poor Kirakishou ;_________; I don’t remember her bursting like that in the manga!
My stance on Kirakishou is already evident. I sympathize with her. I feel like Rozen was an idiot. What was he thinking breathing life into half-made dolls just so they can compete in a death-tournament to become whole and finally obtain his love? What was he thinking about when he didn’t even make Kirakishou a body? Conceited and irresponsible is what Rozen is!
(No, really, what was Rozen thinking? o_0)
Well, to be honest the main reason why I got into this show in the first place was the interesting, intricate character designs that are based on real antique bisque dolls. I tune in every week for a dose of eye candy and the story is kind of just icing on the cake for me. So however this ends I won’t really be at all disappointed- yeah I do agree that the story’s a little disjointed and lacks finesse at times but I guess this just isn’t where the appeal of the show lies for me so it hasn’t really had any significant impact on my overall enjoyment of it…
@Beedle
Whoops, misclicked reply on your comment for some reason- meant to be an independent comment at the bottom, sorry…
No worries.
Yeah, I agree that the story is disjointed, but I think it’s because of the cast of characters on display. Or, in my opinion, some wasted time.
One of the reasons I gave in to the urge to read the manga, apart from the suspense, was because I wanted to figure out why Shinku needed to go to the Unwound-World in the first place. As we’ve seen, she spent most of her time just sitting in Unwound-Jun’s apartment and waiting for the full moon. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed at Shinku’s role in this story.
Unwound-Jun and Kirakishou, on the other hand… this really is their story.
@Beedle: I don’t sympathize with her much, but I do think that she deserves a back-story at least. She’s kind of just been shown as this “evil/outsider” doll when it’s not really her fault, it’s Rozen’s (like you said). But I mean, every story needs its antagonist and I guess it was her this season =S
Also agree with your point that this is more of a story about Unwound-Jun and Kirakishou – not so much the other dolls… which is a SHAME because Shinku is my FAVORITE =( and well… watching her boss around Wound-Jun was half of the fun in the original series. I miss watching the two of them together. Shinku is not Shinku because even she misses Wound-Jun T_T.
@Zen: Ya… the dolls are pretty =3 I love their character designs and the way they’re so tiny and delicate and kawaiiiii ~ I was honestly expecting more from this series given how it has actual manga material to source from (compared to the last season which was almost all original material). It has a good fan base already too so I feel like it was just such a let-down for me… as a die hard fan for years now T_T Unwound-Jun and his world are just not as entertaining to watch – from a comedic standpoint or from a plot development standpoint.
this episode feels totally disconnected from the other episodes. what the hell happened
No girl, even after everything she’s done I don’t think Kirakishou deserved such a literally soul crushing death. There are a lot of villains that I hate, but most of them are plain evil, they just do it for vengeance or for the lols or for whatever but Kirakishou was different. Like I mentioned she was like Chaos from Sora no Otoshimono; nobody ever bothered to teach her what it really means to be in someone’s company and how she should behave and because Rozen never got off his butt to actually design her a body she got stuck in the N-Field for hundreds of years with her only way of sustenance being to drain energy from others. Feelings were always out of reach for her so naturally she was curious and wanted to learn and did it the only way she could; by manipulating those who knew how feelings worked. For all her maturity even Shinku didn’t see that Kirakishou was broken inside and decided to take the easy way out by fighting. And Adult Jun shattered her hopes by turning his back on her without considering that she just doesn’t understand better. Kirakishou had a desire to be needed by someone outside her N-Field and be real, and if you’ve been chasing such a dream for hundreds of years wouldn’t you go insane? Anyone would go insane inside that world.
Preview; Is it just me or does it look like Suigintou is not going to take back Souseiseki’s Rosa Mystica after all? Also since the next episode is the last one if they don’t resolve what happened to Kirakishou’s Rosa Mystica could they possibly pull a Rozen Maiden Traumend and return her for a second season? Personally as much as I am all up for Suigintou as the favorite I still want Kirakishou to get her chance at life.
I agree that Kirakishou death was very anti-climatic, for a moment i thought she was gonna try a final stand against the dolls, that would have been awesome and worthy of a decent villain but no, i guess there isnt enough episodes for that, better use them to see how the plays end (sarcasm obviously).
If there is ever a fourth season i would love to see more of the Alice Game and what the dolls think about it because obviously the only one actually playing it is Suigintou, the rest are just ignoring it drinking tea all day and stuff, some wouldnt even hurt the other dolls (the twins for example), would it be okay if no doll ever win that or would it be consequences? thats a premise i would love to see.
Finally im glad Hina Ichigo was at least mentioned here since shes the only doll missing here, she was gone too soon.
LOL!! Well as Beedle said up above, this season is more about Unwound-Jun and Kirakishou than the other dolls or the Alice Game. It’s a shame because I thought this season would’ve focused more on the game and seeing actual LOSS. The only that has “died” so far is Hinaichigo and everyone else is pretty much… sitting around in the N-Field and “drinking tea” lol. It’s not even as funny or as “slice-of-life” as the previous seasons which makes it feel like a lot of build-up for a play?
Anyway, I’m being too harsh on the series because I’m supposed to be promoting it and loving it! Rozen Maiden is one of those shows that I’ve been DYING to see another season of since 2008(?) and I guess I was expecting it more to be like its previous seasons. Still have high hopes… but then again, I have high hopes for a lot of things =S
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