@.:Anime-Anka:.@ :: Rozen Maiden

Trimis: 10/06/2007 09:39

Rozen Maiden (ローゼンメイデン, Rōzen Meiden?) is a manga by the group Peach-Pit, with an anime series of the same name.[1] The story centers around Sakurada Jun, a young hikikomori boy that finds himself indebted to a living doll by the name of Shinku. Jun's sometimes comedic, sometimes dramatic, experiences with Shinku--as well as the other six dolls of the Rozen Maiden--slowly bring him out of his depression and back into the world that he had abandoned.

In TV Asahi's "Top 100 Anime Ranking" polled in 2006, Rozen Maiden was ranked 9th on the list. [2]

[edit] Story
Jun Sakurada is a Junior High School student who refuses to go to school due to mental trauma from an embarrassing experience there (see Hikikomori). He has taken to locking himself in his room, never leaving the house, and spends the day ordering supernatural goods online. His older sister, Nori Sakurada, does everything she can to brighten Jun's dreary existence, but is unable to change his situation.

One day, Jun receives a letter mysteriously. This letter states to place it in the drawer on his desk and a liason from the spirit world, Holie, will take it to the spirit world. Jun only has to circle agree or not agree. He circles agree and following the instructions on the letter, he places the envelope in his drawer, and a richly detailed wood box which replaced it appeared. The box contains a strangely lifelike doll dressed in french aristocratic attire. Jun, after a brief and somewhat crude examination of the doll, winds its included key carefully. The doll creaks a bit, stands up on its own, then proceeds to slap him for handling her so indelicately. She introduces herself as, "...Shinku, the fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden."

Shinku is a doll from the unique "Rozen Maiden" collection, and before Jun can fully realize just what he's got himself into, he is attacked by a knife-wielding plush toy that enters through the window. Jun finds himself pledging service to Shinku to save his life, and is thus endowed with the responsibility of protecting Shinku's "Rosa Mystica" whilst she is engaged in puternice battles with the other Rozen Maiden.

[edit] The Rozen Maidens
The Rozen Maidens are a collection of dolls created by a craftsman named Rozen, whom the dolls refer to as "Father". Their primary source of power is a human host (a "medium") that wears a ring to symbolize their bond with the doll, although certain dolls have been shown to act without a medium. According to Shinku, she can only be at full power when her medium is present. Each Rozen Maiden has her own distinct personality, guardian spirit, and supernatural ability.

[edit] Characters of Rozen Maiden
Further information: Characters of Rozen Maiden

[edit] The Alice Game
Their apparent purpose is to participate in the "Alice Game", a lethal competition that promises the winner the right to meet "Father" by becoming "Alice", a girl of supreme beauty that lives inside of "Father", which is said to be "more sublime than any flower, purer than any gem, and without a touch of impurity".[3]

The game is played through duels in which the dolls fight using both their guardian spirits and respective abilities — such as the manipulation of strawberry vines — as well as the spiritual energy from their medium. The doll that loses the duel loses her "Rosa Mystica", the very essence that endows her with the ability to move. The lost Rosa Mystica is then collected and absorbed by the duel's winner. This Rosa Mystica contains the doll's memories and emotions. The doll that gains all of her sisters' Rosa Mystica will become Alice. Shinku, the central doll of the series, is notable in that while she does not refuse to fight, she does refuse to take the lost power and kill a sister doll. Supposedly, a doll can no longer become Alice if she loses her Rosa Mystica or her ring (which is used to transfer power from a medium), but there have been exceptions to this rule.

[edit] Manga
The manga currently has 7 volumes in print, and was continually serialised in Monthly Birz Comics until the March 2007 issue. At that point, publication stopped for several 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.[4] The finale of Rozen Maiden was serialised in the July issue of Monthly Birz Comics.

The storyline between the anime and the manga have significant differences, including different stories, characters and sequence of events. Each volume costs 590 yen (excluding tax).