Rozen Maiden Ouverture ep. 2















Yesterday I was so mad at Shinku. However, with this episode, I've forgiven her.
..Kinda like how the range of emotions go with almost every episode of Rozen Maiden.
The conclusion to this 2 part special starts basically right where the first left off. Perhaps now that Shinku knows just who this strange doll is, she begins to treat her with more respect. ..Or at least a
little more, as Suigintou will still have nothing of this new-fangled "civilized communication" thing. However, Shinku's forced to go back into defensive mode when Suigintou lunges at her brooch, remembering it from her flashback from episode 1. Shinku thinks she's up for a fight after all, but after Suigintou begins to cry once more, Shinku abandons all hope for her until morning.
The next day, Sarah finds the new doll rather strange. Not only by her stand-offish behavior, but also due to her ghostly, very undoll-like appearance. She then rather candidly asks Shinku if she will soon beat her up, which surprised me a bit. Sarah may not quite understand the meaning of the Alice Game, but I certainly believe that she feels a bit of pride in knowing that she has a doll that you don't want to mess with.
However, Shinku will do nothing of the sort. She instead treats Suigintou with compassion; becoming not only her friend, but her new teacher of sorts, and helping Suigintou learn how to walk every night (which also confuses Sarah to no end). Suigintou however, seems to treasure her time with Shinku. She asks her if her walking will make father happy, which Shinku happily confirms. However, there is something also very heavily weighing on her, as her expression whenever Suigintou is not looking at her indicates..
Later, Sarah is awoken by Shinku once again heading out to fight Souseiseki.
She asks Shinku that if the Alice Game decrees her to defeat all other Rozen Maidens, what does she plan to accomplish by leaving Suigintou as she is.
However, Shinku tells Sarah there is no need to worry about her, and asks Sarah to be kind to Suigintou. Little do the two of them know, however, but Suigintou has overheard this exchange.
Then, in the N-field where Souseiseki and Shinku are in the midst of battle, who appears to stop them, but none other than confused, scared little Suigintou, wondering why the mean blue crossdressing doll is beating up her friend. Shinku tries to tell Suigintou to escape, but before she can, Souseiseki learns straight from the horse's mouth just who this new doll is, and decides to make quick work of her, too.
Emphasis on the word "quick" -- before Suigintou can get anywhere, Souseiseki cuts her in half. A very simple task of course, when one doesn't have a stomach, and all..
Next is a very tear-jerking scene as the two dolls left standing look on in pity as Suigintou cries out in pain (pain..?) on the floor. Shinku is obviously the one feeling the most grief -- she never wanted this to happen. Instead she hoped that Suigintou would be able to stay with Sarah and not have to follow the fate of the Alice Game. She in fact tells Souseiseki that Suigintou has no Rosa Mystica, and is therefore not a true Rozen Maiden. This is something Suigintou refuses to believe.. but that didn't matter anymore. Suigintou was dying. She cried out to Shinku for help, even as she disappeared into the ground.
(つД`)・゚・
As Suigintou begins to descend to the bottom of the sea (wait.. wait, how'd she get there again..?), the words Shinku said to her were starting to sink in. That Suigintou was not a true Rozen Maiden, that she was never completed. Suigintou then starts questioning her existence. But after a few moments of finally falling to the bottom, she's greeted by God, err.. Rozen, and given her very own Rosa Mystica, in one big wtf moment.
The dolls decide to end the fighting for now, and all say goodbye to their mediums. Shinku finds herself in a wasteland filled with broken dolls (aka, Suigintou's home sweet home) and meets up with the newly resurrected doll. Suigintou believes that Shinku has been looking down on her all this time, and thought of her as being pathetic. Shinku denies all of this, but Suigintou has become all too angry with how she's been treated. She begins to attack her and steals her brooch. Relishing in her temporary victory, and despite Shinku's pleas, Suigintou crushes Shinku's beloved brooch right in front of her.
Now it's Shinku's turn to be the victim. Suigintou begins to laugh at Shinku's cries after losing her most valued possession. This pushes the previously passive Shinku off the brink, and says that Suigintou is nothing more that junk.
(OH SHI-)
The two square off, but the Alice Game is already over -- they'll have to finish this later. And so begins epic, unending battle between the two dolls.
(lol anime)
Before I started watching this, I was finding it difficult to complete the first season of this show. Now, I can't wait to get to Traumend. ...So I guess... job well done?
Though I must say that Ouverture was quite enjoyable. Not only was the animation nice (especially during the parts in the past. I dunno, maybe it was the muted colors), but it fleshed out
both Shinku and Suigintou quite a bit in my eyes. And the middle of this episode was to die for: Junk was adorable. Shinku was being nice. Jun wasn't there. Man, I could watch that over and over. Or at least 3 times. I almost find it weird how quickly and how viciously Suigintou turns against her former friend. But hey, this is just a 2 episode special.
(I wonder what kind of fanart this all might bring about...? Hopefully the awesome kind.)



Oh yeah! And then at the end, we even get our first look at the new anime adaptation of
Venus Versus Virus, which I've looking forward to for months. Complete with a preview of the OP theme and how Lucia's voice will sound. What a treat for me. : D
Labels: Rozen Maiden
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Friday, December 22, 2006
Rozen Maiden Ouverture ep. 1





















I haven't watched Traumend yet.
Hell, I've been having a hard time getting through the first series so far (I really hate Jun..).
Granted, we don't really have to put up with Jun much this time around, seeing as this story takes place primarilly in the 18th century, and focuses more on a generally more likeable (albeit villainous) character, Junk.
..I mean Suigintou.
Now before the episode actually begins, we of course get the OP sequence -- beautifully animated, as per usual with the Rozen Maiden series. However, let me say that this time, Ali Project ALMOST had a hit. The OP theme,
Baragoku Otome, starts off in a beautiful enka-like style, which I enjoyed muchly, but just as I'd gotten my hopes up, the song eventually goes right back into sounding like any other Ali Project song. Fuck. Though if you're a big fan of the series, this would probably be to your liking, as it's the type of song that's more become attached to Rozen Maiden. ..Meh. Whatever floats your boat.
Now, this episode starts in the past, as we meet a broken down Suigintou on a shelf. ...Or..at least half of her. She looks on in utter despair as Rozen slowly forgets about her and begins to pay more attention to his future Rozen Maiden dolls. An extra amount of time, it seems, is spent with Shinku, as we see him adorn her bow with a brooch (that she no longer wears now. hint hint).
With Suigintou continuing to stretch her arm out to her "otou-sama", Rozen walks out of sight, and the poor half doll falls to the floor.
But that doesn't stop her. Heavens no. Crawling across the floor in a scene that took me back to Terminator, Suigintou finds her clothes (Or at least what would BECOME her clothes. The outfit we see her find very well could have just been a spare or something). And thus, we assume she grabs some legs and dresses herself.
And thus ends the saddest scene
ever.
Before we venture back into the past once again, we get a hefty mouthful of usual Rozen Maiden shenanigans, complete with Shinku bitchslapping Jun about, Kanaria being stupid, and Suiseiseki saying "desu" a lot. The important things to note, however, is that when Shinku asks Jun to go out and buy thread, he visits Enju and also buys a brooch that looks suspiciously like the one Shinku wore in Suigintou's memory. Oh, and Suigintou beats up some roses Megu offers her, saying she really hates them (for obvious reasons, of course *coughShinku*). When Jun returns, Shinku vehemently refuses to wear the brooch he bought, without giving good reason, which really pisses him off. Later, Souseiseki pulls Jun aside to explain to him why, and so our Victorian story continues.
In the past, Souseiseki was as stoic as she is now, Suiseiseki still said "desu" a lot, and Shinku's medium was a bratty, yet rather mature little girl by the name of Sarah.. who owned a cat, leading to a very cute scene. ^^;
..I think I would have liked it if Rozen Maiden as a whole was more like this, perhaps...
In an N field, as Suiseiseki laments about having to fight her sisters, a mysterious hand with a familiar voice saying "outo-sama otou-sama" attached to it begins to appear. Suiseiseki is frightened, but flies off, not paying much mind to it.
Back in Sarah's room, Sarah seems confused as to why sisters have to fight, and asks Shinku how she feels about it. Shinku however, sees nothing weird about it at all. After all, if this is something father wanted them to do, who is she to question. As long as she will be able to see father again, it doesn't matter what she must do. Sarah doesn't seem to quite understand. Which means she and I have something in common.
Later that night, shit hits the fan.
..or at least that's how I like to analogize the first meeting between Shinku and Suigintou.
It's strange, really -- judging from this scene, it would almost look as if Shinku is the villain, what with her harsh treatment of Suigintou. Granted, Suigintou is acting rather recklessly, and it certainly must be noted Shinku, knowing little else than to fight other dolls, should certainly be on her guard when one suddenly comes out of the mirror.
However, it soon becomes apparent that the doll is harmless, and when Shinku asks for her name, she becomes quite shocked that this blithering mess is actually Suigintou, the first of Rozen's maidens.
Well, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that Suigintou knows nothing of the Alice Game (or much else, for that matter), and by simply establishing that, her character changes immensely. Man, what a mess she is in this ep! And judging by the preview, it seems Shinku will undeniable betray her somehow in the next.
Let's see how the show's going to justify her actions and not just make her seem like a horrible person for even more people to hate.
Labels: Rozen Maiden
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Saturday, December 16, 2006
BUCK TICK - Kagerou

Featured Song:
KagerouHere's one single that I came across under strange circumstances.
I don't watch xxxHolic. There isn't even that much I know about it beyond the noodle people. However, I came across
this clip of the ending sequence in Youtube and certainly fell in love with it.
..with.. the clip that is.
And the song, too, I guess. There's something about two lolis air-guitaring that will make a tune unbelievably catchy, I think. But honestly, I don't even think this single's title song, Kagerou, would have struck such a chord in me if I wasn't introduced to it this way.
Though I really do like it now.
...Probably still won't start watching the show, though. Those limbs are seriously freaky.
Labels: Music
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Friday, December 08, 2006
Maria-sama ga Miteru OAV ep 1 - Kohitsuji-tachi no Kyuuka














I can't believe it's been a year since the OAV was first announced. And has it really been over 2 years since Haru ended? Man, how time flies when you're being tortured.
But that gap in time is something I definitely noticed as I watched the first moments of this ep, the first in a series of 5 almost hour long OAV episodes for Maria-sama ga Miteru. And I have to tell you, when Yumi started the routine "Maria-sama no niwa ni tsudou.." speech that begins every episode of this show, I almost cried. Yeah, I know. Shut up.
In this episode, Sachiko, perhaps in return for postponing their amusement park date, invites Yumi to spend part of her summer vacation with her at her family's summer villa, which is located a short distance outside of Tokyo. Yumi's quite surprised by the offer, and is very excited about having her oneesama all to herself, but eventually ends up being a little let down as she finds out that Sachiko likes to do homework and sleep a lot. Poor Yumi. . .
After a trip to a shopping district with her brother and Suguru, Yumi returns to find Sachiko with company. That company being Touko and three other girls (that make Touko's personality seem to be as cozy a gentle rain on a spring evening): Kieko Kyougoku, Kikuyo Ayanokouji and Yukari Saionji.
The next part of the ep mostly involves these three girls making Yumi's (and to a lesser extent, Sachiko's) life a very relaxing, slow-paced hell. Most are just shallow, immature aggravations, but the shit really hits the fan when Yukari invites both Sachiko and Yumi to a party at her family's estate.
..But it was a trap! (gasp!) The party was actually for Yukari's grandmother, and the guests are to take their turns playing instruments (which Yumi can no longer do) for the crotchety old hag.
However, Yumi avoids embarassment by presenting Yukari's grandmother with nothing more than a song as a gift... which was strangely awkward at first (I do believe Kana Ueda purposely sings rather poorly for this scene) but turns into something beautiful as Sachiko joins in with piano accompaniment. At the end of the ep, Sachiko admits that she was mostly nervous that Yumi might do an encore of her Yasukibushi (see Haru, ep 3) performance. Oh Sachiko..
And so ends the first ep, and I thoroughly believe it was worth the wait. However, I've been seeing some people express disappointment in the ep seeing as it was mostly just Sachiko and Yumi for 50 mintues (I would have personally liked to see more Touko, myself..). And also because of the slight change in art direction, which I didn't mind, to be honest.
I was also very happy to see Katakura Mikiya reprise her role as composer for the show, seeing as she's already given us two great soundtracks for the show. This ep was mostly full of songs from those two aformentioned OSTs, but a few new melodies did pop up here and there. I especially liked the song that played when Yumi and Sachiko were taking that walk through that creepy wood. I'll definitely be looking forward to the release of the next OST. ...whenever that'll be.
And lastly, another notable aspect of the OAV is something that I believe comes with all OAVs: the fanservice. And sweet God almighty is it there! Knees and shoulders everywhere. It was like I'd died and gone to Girls Bravo. ...if it was made in 19th century England.
Next Episode: Ryakushite OK Daisakusen - 1/31/07!Enjoy your Ouran parody..
Labels: Maria-sama ga Miteru
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