Rozen Maiden träumend ep.2

October 28, 2005 | 9 Comments

This is actually a setup episode which establishes the foundation for future events. Because of this, the episode may appear a bit static at times. Nevertheless, I like how the episode shows the deepening trust between Shinku and Jun. The episode also forces me to question the dolls' opinion about 'Alice Game', something that I feel the series never touched upon before. I get the impression that Shinku is actually reluctant to play the game. But I do wonder if the other dolls feel the same way about it. Speaking of the other dolls, I take back what I said about Barasuishou being a calm and cool doll. She looks quite psychotic in this episode and is actually far more threatening than Suigintou as an antagonist. Animation-wise, this is pretty much the same as the first episode so there's nothing out of the ordinary to admire but there's nothing bad about it either.

Anyway, the episode opens with a battle between Shinku and Barasuishou. Shinku tries to use her spirit, Holie, but Barasuishou manages to capture and tame the spirit easily. She then projects an image of Suigintou, catching Shinku off guard. As Shinku plummets to the ground, Barasuishou tells Shinku that she pities her. It seems she knows that Shinku is mentally incapable of fighting at the moment. Her expression then turns twisted as she jumps into the air and tells Shinku that because of this, she will break Shinku. Before Barasuishou can proceed with her threat, however, a strange orange light envelopes both Shinku and Jun, effectively saving the two from Barasuishou's attack. After the two disappear, the rabbit man appears, suggesting that he was the one who saved the two. It's unfortunate that I can't understand what the rabbit is talking about.

Meanwhile Shinku and Jun find themselves transported back to the room with the mirror. After recuperating, Shinku tells Jun that there is a total of 7 Rozen Maiden dolls but she didn't know Barasuishou prior to this incident. This is because all of the other dolls woke up at the same time and Barasuishou was the only exception. Shinku also believes that Barasuishou's arrival is a sign that their purpose for awakening has finally arrived. There is no backing out of the 'Alice Game' now. This is basically a message from 'Father' to the dolls to make Alice a reality. Upon hearing this Jun tells Shinku that he thought she won't fight. Shinku, however, seems to be conflicted about this. Uh oh, are the dolls going to go Battle Royale on each other now? The thing is, little conflicts already exist between some of them at the moment.

Take a look Suiseiseki and HinaIchigo, for example. Suiseiseki clearly finds HinaIchigo annoying and so do I. So it's probably not out of the question that Suiseiseki may entertain the thought of decapitating HinaIchigo sometime in the near future. Anyway, that morning during breakfast, Nori is surprised to know that Shinku is still sleeping. Jun is reluctant to mention the reason but it seems Souseiseki can sense that Jun is worried about something. After Nori left for school, Suiseiseki tries to convince HinaIchigo that maybe she's the reason why Shinku is not waking up yet. She then scares the doll by telling her that when Shinku wakes up, she'll be mad as hell. So the two went into her room and over there, Suiseiseki tells HinaIchigo that one of HinaIchigo's items has gone over the border that seperate hers and Shinku's shelf area. These dolls are like little kids sometimes.

But when Shinku wakes up, she seems to be calm and only orders HinaIchigo to make some tea. Souseiseki attempts to ask her if something has happened but Shinku pretends as if everything is fine. That's the spirit! If you're about to off your competitors, do not tell them what you're planning to do. True enough, through a flashback, Jun remembers that Shinku asks him to stay quiet about the incident. Oh all right, I'm just kidding. The truth is, Shinku simply doesn't want to make them worried about it. Anyway, Jun who's now at the library try to find some info about Barasuishou but ends up being startled by the arrival of Tomoe. As a side note, here are some of the titles of the books that Jun was looking at: "Das Fenster Von Rozen Maiden" (The Window of Rozen Maiden) and "Die Geschichte Von Puppet" (The History of Puppet).

Anyway, that night Suiseiseki and Souseiseki are about to go home to their medium's house as usual. But Shinku strangely does not come down to bid goodbye. Everyone is concerned about this, so they turn to Jun to get some answers from Shinku. That night Jun forces Shinku to tell the others the truth. Shinku, however, tells him that the others have nothing to worry about if they don't know about it. Jun, however, tells her that doesn't matter anymore since they're already worried about her now. The two then begin to trade arguments which end with Jun telling Shinku that the one who's running away this time around is her. The next day, Shinku refuses to get out of her box so Suiseiseki uses the opportunity to scare HinaIchigo again. Souseiseki, however, have had enough of Shinku's silent treatment. She summons her scissors and opens Shinku's box with a force.

Shinku is unhappy about this and tells Souseiseki that she doesn't appreciate anyone who awakes her during her sleep. But Souseiseki replies that Shinku is not sleeping anyway and tells her that she wants to talk to her privately. So the two lock the two 'kids' (read: Suiseiseki and HinaIchigo) out of the room while the two have private conversation. Suiseiseki tells HinaIchigo that the reason she's being excluded from the conversation is because she's 'Misokatsu'. Hina, however, wonders if that's delicious Miso soup, causing hilarious argument between the two. Inside the room, however, Souseiseki gets straight to the point with Shinku. She tells Shinku that if this is a problem between her and Jun, she won't interfere. But if this is about Alice game, that's an entirely different story. Souseiseki believes that 'Alice Game' is a problem for all of the dolls.

Meanwhile at the library, Jun encounters Tomoe again while he's browsing some books on Rozen Maiden. He tries to avoid her but when Tomoe asks him to follow her, he agrees to come with her. She ends up taking Jun to an antique doll shop called 'Enju Doll'. Upon entering, a guy asks who Jun is and wonders if he is Tomoe's boyfriend. But Tomoe tells him straight up that Jun is just a friend. The guy then asks Jun if he's interested in dolls and tells him not to be shy about it since for he considers dolls as precious collections. Did I say how creepy he was? Anyway, the guy tells them that they're in the middle of making a new doll so he invites them to come whenever they feel like it. After Jun and Tomoe left the shop, the shop assistant goes back to the back of the shop and asks a blonde guy how's things going. The blonde guy simply answers that it's not bad at all.

That night Jun comes home with a bulge inside his bag. Hina wonders if the thing is actually her favourite Ichigo Daifuku but Jun denies it. When he gets into his room, Shinku tells him that she already told the others about Barasuishou and she feels a bit better about it. Jun is relieved to hear this and proceeds to give Shinku the item that he just bought, which turns out to be a music box. Shinku decides to thank Jun by telling him that she forgives him for meddling in her affair before telling the poor guy to go back studying. Jun is, of course, annoyed with Shinku's attitude and tries to grab her. She, however, whips him with her hair and reminds him that he is still her slave. LOL. Downstairs, everyone is busy playing with their own music box. Suiseiseki, however, is a bit worried about the arrival of Barasuishou but Souseiseki thinks they're going to be okay. Upstairs, Shinku carefully places the music box she receives from Jun next to her precious Kun-Kun doll.

Impression:

It is obvious by now that Jun has changed a lot to the point that he is now the one who gets to help Shinku with some of her problems. Shinku, on the other hand, appears to be rather stubborn here. Nevertheless, it is obvious that she appreciates Jun's concern for her. Despite the abuse that she dishes out on him, the last scene of her putting his music box next to her precious Kun-Kun suggests that he really treasures the box. There are also some interesting development shown within this episode, especially in regards to the two new male characters who work for Enju Doll shop. One of the guys seems to have more than a passing resemblance to 'Father'. I also want to know the role of the rabbit man in this series. I thought he's on Barasuishou's side but that doesn't seem to be the case in this episode. As a final note, I just want to point out that Suiseiseki is EVIL and this is the proof. O_O What a scary face. Anyway, next week: Canaria.

© memento 2003