Memento: Blog on Anime, Manga, Games, and Japanese pop culture

Rozen Maiden träumend ep.8

December 9, 2005 | 31 Comments

Rozen Maiden Traumend image

I've been re-watching the opening scene so many times lately because the animation sequences simply fascinate me. However, in doing so I got strange ideas about the ending. At one point I thought maybe it'll end with Shinku waking up in a rose-covered bed and realising that she is now a human just like the opening. However, as she gets out of her room and goes down the stairs, she finds a bunch of discarded and lifeless doll of Suiseiseki, Souseiseki, and the others. In other words, she becomes Alice and her sisters have been turned into junk just like in the opening. I have to say that the thought really disturbed me and I wondered if people would object violently should such ending actually happens in this show. Anyway, this is an awesome episode that I think explore such possibility. If the show keeps up its quality right to the end, I think this may become one of the top three series that have been released this season.

The episode itself begins with Suigintou sitting inside the old church remembering what Shinku said about how from now on no one will be a junk. While doing this, however, she hears the church's doors opened and Megu's voice greeting her. Megu tells Suigintou that she can't sleep and has something to talk to Suigintou about. Megu informs Suigintou that today her parents came to check on her. Megu feels that she's been a burden on the two because of her condition. Because of this, she pleads asks Suigintou to use her life as soon as possible. Suigintou tells Megu that she already understands that without having to be told but wonders if it's really okay for Megu to end her life just like this. Megu sadly answers Suigintou that it can't be helped because ever since she was born, she has been nothing but a junk. Suigintou can't help but looking concerned upon hearing this.

Rozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshot
Rozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshot

After the title card, the scene cuts into a happier situation of the Sakurada household where HinaIchigo and Canaria are seen happily gorging some watermelon. Suiseiseki is not impressed with this and tells them that as Rozen dolls, they should have better manners. Unfortunately for her, the two decide to gang up on her and spit watermelon seeds on her face. Of course Suiseiseki doesn't take this lightly and proceeds to give the two a hell of a time. I feel sorry for my poor ears already. I don't think they can handle the screeching noise of the 3 dolls screaming at the same time. Meanwhile Jun is busy teasing Shinku because she tries to get rid of her melon seeds using spoon because he thinks it'll take a while for her to do that. Shinku is not happy about this and asks Nori to cut the melon into smaller size. Hahaha. At the same time, Suiseiseki has finished cleaning her face from the seed spits attack.

As she walks in front of the mirror room, however, she notices Souseiseki looking confused in front of the big mirror. Cue last episode's flashback. Suiseiseki invites her twin to have some melon but Souseiseki claims she has business to attend to before fleeing back into the mirror's N-field. Later on that day, Shirosaki is in the middle of conversing with Barasuishou about Suigintou when he sees Jun walking outside the store. He decides to invite Jun to watch Enju making his doll so Jun happily agrees to come. Because of this Shirosaki takes him to the back area and tells Enju that Jun wants to watch him making the doll. Jun, however, looks a bit scared when Enju starts grabbing his chin and touching his cheek. However, after Jun confirms his interest in watching him making the doll, Enju agrees to let Jun stay and watch him. Having said that he thinks Jun should cut his hair a little bit (0_0). What the hell was that about?

Rozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshot
Rozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshot

After leaving Jun with Enju, Shirosaki returns to Barasuishou, who wants to know what Enju is planning. Enju, however, simply answers that he thinks this will be interesting. Meanwhile Jun watches/helps a bit while Enju goes through the various steps of making a doll. After placing the doll in some kind of a device, however, he tells Jun that this is the end for now. He then picks a small headpiece from a rack and tells Jun that unfortunately this particular one is a failure. Jun doesn't seem to understand why Enju thinks so but one can clearly sees that there is a small chip in the eye area. Meanwhile Shinku and the others are busy watching Kun Kun when Canaria and HinaIchigo start to bicker. Shinku quickly tells them to go to Jun's room if they intend to do that so she can concentrate on her favourite TV program. Suiseiseki seems to be the only doll who notices that Souseiseki has secretly lurking in the background.

Suiseiseki decides to go after her twin and asks if she just went to visit the gramps. Souseiseiki, however, answer Suiseiseki's question with another question and asks if Suiseiseki will fight once Alice game starts. When Suiseiseki can't come up with an answer, Souseiseki leaves her and tells Suiseiseki to think it over. Before Suiseiseki can stop her, however, Jun comes home and asks Suiseiseki if there is something wrong. He then picks her up and asks himself if Suiseiseki is a doll. That night, Jun asks Shinku how she and the others were made. Moreover, he wants to know what kind of a person Rozen was. At the same time, Suigintou is seen looking concerned as Megu struggling to overcome the pain that the disease inflicts on her body. All of a sudden she's confronted by Barasuishou, who tells her that she can save Megu if she obtains a Rosa Mystica. Judging from her expression, Suigintou clearly believes this.

Rozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshot
Rozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshot

At the same time, Shinku is in the middle of telling Jun that she has no recollection of the time she spent with father but she remembers the time when he built her and felt that he was kind, warm, and protective. It made her felt as if there's nothing else that she needs but to be there with him. Jun wonders if Shinku can remember his face but unfortunately Shinku and the other dolls only saw a person enveloped in bright light. But Shinku thinks that this does not matter because to her what's important is not father's appearance but his existence. By travelling through time and changing appearance, 'Father' always exist regardless of the world. All for the sake of creating 'Alice. In order to achieve this, Rozen Maiden were made so that the ultimate girl, 'Alice' can exist. The doll that could not be realised. Upon hearing this Jun wonders if why the dolls have to fight each other just because Alice couldn't be realised.

Meanwhile, Souseiseki is seen travelling inside an N-field full of many doors, which presumably lead to the thoughts of different people. When she opens a door containing an image of flooded houses, however, he notices a light flickers in one of the houses. Upon entering the house, Souseiseki stumbles upon doll-making workshop similar to the one featured in episode 1. On top of the desk, there is an empty head of a doll. I wonder if this is the same doll that Enju was creating in front of Jun the other day. Anyway, all of a sudden Souseiseki sees 'Father' materialising on a chair looking like he is in despair. However, as Souseiseki approaches the chair to ask if 'Father' is crying, the image disappears. In his place, Barasuishou appears to tell Souseiseki that Father is crying because he can't find Alice. She thinks if this continues, Father will always be in despair. In order to fulfil Father's wish, she asks Souseiseki to start Alice Game.

Rozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshot
Rozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshot

Meanwhile, Jun is seen asking Enju if he's ever made a doll that he feels is flawed. Enju confirms this and when Jun asks what he does with such doll, he proceeds to smash one of the dolls with a hammer. Enju, however, believes that he gives equal feeling to each of his creation. As long as they are given love, the creation will continue to live on. He believes that without love, the dolls can't continue to exist and will become lost. As Enju performs a check on one of the newly created base figure, Jun asks him if he knows someone called 'Rozen'. Enju confirms that he does indeed know Rozen. Upon finding out about this, Jun wonders if Enju thinks Rozen is capable of loving his creation. Enju tells Jun that without love, a person can't make dolls let alone wonderful dolls. Jun seems to doubt this and argues that Rozen left 7 dolls who couldn't become Alice. Enju, however, tells him that no matter how separated or how far away, the love that has been given to the dolls will stay with them.

Later on that day, Souseiseki appears to tell everyone that she has something she wants to talk about. Souseiseki gets straight to the point and informs them that she intends on fighting everyone, collects their Rosa Mystica, and becomes Alice. She tells them that the reason is because she saw 'Father' in despair and thinks that the only way to stop this if one of them becomes Alice. Shinku says that if that is really Souseiseki's intention, then she....her words are immediately cut off by Suiseiseki who rejects Souseiseki's decision and Shinku's non-action because she doesn't want to be separated from Souseiseki. Jun backs Suiseiseki up and asks Souseiseki to think more about this because he thinks it's strange that sisters have to fight each other. He also wants to know what's the meaning of becoming a perfect girl since he thinks that there is nothing wrong with them. Souseiseki, however, calmly answers that they are imperfect dolls meant to become Alice. Because of this, she will fulfill Father's wish.

Rozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshot
Rozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshot

Impression:

Enju turns out to be creepier and more complex than I originally thought. He seems to be obsessed with perfection just like most designers that I know of and will strive to achieve that perfection. His close observation of Jun's face and his off-handed comment on how Jun needs to cut his hair are examples of his obsession with perfection. Because of this, it's not surprising that he finds the little chip on the doll's eye to be a defect. In a rather scary way, I can understand his way of thinking. I have also done a couple of design works which I deem to be imperfect. While there have been times when I reused the design, in most cases I usually toss them aside because in design, it's always better to start fresh with a new design. Especially when one gets stuck in a rut and can't come up with a better idea to make the design interesting.

I think this probably explains why Rozen abandoned Suigintou and proceeded to make the other dolls even though Suigintou is/was not fully completed. By doing this, he was able to make better dolls. It does sound cruel but like I said before, as a designer, I can understand his motivation. I am, however, more interested with the shot of Rozen looking sad. Is this something that Barasuishou conjures up or something real? I am asking this because I get the impression that Barasuishou is capable of conjuring up illusion and has the ability to appear out of nowhere. Just look at her fight with Suigintou in episode 6 and her sudden appearance after Shirosaki closes the curtain in this episode. More importantly, however, what are they intend to achieve? I believe that whatever it is, it is in direct conflict with what Enju or possibly 'Father' wants to achieve because otherwise they won't go behind his back.

Rozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshot
Rozen Maiden Träumend screenshotRozen Maiden Traumend screenshotRozen Maiden Träumend screenshot

This episode is also a good one when it comes to character development. Jun is once again shown to be growing as a person and what a good person he turns out to be. He clearly cares a lot for the doll and the dolls, especially Shinku and Suiseiseki return the affection. I do wonder what Shirosaki has in plan by introducing Jun to Enju. But either way, I think Jun is going to be involved in the outcome of this Alice Game. I also must commend Suigintou's character development. She clearly cares a lot for her medium, Megu, to the point that she actually believes what Barasuishou said about Rosa Mystica able to heal Megu's sickness. Alas, this also means that she will now participate in the game. Although at least this time around, she has a very good reason for doing so. This, however, suggests that all of the dolls care a lot for their mediums so I think this is a weak point that Shirosaki and Barasuishou could probably exploit in the future. Next week: Suigintou vs Souseiseki.

Posted by Garten
Comments
December 9, 2005 | Firah wrote:

Dun dun... I said last week that the producers of this anime have been taking only the best scenes from the manga for the Second Season story arc. If Suigintou gets a Rose Mystica the way I THINK she's going to get it...

Oh dear....

December 9, 2005 | Flareon wrote:

Suigintou really changed...she is ..oh..so full of feelings and concerns, Megu is really poor...I LOVE Suigintou more!!*get crazy*It seems next episode Suigintou will recover her evil*huh?* smile again in order to fight with Souseiseki...Poor her..
I just wonder why Megu could walk around freely at night...
Shirosaki seems evil...I am quite glad that Brasuishou is being drawn better now.
I wonder why Shirosaki could tell that she was quite happy just after she came out from the glass of wardrobe without a smile.
Enju..oh well, I agree with him in designer's point of view, but as Jun mentioned why the dolls should battle for becoming Alice. Even though they are not perfect, they have their own personalities.
Souseiseki...she just believed Barasuishou's words so easily..despite her relationships with sisters...a bit sad for her...

December 9, 2005 | Fencedude wrote:

Suigintou has to collect all the Linker Cores I mean Roza Mystica so she can become Alice and save Hayate I mean Megu.

Nanoha A'd

December 9, 2005 | Nara wrote:

What a shame, it looks as if the Alice game is looming closer, with Barasuishou drawing them all into battles. It's also a disappointment to me that Souseiseki made her decision like this, she was my favorite character.

I have a feeling that Enju is planning to destroy all the dolls through Barasuishou's trickery, because the dolls aren't perfect. That's what I'm guessing anyway. It also seems that Souseiseki will become a villain now, along with Suigintou.

December 9, 2005 | mangaka-chan wrote:

I have to say Shirosaki is looking more and more evil with each episode ^^;; but I can understand Enju's desire to create a perfect doll. As an artist the whole point of drawing is to bring out the feeling and images you feel and see. If that can't be done correctly or completely then that draft has to be discarded and sometimes left incomplete because you don't know what else to do with it. Still, I want to know more about Enju and I'm thinking maybe Jun will become his apprentice somehow. And if we follow the reasoning in the Impression section compounded with my thoughts, could it be possible that Jun might become the next "Father"?

!!Spoiler starts!!

From the next episode though, it looks as if Suigintou and Sousei Seki might be forming an alliance which I think also happened in the manga. But I hope Sousei Seki won't end up fighting Suisei Seki, that'll just too sad to watch.

Spoiler ends

December 10, 2005 | Flareon wrote:

>Nara
Come on! Neither Suigintou or Souseieki is a villain, they just want to protect someone by themselves, thiugh I think Souseiseki made the decision without thinking about her master in this episode.

>mangaka-chan
It seems that Suigintou is fighting with Souseiseki but not forming Alliance...It they do, at last it will turn out that Suigintou will take away Souseieki's Rosa Mystica by some chances like manga, to save Megu.

On the other hand, I wonder if Enju knew the existance of Barasuishou in the shop as the anime just showed her appear in front of Shirosaki, not ENJU.

December 10, 2005 | shozo wrote:

I'd like to know why Mr.Rozen left Suigintou unfinished. Garten thinks Mr.Rozen thought Suigintou was imperfect and that as a desinger, starting making a new thing sometimes works better than trying to make the imperfect more interesting. But I don't understand why Mr.Rozen thought Suigintou was imperfect. Take Hinaichigo for example, she is a complete doll, isn't she? In the first series, Nori took Hinaichigo's clothes off to wash them. Hinaichigo was still wearing her underwear, but I could tell she was a complete doll. That means Mr.Rozen finished his job for her. So he didn't think Hinaichigo was imperfect. The doll was made more or less as he had intended to.(By the way, I like Hinaichigo much better in the second series. She is not so selfish any more and still innocent and seems to be doing her best all the time.) Then why Mr.Rozen couldn't think that way when he was making Suigintou? Suigintou looks to me so perfect. To me she has the most beautiful face among the dolls. And she is not bad much less evil. It is true that she ripped off one of Sink's arms. But Suigintou didn't do it from any sadistic pleasure. All she wanted to do was to see her father and wanted him to finish the work he should have done many many years ago. And this time she wants to help Megu. Suigintou is very "kenage". And do you remeber that in the first series, when Suigintou appeared at Sakurada house and met Sink and Hinaichigo, she told them she hadn't seen them some hours. That some hours is huge hours, more than a few decades. Those girls are quite obachan. Anyway Suigintou has never hurted or killed any doll for such a long time. If she wanted to do, it should have been quite easy for her since she is such a powerful doll. She is beautiful and not a bad doll. She has a great voice too. Then, why Mr.Rozen thought she was imperfect? I really want to know how Suigintou is different from what Mr. Rozen intended to?

December 10, 2005 | Fencedude wrote:

Those girls are quite obachan

What?

December 10, 2005 | Chris wrote:

I think he means they're not young girls anymore but rather middle-aged ladies.

December 10, 2005 | Flareon wrote:

Maybe Rozen thoght Suigintou is imperfect because she has got one more line under each of her eyes...just like the one bear the same thing in this episode and was destroyed by Enju.

December 10, 2005 | Nara wrote:

O_O Souseiseki loses her Rosa Mystica in the Manga? Nooooo....(Sorry, I always have a thing for the quiet and calm characters). From the looks of it, the same will happen to Souseiseki in the anime. TT_TT....Oh well.

Anyway, I also wonder, is Enju Rozen himself, or is he another person? What are they really trying to do? One thing I'm betting on is that Enju/Shirosaki/both will be the ultimate enemies in the end--it's just not right to make dolls fight each other. Plus, Shirosaki seems to have that evil glint in his eye, while Enju is just...mentally unstable. Yeah, that's it--mentally unstable. ^_^;; Jun seems to be scared of them, so that could be a big hint that they're (Enju and Shirosaki) enemies. Usually, the main character isn't scared for no reason. The whole doll shop is kinda creepy anyway...

On another note, it looks as if Jun and Tomoe are pairing up. But I could be wrong.

December 10, 2005 | Garten wrote:

It's hard to say why Rozen thinks Suigintou is imperfect. Also bear in mind that this is just my speculation so I could be completely wrong about it. To me, Suigintou looks perfect but to Rozen she may not. It's hard to explain but I'll say that designers usually tend to be far more critical of their own work than people who see the work. I often do a design which other people think is good enough but I am unhappy because it doesn't fulfill my 'criteria', which is basically another way of saying that I'm fickle.

When this happens, often it's easier to start over instead of re-arranging pre-existing elements because there is a part of me who actually believes that the pre-existing elements are not bad at all. So I don't want to mess it up by re-arranging the composition. However, it is not perfect either in my eyes. I think the combination of both factors are important in deciding whether or not I'll start a new design or if I'll re-arrange the existing design.

In Rozen's case, I think it could be small things like the eyes don't line properly or there is something about the image that Suigintou projects that Rozen doesn't like. Basically it's small things that other people would not have noticed because they are not the creator of the art. I'd also say that Rozen probably thinks that there are some elements of Suigintou that he likes. So he doesn't want to mess it up by say, arranging some of her appearance. It's a bit hard to do as well with dolls.

But since he's not satisfied either, he can't move on until he come up with something that he feels will satifsfy his artistic ambition. So he decided to make other dolls first with probably some intention to finish Suigintou later. Having said that, designers, like other people do become lazy. When this happens, often unfinished design remains as unfinished design. Sometimes, the design maybe re-used in the future. Sometimes it's just left alone and probably chucked to the rubbish bin to save some space.

December 10, 2005 | Digix wrote:

logicaly if these dolls will fight with full power they are going to kill their mediums, like Hinaicigo almost kiled hers and surrendered finaly.

However now, almost all mediums are quite weak.
Megu will die almost instantly if Suigintou will even try to fight. SouseiSeki and Shinku have same medium so it is going to be not logical to fight each other. As I understand Hinaicigo's medium , or power source is Shinku, so they will fight as team.

Canaria probably dont care about Alice at all, she just want to bring all dools to her master (at least it looks so from ep7)

Shinku should have 2 Rosa Mysticas already, since she destroyed Suigintou (and how the father or someone else could repair her, if all her body left in Jun's dream?)

Barasuishou could kill all others easily, but only teases everyone by scaring to death. She also shows no intention to become Alice.

There is no point to make dolls and tell them to destroy each other, since they are not equaly strong anyway so some villain can only kill one by one starting from the weakest and finaly being defeated by the strongest , leaving everyone anournd sad and depresed. In other way fight will not finish, it will end when villain is defeated making all fight useless.

December 10, 2005 | suigin_rocks wrote:

That Barashuishou i hate her so much...always lure the other dolls into negative acting...suigintou just almost touch her heart and yet she came to distract her...

now i just keep wondering, who gonna fight who next?

December 10, 2005 | Chris wrote:

If I remember correctly, Shinku said to Suigintou that she didn't take her Rosa Mystica. Actually Shinku just defended herself, she was never interested in the Alice game.

December 10, 2005 | Flareon wrote:

Shinku hasn't trapped Suigintou's Rosa Mystica, she mentioned in Ep1.
I wonder if MeiMei has returned to Suigintou...
Barasuishou may not have the intention to be Alice, but sure that she have the intention to fight! Every time when she appear to other dolls, she asks them to let the Alice Game start.
Well, the dolls have some kind of power to fight even they don't use their medium. It seems if the power of medium is not used, Suigintou and Barasuishou will be the strongest. Suigintou..well, you can see her performance alone in the 1st season, she alone is really strong if she had great intention.
Barasuishou...if glowing means using medium power, in the past episodes, she is strong enough to defeat other when she is not glowing.
For Shinku, it seems her every move affect Jun, on the other hand, as Jun is being medium of three dolls, it is quite likely for him to be exhausted...
About Souseiseki...her weapon...too easy to make it fall off from her hands...and once she loses her weapon, she has no talent to win...

December 10, 2005 | Suiseiseki_is_LOVE wrote:

And without a medium, Souseiseki won't stand much of a chance. Poor Souseiseki...and even more poor Suiseiseki... :(

I wonder how the producers will be able to pull off the last 4 episodes though. It feels like there's too many things that can happen, and not enough episodes. I really hope Traumend doesn't end in a cliffhanger.

December 10, 2005 | ubvman wrote:

"And without a medium, Souseiseki won't stand much of a chance. Poor Souseiseki...and even more poor Suiseiseki... :("

Souseiseki has the old man "grampa" as her medium. Thats why he would not leave him in season 1. I pity all the sisters - they seem to be made specifically for a cruel game with the vague promises of "Alice".

I see season 2 as leading up to be a heartbreaking and dark season. I hope I'm wrong but things don't look good at the moment for Souseiseki.

I read it elsewhere in another forum but I echo the sentiment - "Father" seems to be the type of guy I'd like to punch in the face. What sort of "Father" subjects his "daughters" (creations) to such a cruel game.

December 10, 2005 | Dark wrote:

Sigh, whatever, just enjoy this wonderful anime.

December 10, 2005 | melchior00 wrote:

... Shinku waking up in a rose-covered bed and realising that she is now a human just like the opening.
I'm confused, Garten... Where is this in the opening animation? The entire sequence has Shinku as a doll, iirc.
I have to admit, the "Alice = human Shinku" scenario has occurred to me, though it smacks a bit of Pinocchio or Astro Boy...

Enju starts grabbing his chin and touching his cheek. However, after Jun confirms his interest in watching him making the doll, Enju agrees to let Jun stay and watch him. Having said that he thinks Jun should cut his hair a little bit (0_0).
I'm thinking he wanted to be sure his guest is well-groomed, so that stray hair or other bits wouldn't end up on the surfaces of his work. Given the uncompromisingly perfectionist attitude that Enju has, this seems to be the most plausible explanation to me.

I'm guessing that Lavras (the rabbit) might be a sort of referee for the Alice Game; Barasuishou looked all too eager to destroy Shinku, but the "rip in space" prevented her from doing so; I'm convinced that neither Jun nor Shinku know how to do that trick, and the only one who's performed it is Lavras.
It seems that, according to the rules of the Game (whatever they are), both participants have to be willing to fight to the death in order for a Rosa Mystica to be taken. Since Barasuishou loves to fight above anything, she would only play a Game with someone who can match her skill and/or power-- and once she saw that practically none of the dolls are particularly willing to start the Game, she decides to sow a little dischord by convincing Souseiseki and possibly Suigintou to fight. Pure evil.

December 10, 2005 | Garten wrote:

I'm confused, Garten... Where is this in the opening animation? The entire sequence has Shinku as a doll, iirc.

I should have made it clearer that what I meant by 'in the opening animation' is 'Shinku waking up in the rose-covered bed' part of the words not the 'human' part of the words. Sorry. It's just a badly worded sentence.

December 11, 2005 | Kanna wrote:

I noticed Rozen said he made an imperfect doll. Could this doll be Barashishou? It would explain the eye patch. And now sense Sugintou is repaired and complete, she would not be considered imperfect.

December 11, 2005 | Zeni wrote:

I don't think Enju has any evil intentions towards the "Alice game", i truly believe that his only seeking perfection in his own creations allowing his judgement to be clouded by his fixation to search for a perfect doll. And this probably makes him disregard everything else as unimportant (almost like when a child plays with his toys). But from watching ep 8 even that idea is still quite vague (seeing as the only clue that has lead me to think this is through barashuishou's illusion). However if this is true then why fix Suigintou? Maybe Enju does have the potential to make right his foolish ways?

Shirosaki is another story though, we need an enemy and he is definitely it. I also think that he may be Larvas in disguise.

I also have the urge to slap some sense into Megu, i hope maybe what she'll learn in these remaining few episodes will allow her to realise how stupid she's been all along.

December 11, 2005 | dbm wrote:

Garten,

The "device" into which Enju places the doll parts is a kiln for firing & curing the ceramic used to form the parts.

When I watched the episode, I interpreted the chip in the eye area of the doll head as its tear duct rather than a flaw.

I've been thinking about the amount of time spent on "comic filler" in the 2nd season. I think it has a valid purpose, and thus isn't filler at all: it establishes all seven dolls as having inner lives and dreams as complete as that of any human, and that their motivations are as complex and divergent as one might find among any family of seven sisters. In fact I think Jun's use of the term "sisters" to describe them towards the end of the episode (assuming that this isn't an artifact of the fansub) is very appropriate.

As for artists striving for a perfect creation, these dolls are NOT just creations, they are living beings, like children. A proper parent raises a child to be able to fulfill the child's own dreams NOT the dreams of the parent. And at what point in the creation process do they become alive? While it is creepy to watch Enju smash the flawed doll parts, there's no evidence that they are alive yet, so it's not like he is actually smashing Suigintou, say, or Canaria.

December 11, 2005 | Pirate Crusader wrote:

Interesting discussion about designing stuff. Still without a creative bone in my body, I feel that a "good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week."

If Jun really wants to save the dolls from the Alice Game he better remeber that "sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains save both."

December 12, 2005 | Bear wrote:

so you people read the german manga? you actually read german?

December 12, 2005 | Diabolique wrote:

For the record, I absolutely adore Suiseiseki. She is by far my favourite character of the whole show. This episode really interested me in the sudden change of direction. Souseiseki was always suiseiseki's encouragement in previous episodes, but now the tables have been turned and it seems Suiseiseki is unable to do anything about her twin's sudden change of heart.

December 15, 2005 | shadow miko wrote:

Suiseiseki looks so sad! I really want to see this episode now!

December 15, 2005 | Kaitou wrote:

I think Barasuishou's great no matter how evil, insane and dangerous she is.

Why has Souseiseki been reffered to as a "he" is the synopsis?

I wish people would stop posting un-forwarned spoilers here. I would have liked to find out what happens the Souseiseki through watching the program.

December 15, 2005 | Kappa wrote:

Doh!I just had to read the spoiler ;(
It seems as the episodes pass I look more and more eagerly towards the next episode :)

January 7, 2006 | suzumi wrote:

*posible spoiler*
I've seen the 9th episode. It was sad. Very, very sad... Really, I cried. I think the 10th episode will be sad too.
*spoiler ends*

I don't think Souseiseki has a medium. In the first season I think Sou-chan called the old man "Master" because he was her owner. Besides, he doesn't wear a ring.

Suigintou has mellowed out. A lot. And I agree with Zeni. Someone (like Suigintou) should slap Megu. Do you think that if Suigintou told Megu that she can't win because Megu's too weak than Megu would come to her senses and eat something?

To Nara,
You know how in the previous season (episode 11, I think)Shinku tells Jun that no matter when, no matter where, "Father" will always be there? I think Enju may be "Father" in the spirit. And I think that maybe Shirosaki knows this and is planning on Jun being the next "Father". Which would explain why he invited Jun in to see Enju making the dolls. But then I wonder who or what Shirosaki is. I think that maybe he could be Laplace. But personally I don't think Laplace is bad, but that would contradict my theory, because I think Shirosaki is evil.


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