Rozen Maiden ep.3-4

November 11, 2004 | 1 Comments

For a series where the majority of its characters are comprised of dolls, this series certainly turns out to be darker than its surface appearance. From these two episodes, several dark themes such as the fear of others, feeling of isolation, and hatred for mankind are explored or hinted at in details and at a reasonable pace. For example, Jun seems to be modelled after children who suffer from psychological sickness called Hikikomori. People who suffer from this problem has fear of getting out of one's comfort zone/area due to bullying or family and societal pressure. A quick googling using the keyword reveals some interesting articles regarding the problem. If you're interested, check out the one from BBC Online and the one from Time Asia. The articles help to shed lights on some of Jun's behaviour as well as what this series tries to show in episode four.

The third episode itself begins by showing a shot of what seems to be an underground area. All of a sudden, a girl with a black raven wings appears out of nowhere and smiles eerily. Meanwhile at the Sakurada's household, Hinaichigo refuses to eat anything because she wants to eat something that is fluffy, white and red. Nori can't seem to figure out what Hina wants so the doll tries her luck with Jun. While inside his room, she asks Jun why he does not go to school like Nori and Tomoe. Hina wonders if Jun is the same like her in the sense that people always tell her to stay inside her place in the box. The statement seems to struck a nerve in Jun because he looks as if he has a brief epiphany. Later on, when Hina becomes upset because no one in the household seems to understand her, Jun gathers his courage to take a walk out of the house to cool his temper.

Once the dolls are left alone, Shinku tries to impress Hinaichigo with her newfound knowledge of toilet but unfortunately, Hina already knows what toilet is for so Shinku becomes embarrassed again. Before the two can get out of the door, however, all of a sudden the toilet door is closed from outside. Shinku eventually finds out that this is the work of Suigintou, the eerie-looking doll that appeared earlier in this episode. Suigintou asks Shinku why a loser of an 'Alice game' like Hina is still walking around. She thinks 'father' will be upset when he finds out about this. The two ends up having a short battle before Suigintou retreating back into a mirror after almost defeating Shinku. Meanwhile outside the house, Jun is battling his inner demon. He seems to be afraid of being seen by his ex-school friends. Unfortunately, on his way to find the cake that Hina Ichigo wants, he bumps into Tomoe.

The two then end up having conversation about the dolls. Tomoe mentions how she obtained Hinaichigo through a mysterious phone call, which asks her to make the same kind of choice that Jun made with his letter. She admits that she was afraid when she first found a casket containing Hina. But as she gets to spend some time with the doll, she realises that Hina must be quite lonely being locked inside the casket on her own. Before she leaves, Tomoe tells Jun that she believes that Shinku and Hina need Jun and is relieved to know that they're with him. Tomoe then give Jun the cake that she just purchased. When Jun comes back to the house, Hina tries to tell Jun about Suigintou but Shinku tells her not to mention a word to Jun. Besides, Hina's mind is already sidetracked when she sees the cake the Jun brings with him. It turns out what she wants to eat is an ichigo-flavoured daifuku (glutinous rice cake/mochi).

Episode four begins with a casket containing a Rozen Maiden doll suddenly being thrown into Jun's room from outside the window. Everyone is surprised with this latest development, but never the less decides to welcome the doll whose name is Suiseiseki. When Shinku asks Suiseiseki about the whereabouts of 'the other one', however, Suiseiseki becomes sad and starts telling Shinku how she hates all humans. After a good word from Shinku to not lump all humans like that as well as a good scolding from Nori, however, Suiseiseki calms down. Never the less, she seems to develop a dislike for Jun and even called him a 'small boy'. That is until Shinku asks Suiseiseki to use her power to look into Jun's heart/dream world. Jun's world seems to be a deserted place consisting of nothing but computer junkyard. They later encounter a small robot walking wearing the same blue shirt that Jun often wears, suggesting that Jun has been living his life like an emotionless robot.

Jun, however, looks happy when he sees some flying miniature cars flying around in the area, surprising both Suiseiseki and Shinku. His happiness, however, doesn't last long because then a monster starts to stalk him. Suiseiseki gives him an advice that as long as Jun thinks that he's a 'small boy' then that's all he'll always be and tells him to stand up and save himself. When Jun manages to do so, the monster falls apart into a bunch of test papers, suggesting that Jun's real monster is his school tests. Shinku then tells Jun that it seems there is still something worth looking in this deserted world and points out to a beautiful green oasis. In the middle of the oasis, they find a small plant that can't grow. So Suiseiseki uses her power to make it grow a bit and tells it to do the rest on its own. They all then go back to the real world and on their way, Jun manages to save Suiseiseki from falling into an endless abyss. The episode ends with Suiseiseki starting to make amends with Jun.

Impression:

It's good to know that both episodes turned out to be as well written and executed as the first two. And although I still can't stand Hina Ichigo's grating voice, I did end up feeling sorry for her sometimes, which is a credit to the writers. Episode three also introduces a new mystery in the form of Suigintou, who seems to have a connection with Shinku in the past. Interestingly enough, there is still no information on how these dolls know each other to begin with. However, when Suigintou mentioned that 'father will be upset', there is a possibility that she and Shinku are probably sisters like Chii and Dark Chii of Chobits. If that turns out to be true, who does Suigintou referred to as 'father' and why will he be upset that Shinku chooses to play 'Alice Game' on her own terms? I have to say that it's been a while since I see a series that introduces this many questions within one single episode. And it's a pleasant thing to see.

Episode four is also equally good with the introduction of Suiseiseki and her missing companion. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the doll in the opening is probably the one that Shinku was referring to in this episode. Never the less, there is still the mystery of what happened to the two of them that causes Suiseiseki to loathe humans in general. The main focus of the story in these two episodes, however, is that of Jun's psychological problem. It is suggested that the pressure of exam as well as school problem has caused Jun to become what he is now. The disturbing thing is that Jun sometimes ends up venting his anger on people who actually cares for him like Nori. Never the less, Shinku seems to know that there is still hope for Jun, as exemplified by the green oasis in the middle of the deserted junkyard. Jun definitely needs someone who knows when to let him deal with his problem alone and when to tell him to snap out of it.

© memento 2003