Rozen Maiden ep.5

December 5, 2004 | 7 Comments

Well, I'm out of the self-imposed Internet isolation and the nightmare that was JLPT. But now it seems there are so many anime that I need to catch up with, so I figure I'll start with this insane episode. I really like to know what kind of crack that the writers/animators were on at the time they created this because it takes a good one to create something like this. It looks to me that at least 50% of this episode consists of mostly super-deformed character design. It's a shame though that except for few scenes, most of the time Shinku is mostly drawn in normal styles. I guess they need to maintain her cool, authoritative persona as much as possible even in this kind of episode. Having said that, it was a pleasure to see her obsession with Kun-Kun, the doggie doll.

The episode starts with Nori giving Hinaichigo and Suiseiseki their portion of Strawberry cake. However, when Hinaichigo looks away, Suiseiseki eats the Strawberry on top of Hina's cake, and then pretends as if Hina is the one who's being greedy and want her share of the cake. Hina is obviously angry at this accusation and storms off to Jun's room. Seeing the situation, Nori then warns everyone that unless they can get along with Hina by the time she finishes her shopping, no one is going to get flower-topped burger for dinner. Out of nowhere, Jun offers his help to talk to Hinaichigo. But in doing so, he is convinced by Hina that Suiseiseki is one wicked, evil doll. Because of this, Jun and Hina barricade the staircases with boxes and demand Suiseiseki to apologise to Hina.

Like any doll with a pride, Suiseiseki of course refuses to bow down to the likes of Jun and Hinaichigo. As a result, the situation quickly escalates into one giant war where one party tries to up the other with dirty tricks. Throughout all of this, however, Shinku remains on the neutral side. That is until Jun baits her with Kun-kun, the dog detective doll from her favourite TV show. When Kun-kun 'questions' Shinku's allegiance with wicked doll such as Suiseiseki, Shinku quickly tells the doggie doll that she has nothing to do with Suiseiseki. Anyway, the entire thing turns into one giant mess when Hinaichigo also falls prey to Kun-kun's plight for help. When Nori comes home and sees things in disarray, she proceeds to show the guys how scary she can really be when she's angry.

Impression:

It's hard to say anything about this episode other than this is the work of a genius madman. I can't stop laughing throughout the entire thing. Kudos to Suiseiseki's VA because I really love her insane, maniacal laughter and her over-the-top line delivery in this episode. I also notice that Jun becomes less and less of a jerk over the course of 5 episodes and more of a caring person. Although it may not be the intention in this episode, I think it's nice to see this kind of progression. I also like the fact that they show Nori being able to stand up for herself. In fact, the moral of this episode, if there was any to begin with, is to not piss off a seemingly quiet and nice person. I agree that when quiet people are angry, they are far scarier than an individual who is normally loud and temperamental.

© memento 2003