Recap: In an alternate universe, Jun Sakurada chose not to wind. Now, years later, he is a lonely student who works part time at a book store. One day a mysterious magazine appears to ask him the question once again.

Zigg’s Thoughts: This was a better episode than the first one because it at least gave us some breathing room to set up a story and spend some time developing actual character. I must confess that the portrayal of Alternate Jun is pretty interesting to me and a compelling reason to watch. Since one of the key plots in the original series was him overcoming his shut-in tendencies and successfully returning to society, it’s pretty jarring and sad to see a world where that never happened and he just sort of devolved. It also fits in nicely with the whole ‘Build a Girl’ thing, since he’s believably creepy and company-starved enough to go along with something like that and his near obsession makes sense given the context. The daily grind of his life – shitty job, bad boss etc – helps make this episode feel strongly grounded in reality, which means the weird stuff is that much more effective when it comes along.

The show still stumbles badly when it comes to plot structure. There’s not very many worse ways you could choose to explain what’s going on than have somebody literally email you the story breakdown but that’s what happens here and the result is a dull, exposition crammed back third of the show that’s a real momentum killer. The show continues to be a mixed bag artistically as well – while it’s well animated and has some nice touches (the shot of Jun’s moving shadows is great) it’s also dull and feels like it’s been shot through sludge coloured filters. Jury remains out then, but we’ll try at least one more episode.

Random Observations:

• I didn’t get a chance to note it in the initial impressions, but in the first episode Jun has a large poster of Detective Kun-Kun on his wall.
• Why the hair colour change? Seems pointless.
• I’ve got no idea what the random interlude with the little girl on the boat is meant to be about.
• The dolls seem consistently smaller this time around, though I’m not sure how deliberate that is.
• Ali Project’s OP is terrible (and clashes badly with the much darker imagery on screen) but it sure does make it feel like a Rozen Maiden show.

Lifesong’s Thoughts: I can’t help feeling like I am missing something important for not watching the original. This series seems to be a plot reset, but not really? There are so many weird unexplained things that I am feeling out of place watching this. Rozen Maiden needs to decide if it’s a reboot or an awkward continuation. It needs to decide soon.