Recap: Shinku and Suguintou discuss their situation while Jun receives a harsh dressing down at work.

Zigg’s Thoughts: I spoke last week about Rozen Maiden suffering from a lack of structure. That’s even more obviously the case this time round, as the show seems to be scrabbling for an identity or plotline. But it can’t decide on one and as a result we get an uneven episode both in pacing and mood.

Let’s start with the ongoing Shinku/Suguintou…rivalry? Feud? Friendship? That’s the major problem here – the nature of their relationship remains very unclear. One moment they’re spraying each other with water, the next Suguintou is telling Shinku how she’d be happy if she disappeared into nothingness for the rest of existence. I can’t work out how far along the serious/silly axis their conflict is and that means it’s difficult to know how seriously I should take it. I’m not against some lighthearted moments – it’s worth remembering a LOT of the original Rozen Maiden anime was silly slice-of-life comedy – but the presentation is way less vibrant and energetic here, and combined with the dull, limited visuals it just sort of feels very out of place.

Also out of place is the sudden focus on Hinaichigo, which is truly baffling. A lot of Suguintou and Shunku’s conversation is a shameless expodump on her fate, while Shinku’s dream of her is also given prominent placement at the end. The problem is, you’re essentially trying to sell a character who nobody who’s watching knows about or cares about, short of a few mentions in your bullshit recap episode. It’s difficult to be shocked or horrified at her fate when we barely knew what it was. Hinaichigo’s death was one of the most memorable and moving parts of Rozen Maiden Traumend, but that’s not what happened here and as a result we’re being asked to express emotion over what’s basically an unknown quantity. It again shows the poor tactical choice in making the show a manga sequel.

Probably the most intriguing of the subplots, at least to me, is Jun’s battle with himself. Again, his personal demons were a strong focus in the original and it’s nice to see them return here. The problem is the ham-handedness of the execution. I’ve been liking the sort of slow, odd friendship that Jun and Saito have been building up and there’s a great little payoff here when she finally calls him ‘Jun’ (although the Nori flashbacks are immediate). To then have that ridden roughshod by dumb nonentity store manager basically saying YOU’RE A CREEP AND SHE WON’T BANG YOU is effective sure but also a case of using a hammer to crack a peanut. It would have been way more effective to have perhaps something Saito said or did affect him and overwhelm him with self doubt. The less said about his sudden, creepy obsession with owning his own doll the better, since it oculdn’t be a more obvious trap if it had giant flashing red lights all over it. It’ll be intriguing to see who or what this ‘new doll’ is though. Still, the show needs to get it together, and fast.

Random Observations

• The cold open notes that there are seven layers in a Matryoshka. Not coincidentally, there are also seven Rozen Maidens.
• The animation in this episode is really rough. Check out that train ride and especially the shower fight.
• The bit with the doll that looks like Kirakishou is a nicely creepy little side scene.
• Saito’s silent, knowing brother for best character.
• For all the poor storytelling on display in the HInaichigo bits, the visual of her smoking leg stumps is a pretty powerful one.
• Evil cats return to the franchise
• Next week the best doll shows up, I guess?