Air Date: October 8, 2004

Genres: Action, Drama, Supernatural

Type: Series

Studio: Nomad

Age Rating: Pg-13

Episode Number: 12

Rating: 8/10

/Summary

A boy named Jun becomes a shut-in after having a panic attack at school caused by a failing test. He has a hobby of ordering dolls and taking care of them. One day he ends up ordering one called the Rozen Maiden and it turns out to be a sentient doll named Shinku. After being attacked he's sworn as her servant, helping her with the Alice games. The game that all Rozen Maidens play to get a chance to met their creator.

/Review

I watched this showed in a very specific moment of my life when I really needed it. Not to dump my sob story but I'm a shut-in similar to Jun and really hate myself for it. When I watched it my grandmother had just finished telling me I'm a failure and a mistake passed down from my mother, which sucks. Jun feeling like he disappointed everyone around him and he's better off from interacting with the scary outside world resonated with me at that moment. While I think Jun's reason for being a shut-in is a nothing burger, at least in the anime. It still didn't change how I felt.

Jun slowly becoming more comfortable with interaction and opening up was great. I've seen some people say that the strawberry and similar episodes are useless but it really shows Jun's development from the beginning. During the first couple of episodes he tried to distance himself from the doll's bs by the end he's actively participating in them. If we didn't get those episodes where they fuck around, I don't think him coming to the conclusion to go back to school would've hit the same.

Speaking of the dolls, a major part of why I like the show is because of them. They're a bit tropey but still enjoyable. The whole Alice game thing was a pretty alright side plot. In the long run I don't think it mattered much other than us getting doll Sephiroth, which was cool. Its mostly the Rozen Maidens as characters that I enjoyed. My personal favorites of them were Shinku and Suiseiseki. Suiseiseki was really funny and I liked how she trolled most of the cast. I liked Shinku because I'm a sucker for characters that act sophisticated but are really ignorant about the world.

I will probably just continue the story through the manga since from what I've heard it's better organized and written. The art also looks really appealing to me, I hope RACS has it in stock. If this anime where to be made today it'll be the equivalent of a really solid seasonal. I reccomend it.