Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow! I really enjoyed the second season a lot! Really good character development, less of Junta and overall enjoyable!, July 21, 2009
Finally, the long awaited complete set of "Rozen Maiden: Träumend" is here!
A 12-episode animated television series created by PEACH-PIT who are known for anime and manga such as "DearS", "Di Gi Charat", "Shugo Chara!" and "Zombie-Loan".
The animated series is directed by Kou Matsuo (known for his storyboard work for anime such as "Sola", "Witch Hunter Robin", "Mobile Suit Gundam 00" and "Cardcaptor Sakura") and character designs are by Kumi Ishii (known for work on "Naruto", "Heat Guy J", "Ichigo 100%" and "Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie").
The second season takes place not long after the events of the first. The dolls are now trying to enjoy their happy lives but unfortunately, Shinku starts to have nightmares and it appears the remaining sisters/dolls will be coming and that can only mean the beginning of the "Alice Games".
The Alice game is simply when the dolls must square off against each other with one left standing and will fulfill their father's wish of the final doll becoming Alice.
Here is a spoiler-less summary of "Rozen Maiden: Träumend" :
DISC 1:
1. Rozenkristall - What are the Rozen Maid dolls up to since the events from the first season?
2. Enju - We are introduced to a new Rozen Maiden sister named Barasuishou and an evil entity named Laplace.
3. Kanarienvogel - We are introduced to another new Rozen Maidens sister named Kanaria.
4. Vereinbarung - Suiseiseki wants Jun to be her master but doesn't know how to go about letting him know.
DISC 2:
5. Der Brief -Suiseiseki and Hinaichigo decide to cook for Jun.
6. Engel - The return of Rozen Maiden Suigintou.
7. Teegesellschaft - Kanaria takes on the Rozen Maidens.
8. Puppenmacher - Jun becomes and apprentice for the puppetmaker Enju who seems to know quite a bit about the Rozen Maidens.
DISC 3:
9. Der Tadel - Souseiseki makes his stance known of where he stands on the "Alice Games". Souseiseki takes on Sugintou while Shinku takes on Barasuishou.
10 Tomoc - The first tragedy of the "Alice Games".
11. Rosengarten - Barasuishou takes on Suiseiseki and Kanaria.
12. Alice - Shinku vs. Barasuishou and Suigintou. The conclusion of "Rozen Maiden: Träumend".
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"Rozen Maiden: Träumend - Complete Set" is an anime series that sports a lot of colors. For the most part, this is a TV animated series and of course, television series in Japan are created in a short deadline and not as much detail. But for the most part, the majority of the series takes place inside Jun's home or total darkness, so background art is not as prominent but you do get scenes with lush, beautiful painted scenery and backgrounds. If anything, more attention was put on the characters and the dolls in battle.
It's also important to emphasize that this is a television series and not an OAV or film. So, production quality is going to much lower. But overall, I enjoyed the character designs for the animated series and the story of "Rozen Maiden: Träumend" made things much more enjoyable for me.
As for audio, the English dub is presented in English Dolby Digital and the Japanese language in Stereo. The series is at the most part, all dialogue with some scenes sporting battles (this is more towards the later half of the series) between the Rozen Maiden dolls. I listened to both audio soundtracks and both are well-done.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"Rozen Maiden: Träumend - Complete Set" comes with the following special features:
DISC 1:
* Textless OP theme and Geneon Trailers
DISC 2:
* Textless Ending theme and Geneon Trailers
DISC 3:
* Japanese TV CM's and Geneon Trailers
JUDGMENT CALL:
The final complete set for "Rozen Maiden: Träumend" (the second season) has arrived in the US and I'm quite thrilled that FUNimation has released the series as a complete set.
After the first two volumes were released in America through Geneon in 2007, due to Geneon's corporate situation, "Rozen Maiden: Träumend" was among many titles that were canceled.
Fortunately, in 2008, Geneon and FUNimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America and while Geneon has the license, FUNimation Entertainment will have the exclusive rights for the sales and distribution for the titles which include "Rozen Maiden: Träumend".
The concept of living dolls may seem a bit freaky for some people but in Japan, there is a large collector-based for "Volks" dolls. As there are many guys who collect action figures and mecha machines in Japan (and also in the US), the Volks dolls are quite an accomplishment for collectors who need to build them and in the end result, these dolls are well-crafted and quite beautiful.
Of course, in America, the thought of dolls coming alive are seen in horror films ("Chucky" anyone?) and I for one, have always thought of dolls coming alive to be horrifying (yes, as a youngster, I threw out my sister's dolls because I thought they were possessed). But overall, the concept of "Rozen Maiden" has never scared me or freaked me out and I have to admit, "Rozen Maiden: Träumend" was a much darker series than its predecessor and I have to admit that I enjoyed the overall storyline and this concept of how the dolls must fight to the death for the purpose of being "Alice".
It's hard to deny the cuteness of the series and their own character traits. Where this series could have been cliche and annoying, overall their own personal quirks is what makes the series so fun. I really had fun watching this series.
With "Rozen Maiden: Träumend", you get a good balance of lighthearted humor and action. Whereas the first series focused on Jun and how the dolls have helped him overcome his "hikkimori", this series features on character development of the dolls and how quickly they are put into a position that they don't want to be. They just want to be happy but because their creator has put together this "Alice Game", they can't bow out and resist. They must fight.
In the end, I found "Rozen Maiden: Träumend" to be an enjoyable, cute and humorous anime series. The lighthearted fun carries on for a little over half of the second series but it quickly becomes serious and more intense. But for the most part, the whole series held my attention with each episode and I fount that very cool!
But now after watching this second season, I want more! One can only hope that we get the two episode OAV "Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre" released soon in the US (this OAV supposedly gives us a look back of why Suigintou and Shinku do not get along) and hopefully we see a new series to continue the adventures of the Rozen Maiden dolls.
"Rozen Maiden: Träumend" is definitely a series worth recommending!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One Of The Best Despite Its Flaws, September 4, 2009
Rozen Maiden: Träumend is the second season of Rozen Maiden.
In a nutshell, a powerful mage named Rozen from the 18th century (revealed in the manga as Count St Germain) constructed seven dolls and imbued them with a living soul known as the Rosa Mystica. Their mission is to battle each other in what is known as the Alice Game, the winner obtaining the loser's Rosa Mystica until the last one standing becomes Alice, a real girl of unmatched beauty and purity. To help them, it is expected they will acquire human partners they can use as a power source for the unique weapons and tactics each one possesses, but it appears this is optional as some of the dolls appear to not have human partners.
The first six of seven dolls in their order of creation are:
1. Suigintou
2. Kanaria
3. Suiseiseki
4. Souseiseki
5. Shinku
6. Hinaichigo
In Rozen Maiden: Träumend, it appears the seventh doll calls herself Barasuishou, but truth is far different than first appearance.
Rozen Maiden: Träumend is really not for the kiddies. Though it is very light and humorous, by Episode 7 the atmosphere takes a solid turn to the dark and the body count starts to rise when three of these gothic lolita dolls are driven to kill the others within the Alice game while the other three desperately try to protect themselves and each other.
One of the death scenes is so moving and so poignant, I have had male hard core anime fans confess that an anime moved them to tears.
My only complaints about Rozen Maiden: Träumend are the same I have with most anime.
1. Because the funding is iffy, the writers write their plots on the fly keeping the main points and creating many little inconsistencies in the minor details. The more minor details they mess up, the more the story loses credibility even though it may remain true to the main storyline. The more you mess up, the more retcom you have to do in future stories to correct the inconsistencies.
2. Japanese anime does not hesitate to use Christian symbols and churches as locales, but their understanding of the worldview is incredibly naive. In Rozen Maiden: Träumend, Christianity is used more as a gothic symbol of death.
3. A caricature of English romance literature is having the two people stare at each others eyes and repeat their names. That happens a lot of times in anime and a lot in Rozen Maiden: Träumend. If you cut out every scene where Jun and Shinku repeat each others names back and forth to convey emotion (despair, affection, apology, etc.), the entire anime would have been about two episodes shorter.
4. If you are going to have major characters die, their death has got to mean something and can't be wiped away by mere platitudes that are given as shallow and unconvincing explanations. Yes, it's anime, but if you are going to address the big topics (fate, death, responsibility, purpose), you had better come up with some substantial answers other than a shallow paradigm that's 3,000 miles wide and only 3 inches deep.
All in all, I would still recommend Rozen Maiden: Träumend to anyone who is interested. Just be aware that though I found the anime to be outstanding, it isn't perfect.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Good second season story, September 22, 2009
I enjoyed this Anime collection very much. You can find other reviews that will tell you all you could want to know about the story and content. So in summation it was amusing and enjoyable. The first and now second season of this anime left me wanting a third season. The story is clearly not over.
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