Rozen Maiden – Doll House: Volume One (Geneon/Animé TV)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B Extras: C Episodes: B
This is
the story about a lonely boy, Jun Sakurada. Afraid to go outside, afraid of people, he
rather closes himself off to the world than live in it. He spends all his time ordering weird/cursed
items on-line, but all that changes in his quiet life when a mysterious box
gets mailed to him, inside he finds a beautiful doll to his surprise can move
and talk on it's own! Soon he discovers
that there is more than one, and drawn into their world in which the dolls
battle one another in the mysterious 'Alice Games'...
This is
fun Animé, while the story has very childlike characters most of the time they
interact in social settings, the story setups of the story of a reclusive
character learning what it is to trust another, each episode the story develops
with either a new character or discovery of each other. As the story progresses they find out more
about each other and what is the so called 'Alice Games'. Whoever wins the game will finally get the
chance to become a real person.
An
interesting anime thought the characters are childish in nature starts and out
with a reclusive young boy and magical living Victorian like dolls. Their relationship starts out with
master/servant and develops into a co-dependent relationship. Oddly the boy is almost like a doll himself,
afraid to go outside, something to be left alone, kept inside and safe, but all
that changes with the arrival of Shinku, the Rozen Maiden doll. Together they explore the world and their
fears, learning to trust one another and their power.
Episode
1: Fraulein Rose
Jun was
perfectly content to stay in his room forever, until that is a special package
arrives for him! A talking and moving doll and with an attitude to boot!
Episode
2: Kleine Beere
Another
Rozen Maiden appears, Hina Ichigo. Jun and Shinku are drawn for the first time
into the mysterious 'Alice Games'.
Episode
3: Mercury Lampe
As Jun
and Ichigo tries to live together without driving each other up the wall, a
mysterious character Shuigintou appears and seems to has something against
Shinku.
Episode
4: Jade Stern
A new
Rozen Maiden crashes into Jun's house (to his dismay!) with the power to enter
dreams, as they enter Jun's dreams what will they find?
The anamorphically
enhance 1.78 X 1 image is not bad with its stylizing, with color, definition
and detail holding their own in this format but not the best such Geneon
release. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
has healthy enough Pro Logic surrounds in both languages to be enjoyed. The non-credit opening and four Geneon
trailers are the only extras.
- Ricky Chiang
