Rozen Maiden

Rozen Maiden an anime series about magically enchanted dolls. It deals obliquely with the pressures placed on children in Japan by telling the story of a student who cracked under the strain.

The Rozen Maiden are a series of dolls created by a craftsman known only as "Father". Their main source of life force is a human host who wears a ring that symbolizes their bond with the doll. They can eat food and drink tea but do not excrete. They were apparently created to duel in what is referred to as "the Alice Game", the winner of which obtains true humanity. In a typical duel, the losing doll has its power of animation taken away by the winner — however, the principal doll in ths series, Shinku, consistently refuses to take the power (and, by extension, kill her opponent).

Characters

Humans

Jun Sakurada is an arrogant, traumatized boy who lives a hermit's existence in his room. His hobby is ordering things from the Internet and then returning them before he has to pay. When he accidentally orders Shinku, one of the Rozen maidens, and winds her up, he becomes caught up in the Alice Game — especially since Shinku declares him her "servant" and insists he obey her at all times. Jun is quite intelligent, but does not go to school after cracking under the pressure of Exam Hell. He is skilled at crafts and sewing.

Nori Sakurada is Jun's older sister and caretaker, as their parents are out of the country on business and apparently unaware of Jun's plight. She is kind and gentle, but takes the brunt of Jun's abuse and criticism. She bocomes fond of the dolls who one by one move into their house.

Tomoe Kashiwaba is a girl who goes to the school Jun would have attended. She is the servant of Hanaichigo and has aided Jun in his dealings with the Rozen Maiden.

Yamamoto is a boy in Nori's class who is continually trying to profess his love for her, only to be interrupted by wilder and wilder coincidences. Nori does not notice him at all.

The Rozen Maiden

Shinku is the Fifth Doll of the Rozen Maiden. Her manner is aloof, cold and arrogant, and she is extremely damanding. However, she is very protective of her friends. She focuses her combat powers through sakura blossoms.

Hinaichigo is a cute, naive and selfish doll. Although most of her actions and behaviors are childish, she has surprising power. Shinku defeats her in the Alice Game but spares her life, binding her to Shinku instead. Her powers are focused through rose vines.

Suiseiseki is a doll with the power to enter human dreams. She has a watering can which she uses to nourish the "soul trees" of humans. She develops a rivalry of sorts with Shinku.

Souseiseki is Suseiseki's "twin sister", although her appearance is somewhat masculine. Like Suiseiseki, she has the power to enter human dreams, and carries a set of pruning shears that she uses to tend human soul trees.

Suigintou is a powerful doll who is obsessed with winning the Alice Game and becoming human. To do this, she has determined to defeat and destroy Shinku and everything she holds dear. Suigintou is clever, cunning and capable of astonishing cruelty. Her attack powers are focused on raven feathers.

Themes and References

Many important parts of the series take place in Jun's "dream world", which is where his soul dwells. It is a dark, stormy place filled with the relics of his failure.

The dolls who live with Jun are all hooked on a puppet-based television series called Detective Kun-Kun, about a dog who solves crimes, including murders. The series-within-a-series appears to be satirizing such popular anime fare as Detective Conan and The Kinidachi Files.