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Tuesday, 30 January 2007 |
 | | ▪ | PUBLISHED BY: | | TOKYOPOP | | | ▪ | ART/AUTHOR: | | PEACH PIT | | | | ▪ | FORMAT/COLOR: | | JAPANESE FORMAT / BW | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 180 | | | ▪ | RATED: | | T 13+ | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 08/29/2006 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/31/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | CHRISTOPHER SEAMAN |
Baaaad dolly…
The Japanese have had a doll thing going on for centuries. Within manga, anime, and the fine arts in Japan, this has made for the fodder of some very interesting stories and some incredibly disturbing images. Luckily, ROZEN MAIDEN, created by Peach Pit and published by Tokyopop, fits happily into the former category, with its winning combination of an entertaining story and great art. Rated for the teen crowd, it is safe without being silly, and savvy enough so that grown ups can enjoy it too.
The story revolves mostly around Jun, a shut in who has stopped going to school, and associating with everyone- including his sister. Spending most of the day surfing the Internet, Jun, visiting one webstore, inadvertently adopted a doll name Shinku, one of the legendary Rozen Maiden living dolls. Almost immediately, his sheltered life is shattered as he is drawn into the service of Shinku and the protection of her Rosa Mystica from the predations of her sister dolls. Jun is far from the best person for the job, but rises to the occasion, fending off reanimated knife-wielding teddy bears, journeying into the warped world of the N-Field, in search of Hollier, Shinku’s spirit. In the process of one of these adventures, Jun enters a dream world where the reader almost discovers what caused him to stop going to school. However, just as all is about to be revealed, Jun and Shinku realize they are not alone…
In Volume Two, Jun and Shinku meet Hollier, who declares that Alice, the chosen one among the Rozen Maidens is about to awaken and only she will meet ‘Father’, who created these seven amazing dolls. Returning to the real world, Jun retreats to his bed, and Shinku is taken care of by Jun’s sister, Nori. Needing allies for the Alice game, Shinku seeks out another Rozen Maiden, Hinaichigo, who belongs to Tomoe, a childhood friend of Jun. Shinku compels Hinaichigo to become her servant or become an ordinary lifeless doll for Tomoe. Hinaichigo agrees, and they move into Jun’s room- with predictable results. Jun, however, must give in, though, considering his own connection to Shinku, who is one really bossy doll. Before long, the gang is back on the march again; when Suiseiseki, yet another Rozen Maiden, appears to tell Shinku her twin sister Soseiseki has been taken hostage by a bad human. Suiseiseki hates humans, which makes for a rocky start to the relationship with the equally anti-social Jun. When she also moves in with Hinaichigo and Shinku…yes, the results are, like before, predictable.
This volume certainly wastes no time in getting into the mystery behind Jun’s condition and the nature of the Rozen Maidens. In the end, however, we have a better sense of what they are all about than Jun. That doesn’t seem to matter, though, because Volume Two is more Shinku’s story than Jun’s anyway. Thankfully, Peach Pit has not tortured the reader with obfuscation as is often the case in manga and anime- a bad habit developed since EVANGELION appeared in the 1990s. Not that this reviewer minds a mystery which is solved incrementally. It’s just a lot of stories have used the EVA device in recent years and have used it really badly. ROZEN MAIDEN keeps you on edge, but is not cruel to you, making for a great reading experience. To assist in that aim, a comprehensive summary and character introduction is included at the beginning of the volume to get readers up to speed. New readers would be best getting both volumes at once to complete the story up to this point in one sitting. The artwork is as good as in the first volume, and the pacing of the story keeps the pages turning very fast.
One scene in the second volume stands out for the use of irony. Jun walks into his room and finds Shinku and Hinaichigo watching a puppet show on television and commenting on it. Nice touch, Peach Pit!
IN SUMMARY:
ROZEN MAIDEN from Tokyopop is a sweet blend of mystery, comedy and cuteness all rolled up in one frilly little package created by Peach Pit, balancing fantasy and drama in equal parts. It may be said we shouldn’t worship false idols, but it would be hard to resist the beautiful beings that make up the title characters in this magical tale. |
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