Older can often be wiser and Jun has learned when to evade.
What They Say:
Episode 4: “Tale 4”
University Jun is all alone in his strange dream world with his handmade sweet-turned-vicious doll, Shinku, with no way to communicate with his more positive, younger self. The doll immediately demands that he make another choice, and everything goes blank.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Jun’s strange dream ends with Shinku fully made, but him unfortunately drawn into the web of the Alice Game. After he wakes up, he sees completed Shinku in front of him, but she does not move. Of course, he has to wind her, which he does after a hint from Holie. Shinku calls him “the Jun who did not wind.” The two get along about as well as Jun and Shinku did in the Wind Universe, though adult Jun is more capable of standing up for himself. He goes off to work and Shinku stays at home, to see what a shabby life Jun leads in this world. When he returns, we get exposition from Shinku. It appears that Kirashiko has the upper hand in the Alice Game. Both Hinaichigo and Souseiseki are out of the game completely, while Suiseiseki and Suigintou are trapped inside of the N-Field. Shinku herself is trapped as well, but Holie was able to remove her Rosa Mystica and bring it to this temporary vessel for her.
The second part of the episode largely consists of Jun and Shinku becoming accustomed to each other, with an appearance by Saito, whom Shinku thinks is Jun’s girlfriend (in his heart of hearts he wishes that were the case, but he’s not there yet). From the moment he received the books for making Shinku, his life has begun to change for the better. So Jun muses, but this change in his life may be limited as the episode ends with Shinku ominously noting to Holie that she has only seven days left at best. Kirashiko knows this too, as she watches from her astral lair. With this bit of information, we are unlikely to spend too much more time seeing Shinku and Jun of the Unwound Universe playing house. The preview for next week also shows another doll appearing.
This episode accomplished its rather limited goal (introducing Shinku to Jun of the Unwound Universe) in efficient fashion, while also keeping some of the basic plot lines of the previous episodes on track. Shinku is now in the universe where Jun chose not to wind, which decision resulted in Rozen Maidens not existing in this universe at all, until Shinku’s temporary residence here. And it must be stressed that her residence is temporary. In a week, the temporary vessel will probably fail and we are not sure what will happen to Shinku. This is for the future, however. In the present, Jun sees Saito again and even manages to score a few points with her, as she’s impressed with his knowledge of fabrics and costume/clothing design (as she has to make her own costumes for her acting classes). His life has turned around somewhat, though we also see that he has become entwined with the world of the N-Fields and the Alice Game, which presents a serious danger. This episode should, presumably, be the last major occasion for delivering exposition. Starting with the next episode, one can reasonably expect the Alice Game to intrude into Unwound Jun’s bland existence.
In Summary:
With Shinku now brought into Unwound Jun’s world, things are set up for the progression of the plot. Shinku has only a limited time in which to attempt some kind of maneuver to free herself and the others from Kirashiko’s power, if that is possible. Otherwise, this is going to be a rather short show. As another table-setting episode, this one serves its purpose well, giving us in broad brushstrokes the relationship between this Jun and Shinku and her adapting to her new environment.
Episode Grade: B+
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
