Everything has returned to normal, though things appear to be better for both Unwound Jun and the younger version. But appearances can be deceiving.
What They Say:
Episode 13: “Tale 13”
Jun who didn’t wind the key returns to his life in his original world as though nothing ever happened, but little clues remain to reassure him that his time with Shinku and her sisters did in fact happen. A few choice things in life are beginning to fall into place for him, and he finds he is no longer in a rut as he now has some interesting choices to make. Meanwhile, his younger self who wound the key prepares to face his first day of middle school in a long time, but waiting there for him is a completely unexpected threat.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Unwound Jun has returned to his normal life, including his annoying manager at work, but it’s clear that his time with Shinku happened (as he still has the tea set). His halting advances in the past towards Saito are also all in place, as she even helps him scores some points with the bookstore chain’s head manager, who comes by to check up on the feckless jerk who runs this branch of Books Takiwa. Jun has even been invited to become a full-time helper to the acting troupe by its director.
Even better, his hard work at the store is noted by the head manager. He’s apparently being offered a full-time position with the company. For Unwound Jun, there are worlds of possibility beginning to open up for him.
In the world where Jun wound the key, he has finally found the courage to attend school again. But it’s not a happily ever after ending that is in store here. We see that Kirakisho is back, as she sent her tendrils into the Unwound World to steal the antique doll that Unwound Jun had. Kirakisho first manages to take out younger Jun at school and later goes after Kanaria’s master Mitsu. It looks like the evil little astral doll is making a move in the World Where the Key was Wound.
This pushes Shinku and friends to a desperate position: they will have to try to seek the help of the older Jun. Thanks to Tomoe Kashiwaba, Hinaichigo’s master, they manage to open up a video conference call with the Unwound Jun and inform him of what is happening. So, while it may seem like the two worlds branched off and were not intended to meet again, Unwound Jun has now been pulled into the Alice Game. Perhaps as a certain dimensional witch might say, it was inevitable that Jun, every Jun, must be pulled into the lives of the Rozen Maidens.
“Desu.”
This episode is not filled with any grand action moments or major set pieces, more a collection of positioning moves setting up more story to come. In that sense, this series, which does not end with the assurance that another season is shortly on its way, is similar to the first season of the show, which similarly ends on a stopping point where it is clear that more story has yet to be told. As a stopping point, it is as good a place to end things as any. The immediate crisis caused by Kirakisho trapping younger Jun and Shinku in the N-Field was resolved in favor of the forces of “light” (as Shinku’s method of pursuing the Alice Game is far more “humane” than what Kirakisho or Suigintou have in mind); the invasion of the Wound World into Unwound Jun’s life has, in the end, had a positive impact on his life as he comes to realize that his passivity in the face of an abusive boss and a friendless existence in a lower-tier university was not living, but a living death. He now has friends (Saito and the acting troupe) and has even made some advances in work in this episode, to the point where the feckless manager is beginning to change his tune (this one is a born ass-kisser and those types can see the direction the wind is blowing and change accordingly). All of this may be put on hold, however, as Unwound Jun may have to enter battle to save his younger parallel self.
Series Retrospective:
If there is one complaint that might be lodged against Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen, it is that it took an inordinate amount of time to set up the story. In many ways, the first eight episodes of the series are the setup for the final four, with the thirteenth being a transitional coda, providing a stopping point for “Rewind” and a starting point for a new story arc. It’s not that every single moment of episodes 2 through 8 (Episode 1 was a general background introduction to the entire franchise, though it barely sufficed to get new viewers up to speed) is devoted solely to putting into place all of the pieces necessary to unleash the action of episodes 9 through 13. There was comedic relief and quite a bit of exploration into Unwound Jun’s world and the life he has been leading. Yet, one could not help but feel at times that the Unwound World and Unwound Jun’s problems were nothing more than “filler” as we waited for the Alice Game and the main story to kick in, which it does in Episode 9.
I’m not sure there was a particularly better way to handle two distinct stories at the same time, which is what this series (and presumably the manga, which I have not read) had to do. Since there was not really parallel action occurring in both plotlines (middle school Jun was himself also just playing a waiting game in the N-Field, as he waited for someone to disable or distract Kirakisho enough so that he could escape from the N-Field and resume his active search for Shinku in the astral world), it was only natural that we had to have something hold our attention while we waited for the “main” story to move forward. In the end, the Unwound World was vital for the movement of the Alice Game plot, as Kirakisho’s entrance into a “real” world (unlike the astral N-Field plane in which she otherwise can only exist) through the doll body crafted by Unwound Jun is what allowed the suspended story to advance.
Once the waiting game was over, it does feel like the Unwound World was then tossed aside, like a plot-relevant prop that has had its use, served its purpose, and is no longer needed. We had the confrontation between Kirakisho and her older sisters, who were triumphant, in large part thanks to Unwound Jun. And in the end, it is only Unwound Jun, not his world, that seems to figure in future events. Sure, he may yet have a happy life with Saito once the Alice Game is done and he no longer has to deal with the crazy world of the Rozen Maidens, but for the moment he is going to be a part of this brutal contest for a bit longer.
So, those are the weaknesses. Too much waiting around for the “main” story to show any movement. A feeling that the Unwound World has been created in great detail just to be thrown aside, other than the character of Unwound Jun who will be central to the furtherance of the “main” story. What are the strengths? The relationship between older Jun and Shinku was in some ways far more interesting than any of the interaction between middle school Jun and Shinku which I saw in the earlier anime adaptations. Instead of only being bossed around and treated like a servant, older Jun, as a natural function of age, is more capable of standing up to her bossy attitude and giving some of it back at times. From this, despite Shinku continuing to call him a manservant, it does seem like she has developed a certain measure of respect and affection for the older Jun. In addition, the other Rozen Maidens, other than Kirakisho who is, in the end, a rather shallow villain, with a shallow personality and no signs of hidden depths (unlike Suigintou, who has layers), were given moments to shine beyond their brief appearances in the opening episode. Suiseiseki in particular is revealed as something of a manipulative genius, tricking even Kirakisho, who probably felt that she had Suiseiseki on a leash as the astral doll had taken control of Souseiseki’s body until she learned who the real master of trickery was.
If this were the first half of a two-cour series, I think I would be more satisfied, as all of the time spent setting up later events would probably result in a greater sense of payoff by the time the entire run ended. With only 13 episodes, 8 episodes of table setting seems too much for only 4 episodes of action and one episode that connects this series to future events. One might argue that those eight episodes were not mere setup, that we got a full story and a richly detailed world in the life of Unwound Jun, and that may be a fair argument to make. The ending, however, makes it seem that the Unwound World as a whole is not going to get too much more attention, as it is only one inhabitant of that world, Unwound Jun, who matters in terms of the main story. Unless the manga does continue to devote significant time to Unwound Jun’s life in his own world, it almost feels as if that part of the story would have been better off told as a six-episode OVA, with a new full cour series of Rozen Maiden picking up where Episode 13 here ends things. Six extended-length OVAs could have easily covered the same material as episodes 2-12.
On its own terms, though, this season of Rozen Maiden has been enjoyable enough, telling a self-contained story that does in the end merge back into the larger continuing saga of the Alice Game. It also gives us some hope that the Alice Game will have a less-macabre and less-violent conclusion than that envisioned by Suigintou, or the real horror of Kirakisho’s intentions, as she has no interest in becoming Alice but simply wants to suck the souls of out everyone and everything to feed the emptiness inside of herself. Shinku’s plan may result in the other dolls becoming something other than junk.
Episode Grade: A-
Series Grade: B+/A-
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
