Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen - Episode 13 Discussion / Poll [END]

[Klashikari]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen, Episode 13.

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[j4c06]

Couldn't wait and watched it RAW. What a beautiful series, I will miss it. Here's hoping for another season!

[Horse]

So it's done. I really wish this episode ended at the halfway point. The extended dramatic setup for future events was, much like the recap, poorly done considering how much it skipped. I guess from this series' "let us ignore everything fun about the show" point of view you could call if fluff but, to me, they are important scenes.

So about this series...
+ Jun(s), I definitely liked how they handled both Juns and their stories. The director did a good job on this part of the show.
+ OP
- the dolls, I definitely did not get what many of you said in previous threads "the dolls are so much more relatable", "so much more complex", "so much more real" (in comparision to nomad's anime). I felt no involvement in their drama. I felt much like Shinku seemed to be - uninvolved, bored, sitting doing absolutely nothing, waiting for the end. Maybe it's a case of 2deep4me or just me not wanting boring "realness" from my entertainment but there was simply no energy in their scenes at all and the source was not at fault here.
- music, snorefest as far as the dolls were concerned.
- recap and extended open ending - 10 minutes wasted on rushing through future events which will probably get redone in future seasons (should they get made) much like the recap was getting retconned with flashbacks in later episodes.

I do not want more Rozen Maiden from this team. I'll stick to the manga. Obviously I'm in the minority here though (hopefully with a couple more disappointed souls) since mostly people who liked the show finished it. Let the praise begin!

[Kanon]

I wish they had ended it at the halfway point as well. It would have made for a great conclusion to the story of unwound Jun, who was the real star of the show more so than any of the dolls. He finally got to fit into society and new opportunities opened up to him. The second part setting up the next arc was unnecessary especially since there is no guarantee there will be a second season (in fact, it's looking pretty bad, isn't it?).

I personally have no complaints regarding this season. It focused a lot more on Jun than the dolls so I can understand why a lot of people were disappointed, but I didn't mind it. Quite the contrary, in fact. The exploration and development of Jun's character was quite welcome. I really enjoyed it. 8/10.

[Bern-san]

Originally Posted by Kanon

The second part setting up the next arc was unnecessary especially since there is no guarantee there will be a second season (in fact, it's looking pretty bad, isn't it?)

The first half of the episode adapted tale 25 (which is where it should have ended). The second half of the episode adapted part of tale 37 and part of tale 43. Of course it looks bad if they only adapt parts of random chapters of the next arc It isn't even a set up because a set up would have been showing the new manga character or Kirakishou or something else.

[Kanon]

They skipped 12 chapters?! That's even worse then. They really should have ended it at tale 25, but I guess they wanted people to yearn for more Rozen Maiden so they gave us this tease.

[Witch of Uncertainty]

Well, Kira's new vessel sure is ugly. I hope she gets her old look back in the future (if a S2 comes).
I really liked the episode. And I really liked this series.

[Triple_R]

I'm not a fan of this ending.

It's one thing to have a cliffhanger ending if you know a sequel is coming soon (i.e. in a year or less). It's quite another to have a cliffhanger ending when whether or not a sequel is coming is definitely in question, and even if it does come it could be a long time away.

This ending should have given Zurückspulen a certain sense of completion, imo. Instead, it just leaves the viewer wanting more, as the viewer naturally wants to find out how adult!Jun will resolve the new threat to his younger "Wind world" self.

I think they should have just padded out the first half of the episode (yes, with anime original material if necessary), and focused exclusively on adult!Jun. While I was pleasantly surprised to see more of the Rozen Maidens, it's not worth it, imo, if it comes off as a big tease.


This episode certainly had some nice bits to it - I loved seeing that horrible store manager finally get put in his place by his boss, and it was great to see Jun really take charge of his life and go from a dead-end situation to having some nice options to choose from. That alone would have constituted a good ending.

Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen is now to me an excellent one-cour anime, but with very questionable bookends. Strange how they can get Episodes 2 through 12 so right, while dropping the ball on Episodes 1 and 13.

[MCAL]

Well now that was a very odd way to end things. Though if that means a possible second season, I am all for it.

I am going to give this season of Rozen Maiden an eight out of ten. If it weren't for that recap episode and the odd way to end the season, I would probably give it a nine.

[FlareKnight]

Well at the very least it's better than episode one where you couldn't follow what was going on.

I didn't really have a problem with the ending. I suppose you can either wrap things up neatly with the older Jun stuff padded out or could line it up for a sequel. There was unresolved things going on so it wasn't going to feel like a totally clean conclusion anyways. Megu still needed to be recovered by Suigintou and there was enough vines in the previous episode to show that Kirakishou was still out there and a threat. Though can't say that it wouldn't have been fine to end just focusing on older Jun since he was the star of this season.

In some ways I don't mind leaving things out on a cliffhanger even if our odds aren't huge on getting the sequel. Gives the acknowledgment that older Jun who I really got behind as the series went along, isn't done and still has a part to play in the story. Plus just something comical about the dolls figuring out a video call .

All in all it's been quite the series. Started off rough as hell, but slowly and surely built itself up into a solid series.

[mitsuganae]

Sheeesh, the powers that be must really be hoping to increase the clamor of fans demanding another season/series. I wonder if it would really make a difference. The current arc hasn't even concluded yet, and given the manga's monthly release rate, it will most likely be some time before we see any animated Rozen Maiden again. Unless they want to make anime original stuff -- didn't that work out in the past? Well? Did it?

Anyway, I'm glad the latest season/series returned the focus to Jun opening the door (to use Shinku's words) -- something the previous seasons/series too often forgot (they could've kept that focus through all the anime original stuff if they really wanted to).

[sayde]

I approve of adult Jun. He's so much more likable to me than his younger counterpart. With that said, I would wholeheartedly look forward to another season if it meant we'd be getting to see more of that guy (which was something I was not expecting). But unfortunately, based on the comments I've seen in this thread so far, I shouldn't be waiting on this to happen anytime soon, if ever.

Still, I'm not too saddened by the cliffhanger. I was happy for adult Jun to be reunited with Shinku and co. And since I'm apparently not attached to young Jun very much after this season, a cliffhanger where adult Jun tries to save him somehow just wasn't something that made me feel like "I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS RIGHT NAO!!!"

I can wait to see what happens next. And should that day come, I will gladly revisit this series once more.

[Calca]

Wow they skipped over a lot especially a very important point such as exactly who was responsible for wound Jun's coma (it's actually a surprise) and a lot of "filler" chapters which are a harken back to the light hearted comedy days.

There was also a new character introduced in those chapters who seems to play a large role in the plot. Anyway hope for another season. This was a great season and an excellent adaptation. It's a shame those who were used to the first two seasons were put off by it.

[frodonk]

Saito best doll. as for season 2, it will come when it will come, although it is strange that they left the ending as it is..

[ChainLegacy]

That was a great ending for unwound Jun, but I'm honestly quite surprised (pleasantly) that he has more of a role to play. I thought his story was going to be over with this arc.

Overall a fantastic series and by far the best Rozen Maiden series of all. It's funny, I DID enjoy the original seasons, especially the last couple of episodes (when they ramped up the action), but I really only watched this to begin with out of a sense of continuity and nostalgia... It really floored me with how great it is.

Originally Posted by sayde

I approve of adult Jun. He's so much more likable to me than his younger counterpart. With that said, I would wholeheartedly look forward to another season if it meant we'd be getting to see more of that guy (which was something I was not expecting). But unfortunately, based on the comments I've seen in this thread so far, I shouldn't be waiting on this to happen anytime soon, if ever.

I'm with you on that one. Just an all around more likable character. To be fair, I suppose I'm a more likable character than I was as a young teen, as are most people, but the contrast is pretty damn dramatic when you see them both at once...

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by Kanon

It focused a lot more on Jun than the dolls

Yupp, this was Unwounded Jun: Tales of Rozen Maiden. In the whole season Shinku used her twin tail whip only twice and the Desu count was very low (besides the new voice actress didn't sound the same), dolls fans are underwhelmed.

Originally Posted by Kanon

they wanted people to yearn for more Rozen Maiden so they gave us this tease.

Too little too late, would anyone buy a disc with two episodes where only half of the last one includes an scene (the one with the video call) similar to the ones in the original anime series?

Originally Posted by Triple_R

This episode certainly had some nice bits to it - I loved seeing that horrible store manager finally get put in his place by his boss

I HATED that scene, I dislike the jerk Jun has as his boss, but that scene feels like kind of things hollywood does in their flicks, without the main character doing a thing, fate (and Saitou) give Jun a better standing in life. I would have preferred that Jun man up and told his boss "Stop the bullying, you know you will not fire me because I do most of your job better than you and you are too lazy to train a newbie from day one". Even if he does not get a better job with a better income, it is better to Jun stop being the victim (remember, you need two people to have a victim).

Originally Posted by mitsuganae

Sheeesh, the powers that be must really be hoping to increase the clamor of fans demanding another season/series ... Unless they want to make anime original stuff -- didn't that work out in the past? Well? Did it?

Mhh, so the fans are supposed to buy this sereis under the assumption that next season will be like the original series? I do not see that working at all, people buy what they like and skip what they don't.

Originally Posted by Calca

It's a shame those who were used to the first two seasons were put off by it.

Laplace's demon would say it was inevitable, developing a series under the assumption that "fans buy only anime adaptions which are faithful to the source material" is misguided at best. They also have pretty bad memory, the last faithful adaption (down to the crappy character designs) of a Peach-Pit manga (Zombie Loan) bombed so hard that the last two episode were not shown on TV.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by ogon_bat

I HATED that scene, I dislike the jerk Jun has as his boss, but that scene feels like kind of things hollywood does in their flicks, without the main character doing a thing,

But that's not exactly true. Jun had to put in a lot of work, and create that highly detailed colored tab-based notebook, in order to win over his boss's boss.

I think there's two generally good messages there:

1) Not all bosses suck. Don't get overly discouraged because your current boss is a horrible jerk. The next boss you meet could be better.

2) Hard work will eventually be rewarded.

Now, these are both a bit high on optimism, and things don't always get better, but I think it's generally true that people will encounter a mix of good and bad in life. Jun had faced a lot of bad in his young adult life, so it was time for his luck to change a bit, imo.

[Wandering_Youth]

Hmm.

Well this season of Rozen Maiden isn't at all what I had expected it to be. In terms of it being entertaining, this season wasn't that fun to watch as it mainly focused on adult Jun. I like the first season more as it focused more on the dolls and also the second season which talked a little in depth of the relationship the dolls had and the whole Alice game plot.

[NoemiChan]

This will have an SS right? Like the other anime series this season, pretty leaves an open ending.

[Guardian Enzo]

This show is really a testament to the simple notion that if you put brilliant and creative artists in charge of a show, they'll produce art - and Zurückspulen is undeniably art, as far as I'm concerned. It's a terrific series and deserves a far better reception than the one it's received, but in the end I think it was simply playing to the wrong crowd. I should know - I'm in it.