Rozen Maiden, Volume 1

by Peach-Pit

Jun Sakurada buys a doll on the Internet - who comes to life before his very eyes. Jun must enter an all-new reality to protect and serve a living doll.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1598163124
• ISBN13: 9781598163124
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: TokyoPop
• Length: 175 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 13 years and up

Customer Reviews

though it seems derivitive its not

im a huge anime and manga fan ive even been to japan or a while so i have seen and heard and read a lot from that great country and so far rozen maiden presents itself with an air ive not encounterd before yes the characters are archtype in some regards but i like it there believe able and the alice game and the demon of laplace do a nice job of adding a real sense of menace to the tone of the book

PEACH-PIT shows a little more depth...

Now, first impressions of PEACH-PIT's popular harem title DEARS left me wanting, so I was a little skeptical when it came to Rozen Maiden... but, I'm always up for giving an author a second chance (I've I'd've been any different, I would've never given Ken Akamatsu's Love Hina a chance after failing to like any part of A.I.Love You). I digress... Rozen Maiden tells the story of Jun, a hikikomori (a young shut-in, an archetype on the rise in Japan) who's abusive to his worried sister and whose only pleasure seems to be ordering strange items online. Very EMO, very dramatic... One day, he recieves a ridiculous order form, which inevitably leads to Jun becoming the human servant of fifth Rozen Maiden doll, Shinku. The volume pretty much covers the introduction of the protagonists and villain (Suigintou) and begins to work out the kinks in their burgeoning relationships while hinting at dark mysteries on the parts of both the Rozen Maidens and Jun himself (he didn't just become a shut-in, after all). The art style is soft shojou and is just the right mix of internally consistant realism and super-deformed/chibi frames to highlight comedic and ironic one liners. Look for references to children's litertature in the various themes and characters (as the overall series itself borrows characters and lore from Lewis Carrol).