Rozen Maidens and the Alice Game
The Rozen Maidens are a collection of dolls created by a craftsman named Rozen, whom the dolls refer to as "Father". Their primary source of power is a human host (a "medium" wink that wears a ring to symbolize their bond with the doll, although certain dolls have been shown to act without a medium. According to Shinku, she can last for 30 minutes without a medium. Each Rozen Maiden has her own distinct personality, guardian spirit, and supernatural ability. Their apparent purpose is to participate in the "Alice Game", a lethal competition that promises the winner the right to meet "Father" by becoming "Alice", a girl of supreme beauty that lives inside of "Father", which is said to be "more sublime than any flower, purer than any gem, and without a touch of impurity".[3]
The game is played through duels in which the dolls fight using both their guardian spirits and respective abilities—such as the manipulation of strawberry vines—as well as the spiritual energy from their medium. The doll that loses the duel loses her "Rosa Mystica", the very essence that endows her with the ability to move. The lost Rosa Mystica is then collected and absorbed by the duel's winner. This Rosa Mystica contains the doll's memories and emotions. The doll that gains all of her sisters' Rosa Mystica will become Alice. Shinku, the central doll of the series, is notable in that while she does not refuse to fight, she does refuse to take the lost power and kill a sister doll. Supposedly, a doll can no longer become Alice if she loses her Rosa Mystica or her ring (which is used to transfer power from a medium), but there have been exceptions to this rule.
[edit] Story
Jun Sakurada is a Junior High School student who refuses to go to school due to mental issues resulting from traumatic experiences there (see Hikikomori). He normally locks himself in his room and has a hobby of ordering supernatural goods online and returning them before the trial period ends and he has to pay for them. His older sister, Nori Sakurada, does everything she can to help but is unable to reach Jun.
One day, Jun receives a letter claiming he has won a prize, and asking whether or not he would "Wind" (まきますか？） or "Not Wind" （まきませんか？）. After putting the letter in his drawer as per the instructions on the letter, he receives a beautifully crafted box right after Nori comes to complain about his habits. The box contains a strangely lifelike doll clad in Gothic Lolita clothing. Jun, after a brief and crude examination of the doll, winds it up. The doll creaks a bit, stands up on its own, and slaps him for handling her so indelicately. She later states, "My name is Shinku, the fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden." Shinku is a doll from the unique "Rozen Maiden" collection, and before Jun can fully realize just what he's got himself into, he is attacked by a stuffed animal that enters through the window. Jun finds himself pledging service to Shinku to save his life, and is thus endowed with the responsibility of protecting Shinku's "Rosa Mystica" whilst she is engaged in intense battles with other Rozen Maiden.
Shinku (真紅, Shinku? Pure Ruby / Reiner Rubin)
ShinkuShinku is the fifth Rozen Maiden doll. She embodies the traditional Victorian aristocrat. She is extremely demanding and can seem unappreciative of others, even though this is often not the case. Her favorite words are "tea" and "servant", and she takes pride in lecturing (or slapping) Jun, her medium, at every opportunity. No matter how strong the emotion, Shinku rarely lets her sadness, joy, or fear show through. Shinku may seem cold, but she is highly protective and cares deeply for her doll sisters. When Suigintou was defeated in season one, she was haunted by the guilt of turning her into "junk" and sought her forgiveness. Shinku even dreaded nighttime as she would have vivid nightmares of Suigintou disintegrating. Shinku does not use honorary suffixes such as 'chan', 'san', or 'kun'. Despite her relative youth amongst the Rozen Maidens, the other dolls look up to her as an older sister, and a worthy challenger in the Alice Game. She is unusually open with her admiration for the puppet detective "Kun-Kun", and also shares the other dolls' high opinions of "Father". Shinku hates cats, as one ate her wind-up key in the past. She desires to become "Alice", but refuses to employ the more ruthless methods of playing the "Alice Game". Shinku believes that there must be a different way to fulfill "Father"'s wishes, and her pacifist sentiments spread to the other dolls. Along with being the central doll in the series, Shinku seems to hold a special place in "Father"'s heart, as he had given her a special brooch with his image when she was created. (This brooch was destroyed by Suigintou out of jealousy.) She fights with rose-based attacks. Her other weapon is a cane which she wields as one would a sword.
Medium: Jun/Sarah
Artificial Spirit: Holi (ホーリエ) (sometimes spelled "Holie", "Hollier" in the Tokyopop transl.) Hina-Ichigo (雛苺, Hina-Ichigo? Young Strawberry / Kleine Beere)
HinaichigoHina-Ichigo is the sixth doll, and the very embodiment of childishness. Although she can be ridiculously naïve and selfish, Hina-Ichigo never has anything but the best intentions for those that she cares about. Her disposition is also a mismatch for her tremendous power, which is a series of attacks based on strawberry vines. Shinku defeats her (through Hina-Ichigo's own selfishness by exhausting Tomoe's energy) in the Alice Game, becoming the first doll to lose the ability to become Alice in the Alice Game. However, Shinku did not rob her of her ability to move. Instead, Shinku lets herself be the inter-medium to allow Hina-Ichigo to tap into Jun's power. However, in the later part of Season 2, with the beginning of the Alice Game in earnest, "Father" cuts off this link. Therefore, when Hina-Ichigo used up her remaining powers, her Rosa Mystica is lost to Shinku, becoming the second doll to lose one. Her favorite foods are "Unyuu" - which is actually strawberry daifuku - and Nori's "Flowery Hamburger", a dish that consists of a hamburger patty topped with a flower-shaped egg. She usually ends her sentences in "na no" (meaning "that's why" or "because" in Japanese), complimentary to Kanaria's "kashira" (meaning "I wonder" or "maybe?" wink .
In the manga, Hina-Ichigo is destroyed by being consumed from the inside by Kirakishou's vines. She sends her Rosa Mystica to Shinku through Berrybell, asking Shinku to use it to end the Alice Game.
In the anime, Hina-Ichigo's singing, as well as most of her quarreling with Suiseiseki, are actually ad-libbed by her seiyū, Sakura Nogawa (with Natsuko Kuwatani in the quarreling scenes).
Medium: Tomoe/Jun
Artificial Spirit: Berrybell (ベリーベル) heart biggrin
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