suigintou from last month's inktober

rozen maiden // suigintou manga icons

✨Free to use, credit not necessary ( ´ ▽ ` )

DollCulutre_SuiGinToh_01 by Marissa Kirisame on Flickr.

Nendoroid Suigintō from the anime series Rozen Maiden by Good Smile Company. 

My first cosplay photoset)

Photographer: Mariana Insomnia

Character: Suigintō

From: Rozen Maiden

Link:  (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･✧ Click! 

Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen FNAR Review #60:

          These last two weeks have been so full of dolls fighting, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now.The most recent example of which, is Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen, which is in a lot of ways, strange. It's not exactly a continuation of the original Rozen Maiden anime but rather an adaptation of the manga Rozen Maiden II by Peach-Pit after this disappointing, rushed ending of the original manga. Rozen Maiden II's story is a little different from the original in a few ways and this is the story portrayed in Zurückspulen. It basically assumes you have a knowledge of the original story and focuses on what is best described as an alternate telling in which there is a wound world and an un-wound world. The un-wound world is a world in this universe in which Jun Sakurada chose "not to wind" when he was in middle school and instead portrays him years later as a college student. He lives on his own in a small apartment and works part time at a book store with an insufferable manager and a girl whom he later becomes acquainted with named Saito. Jun comes across a publishing called "How to Make a Girl" and comes in contact with the Jun from the wound world through his phone who warns him of the threat of Kirakishou. Wound Jun urges Un-wound Jun to use the "How to Make a Girl" set to build a replica of Shinku to help . And I know that this all seems very strange and trust me, if I didn't understand the whole two related but different manga aspect this shit would confuse me.

             And now it's time for me to tear this thing apart, or perhaps not? I sort of didn't know what to expect while going in. The thing is I was very scared for a few reasons. One of these reasons is that I am not exactly the biggest fan of Studio DEEN, not that Nomad was really all that great but the whole changing of hands thing worried me. I thought maybe that that special little charm would be lost, and in a way I was right. It did feel different but in a big way much better. The main thing that I could say about the story is something I can only describe as fuller. Everything felt more fluid and composed, there was no sidetracking filler episodes with fights on the stairs (as fun as those episodes are). Although most of the second half is in astral world and made it sort of iffy whether or not they'd get back to the real world and conclude everything there. I also really like Kirakishou as an antagonist because she takes the whole ultimate girl thing in a completely separate direction that is yet to be fully explained and she really  breaks the mould http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zXDo4dL7SU . Also, in some ways, you could sympathise with her character which is helped by the parallels drawn between her and Jun. The characters, for the most part are the same as ever but a little less focused on comedy and a little more focused on the task at hand, which is helped by the major lack of filler. Also, some characters, specifically, Suigintou's medium, Megu are given more for one to take interest in even if it's just a little bit. Un-wound Jun, on a personal level was very relatable as he and I share a very similar position in life and he was way less annoying than the old Jun. And even the Jun from the wound world isn't as bratty and annoying. Hell, everyone was less annoying. This is the least irritated I've ever been by Kanaria and Hinaichigo. The animation for Zurückspulen is a vast improvement over previous instalments but also deserves mention based on its own merit. The backgrounds have a gorgeously painted look, giving the viewer a feeling of depth. This, paired with the solid colours of the characters make the whole show pop while looking very rich and colourful. The music for the opening and ending are pretty great and possibly the best in the franchise but what I feel is really worth mentioning is the improvement of the background music. While it's not anything extremely intense, it does a fantastic job at setting the tone and emotions for what's on the screen. I actually really liked it. Additionally, in the sound department is a lot of returning voice actors to their previous roles so you know, that's pretty damn cool.

          My main complaint for Zurückspulen is how it ends, or doesn't. Mostly everything was concluded and it looked like things were on their way to normalcy, but Zurückspulen ends in a way that's setting up for a continuation. And this is a concern because the last time this franchise did that was 2006  and we still don't have anything to follow up on that. Hopefully under new control, a continuation is probable but for now, I see it as a drawback on an otherwise very enjoyable experience. I can give Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen a 7.75/10 and that's sort of brought down by the absence of an unconfirmed continuation along with other factors but I'll face that when the hopeful time comes.

Side Note Time: Sorry for how long this one took. I ended up pretty much marathoning this and I had to write the review twice because my computer crashed and bla bla bla. But hey that's the summer season and I'll be sure to post as many reviews as I can in the coming months and then have another week and a half of total madness come late December. Goodnight everyone!