is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Peach-Pit. It was serialized in Monthly Comic Birz between the September 2002 and July 2007 issues. The individual chapters were collected and released into eight volumes by Gentosha. The eight volumes were localized to North America by Tokyopop between March 2003 and June 2007. The story follows Jun Sakurada, a middle school student who withdrew from society after suffering persecutions from his classmates. Following his withdrawal, he is chosen to become the master to a Rozen Maiden named Shinku. Rozen Maidens are seven sentient porcelain dolls who compete against each other to become a perfect doll dubbed as Alice.
Rozen Maiden received a sequel under the series' katakana title. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump between April 2008 and January 2014. Rozen Maiden has spun off anthology manga and novel stories, art books, and four anime series; the four anime series are titled Rozen Maiden, Rozen Maiden: Träumend, Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre, and Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen. Tokyo Broadcasting System were the producers for the anime with Nomad as the animation studio for the first three series and Studio Deen for Zurückspulen. The anime adaptions resulted in several audio disc releases and three video games.
In 2007, Geneon Entertainment USA licensed the first two anime series for North American release and had later signed Funimation on as a distributor, after shutting down in September 2007. In 2011, Sentai Filmworks acquired both seasons as well as the third series; they made the three series available for streaming on Anime Network. Crunchyroll later acquired streaming rights to the first two series. For the fourth series, Sentai Filmworks had acquired the license for digital and home video release, while Crunchyroll acquired streaming rights.
Tokyopop's volumes of Rozen Maiden have appeared on ICv2s monthly top one-hundred selling graphic novels. Reviews towards the manga were generally positive with reviewers praising balance in drama and comedy. Reception of the anime adaptations was mostly positive from reviewers, although Ouvertüre received negative reviews.
Plot In the 20th century, a legendary doll maker named Rozen created seven bisque dolls which were powered and given sentience with a gem called Rosa Mystica. Since then, Rozen sent the dolls away to find masters and to battle among themselves to gather each other's Rosa Mysticas; this competition is referred to as the Alice Game. When a doll obtains all seven, they are to become a perfect doll dubbed as Alice and will be reunited with Rozen. By order of creation, the seven Rozen Maidens are named Suigintou, Kanaria, Suiseiseki, Souseiseki, Shinku, Hinaichigo, and Kirakisho.
Rozen Maiden follows Jun Sakurada, a middle school student who has withdrawn from society after suffering persecution by his classmates. He is chosen to become Shinku's master and joins the Alice Game along with the other dolls masters. As the series progresses, Jun also becomes the master to Hinaichigo and Suiseiseki. After Souseiseki's Rosa Mystica is taken by Suigintou, Jun's Rozen Maidens resolve to revive her and to end the Alice Game peacefully; they later befriend Kanaria who shares their sentiments. However, the group is attacked by Kirakisho who absorbs Hinaichigo and traps Shinku and Suiseiseki in the N-field, a plane of consciousness which connects the universe. Rozen Maiden concludes with Jun preparing to enter the N-field to save the dolls.
Rozen Maidens plot is continued in the sequel serialization which uses the katakana title of the series. Inside the N-field, Jun is forced into hiding by Kirakisho and contacts an adult version of himself from an alternate world. The adult Jun is able to free Shinku and unite the Rozen Maidens to defeat Kirakisho. Kirakisho returns and successfully captures all of the Rozen Maidens' masters. The Rozen Maidens pursue her, eventually resulting in the defeat of most of them, except Shinku and Kirakisho. Shinku's sympathy towards Kirakisho's loneliness convinces the latter to surrender her Rosa Mystica. With all seven gathered, Shinku becomes Alice. Using her new powers, Shinku revives her sisters and is put into a coma in return.
Characters Masters
A middle school student who withdrew from society after he was outed and bullied by his school peers for being a dress designer. Since then, he becomes irritated whenever something related to school is brought up and sinks into a depression when pressured on the topic. His interactions with the Rozen Maidens and their masters changes his outlook on life and he works up the courage to return to society as well as school. He has an older sister named , a high school student who serves as his caretaker while both of their parents work overseas. In an alternate world without Rozen Maidens, Jun eventually returns to society and is a friendless university student who works at a bookstore. His interactions with Shinku gives him the opportunity to befriend his co-worker, , which leads him to join a theatrics club. At the end of the series, he becomes Kirakisho's master.
A sickly girl with a cynical personality. Megu sees Suigintou as an angel of death who will end her suffering. She practically lives in a hospital room due to a congenital heart condition that she has suffered from since birth and is often under constant care and supervision from doctors and nurses.
A doll clothing designer. Mitsu greatly adores the Rozen Maidens which scares the dolls.
A rich man who is haunted by his younger twin brother's death. Kazuha disproved of his brother's marriage forcing the latter elope and drown in a ferry accident; as such, he intends to use Souseiseki to make his brother's widow suffer. After Souseiseki reveals Kazuha's hatred comes from grief she uses her abilities to leave him at peace.
Souseiseki's master in the anime by Nomad, who substitutes her for his dead son though he overcomes his grief afterwards.
One of Jun's classmates who delivers his school work during his withdrawal. When Hinaichigo's naivety endangers Tomoe's life, Shinku defeats Hinaichigo in the Alice Game and has her become a servant instead of taking her Rosa Mystica. She is highly skilled at kendo which has learned from her father as a young child, and is a member of her school's kendo club to which she is often seen caring around her sword in a duffle bag around her shoulder.
Rozen Maidens
A legendary doll maker named wanted to create a perfect doll dubbed as Alice. His attempts resulted in seven sentient bisque dolls which became known as Rozen Maidens. The dolls' sentient nature are powered by a magical gem called Rosa Mystica. To become Alice, a Rozen Maiden must gather all seven Rosa Mysticas; this contest is referred to as the Alice Game. Each Rozen Maiden has a production order, their own personal suitcase, and are accompanied by an artificial spirit which serves the doll. Rozen Maidens rely on a contract with a human master to supply themselves with power for battle. Since then, Rozen has forgone a physical body and lives within the N-field, waiting for Alice.
The first Rozen Maiden and is accompanied by the artificial spirit . She is Gothic-themed and the most ambitious of her sisters and wishes to become Alice to earn Rozen's love. Suigintou possesses black wings which she uses for mobility and offensive purposes. Her master is Megu.
The second Rozen Maiden and is accompanied by the artificial spirit . She is sociable, energetic, eccentric and habitually ends her sentences with . She was initially a loyal participant of the Alice game but is convinced for a peaceful lifestyle instead. For battle, she plays her violin and manipulates the sound waves to cause destruction. Her master is Mitsu.
The third Rozen Maiden and is accompanied by the artificial spirit . She is a tsundere; she openly insults others but does care about them. Suiseiseki speaks with the copula desu and always speaks in third person. She has no intention of participating in the Alice Game and only wishes to live happily with her younger twin sister, Souseiseki. Suiseiseki's ability is to supply nourishment to souls and memories and is able to summon plants for offensive purposes with her watering can. Jun becomes her master during the events of the series.
The fourth Rozen Maiden and is accompanied by the artificial spirit . She speaks in as masculine manner and has a strong sense of duty towards her master and role as a Rozen Maiden. Souseiseki's ability is to cut souls and memories with her scissors. Her master is Kazuha in the manga and Motoharu in the anime. During the series, Souseiseki's Rosa Mystica is taken by Suigintou and her body by Kirakisho. Souseiseki is later, revived and becomes Jun's Rozen Maiden. Afterwards, Souseiseki willingly gives Suigintou her Rosa Mystica.
The fifth Rozen Maiden and is accompanied by the artificial spirit . She has a southern belle personality and treats Jun as her servant. Shinku treats regular dolls as if they are alive, and is an avid fan of the fictional puppet show . Shinku wishes to complete the Alice Game without killing her siblings. For battles, she is able to create and control rose petals.
The sixth Rozen Maiden and is accompanied by the artificial spirit . She has a childlike personality and dislikes being alone very much. She often ends her sentences with and occasionally speaks in French. For battle, Hinaichigo is able to summon and control strawberry vines. Her master was Tomoe. During the series, Hinaichigo is absorbed by Kirakisho and gives her Rosa Mystica to Shinku.
The seventh and final Rozen Maiden is accompanied by the artificial spirit . She was created without a physical body as Rozen tested whether physical limitations prevented him from creating Alice. Her ability allows her to materialize illusions. Because she can not exist outside the N-Field, her main goal is to capture the Rozen Maiden's masters to ease her loneliness. After her defeat, Kirakisho uses her illusions to create a middle school student named to replace Rozen and to craft imitated Rozen Maidens to be her sister. Following her second defeat, Kirakisho is touched by Shinku’s love and surrenders her Rosa Mystica. She was later revived with a physical body and is in possession of the adult Jun.
Other characters
Jun's older sister who has given up a lot of school activities to care for him while their parents are working overseas. She's a student at a nearby high school and is on her school's lacrosse team.
A humanoid with a rabbit's head who dwells in the N-field. He is the referee to the Alice Game, possibly omniscient, and often assists the protagonists through riddles or as a directional guide. and
Bara-Suishou and Enju are characters who appear in the Rozen Maiden: Träumend anime and audio drama. Enju is Rozen's apprentice and the creator of Bara-Suishou, an imitation of a Rozen Maiden. Enju plots a battle between Bara-Suishou and the Rozen Maidens in order to prove his superiority over Rozen. Once Bara-Suishou gathered six Rosa Mysticas, her body overloads, killing her and Enju.
Original work
Rozen Maiden is authored by Peach-Pit and was serialized in Gentosha's Monthly Comic Birz between issues September 2002 and July 2007. Gentosha compiled the individual chapters into eight volumes released between March 2003 and June 2007. These volumes were later recompiled into seven volumes by Shueisha and released between April 2008 and November 2008. Tokyopop localized Gentosha's volumes in English for North America and released them between May 2006 and May 2008. In 2011, Tokyopop's North American division was closed down and their licenses to manga franchises were revoked. Tokyopop's translations were distributed in Australasia by Madman Entertainment. The series has also been localized in other languages such as Chinese, French, and Italian.