Have you ever made a decision you regret? Something you wish you could go back on now that youre able to see the results of it through the power of hind sight? Maybe its something major like you married the wrong person. Maybe its something a little less major like a tattoo that you wish you could painlessly remove. Maybe you just dont like the breakfast you ordered this morning. Maybe you wish you could take back that one comment you made that wound up having disastrously severe consequences. Well you cant take back your mistakes but it may comfort you to know that when you made them you created an alternate timeline where another version of you wasnt quite so unfortunate. For you see whenever you make a choice you create alternate timelines where the opposite choices were made. There are an infinite number of these timelines and yet they can all supposedly fit inside a box with a terrified cat. And a long time ago Jun Sakurada made on of these choices when the middle school version of himself received a mysterious letter asking him an odd cryptic question: Will you wind it or wont you? His cynicism won out over his curiosity as he circled the latter and almost instantly forgot the letter ever came to him. But now as an adult that letter is once again becoming relevant in his life as he begins receiving doll parts from a mysterious benefactor and becomes entangled once again in the Balljoint Battle Royale that hed once avoided. One way or another this part time book shop employee is about to find out that his lowkey existence may be much more than meets the eye. Its been almost a year since I reviewed the first season of Rozen Maiden and I seem to recall criticizing its animation but pulling back just a little bit by saying that while it was bad it at least wasnt Studio Deen bad. Well I just finished the newest iteration of the franchise and Ive gotta say Zuruckspulen looks gorgeous. And whos the studio behind this beauty of a series reboot? Thats right Its Studio Deen and here I am eating my words with a nice big slice of humble pie on the side. As it turns out Deen is a very difficult company to get a consistent read on especially after the countless stiff ugly looking shows theyve produced and the small legion of otaku dedicated to slinging mud at them at every given opportunity. Thats not to say the new Rozen Maiden had a huge budget No upon close inspection its pretty clear that at the very least money was tight for them. Thankfully Deen seems to have done everything right with managing this production. For the most part movement is limited to whats necessary with a focus on restraint over indulgence. This can become a problem in some anime as it can lead to extended key frames and conversations made up entirely of lip flaps but Zuruckspulen very carefully avoids these problems by taking a page out of Studio Shafts handbook in terms of its visual style. Almost every single line of dialogue is presented in at least one frame of its own sometimes multiple and even when the line goes on way too long it uses framing and angle tricks to keep your eyes invested in the screen. Id even go so far as to say that it uses this principal even better than a lot of Shaft shows which can come off as desperate to make conversations look appealing when theyre at their worst. Zuruckspulen is never that obvious about it as none of its angles or frames ever feel bizarre or extravagant. With each line of dialogue Deen knew whether to focus on the lips of the person talking or on the eyes or sometimes whole body of the person hearing it. The backgrounds are beautiful and in keeping with the idea of less being more the water color aesthetic makes every piece look way more detailed than it actually is. With the help of the brilliant visual style I mentioned earlier its very easy to become immersed in the artistry of the series and completely overlook what had to be a shoestring budget. The character designs are very standard Id almost say they look like a more normal version of CLAMP characters as the humans all possess more or less realistic proportions and hair colors. The dolls of course look exactly the way you remember them if youve been following the story thus far. They look more cartoony than their human counterparts but in a way that a bunch of elaborately detailed ball joint dolls probably would look. The backgrounds in the world between timelines is where the visuals are at their most impressive however as the watercolors translate beautifully into a landscape of mostly bleak monotone colors and while that tone may seem restrictive the creators had no problem letting their imaginations loose without ever really breaking that tone making for a very surreal experience overall. Despite the lack of noticeable funds throughout the series the opening video clearly had a lot of money poured into it. The imagery comes by fast but little of it is without purpose as a significant portion of it is dedicated to showing us what happened in the time between the original series and this one with Jun being trapped Shinku being separated from him and leaving her body etc. Simple motions such as the villain corrupting the song of the doll Kanaria say bundles about how the plot is going to play out and even setting the imagery aside the song itself is freaking awesome. The rest of the soundtrack is just as good with composer Shinkichi Mitsumune bringing in a full orchestra for a result thats surprisingly hard to describe despite its obviously high quality. What I can say is that as with the animation and artwork the music in Zuruckspulen is very ambitious consistent and unique with intense attention to detail. And the funny thing is that a lot of the compliments Ive given to the production end of the series thus far can also be applied to the English dub which was helmed by Sentai Filmworks. People often complain when a show gets recast by a new studio but for this one its a Godsend. Luci Christian doesnt use the same kind of haughty delivery that Mela Lee used in the lead role as Shinku but shes still a great deal more pleasant to listen to although the fact that shes portrayed as less abrasive in this canon plays no small part in that change. Shannon Emerick replaces Mona Marshall and while shes not great Lets be honest she never has been Shes enough of an improvement over Mona that you can tolerate her on that novelty alone. Aside from Nancy Novotny who thankfully only has a few lines throughout the series every single actor swap was a tradeup. Karen Strassman made for a great villain in the original series but Jessica Calvello carries the role with a great deal more complexity which fits the new portrayal a lot better. Brittany Karbowski is a welcome addition to any cast and the fact that she gave emotional gravity to a meme character like Souiseiseki is a nearmiracle. Ill begrudgingly admit that Monica Rial isnt quite as good as Christina Vee in the role of Kanaria but its not a HUGE drop in quality and of course shell do in a pinch but the biggest improvement is Hilary Haag taking on the role of Hina Ichigo. Hina is no longer the hyper crybaby she was in the first series but is used in a much more tragic context this time around which is an improvement all its own but with Haag behind the wheel you feel the weight of that tragedy. Well those were the replacement actors so How about the rest of the cast? The new actors playing new characters to the franchise? Carli Mosier is outstanding in the role of Kirakisho the seventh doll and newly minted villain of the series. Shes terrifying through the majority of her appearances working with the arachnid theme of her character keeping things nice and creepy right up until the end where she portrays a kind of emotional devastation that sounds unaware of any wrongdoings she may have committed. And as for the rest of the human cast Adult Jun his boss and his coworker/love interest Theyre good. Theyre not standouts but they dont really need to be. Their roles dont exactly come across as demanding so Im glad Sentai chose to cast relatively unknown actors to play them saving their Asquad for the more outspoken roles. The dub is about on par wit3h the sub so pick your poison. So before I go any further lets talk about redemption in terms of sequels and reboots. Its easy for a continuation of a story to be better than the original but under what circumstances can you say that the original was redeemed? Well first of all obviously the original has to have had major flaws regardless of whether it was good or bad. Secondly you cant just be better than the original You have to make the original feel better just through the merit of your existence. As amazing as Star Wars: The Force Awakens was it didnt redeem the awful prequel trilogy which still feels like an open wound over ten years since its completion. Force Awakens never tried to justify or reclaim the prequels just sort of used them as a footnote to tell its own story. To redeem another story you have to change its context in such a way that it can be looked upon in a better light. Theres an infamous My Little Pony fanfiction called Cupcakes and its extremely well known in the community for being torture porn and earning the rating Grimdark as fuck. Its also resoundingly objectively terrible in both its structure and its technique. However theres a much better fanfic One just as dark and just as unfriendly to the squeamish called Silent Ponyville that goes out of its way to redeem and justify Cupcakes as an element within its own story by portraying it as one of Pinkie Pies horrifying dream interpretations of a trauma shed endured as a child. This is how Cupcakes can now be viewed and actually enjoyed through the eyes of anyone coming into it after reading the latter story. So does Zuruckspulen redeem the original Rozen Maiden? Well thats going to depend a lot on which of two camps youre in. If you thought the dolls and their escapades were the highlight of the original series and want to see more of them I really cant speak as to how this new take on the story will effect you. Shinku doesnt rejoin the series proper until episode three and the rest of the dolls dont come in until the latter half. However if youre in my camp you found the dolls and their outright refusal to get involved in their own plot annoying as hell and saw the depth and development of Jun as the single greatest thing about the series then I can tell you without a single doubt that yes the original series has been redeemed. In terms of Juns development we get to see not only an alternatebut far more relatable backstory on his social withdrawal but we also get to see the kind of person hed grow into if hed never met Shinku and He really didnt turn out all that bad. Okay fine hes not in any kind of ideal situation but hes living independently hes in collegealthough skipping many classes and hes somehow courageous enough to consistently attend a part time job where he works directly with two other people A lazy jerk boss and an easygoing female coworker both approximately the same age as him. We get to see him gradually open up to this new girl and stand up to his supervisor over the course of the series and every single step forward that he takes feels satisfying in its own right. You could make the argument that the girl is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl because she sees the good in him and tries to get him to open up but every choice he makes is his own and the opportunities she directly gives him are few. Jun is a lot more likeable in this series and since theres little to no time wasted on pointless sliceoflife hijinks so are the dolls. We start off with Shinku and Suigintou the former of which is trying to get adult Jun to help her get back to her own timeline and the latter of which is making a compelling transition from old enemy to new situational ally. Shinku is a lot more patient in this version and thank god she at no point is portrayed as the love interest of either Jun. The dolls in general were very subtly sexualized in the original series making for unnervingly pedophilic undertones that I went into great detail over in my previous review. Not only is that sexualization gone in this series but the imagery of a nude doll is used to unsettle rather than to titillate. One of the biggest problems with the plot of the original series was that Shinku and her friends refused to play the Alice Game choosing friendship instead of fighting and while that may sound like something the heroes of an anime should do it ultimately came off as an outright refusal to let the plot move forward. The only one attempting to change the status quo and actually make things happen was the villain. Basically we were supposed to hate Suigintou for trying to make the story interesting. In Zuruckspulen the central conflict is of direct concern to Shinku making her personally involved with the plot right from her fiirst appearance and she works so much better as an active hero than as a passive one. Even Juns development is tied to the plot as his desire for a more personal connection to the supernatural world of the dolls eventually becomes the catalyst of the shows climax. Theres no filler and the plot wastes no time whatsoever on extended jollies but thats not to say the show is devoid of humor. When Shinku and Suigintou begin to cohabitate early on in the series their bickering and getting under each others Umm Resin Can get hilarious at times such as when theyre unleashing all out war on each other in Juns bathroom. Theres a oneoff reference to Shinkus favorite TV dog that hits the mark perfectly and the show isnt afraid to occasionally use superdeformed sight gags at the appropriate times. The humor balances very nicely with the plot and characters and it never feels forced or sluggish. Then again thats just for people in my camp If you love the franchise primarily because of the dolls and their adventures and find little value in Jun outside of him being a support character for them well you honestly might find this series boring. But for my money this is the season that needed to happen. Rozen Maiden: Zuruckspulen is available from Sentai filmworks. For those of you who didnt pick it up cheap from the Rightstuf Winter sale youre still in luck because an at the time of this writing its currently available from Amazon for 34.99 down from a whopping 60 bucks. In addition to the first season theres a second season called Traumend and an OVA called Ouverture and while they were originally put out by Geneon and subsequently out of print they were later rescued and rereleased in one tight little 5 dsk package also from Sentai. The original manga was also available stateside from tokyopop but even though its out of print it can still be found relatively cheap. The second manga series? Not so lucky Im afraid. I addition to its excellent production and design Zuruckspulen Which is German for Rewind for those who care Is a nearperfectly executed series which is why it pains me to say that it suffers from one crippling flaw. Much like the other entries in the franchise it ends on a cliffhanger which wouldnt be such a bad thing if the final episode hadnt specifically attempted to set up the continuation. Even the first season knew to end on a climax if for no other reason than to leave people emotionally satisfied until they got the chance to reenter the story. Another season could be enough to make up for this blemishbut since the gap between the last entry and this one was a whole seven years we could be in for a long wait. Other than that unfortunate problem and the fact that the first half of the series may be too slow for some viewers I thoroughly enjoyed this series and its greatly improved my opinion of the franchise as a whole. I give Rozen Maiden: Zuruckspulen a 9/10.