About

Rozen Maiden is a Japanese manga and anime series first written by female manga author duo Peach-Pit and later adapted for TV by studio Nomad, followed later studio Deen. The series has garnered a significant fan following online, spawning a number of fan creations and memes, most notably Desu, which gained popularity through use in spam attacks on 4chan during 2006.

Premise

Rozen Maiden details the story of Jun Sakurada, a young hikkikomori who lives alone with his sister Nori. After marking yes on what he thinks is a scam magic questionare, he is confronted by Shinku, who explains herself as the fifth Rozen Maiden doll. After being faced with a near death situation, Jun makes a contract with Shinku, allowing her to derive her strength from Jun and making him her servant. As the story progresses, more Rozen Maidens are introduced, such as the childlike Hina-Ichigo as well as the boastful Suiseiseki and her counterpart Soiseiseki, both of whom have command over dreams and the subconsiousness. Along the way, Jun finds out more about the dolls, such as discovering the Alice Game the dolls were made to play and their mysterious creator Father, and faces challenges such as the manipulative doll Suigintou and his own social anxiety.

History

Rozen Maiden first originated as a seinen manga series, written by female manga duo Peach-Pit, composed of authors Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara, and serialized in Monthly Comic Birz from August 12, 2002 to May 30, 2007, running for 8 volumes. A second series, this time serialized in Weekly Young Jump, also ran from April 17, 2008 to January 23, 2014, running for 10 volumes. As well as the manga, Rozen Maiden also received a 12-episode anime adaptation by studio Nomad, airing from October 7 to December 23, 2004 , followed by 12 episode and 2 episode sequel series, Rozen Maiden: Träumend and Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre, which aired from October 20, 2005 to January 26, 2006 and December 22 to December 23, 2006 respectively. A fourth series, this time animated by Studio Deen, also known for their work on shows such as Hetalia and Higurashi, among others, was also created, running for 13 episodes from July 4 to September 26, 2013

Online Relevance

In North America, the Rozen Maiden anime is licensed by Sentai Filmworks, with the first, second and fourth seasons available for streaming on Crunchyroll^[1]. The series has gained a large online following on many sites, including on Tumblr^[2], Reddit^[3], 4chan's /a/ (Anime and Manga) board^[4], Fanpop^[5], My Anime List^[6], and DeviantART^[7]. There are numerous sites that provide episodic information about the series, such as the _Rozen Maiden wiki^[8], TV Tropes^[9] and Anime News Network^[10]. In addition, the Rozen Maiden Facebook page also has over 22,000 likes^[11].

Fandom

The Rozen Maiden series has spawned a significant online fanbase since it's creation, which has created much fanart and fanfiction. On the Japanese fanart site Pixiv, there are over 27,000 images tagged under "ローゼンメイデン"^[12], as well as over 5,000 videos on the video sharing website Nico Nico Douga^[13]. On DeviantART, there are also over 23,000 images tagged related to the series^[14].

Related Sub-Memes

Desu

Desu is a Japanese word that is often used in spam attacks and thread derailments on forums and image by both fans and haters of anime alike, after the term's use during the raids against 4chan's /b/ random board by fellow 4chan board, /a/ anime and manga, in 2006 . The use of the word is usually accompanied by images of Rozen Maiden character Suiseiseki, due to her tendency to end sentences using the word within the series.

Rozen Maiden Ending Parodies

Rozen Maiden Ending Parodies refers to a number of OP/ED parodies based around the ending credits theme to the third season of the Rozen Maiden anime, Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre. The parodies garnered popularity on Nico Nico Douga, with many users copying the style using hand drawn animation parodies featuring different characters from other anime series.

Search Interest

External References