Rozen Maiden/ Azumanga Daioh

So recently, a lot had happened and I ended up isolating myself a lot but as the great Tupac said "Life goes on".

I started this post before things happened and it seems that I was only able to find comfort in solitude. So I ended up changing my original post to something a little different – a two part series into one.

During the past weeks, I was reminded of the character Jun Sakurada from Rozen Maiden. This was a two season series that my brother introduced me to and the main character reminded me of him as well. Jun is a timid boy who just stays in his room most of the time and avoids all types of social interactions due to some personal experience. This was all changed when he meets Shinku, one of the seven Rozen Maiden dolls.


Right now, you may think this one sound kind of like Chobits but you’re wrong. For one, there's no fan service. Although, I have not seen all of Chobits yet but I certainly don’t remember dolls fight each other like the characters from Dragon Ball. YES, the Maidens fight and fire energy balls too. The fights of course are not as well done as in all other fighting anime series because that is not the main plot to the story. These dolls have life, move on their own, and fight. It is a little on the melancholy side with the whole coping with down fall and recovering from it all. Anyway, hopefully, this will get you interested in watching the series.

The music is great and quite interesting because it’s not like anything I have heard of and I'm not even sure how to describe it. It's a bit of Goth and church like but like I said can't put my finger on it.

Like many series, the plot is full of humour in the beginning then things get intense. Jun and Shinku went through quite a bit together and both grow and were accustomed to how each other works. One of my favourite elements of this series is Detective Kunkun.

So why I love many of the slice of life anime is because often the characters undergo all sort of experiences where the viewers may encounter or wish to encounter. I certainly wouldn't mind being the main character from Chobits, Code Geass, Ichigo 100% or any of the series where the guy gets the girl or the girl on girl stuff. Also, it's like a vacation from reality. However, all that said and done, essentially you feel attached to those characters as they grow from those experiences and become stronger. This often inspires me to challenge myself and become a better person. This is why slice of life is great to watch.

Back to Rozen Maiden (Rozen Maiden, Rozen Maiden: Träumend, and Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre), Jun does go through a great deal of development and actually makes some friends. So after watching that I felt a bit better and went back to an anime that first caught my eye at one of the Anime North I attended – Azumanga Daioh.

This anime employs quite a bit of slapstick humour so it’s an uplifting and good anime but yet remain to be a realistic series. It brought back a lot of school days memories. Azumanga Daioh is an easy to watch series about the day to day encounter and the friendship of 5+1 high school girls who eventually pursue their own endeavours after high school. The dynamic of the characters is what make this such an enjoyable series. You have characters with different distinct background and quirkiness.

The viewers do not feel overwhelm with too many characters but just enough with a few funny supporting characters notably the teacher. Another reason why I liked this series was that it's not about the girls competing for the love of some guy, which I find to be boring and used far too often in an anime.

So girls and boys, the lesson here is to enjoy life before time passes you by. It is not easy to regain the same experience but it's never too late to make a change and make things happen.