Anime Hero of the Month – Suigintou

I love Rozen Maiden.

You don’t understand.

I love Rozen Maiden.

It is one of my favorite anime of all time. I love every character, I love the story line and I love the art for it. The question should be, why Suigintou and not Shinku? After all, Suigintou establishes herself as a villain at every twist and turn. So why should she claim the title “hero” for this month?

Well, you could theorize that because I love everything gothic, I see her as a beautiful angel (which I do but that’s not the point), but I actually interpreted her position in Rozen Maiden much differently than what I think the audience was intended to see. So without further ado, let me explain why I see Suigintou as a confused, demented hero for this month!

Firstly, I’ve never really seen her as a bad guy. I’ve always just sort of seen her as a sister? In a sense, she’s just always given me a vibe that she’s been unwanted and unloved. I think her character design has always been that she is desperate to be loved and, in return, give love. But due to the obvious damage, she can’t exactly give love nor accept it from anyone else but her father (take her and Megu as an example).

The Rozen dolls are always perceived as children, firstly, with each child holding different positions and reactions to things. None of them are alike and none of them approach their issues in the same manner. I think it’s because of this we see Suigintou as sort of a bratty child with no self control, but consider that it may have to do with the fact that she was left unfinished by Rozen. When I saw that scene, a lot of things came into place.

What it told me was that so far in the series, Suigintou had been considered “reckless” and a danger to the other dolls, as well as herself. I won’t deny that the danger part was most definitely true, but the reality is she is probably the most loyal and obedient doll out of them all. Her goal is to become Alice, and that’s exactly what she was built to do. She’s ambitious in doing the work Rozen created her for. Whether or not that’s right (it’s not) is up for debate (it’s still not).

Her temperament and drive really does stem from that insecurity of not being finished and wanting her “father” to love her. #DaddyIssues, sure, but it’s literally how she was built. She didn’t even have a Rozen Mystica, she just loved so passionately that she moved around without even having a torso. It might not always excuse her behavior, but I feel it’s something to consider when analyzing this character.

More to the point, why is she a hero? Well, I think of the scenes where she is in the hospital with Megu. She could use her so much more, but she doesn’t really. And I noticed, throughout the series, that she was always very considerate towards Megu and her health, regardless of whether or not she was spiteful when she showed it.

Is Suigintou a tsundere on steroids? Probably. But I think she’s a hero because she’s such a great character and she has qualities about her that make her one. Sure, she is unfinished, broken and has a horribly warped version of reality, but I find these to be things done to her versus things she’s done. I think, at the end of the day, she’s trying to be the hero the only way she knows how. Despite normally doing the wrong thing, she still does care, like when it comes to Megu. I think the real villain of Rozen Maiden was really just Rozen. I mean, seriously, who even does that? He’s a sadist. Cannon.

But regardless of my thoughts on Rozen, I still feel that if he won’t give her the love she deserves, this blogger will! And that, my friends, is why Suigintou is our Anime Hero of the Month!

What villain is your anime hero? Please leave a message after the beep! 

Beep!