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Honestly, Christmas time is easily one of the best times of the year.
Most tend to adopt a more cheerful, wholesome, and generous disposition. There is a short general reversion to older music that carries w/ it a pleasant, fuzzy kind of nostalgia. Religion is at least superficially acknowledged and recognized. Family and especially children reassert themselves as the main priorities of life in a temporary suspension from the hustle and bustle of contemporary life. Let's also not forget the festive atmosphere afforded by the rich reds, greens, and golds (if you decorate w/ whites and blues, I strongly implore that you reconsider your aesthetic choices) of decoration, the hearty and delicious Christmas feasts, and the never-ending supply of heady drink that lasts until the New Year. It's all a momentary reprieve from the cynical, the sterile, the extraneous and the complicated to something markedly romantic, meaningful, traditional, and uncomplicated. It brings out the best that humanity has to offer and reminds us all of the good will shared amongst men.

As part of the festivities, I indulged in a personal tradition of mine. Every year I make a point to rewatch an anime of mine that reminds me of Christmas. Last year it was Little Witch Academia; this year, Rozen Maiden (2004) was on rotation. It's been a while since I'd watched the series, all 24 episodes (the first season and Träumend, the second season. I unfortunately don't own the Overtüre OVA) had such depth to their messaging than I remembered. So, I spent a good approximate 12 hours of my holidays curled up w/ some hot cocoa or coffee, in the warm company of a particular, mischievous orange tabby and similarly mischievous small children, and watched these Gothic lolita dolls fight each other while simultaneously teaching us a thing or two about virtue and Christianity. Time well spent, n'est-ce pas?

Christlicher Kampf

I swear, the Christian overtones radiating from this series...I'm astonished that I missed them on my first few watch throughs when I was younger. Then again, maybe it shouldn't be so surprising, considering how little I knew or appreciated about religion back then. I look back on that mindset of mine, how funny that I once though religion was purely optional, how hubristically and absolutely I thought I knew all there was to know about everything that ever existed. It's always a nice, welcomed little surprise to revisit old media--armed w/ new knowledge, perspective, and life experience--and learn something new.

In any case, the invocation of God, mankind, and the relationship between the two is fairly straightforward. The dolls represent a proxy for humanity in both form and essence: they are humanoid in form and in essence they are animated, autonomously sovereign agents, and have transcendental impulses (more on that later).  Rozen represents God to a certain extent in form and certainly in essence: what he looks like is unclear (the few times they 'show' Rozen his face is NEVER revealed and what he is saying is muted), and in essence he is the one who created the dolls, plus only glimpses of his personality are offered. One could never really truly grasp the nature of God comprehensively afterall, but we are afforded glimpses of it. The relationship of Rozen to the dolls is analogous to the relationship of God to mankind: one of creator to the created. "Okay 2B but who cares? Lots of religions have a god create some animated creation. What makes you so sure this is Christianity?". Well, ignoring the purposeful aesthetic choice of Victorian-era European culture, an overwhelmingly Christian culture, several times throughout the series it is hinted at that Rozen is very kind, gentle, and warm in temperament. Moreover, throughout the series there is the theme of creation as love; this is invoked often times w/ the metaphor of brewing tea, whenever Jun sews/repairs something, and is plainly emphasized w/ the character Enju in the later parts of Träumend. The notion of a god unconditionally loving his creation is a distinctly Christian notion, separate from Gentile conceptualizations of god as a being mercurial in his affections or downright impartial/uninvolved. On the contrary, God created you specifically b/c he loves you and cares very much about what happens to you.

Now, to examine the relationship in the other direction: from the created to the creator. In episode 10 of the first season, some exposition of the nature of the dolls and the Alice Game is given. The Rozen Maidens were created by Rozen to embody Alice. That begs the question: who is Alice? As Shinku explains to Jun, "Alice is a girl who only exists in Father's mind. A dream girl. More noble than any flower, more pure than any jewel. She is absolutely unspoiled. A girl so beautiful, so sublime, no girl in the world could hold a candle to her.". Clearly Alice is a paragon of a girl, a pure ideal, an entity that does not exist in this world and so must be brought into the world. How is this achieved? The Alice Game. In order to become Alice, the dolls must fight each other to the death and the one left standing becomes Alice, fulfills Rozen's will, and is given the opportunity to meet him. Thusly, every Rozen Maiden has a desire to become Alice, so that they may please and meet their Father. These were those "transcendental impulses" I mentioned earlier. Every doll is striving towards something that doesn't belong to this world.

Any form of media that hints at intentional creation won't be long before it hints at ultimate purpose or teleology. You simply cannot get away w/ it. As stated above, the Rozen Maiden dolls were created to embody Alice, the perfect girl. That is their ultimate purpose in life, their telos. Seeing this from a strictly Christian teleological viewpoint, as well as a modern, tyrannical misinterpretation of Christianity that is rampant within our culture, it is easy to surmise that Rozen somehow orders or imposes his will on the dolls via an imperative. "I command you to become Alice." or "It is my wish for you to become Alice.". However, I feel it is important to point out that teleology in it's pre-Christian, Greek form, the strain that would concern Sophocles or Aristotle, has an important element to it that one would be remiss to take into account: the final cause. That is, what entities tend towards. A seed does not blossom into a flower b/c someone commanded or imposed on it to; it is within the nature of the seed itself to blossom. If you accept the natural theology notion of God as nature (rather than only that tyrannical misrepresentation of Christianity), then everything aligns quite beautifully and in perfect concordance: the playing out of natural forces is the fulfillment of God's will. To emphasize this point, Rozen's will to the dolls, or God's will to mankind, is not imposed from the top-down, but aligned from the bottom-up.

Why do I mention any of this? Well, why are you reading up on my musings of fictional magical dolls as a clever metaphor for Christian struggle? B/c it's interesting of course, and can offer practical insight into daily life. Facetiousness aside, I carefully laid out the relationship from creator to created and vice versa as a prelude to one of the more poignant moments of the first season. After the exposition on the nature of the Rozen Maidens and the Alice Game, Jun laments the doll's fate to engage in battle w/ one another, characterizing it as sad. Shinku retorts, in a moment of solemn, virtuous defiance: "To live is to fight.".

To live is to fight. Sheesh...every so often I come across something I read or hear that just...leaves me stunned and silent at the sheer veracity and profundity of it all. Take a few moments to reflect on it: Jun is right to be mournful of the wretched existence these dolls are meant to live out. They were created, without consent, by an unseen creator they have only vague intimations of, to fulfill a lofty, unobtainable ideal that can only be reached by fighting and defeating their sisters. By all indications it is a cruel fate to endure, assuredly, and one you should find yourself sympathetic to since you share a similar fate, dear reader. However, it is not something to mourn or complain over; the dolls were built for it. You, were built for it. Each Rozen Maiden, each person, has a tendency to seek out their creator; in the Maiden's case it is Rozen, in ours it is God. Often times this is expressed as conscious desire. Several times throughout the series the Maidens make statements such as "I wish to meet Father"; similarly, we often times express a desire (mostly implicitly) to do something positive in this world, to love someone deeply, to wish happiness for another, to want something good for ourselves. It is why we get up every morning to do a job we may not want to do, sacrifice time towards studying, or expend energy to cook for a significant other after a long day. Respectively, we do these things b/c we'd like to do good for our family, do good for ourselves by becoming more intelligent, and do good for others even if it comes at personal cost.

My main point here, before I get too lost in thought, is that we are fundamentally oriented to seek out the good, this is our natural inclination, this is God's will for us. This is perfectly analogous to the dolls' fundamental orientation to become Alice, and that is Rozen's will for them. In both cases, it is a compelling force so deep that it is not best conceptualized as a will being imposed, but a tendency, a telos, and it is achieved via much hardship. To live is to fight carries a dual meaning: the first descriptive of the reality that characterizes existence as one of strife. If you are a conscious being you will encounter much hardship and be forced to struggle, it is a simple fact of the world. A potentially dreary proposition, to be sure. The second, however, is one that is supremely heartening and thoroughly emboldening: your nature, the spirit that composes your existence in the world is one of a combatant, a warrior. A fate where we are to suffer greatly as we strive for the highest of ideals? We were made for it.

Reiner Rubin

Another of my favorite subjects to contemplate: virtue. So much in fact that it's an idiosyncrasy of mine to analyze the people in my life and determine why is it that I admire/abhor them so much--specifically, what virtues do they embody (or lack) that comprises their character? This practice has, amusingly enough, extended to fictional characters as well. During my holidays watching Rozen Maiden, I was stricken by Shinku in particular. Now, let it be known that I have, and forever will be, a Barasuishou fan--we'll talk more about her later. For now, however, let us turn to this new interest of mine that I had unforgivably overlooked: Ms. Reiner Rubin herself, Shinku.

Honestly, what isn't to like? Shinku is adorned in a brilliantly aristocratic crimson dress, w/ a rose-adorned green brooch and matching bonnet. She has blonde, streaming twin-tails: a sure-fire indication that she has a bit of a tsundere personality underneath that prim and proper exterior. What's more, she has piercing blue eyes that are startling in clarity, capable of a sharp, owl-eyed gaze that is perfectly indicative of the moral wisdom she possesses. But beyond these superficial features, as, let's face it, all of these Rozen Maidens are quite attractive and elegant in their own right, there is much more that lends towards Shinku's magnetism: her possession of several of the virtues. It is implicitly understood through season one and two (and outright stated in Zurückspulen, the 2013 installment of the Rozen Maiden series) that each one of the maidens is incomplete in some manner, possessing some outstanding quality that characterizes their personality in sum, but notably lacking in others. They each lack some sort of characteristic(s) that make them fall short of being Alice, thus further motivating their participation in the Alice Game. Shinku, I'd argue, is the most 'complete' of the maidens.

A large, and possibly the most apparent, component that lends toward's Shinku's virtuous nature is her fighting spirit. Easily one of the more powerful maidens, Shinku demonstrates great fighting prowess and courage in dire circumstances, and it is precisely on that last trait that I'd like to elaborate on. Courage could be tidily summarized to be something like the ability to persevere despite danger and difficulty. It is by this trait that Shinku, in my estimation, earns her crimson garb as her character assumes quite the heroic air about her. Very apt for someone who's motto is "To live is to fight." indeed! But it is more than just the courage that one may demonstrate in the midst of combat that lends her her radiance; it is also the type of more subtle courage that manifests itself in a grander scheme. In Homeric epics a theme that frequently asserts itself is the commonality of death across everyone, virtuous and unvirtuous alike. The characters involved in battle often times acknowledge and reflect on the fragility of life and the vulnerability of men before some major conflict, knowing that their lives are subject to the vicissitudes of life and forces beyond their control. That very fragility and vulnerability is to be accepted, as well as the knowledge that no amount of will nor cunning will spare either you and the people you love from your ultimate demise. Nevertheless, these characters march forward into certain death and destruction. You can see Shinku reflect on these types of sentiment in episode 10 of the first season, on the eve of the night she is to confront Suigintou in the Alice Game, when she is so adorably glum and pensive while the others goof off reenacting Snow White. It is this courage demonstrated on a micro as well as a macro level that makes Shinku highly admirable. 

Courage under duress is best conceptualized under a virtue ethics rubric as a bodily virtue, for it most associated w/ physicality and mortal danger. Though brave Shinku possesses this quality in spades, it is not her most admirable. What, in my estimation, makes Shinku the most virtuous is one of her intellectual virtues, the one best encapsulated by the Greek word sôphrosune, which translates to something meaning the ability to not abuse one's power despite being able to. In short, it contains (but very important to note that it is not limited to) the characteristic of self-restraint, and is the Greek proto-virtue behind the Christian virtue of temperance. Superficially, this trait is manifested in Shinku's painfully Victorian way she speaks to others and carries herself; when wronged or committing error, it is on rare occasion that she will display anger or frustration (in the form of a tsundere outburst when it does occur). In very maidenly fashion, she will express her discontent w/ a gentle sort of eloquence. In a much deeper manner, however, she on several occasions shows a kind of compassion towards her sisters that she had thoroughly defeated in battle, refusing to take their Rosa Mysticas (each Rozen Maiden's consciousness) thusly sparing them. Additionally, she shows a certain kind of tenderness and care towards other entities that are not as powerful as she; a stark contrast to her elder sister Suigintou who revels in her power and superiority in relation to others.

Continuing along the notion of temperance, it is this very quality of restraining ego and not thinking oneself above others that enables Shinku to embody another virtue, although this one of an explicitly Victorian flavor, one specifically championed by the English novelist Jane Austen (who, surprise surprise, was a Christian). That virtue is the one of amiability--that is, one of being friendly and congenial. What is highly interesting to note here is that Jane Austen thought, much like the Greeks, that to possess a particular virtue meant that the person had to possess one or many other prerequisite virtues. When it comes to amiability, according to Jane Austen, one needs to possess a genuine love for others first and foremost. To not possess genuine love for others would mean that any amiability--any perceived, mere agreeableness--is nothing but pure simulation of it, and not true amiability as such. This is what struck me in an early episode of the first season, where shortly after a skirmish w/ Suigintou, Shinku mourns over the loss of a lowly clown plushie that was torn apart in battle. Shinku possess true, genuine love for others which, when combined w/ temperance towards her ego, makes her a paragon of Victorian virtue. It is all too often that you see Victorian-styled characters, or you may even know people in your personal life, who try to harbor an aristocratic and noble air about them but somehow, in some inarticulable manner, seem to fail. Instead their attempts at amiability come off as bratty, elitist, and condescending at worst, or hollow and insincere at the best. Without the confluence of both temperance and love for others, amiability is no more than performative agreeableness; a simulacra of the genuine article.

Surely there are more virtues that Shinku embodies, but in my estimation it is those mentioned above that make her beautiful. It is not her prim and proper nature, silky blonde twin-tails, porcelain skin, clear blue eyes, scholarly disposition (her favorite past time is reading!), stylish crimson dress, or skillful combat ability, that endows her w/ an admirable, magnanimous quality, but her courage, temperance, and true amiability. Perhaps I think it so b/c those aforementioned three qualities are a rarity in the contemporary culture? From what I could theorize, I think it is that last one, amiability, that is sorely lacking in society b/c Western culture has ultimately become far too individualized to the point of becoming atomistic. The virtues of courage and temperament are personal and, for the most part, self-contained. They are largely defined by one's attitude towards themselves. Amiability, on the other hand, is defined via one's relation towards others, towards something that is external and not contained in the self. As such, it is specifically concerned w/ the social dimension and is thusly a social virtue. It's an interesting train of thought, and I will certainly be pursuing the thread, but for the sake of remaining on task we'll cordon-off that digression.

Rosenkristall

As a contrast to the purity of Shinku's virtuous nature, let us now turn to my Rosenkristall, Barasuishou. I cannot speak of Barasuishou's nature w/o giving up some major spoilers in the series, but I will try my very best. Viewers of Träumend will take delight in the unity of my analysis w/ the events that occur in series, no doubt. Disclaimers aside, I contend that where Shinku is representative of well-executed Victorian virtue, Barasuishou is the poorly-executed foil. In terms of power, Barasuishou is easily the most powerful of the Rozen Maidens, possessing several mighty crystal-based attacks that can overwhelm and confuse her opponents. Moreover, she possesses a near single-mindedness when it comes to winning in the Alice Game to please Father; that sort of tenacity can take one very far and is certainly worthy of admirability in it's own way. The girl, in shorter terms, is an absolute ruthless, laser-focused machine on her path to become Alice.

Though she is clearly very capable, would we call Barasuishou virtuous? I suppose it could be argued in certain regards as yes, but in others, particularly if we are to apply to rubric by which we graded Shinku (namely that of Homeric and Christian virtue ethics), we should find ourselves concluding that Barasuishou is actually antithetical to virtue. To begin this deliberation, we have to focus in on one specific detail: her eyepatch. In most cases, an eyepatch represents disunity, incompleteness, and/or unclarity. This interpretation should be fairly straightforward to accept, as most people wear an eyepatch if they are missing an eye, thereby rendering their vision less than optimal. As you may surmise, this suggests that Barasuishou is herself missing an eye and is physically incomplete; if you are metaphorically-inclined, you may also surmise she is psychically/spiritually incomplete. To the latter, yes, absolutely; to the former, surprisingly no. As revealed in a pivotal scene of the final episode when her eyepatch comes off, Barasuishou is revealed to have a fully intact eye under her eyepatch. A small detail that one should take care not to overlook is that the covered eye is crying when the patch comes off.

What does this mean? Well, for starters, it is awfully surprising to see Barasuishou cry, let alone express any form of emotion for that matter. For most of the series, she is portrayed as a coldly stoic character. When she does deviate from her stoicism, it is only to cruelly taunt her sisters by mocking them (literally mocking them by repeating what they say). Suffice to say, she's an...interesting character, mixing machinic stoicism w/ an element of sadism and a dash of childishness for good measure. It's all very unnerving and I adore it so, so much. Anyway, right, the patch comes off and it's revealed that she is crying. The significance of this is that the eyepatch actually regulated Barasuishou's emotions, making her immune from feeling the emotional valence of events both good and bad. This carries w/ it quite a few repercussions: for one, it suggests that Barasuishou is not as stoic as she appears, or perhaps more accurately, she is only stoic in appearance but is not stoic by nature. To put it more precisely, someone that is legitimately stoic enjoys a certain amount of self-mastery and exercises a certain amount of temperance. One could even say that they are sôphrosune. To exercise restraint is to be able to handle the inner-conflict that resides in oneself between two or more competing emotions or desires. If the inner-conflict never occurs, due to say psychopathy or the effect of a magical rose eyepatch, then the opportunity to exercise self-restraint never occurs in short order. Thus it cannot be said that someone is sôphrosune if they are lacking the prerequisite inner-conflict.

Admittedly, this is not the most damning point towards Barasuishou in condemning her to being antithetical to virtue. In my estimation, it is her lack of amiability that is the final, proverbial nail in the coffin. For all of Träumend Barasuishou unhesitatingly attacks her sisters, especially showing zero mercy towards Suiseiseki and Kanaria in the last episodes.  Needless to say, her actions here are decidedly not friendly nor congenial, and certainly not demonstrative of genuine love for others. Thusly she is a perfect foil for our virtuous Shinku. For the entire series, Shinku is seen interacting, connecting, and intermingling her fate w/ those around her: her sisters, Jun, and Nori. Initially, Suigintou is meant to be portrayed as the contrast, as the ruthless, cunning, and powerful Rozen Maiden that is a complete lone wolf in her pursuit to become Alice. However, even this lets up as Suigintou eventually finds a medium to which she can relate to on very personal grounds and cares deeply for. In both instances both dolls are afforded opportunities to practice amiability--imperfect as they may sometimes be. Such events never occur for Barasuishou; in fact, Barasuishou is seldom even found in the real world, instead spending most of her time alone in the N-field: the Platonic realm where human psyches connect, separate from reality, and where the Alice Game battles are to take place. It is no small wonder why Barasuishou is particularly stunted in the development of her amiability.

I do not mean to belabor the point, but it comes back to the rose eyepatch. Again, w/o giving up spoilers, in that particular dramatic scene involving Barasuishou, everything comes together. Once her true nature is revealed, one can further infer the telos of the Rozen Maidens and what it means to be Alice, what it means to be virtuous. As we established before the eyepatch suppresses Barasuishou's emotions, shielding her from inner-turmoil and how she elects to operate alone--further shielding her from any turmoil extrinsically-generated from interaction from others--we must see how this shielding reconciles with Shinku's mantra, "To live is to fight.". If the ultimate telos of the Rozen Maidens is to become Alice (and therefore virtuous), and this status is by necessity to be acquired through suffering terribly, then it is within every Rozen Maiden's interest to fully accept ALL struggles; not just the ones limited to overt combat or inner-conflict, but those that come w/ interpersonal relationships and connectedness w/ social reality. One should not try to shield themselves from feeling emotions, from caring for people outside of themselves; those are prerequisite for virtue, and it is actually within your very nature to do those things. You have to struggle w/ others, it is part of your nature. This sentiment is echoed in every version of virtue ethics, in the Homeric, in the Aristotelian, in the Christian, and in the Victorian. This is a fact of morality that should be acknowledged and accepted, and one should carry themselves properly in the world w/ an open heart, willing to accept both advantage and injury that connectedness may bring.

The Teleological Problematic

Right. We have two clear examples of virtue and anti-virtue illustrated through the character Shinku and Barasuishou. It's fair to say that the distinctions between the two hold between several of the aforementioned virtue ethics frameworks (Homeric, Aristotelian, etc.). However, in the middle of Träumend a little bit of a philosophical puzzle is presented via the inner-conflict Shinku experiences. Namely the problem of conflicting telos, especially when considering which virtue ethics framework is at play: what is the virtuous course of action to take when telos are in conflict? As has been made crystal clear by now, the telos of the Rozen Maidens is to become Alice. This objective is achieved via fighting w/ other Rozen Maidens. From an Aristotelian perspective, the virtuous thing to do is to fight. However, it is important to keep in mind that all Rozen Maidens are also sisters. From a Christian perspective, and even Homeric perspective, the virtuous thing to do is to be your sister's keeper and to love/protect her. In order to solve the dilemma, one could try to establish an order of precedence and try to prioritize 'naturalistic' (Aristotelian) teleology over 'social' (Homeric) teleology, citing that naturalistic causes are more proximal to someone's being over socially-imposed ones. However, this doesn't quite work out in all cases as we see w/ the Rozen Maidens. These dolls were created to fight--by default they are fighters. That is intrinsic to their being. However, these dolls are one of several of Rozen's creations--by default they are sisters. That is also intrinsic to their being in addition to establishing a social relationship, analogous to a mother who gives birth becomes a mother by proper biological definition as well as in social title.

Despite being irresolute on a handful of moral cases, virtue ethics still remains my favorite ethical framework of choice, as there is...so much depth to it and its history is quite rich. Plus I find it to be far more robust than Enlightenment-era frameworks which sorely lack practicality. However, I will admit that it is not exactly the easiest code to abide by, especially in a culture that has seemingly lost its connection or turned its back on its roots. Not only that, but the demands imposed by it are often times so lofty and out-of-reach that it's painful, and one cannot help but feel a deep shame when they fail to enact virtue. Nevertheless, as is understood in Christianity, these kinds of things require patience, practice, and forgiveness, as you yourself and others strive for those higher ideals. What I find extremely heartening is that we're capable of those aforementioned qualities, of being able to practice virtue, of being able to be patient, of being able to forgive, which is indicative that we are meant for virtue.

Or, put more eloquently by the noble Shinku, "We all carry the radiance that makes us worthy of becoming Alice.".

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