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My name is Shinku. I am the fifth doll of the Rozen Maidens. And you, Jun Sakurada... You shall be Shinku's manservant hence.

Prologue Part A

Shinku
Name
Kanji 真紅
Rōmaji Shinku
Translation Reiner Rubin (Pure Ruby)[1]
Appearances
First Appearance Prologue Part A
Last Appearance Final Tale
Other Appearances Rozen Maiden (2004 Anime), Rozen Maiden: Träumend, Rozen Maiden Ouvertüre, Die Romane der Rozen Maiden: Schwarzer Wind, Die Romane der Rozen Maiden: Kalkgrün Augen, Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen, Rozen Maiden: Dolls Talk, Rozen Maiden: Die Zwillinge, Rozen Maiden: Rot-Schwarz, Maite wa Ikenai Rozen Maiden, Rozen Maiden 0
Information
Hair color Blonde
Eye color Blue
Gender Female
Status Deceased[2]
Alice Game
Number Fifth Rozen Maiden
Master Alice (Formerly)[3]
Jun Sakurada[4] (Formerly)[2]
Artificial Spirit Holie
Weapons Rose Petals
Voice Actors
Japanese Miyuki Sawashiro
English Luci Christian
Special Yui Horie (Drama CD)
This article is about the character from Peach-Pit's manga continuity. For other uses, see Shinku (disambiguation).

Shinku (真紅 Reiner Rubin / Crimson) is the fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden series and the main female protagonist of most media.

Appearance[]

Shinku has light, blonde hair, kept in two twin tails tied at the back of her head, and blue eyes. She wears a red gown with a matching shawl and bonnet as accessories. Her bonnet is fastened with a black ribbon, which is tied into a bow at her neck and held in place with a red rose brooch.

Personality[]

Shinku seems to be quite a spoiled, cold, unappreciative, royal queen-like character, although she has a strong sense of nobility and cares deeply for her sisters and Jun. She seems to love nothing more than consistently abusing her master, Jun Sakurada, be it by slapping (sometimes with her ponytails), kicking, or hitting him when he doesn't comply with her order or touches her, as she treats him as her servant. Her main goal in life is to win the Alice Game and become Alice. Her motto is originally, "To live is to fight." Over time, with Jun's guidance, she abandons this idea and only fights to protect others.

Regardless of her regal, cool-hearted personality, she is also portrayed to be a bit childish, whenever watching her favorite television program, "Detective Kun-Kun", she is often shown to believe the episode's happenings to be true. For example, when a villain was sneaking up behind Kun-Kun in one episode, Shinku screams for him to get out of the way. She also seems to be a hardcore fan, once even sending away for a detective kit given away in a contest. Shinku has a fear of cats due to one of her previous master's pet feline, which came terribly close to swallowing her wind-up key.

History[]

Life in the Miniature Garden[]

Shinku was the fifth doll created by Rozen. After her creation, she was forced to live with her predecessors in the Miniature Garden. She did not interact with the other dolls much, save for the occassional visit from Suigintou. She and Suigintou spent some time together and soon she would find out the reason. Rozen had ceased visiting Shinku and Suigintou knew it meant he was working on a new doll and Suigintou wanted to be there to see Shinku become miserable over this and delight in her suffering. Soon enough, Hinaichigo would be revealed to the dolls. To Suigintou's disappointment, though Shinku was saddened by Hinaichigo's creation, she knew how it felt to be rejected by the other dolls and so Shinku took in her new sister.

Shinku and Hinaichigo would grow close as she taught her little sister. Rozen would visit to see Hinaichigo, giving her a plush toy. As she watched Rozen's visits with Hinaichigo, she grew to understand how Suigintou felt in the alienation and abandonment they felt from Rozen. Regardless, she continued to care for Hinaichigo.

The two planned a tea party and invited the other dolls to join. The resulting tea party was received well by the group, and they made tea parties a frequent activity. Through this, the dolls came to enjoy their Miniature Garden more. Rozen eventually gave them all Artificial Spirits, Shinku receiving Holie.

However, this would not last long. As time went on, the tea parties lost the charm they once had. Suigintou would decide to tell the others the reality of their situation, bringing to surface feelings they all had been hiding. As she proclaimed to the rest that their little garden was really just their father's junk pile, them included, Laplace's Demon made his entrance. He told them that Rozen had a new plan for them, the Alice Game. Suigintou gladly accepted this and left, to Shinku's dismay. The rest would eventually follow, Shinku being one of the last dolls to leave.

Through the Ages[]

In her life leading up to the modern era, she met with masters and encountered the other dolls in several awakenings. She notibly encounters Suigintou again, who cements in Shinku's mind Suigintou's true motivation with the Alice Game. Suigintou tells her that she wants to see Rozen's reaction to her winning the Alice Game because she is convinced that Rozen sees Suigintou as junk. As Suigintou laughs, Shinku realizes how much Suigintou both loves and hates Rozen. She also later encounters Suiseiseki and Souseiseki. Souseiseki is distrusting of her and Shinku tells her that she has no intention of fighting them. Shinku brings up wanting to play the Alice Game differently, which Suiseiseki finds interesting while Souseiseki dismisses the notion.

Relationships[]

Quotes[]

"He tried to give shape to Alice... that is us... the Rozen Maiden dolls. He made one... and then another.. He finally ended up with seven dolls, but he wasn't satisfied... None could be Alice... So Father just left us..." - Shinku to Jun, Phase 13
"I, Shinku, ask you... Will you become an ordinary doll... or... Will you become my servant?" - Shinku to Hinaichigo, Phase 6
"People grow. Children forget the days when they played with dolls. They eventually age and are laid to sleep in the dirt... but dolls will always be dolls. We crumble and turn to dust." - Shinku to Suiseiseki, Phase 41

Weapons and Skills[]

Despite Shinku's aristocratic mannerism she is a well balanced fighter amongst the dolls. She will not shy away to use her hands and legs in combat. If she is angry she will home in on her enemies even overpowering Suigintou with just her hands alone.

For ranged attacks she uses a flurry of red petals to knock her opponents off balance. She is capable of turning her roses into sharp needles to shoot at her targets. She is also quite adept of using her artificial spirit Holie.

In Other Media[]

Shinku appears as a major character in Studio Nomad's 2004 anime continuity where her role is largely the same. She notably loses her arm in a different way and ends up assisting Jun in Suigintou's death in the first season. In the second, she is the first to meet Barasuishou and in the final episode fights her only to lose. Rozen revives her and the rest of the dolls defeated by Barasuishou. Her history with Suigintou is also radically different.

Trivia[]

References and Citations[]

  1. Literal Translation
  2. 2.0 2.1 Final Tale
  3. Rozen Maiden: Rot-Schwarz
  4. Prologue Part II
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