I've been referring to this show to my friends as "Gothloli Highlander," because that is the main thrust of the plot. There are magical, animate dolls (the eponymous Rozen Maidens) who were created to play the "Alice Game," a battle where each of the seven sister-dolls fights to take each others "Rosa Mystica," which is their animating magical soul, and after having taken all of them, the winner will become Alice, the ultimate girl, beloved by their Father and their creator.
The series actually focuses more on the relationships between the Rozen Maiden dolls, who are, despite their centuries-old existences, still children, and each has a different outlook on their creation, their sisters, and the Alice Game. The series attempts to reasonably discuss the effects of this particular goal of existence on a group, especially a group that has become familiar with one another over an extended period of centuries.
I enjoyed the series for its emotional content and the weird childishness of the dolls, even the more mature ones have a number of childish quirks that stand out as making them interesting characters, more than just a collection of well-written traits. If I were to criticize the series, I would say that the characters' elaborate costumes draw too much of the animation budget, the combat scenes are distinctly lacking in dynamism or animation quality.
The series is two seasons and an OVA, but the series, both in its manga and anime forms, has suffered from executive changes and sudden cancellations, the second season of the anime is a divergent plot from the manga, and the original manga cut off after a sudden deus ex machina before beginning again in an alternate universe. Overall, the anime manages to be a coherent story that is functional, though unresolved.
If the idea of watching dolls that might as well be human bicker, laugh, love, fight and learn appeals to you, you'll probably enjoy Rozen Maiden. If you need action or find emotional subplots tiring, you probably won't.
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