Mawaru Penguin Drum

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 13

My take on Ringo and the twins vis à vis fate:

Kanba is angry, defiant and a schemer – he wants to find a way to beat the system and refuses to accept the (seemingly) obvious truth about his parents. Ringo embraces fate, or pretends to – first as regards becoming Momoka, then in terms of meeting Shouma. When I say she’s kidding herself I mean she clearly needs to believe things happen for a reason or else her head just can’t process reality. And Shouma seems to be something of a fatalist, with a hint of self-loathing. He sees the dark side of things, embraces not just his parents’ guilt but his own complicity in it just by nature of his birth, and assumes that the terrible events in his life are a result of divine punishment and things will only get worse.

Ringo's POV is needed as a point in the triangle with the brothers, which is interesting because in theory, Himari should be the third point. But she’s still more a plot device than a character, someone who acts as a catalyst for events in the lives of Ringo and the boys but doesn’t actively participate or display a distinct perspective very often. Given all the speculation that the sibling relationships in this series may not be all they seem, I wonder if there might be something even deeper here that we’re not privy to yet.

 

[Terumi]

Spoiler: episode 14

Everyone's going 'momoka, momoka~'.

Felt really sad for our crazy Ringo, who got ditched by Shoma, because poor Shoma cant really afford to get any closer to her as he thinks RIngo will never forgive him and his family, which is wrong. Watching Ringo cry so badly after her first crush was 'crushed' made me feel damn sorry for her. For someone who spend almost the first half of the series trying to get into the pants of another guy, she finally realises now someone has crept into her heart.

Natsume hunts down the mysterious company Kanba, he revealed he does know her and her family. Natsume knows his secrets, as expected of a stalker-onna, train scene was kinda nice seeing a bullet aimed right at the head and missed. The penguins confrontation freaked me out.

Yuri doing yuri, all the time? Brain-f*cked~ I am putting my money on her being transsexual or gender change though, Tabuki would probably know the truth, or not? o.o

Thanks to Kou I stayed with the series, turning out real nice now.

 

[Kou]

Everyone is nuts.

Spoiler: episode 14

We finally got to see some other shades of Himari and Sho's personality. About time they peeled off their apparent easygoing mask, really.

I kind of had a very strong idea that Yuri was into Yuri - and I kind of figured she was "balls-deep" into Momoka if she wasn't Momoka herself (and that last episode kind of ruled her out as Momoka) - but holy shit, if the episode did in fact keep talking about exactly that which I hope it wasn't, then I got one-upped hardcore because Yuri's name would be ironic and not literal. But it was about time we got to see her side of the story too. Twisted as she is, she is indeed fabulous max. But it does kind of take away from her earlier charade of confidence. Farewell to the mature woman Yuri who had utmost confidence in her love. But I always knew she didn't exist anyway ;_;

This does open up the possibility that Tabuki is actually over Momoka. The chances are still pretty low, considering the fact that he is hooked up to Yuri in a relationship she describes as a lie but it might be true from his side. I kind of hope he actually has grown out of the depression - that would really be fabulous max - but we'll see.

I don't get what Yuri was trying to achieve by hindering Ringo's efforts into following the diary earlier on though. She obviously knew what was in it considering she was there on the exact time and location with Tabuki on every single instance. Was she trying to make her grow over Tabuki to take her for herself? Or was she trying to condition her into becoming so obsessed with becoming Momoka that she would pretty much never give up? And given that she already knew the content of the diary, why would she steal the diary? Does that mean she knows about the penguindrum yada yada?

In any case, Yuri knew about Ringo and Shouma and yet let their relationship progress. To the point where Ringo is trying stuff that normal girls try to get attention lol. Too bad Shouma isn't a normal guy - not even close :x

Oh and the best part about the episode was Esmeralda forcing Meganekko cosplay pics of hers onto #1. Absolutely hilarious.

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 15

This episode was certainly not fabulous.

Whoa, amazing episode. I was left wanting for more as it was revealed that the diary had reality warping powers. But as recent series have shown us, you can't just warp reality to your pleasure and get away with it. And Momoka paid a huge price, leading many to try and alter this reality.

Yuri's backstory was disturbing as expected, as they said later on in the episode, that abusive parents use the guise of love to fulfill their own selfish needs. And we're seeing a lot of people using the guise of love to furfill their only seflish needs. But Momoka and the diary seem to be of another nature.

Her dad was indeed a manipulative bastard, convincing Yuri that everyone else was bad and she could only trust him for his sick purposes. And that is how abusive relationships get set up-- by isolating the victim and making the victim unable to even realize they're being harmed. They think it's their fault. And we see this throughout the series too.

But despite it all, Shouma does a lame rescue attempt that buys enough time for Ringo to be saved. Yuri was great in outsmarting, and kept the diary hidden. But there's more to come...

Oh and Kanba is acting pretty manly here, but is he going to be able to handle that fabolus guy?

 

[Terumi]

^ Dont really quite wanna comment on that episode, I am pretty shocked myself for someone who directed Sailor Moon actually scripting this story in a very 'wrong' way.

Missing the old OP

 

[Kou]

It came close to the creepiness in Subahibi......... now you feel how ppl feel for completing that VN?

*massive mindfck*

 

[Terumi]

Not exactly THAT creepy to me, but I see...
Still awaiting for all the answers to the questions.

<- Dont like yuri, unless its those teasing ones.

 

[Terumi]

Everyone is nuts.

Spoiler: episode 16

I am nuts, i wonder how i survived this episode.

Natsume Masako's story wasnt that too clingy, it was pretty gag from start till end. Growing in a semi-broken family, she was completely mad from the beginning. Which grandchild dreams of killing her grandfather in the weirdest of fashion everyday? Darts? Golf ball? King Cobra? ROFL. In the end, he died of food poisoning. The only interesting part they revealed was her past with Kanba, whose past and current actions here at this point of the time still remains a mega-mystery. The whole 'Lets get cursed together' phase, indicates Kanba's womanising ways since young. Like, seriously?

I laughed like a fool while watching her 'delusions' about Mario and her grandfather, and sacrificing herself to eat both the plates of blowfish, and dropping that gigantic plate on Esmerald's head. Sanaetoshi appears again, apparently saving her life, and declaring they are taking the world back, something which will play out later i guess.

Ringo is now Shoma's stalker. How sweet~

But the maid was pretty~ :D

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 16

I'm not super attached to/interested in Masako myself, but yeah at least this episode managed to be hilarious. Those dreams/delusions, lol.

Sanetoshi doing his asshole thing turning Himari against Kanba. This's only gonna get worse. I wanna get the PoC's take on what it means that Himari's alive and she's still out there.

How historical are the Tokyo Metro attack references in the story. They don't really feel that way any longer. The "Survival Strategy" and 'setting the world back on track' ideas are extremely reminiscent of Aum Shinrikyo's evangelical message and teachings. But the penguins and all of Sanetoshi's individual personality make this story its own unique entity. The similarities are more like simple parallels than direct references.

The penguin groups are pretty much explicitly a cult, though. I wonder what exactly Kanba does for them. Anyway, yeah, Kanba/Masako v.s. Sanetoshi is being set up, clearly. I'm still not thrilled by the idea of any potential romance, though.

(Masako's father said "the four of us once again living as a family". Which four? Does Masako's mother come into play anywhere in this? Or did "the four of us" actually include Masako's granfather?)

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 17

Does anyone else find it ironic that Ringo has become the sanest person in the cast and Masako is now the heroine?

I really thought Yuri was gonna be the biggest problem this episode; it really was worrying me when she couldn't contain her anger to the Takakuras. Good thing Masako came and interferred her. What I wasn't expecting though was for Tabuki to finally show his true colors. It looks like he still has the same grudge for the Takakuras as much as Yuri does; if not more.

Weird tidbits in this episode are the bunny-kids saying how bad girls need to be punished and Himari-with-the-hat telling Kanba about the Penguindrum. Though in turn Himari did say that the doctor let her out for a while which means there really is something fishy going on- or fate.

Also things that are left unanswered are Kanba's relationship with Masako's father (It's probably somehow obvious already that Kanba's father is Masako's father), his relationship with Himari-with-the-hat and Momoka's relationship with the Takakura's (which was slightly mentioned this episode on how she tried to stop them).

I think everyone besides Sanetoshi pretty much has their backstory already (maybe they'll pad out more Tabuki's) and I think Penguindrum is almost prepared to enter its finale so I'm very excited.

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 18

Kanba and Himari's conversation was way more emotional in my head.

Well, I did like Casshern Sins though (and Heartcatch Precure). The chara designs worked really well during the Momoka flashback portions. Kanba's face as Himari was talking was just weird, though. And Himari looked too childish.

The ending was kinda weird too. I agree that Ringo's dialogue interjected before we could really understand what Shouma was feeling.

Anyway, now it is out there. How much Kanba is suffering for the sake of Himari. Shouma, Natsume, and Himari herself. Let's see how they change and what they decide to do.

Incidentally, I guess we figured out how Sanetoshi was behind all of this now. Sanetoshi was the one who sent the photos (of Kanba) to Tabuki. Natsume's final line was about "kono ie", i.e. "that roof" or "that household" metaphorically. I'd say she's referring to how Sanetoshi is targeting it as Kanba's weakness.

I'm gonna associate Sanetoshi with the "goddess" in Shouma's fairy tale. "Mary" is of course Takekura Kenzan. Since Takekura Kenzan really does seem to have had really high connections in the Penguin group, which Sanetoshi is ultimately controls the power of. My guess is that Kenzan stole some of that power or something and is currently leading a coup d'etat of one of the Penguin factions. That's why Sanetoshi wants to punish him/his family. Sanetoshi may also even want revenge on the Takekura's because of what happened to Momoka.

This was the conclusion of Tabuki's story. Yuri still has the diary, but she may also be dropping out as a major player after this. What we have is Sanetoshi targeting Himari, Kanba destroying himself protecting her, Natsume trying to protect Kanba, Shouma wanting to be of use to protect both of them, and Ringo trying to support Shouma. For the story to move on from now, I guess what we'll need to see is the PoC obtaining the Penguindrum.

 

[Terumi]

THEY ARE ALIVE!

 

[Kou]

Ikuhara you magnificent troll.

Spoiler: episode 19

Wtf Ikuhara, WTF? Why don't you just sink all the childhood friend ships in one episode, why don't you? MomokaXTabuki, TabukiXYuri, RingoXTabuki, MasakoXKanba, and HimariXShouma. Last one especially, ever since selling me on RingoXShouma after giving up on Tabuki, you throw me another curve ball. XD

Then again, for a series about defying fate, I really shouldn't get my hopes up as childhood friend couplings has the 'fate card' in spades.

Fated one:
Momoka saved Tabuki and Yuri, and both thought that Momoka was their "fated one" because of that.

Shouma saved Himari, and much like Tabuki and Yuri, Himari thought Shouma was her "fated one".

Shouma saved Ringo, yet, even though Ringo loves Shouma, she never thought of him as her "fated one", not even once.

Now the term "fated person" makes me think of princes and princesses, and that reminded me of something Enokido said about the Utena movie:

"people who are in love for real would not be chasing after the image of a prince."

After reading this, I can't help to think that those who are in love for real wouldn't be chasing after the image of a "fated one" either. Kanba never thought that Himari was fated to be with him (quite the opposite, actually), yet his love seems real to me. The same can be said about Ringo and her feelings for Shouma....

I don't know, it's like all these people who talk about "fated ones" are using this idea to avoid facing reality. Ringo's and Kanba's respective loves seem real to me because they're willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of those they love. Fate has nothing to do with it IMO.

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 20

That was the best ep of the series for me in terms of emotional punch. I think Ikuhara did a brilliant job of making the symbolism of the child broiler come to life as personified by Shouma and Himari. The two characters who always seemed as if they would be at the heart of the conclusion but were mostly observers up to now finally emerged as real actors in the drama. Incredibly beautiful animation and use of BGM.

As for the child broiler, it's representative of many things. It's a Buddhist hell, and it's also symbolic of the way modern society (specifically Japan) wants desperately not to have to look at the undesirables who mar their image of a perfect society that exists for the good of all. And for every Shouma or Momoka or Superfrog who takes action just because they should, there are countless others who either do nothing or - like the Kiga Group - foul their karma and the world's by responding to injustice by lusting for revenge. I think the conclusion will be nothing less than a clash of world views, with Shouma and Kanba at the heart of it.

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 21

Now that was a fantastic episode.

Here is where, in my view, Ikuhara reigned in his surrealist tendencies a bit in order to present something raw, real, poignant, and powerful. Just absolutely superb character drama while the plot thickens with key revelations carefully and shrewdly executed. For emotional investment, for good use of every important cast member, and for creating great plot intrigue, this was my favorite episode of MPD so far.

Kanba, Shouma, Himari, and Ringo, and the relationships between them, were all developed impressively well here. Most importantly, I'm relieved to see that Shouma's "manning up" wasn't left until the last or 2nd last episode - That it is happening now. While I knew that he was no physical match for Kanba, it was still electrifying (to borrow Sanetoshi's favorite word ) to see Shouma finally stand up to his brother and truly try to stop him. Now I can fully embrace Shouma as the main main protagonist of this work, should the anime continue to take him in that direction.

At the same time, Kanba now works well (I suspect) as a highly sympathetic yet misguided antagonist of sorts. The pain and tragedy of Himari's overall position is laid bare here. Ringo grounds it all by, ironically, being the most normal and sane character of the entire main cast - She's the cast member most able to stand up for and deeply sympathize with the Takakuras without being made insane herself by their internal conflicts. With this in mind, the one scene between Ringo and Himari in this episode was truly adorable, and made for such a wonderful contrast to the darkness that permeated the rest of the episode.

The drama and suspense in this episode was downright Godfather-esque, that's how good and rich it was. The flashbacks, the confrontations, the dialogue, the way characters were dressed, it all came together so beautifully, and with such scintillating Directorial skill.

Ikuhara's writing had lost me a bit before, but not now. Now it is all coming together, and I can't wait to see what comes next.

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 22

Let's tie some knots here:

Back in 1995 Momoka saved Tokyo from Sanetoshi.

In episode 9 Himari was looking for a book called Super-Frog Saves Tokyo. This is a reference to Murakami, but San-chan does find the book in the library. I think that in the context of the story this book is about Momoka. She is/was the super frog that saved Tokyo.

Not surprisingly, there's a lot of frog imagery related to Ringo. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but now things seem to be coming together.

Kanba Kanba Kanba... What he is doing now is unforgivable. Doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons. But I can't help but feel sorry for the guy: even with all this trying, he still can't save anyone. Himari is still dying, I guess he was trying to protect Shouma by keeping him out of the loop, but that surely won't work out, he tried protecting Masako, but that was probably yet another failed attempt, and I finally understand the look of horror on his face in episode 10 when he saw Mario with the penguin hat: he couldn't save his little brother either. Even Shouma, without really doing anything, managed to save Ringo... Possibly unworthy of redemption, but, really, poor guy. Can't blame him for going crazy. I don't even want to see his reaction when he finds out Masako's dead (if she really died (really hope not)).

Anyway, as always, the music was pure perfection. I wasn't sure how Kanba felt about Masako, but I'm glad he protected her. I'm also glad that Tabuki shielded Yuri, I hope he makes it and they become a real family. It was a powerful episode. I was on my toes the whole time, it was quite intense (I can't begin to describe how I felt when Kanba was being taken away and I heard the gun shots...)

 

[YoichiMiles]

Haven't been able to watch this anime for a while because of school Dx So I checked out around the 5 latest episode. And OMG!!! Want the last one now! So exciting!!

Spoiler: About episode 23

Sidepoint: Ummm..... It was actually a long time since that hat or any "Penguin drum" came back to the anime. And srsly, That so called "Mission" had been ignored for like 7 episodes, and during that time it haven't happened any "SEIZON SENRYAKU" (like, the best stuff here xD). Now: The whole story is fine as it went actually. I just wish that any of that would have appeared somewhere in between, the "SEIZON SENRYAKU" appeared like every episode at the beginning. So why did it suddenly stopped? :S I don't care if Kanba would have ditched that woman or whatever. Only if it just appeared.

And urgh how mad I am at Kanba now. I was really hoping that they could have defeated that pink-haired guy (whatever he now was named) with that so called "Fate diary", but nope. It got destroyed :( (but rly, trying to stop the fire by having the diary close to your bodywithout any rolls? That doesn't work no matter what rly... lol at me being pestimistic).

Now I just hope that it will be a really great ending of it all. I guessed before that it would be something like "Death Note", that Kanba and Himari will be left dead, and that orginazation (or whatever it is) would be ruined down. But after the ending of the 23rd episode, I believe there's hope of Kanba and Himari living happily with Shoma and Ringo. :)

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 23

Ultimately, I'm glad that the diary was properly addressed. Unlike some viewers, I would have been perfectly fine with an ending in which Ringo uses the diary to resolve the main conflicts of the narrative. It's not as if this narrative isn't absolutely loaded with bizarre magical/surreal elements as it is.

However, Ringo using the diary that way certainly wasn't the only way this anime could have a good ending, so I'm fine with the story going a different route. As is, I'm glad that the diary at least wasn't a massive hanging plot thread, as Sanetoshi still had to see to its destruction. The Ringo-on-fire OP symbolism also wasn't totally invalidated due to how Ringo actually did come in contact with fire in this episode. Well played, Ikuhara.

My view is that Ringo may have served her main role now. Oh, I'd be shocked if we don't see any more of her before it's all said and done, but the key players in resolving this narrative's conflicts do look to be Kanba and Shouma.


Now, while I agree with the criticism that there's too many "fake death" scenes in this anime, I never found this episode particularly asspull-esque.

Kanba is still trying to save Himari at all costs, Shouma is still strongly against Kanba's terrorist activities, and Sanetoshi checkmated Ringo in order to deal with a clear and very well-established threat to him. The revelations made in this episode were not entirely out of left field either. In fact, I like the idea that Momoka was split between the two Penguin Hats, as this can help justify her Himari hat personality being so vastly different from her flashback personality. All in all, this was a reasonable way for the plot to develop after last episode, and I credit Plot Twist King Ikuhara for at least taking the care to ensure that certain key inconsistencies didn't creep into his narrative.

My only slight disappointment here is in how we never get to see how Kanba managed to slip away from the police. Presumably he made his getaway while Natsume was taken out (leading to her revival in this episode), but it still would have been nice to have seen a bit of that simply to tie this episode more tightly into the last.


Putting the story aside, what I find with Penguin Drum is that the "total package" is excellent. The characterization, the visuals, the voice-acting, the BGM, the scene transitions, and the plot all come together to create a whole that's greater than the sum of its parts. Everything just fits like a glove in this, as no character feels out of place or underused/overused, and each element compliments each other element. As such, though I do share your criticisms, I still find this to be a highly entertaining and well-produced anime overall.

But the big moment, of course, is the ending. I hope that it's not overly difficult to pick sense out of. It'll probably have deeper symbolism that people will carefully analyze for years to come, but I'd still like the "surface level" plot to be solid and comprehensible with a satisfying ending. If so, MPD will be one of the very best anime shows of 2011 for me.

 

[Kou]

...... so did anyone understand anything?

This thread is underrated.

 

[Terumi]

知らない

Well, all I have to say, the series had its great moments. Ringo's crazy obsession in the beginning was ridiculously (fun), with Shoma tagging along was perfect, until the mid-point of the series everything started to become like, really really messy. Glad I followed through this show without dropping back then, but I would most probably not recommend this show to anyone. The whole Sanetoshi-Momoka feud, and the whole fruit of fate (apple) and fake family, I felt the show did not really bring out WHAT it wants to tell the audience.

I will miss the penguins. Seriously.

 

[Kou]

I felt the show did not really bring out WHAT it wants to tell the audience.

It's too deep I guess. I think I had a vague idea but I will need to rewatch some parts. And the ending is night in the galatic railway.

 

[Terumi]

Hmm, probably not gonna look through any materials related to it. Unless there's a OVA/Movie of sorts.
Till the end, I still dont know what message the show is trying to bring out. Dont mess up with dead people? Lol.

They left a lot not explained too. The child broiler, the whole 'fake' family thing between the 3 siblings, the 2 hats and Momoka, Yuri's true gender, Ringo's unrequited love, the organisation, the bears, why the father got killed and no reaction from Kanba and co. and many more. BUT THE MAIN POINT IS WHAT/WHO ARE THE PENGUINS!??!?!

Sums up quite the lot here, bet people are getting the ??? like I did just now.

 

[Kou]

Well, its sorta like uthena that not all things are answered (so ikuhara style). It's the central message/theme that is the focus. To put it in 5 words, it is all about love.

Long post about the story when I confirmed a few stuffs.

 

[Terumi]

To put it in 5 words, it is all about love.

Well summarised~ :P

 

[Maverick007]

For those who are lost about the whole "fate" thing here is a pic someone made to help you out:
http://i.imgur.com/owd19.jpg

(Img tags removed to avoid spoliers)