Mawaru Penguindrum

[Ryllharu]

I have no idea what just happened.

If Himari/Princess are gone for the rest of the series, that will be a major downer.

Still, I found it to be a rather tenuous connection that Shouma's parents led to the death of Momoka. They may have initiated the attack that led to her death, but it really didn't make any sense why they would do it, much less wait until the son was born. It all seems rather arbitrary.

The only thing I was able to take away from this episode is that the bunnies (and their pink-haired master) are evil.

[Ryllharu]

Fabulous Max!

[gg]​ Mawaru​ Penguindrum -​14


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Poor Ringo. Not only has she now been rejected by both of the men she loved, she's about to get Yuri-yuri raped. I felt pretty bad for her when Shouma drove her off. Definitely tugged on the heartstrings. She genuinely cares about his family, even after she found out about their parents and what they did to her family. She tried to recover their relationship by appeal, but alas, it ended in orz. It is kind of funny that after all this time trying to become Momoka to steal Tabuki from Yuri, now Yuri has been the one completely enraptured by Momoka. Now it makes sense that Yuri would want to marry Tabuki. He is her avenue to Ringo, and therefore (in her mind) Momoka.

It's quite confusing with all of the shifting alliances. Masako wants Kanba, but she is no longer opposed to him. At first it seemed very strange that she would use her brainbuster ping-pong balls to keep the mafia off his back. But then she offered her own wealth, which would further tie him to her. Only when he rejected her (again) and then foiled her attack, where does she stand now?

Then there's Himari. She seems to be have the same conflict with her idol friends that Shouma has with Ringo. When she said that, 'no one would want her hand-made scarves,' did she mean the same problem that Shouma was complaining about, that everyone treats the three of them as pariahs? Or was it simpler, recalling the reaction everyone had when she left school? Now that I think about it, are those two things related? Perhaps Himari didn't leave the school from her illness, but from her parents' identity as the leaders being discovered. That would explain the faces on her friends. They were equally torn. Now I really want to see a reunion between the two of them and Himari, whatever the outcome.

It's kind of creepy that the doctor is not only attempting, but somewhat succeeding at seducing her. Who knows what is really in those vials.

[shinta|hikari]

Definitely Fabulous Max.

I just hope that Ringo is saved somehow.

[Buffalobiian]

Definitely Fabulous Max.

I just hope that Ringo is saved somehow.

I dunno, lol. The saving scenes happen so often in anime, I kind of want to see how they'll play it out of Ringo does in fact get "messed up". I'll still want a Shouma x Ringo shipping by the end, but having a few more "hiccups" on the way would keep it entertaining - especially when we only just had the break-up today.

[shinta|hikari]

I actually thought that way too, but when I tried to play out the possible raped Ringo x Shouma endings, I reconsidered.

[Kraco]

Ringo (Momoka) must be a helluva woman for Yuri to be ready to ruin her career for her body... Makes Shouma in his emo guilt syndrome look even more foolish for pushing her away. While it could be academically interesting plot wise to see the repercussions of Ringo getting raped, I still don't want to see it. Shouma is broken as it is, so what good would a pair of two broken people do?

This show is pretty hard to predict.

[Sapphire]

Has anyone seen the host of TL notes that go with this show?

[Ryllharu]

I have met God, and...she is incredibly nice.

[gg] Mawaru Penguindrum - 15

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No words can describe what horrible things Yuri's father said to her. I can see how he would become like that given how obsessed he was with his profession, but that's just horribly disturbing. I have a lot more respect for Yuri after this episode. She genuinely seems to want the diary for pure reasons. Momoka saved her life, and now Yuri wants to return the favor by exchanging herself to bring her back. She was also clever enough to foil Masako.

Did Momoka replace the Tower of...David with Tokyo Tower? She's...almost unbelievably powerful. I can see why everyone wants her diary now, it certainly seems to be the purported penguindrum. The price is heavy, and only Momoka seemed to be able to wield it properly. It makes me wonder now what effect Ringo accomplished while trying to match those written fates. Granted, most of them backfired and were fulfilled with who she actually loves now, so maybe there's a little lingering power...if a bit misdirected.

As for Shouma's "heroic" rescue, that's why I love this show. Complete failure, KO'd on a juice bottle. It worked, and maybe Ringo will never learn the truth. She can just assume he saved her, which in a way he did. Given the fact that he was at the same inn, on the same night, with his sufficiently perverted eavesdropping friend, in the adjacent room, and her phone was miraculously answerable...I'd say the two of them are fated to be together.

I'm glad for Himari, if the doctor in fact told Double-H that they were from Himari, and not something else. I'm not sure where to put him. Is he a villain? Is he good (but trying to seduce Himari to get at the Princess)? I can't trust him given the story of the rabbits, but so far, he's been doing good deeds while making Kanba suffer, but Kanba has always been glad to suffer when it is for his sister.

[Buffalobiian]

Wait, so by changing fates, Momoka's creating parallel universes and jumping through them.. How the hell does Yuri remember it?

But by far the most confusing thing is, Momoka supposedly died in the subway accident. She did not at all look injured prior to the accident.

As for Shouma's "heroic" rescue, that's why I love this show. Complete failure, KO'd on a juice bottle. It worked, and maybe Ringo will never learn the truth. She can just assume he saved her, which in a way he did. Given the fact that he was at the same inn, on the same night, with his sufficiently perverted eavesdropping friend, in the adjacent room, and her phone was miraculously answerable...I'd say the two of them are fated to be together.

Yeah, the KO was pretty damn funny. I was more impressed with the "superwomen fight" though. Simply a great display of brain and body. :3

[Kraco]

Quite an episode indeed. It left a few confusing details, though, like if Yuri was indeed going to rape Ringo or if it was an utterly too elaborate plot to achieve something. I very much doubt she could have predicted Shouma was in the next room - unless the diary half said so - so it's a stretch in my opinion she would have done all that to get those two together. However, if her objective is to bring Momoka back, there's no point in raping Ringo. Very strange.

But anyway, like Ryll said, Yuri is much more understandable now.

I hope things will now work between Shouma and Ringo. That alone would make me happy.

[Ryllharu]

Quite an episode indeed. It left a few confusing details, though, like if Yuri was indeed going to rape Ringo or if it was an utterly too elaborate plot to achieve something. I very much doubt she could have predicted Shouma was in the next room - unless the diary half said so - so it's a stretch in my opinion she would have done all that to get those two together. However, if her objective is to bring Momoka back, there's no point in raping Ringo. Very strange.

I think the attack allowed to achieve her goal.

I'm pretty sure she fully intended to rape Ringo believing that it would turn her into Momoka, just like Ringo had always been raving about. But Masako showed up trying to get the other half of the diary. It seemed that Yuri fully expected to be attacked by someone, as she had put the real half in the safe and prepared a fake.

Now Yuri knows what the person with the other half looks like and she'll be able to go get it. She may no longer need Ringo-turned-Momoka. Now she can reassemble the diary and bring back the real one.

[Kraco]

Yeah, it's indeed true that now she has a solid starting point from where to begin the hunt for the remaining half. But just for that she hardly needed all the theater of raping Ringo, which is what I found confusing in this all, now that we found out what her ultimate goal and intended method is. I suppose we can derive from this that her love for Momoka is somewhat twisted and psychotic. But once again, considering her background and what kind of an impression of love it must have left her with, why not.

[shinta|hikari]

gg episode 16

This sums up my feelings towards the grandfather.

[Kraco]

An interesting episode with some funny details. Like the stereotypical English exclamations by the grandfather's foreign tagalong everytime the grandfather died. I have heard such in some other show in the past, but I can't anymore remember which. Another was the kid Kanba having the same male VA still present. You see this very frequently with female characters with the same VA trying to pull off the child's voice, but when you do it with a male, it can't be anything but a joke.

I was afraid we would get no update on Ringo and Shouma, but fortunately there was that little clip. Looks like Shouma still wants to push her away, but luckily Ringo seems to have regained her spirit and will now utilise her stalker skills to win him over.

[shinta|hikari]

Shouma is being a douche. Ringo openly confesses and he rejects her because of a stupid guilt issue that is not even remotely his fault? I expected better of him. I am still rooting for Ringo to stalk him into shape though.

[Kraco]

You'd need lots of self-confidence in his position, and obviously he possesses little. It's not only a guilt issue, either. Anybody who associates too deeply with them, risks getting marked for associating with the terrorist family. I think Shouma wants to keep Ringo away from them partially for that reason as well. He wouldn't say anything as long as Ringo was just Himari's friend because it was for the poor sister's benefit, but when it switched to his own benefit, he wouldn't allow it anymore. It's the old syndrome of feeling he's not good enough and that Ringo deserves better.

Certainly not my favourite theme in drama, but quite understandable. Fortunately you could hardly find a better solution than a stalker girl who wouldn't give up.

[Buffalobiian]

Kanba wasn't from a rich family. I don't see how he could have had any association with Masako at all when they were little.

I haven't liked a Survival Strategy like I liked this one in a good while now.

[shinta|hikari]

The part where she used a notepad and mouthed "Seizon Senryaku" to the spying maid was priceless.

[Kraco]

Kanba wasn't from a rich family. I don't see how he could have had any association with Masako at all when they were little.

He was a real player already back then. No girl was outside of his reach.

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 17