Mawaru Penguindrum

[Kraco]

Episode 8 - gg









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Ouch. Shouma will soon need his own alien penguin hat. Although it was a high time something changed, it was still a bit sad to see Ringo's faith and determination crack. It's safe to say her behavior has been pretty deeply on the insane side for a long time now, but in this series that's just normal.

Kanba got half of the book (at least I assume that was him). I wonder if that's any good. Though I'm actually more interested in seeing how badly Shouma got injured and what Ringo will do about it. If the diary was indeed telling two parallel stories about Tabuki + the actress and Ringo + Shouma, then either this accident or rather its consequences should be in it.

[Buffalobiian]

Kanba got half of the book (at least I assume that was him). I wonder if that's any good.

I'm not so sure it's him, since I can see some chest in this scene

[Kraco]

Oh, a good catch. I assumed it was him since he told Shouma he would resort to dirtier means since Shouma has been doing nothing but wasting time with his friendly methods. Maybe it was the slingshot user, then.

[Buffalobiian]

I thought that too until I saw the breasts' outline, and then remembered that the two brothers hadn't met since they last got knocked out by Himari.

[Nipponsei] Mawaru Penguindrum ED Single - DEAR FUTURE [coaltar of the deepers].zip

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 09

[Kraco]

Really swell to have an episode end with a huge cliffhanger and then run the next episode with irrelevant stuff until the last second when the director again deigns to remember how the previous ep ended and go back to it in the form of single short phone call. This isn't artistic writing, this is just bullshit! I didn't wait a week for this.

That aside, I didn't really feel like this ep revealed anything much of importance. It seems to be what Himari experienced prior to resurrecting wearing the alien hat in the hospital. They didn't even bother to tell why she left the school before Trible-H was formed. Did the parents die at that point?

Oh, well, this is that sort of show. It wouldn't be bad without the need to wait another week.

[Ryllharu]

Really swell to have an episode end with a huge cliffhanger and then run the next episode with irrelevant stuff until the last second when the director again deigns to remember how the previous ep ended and go back to it in the form of single short phone call. This isn't artistic writing, this is just bullshit! I didn't wait a week for this.

I have to disagree a bit here. Himari has been neglected since nearly the beginning. She really needed an episode of development. I like the way they tied it back in. While I'm still very much interested in Sho's fate and Ringo's ultimate reaction to her new partner in crime sacrificing himself for her, you'd have to wonder what Himari does at home all day other than work out and knit. She can't let her brothers sacrifice everything for her sake all the time. She's a very important character, despite recent events given the impression that the only main characters are the younger of two brothers and a psychotically delusional stalker.

That aside, I didn't really feel like this ep revealed anything much of importance. It seems to be what Himari experienced prior to resurrecting wearing the alien hat in the hospital. They didn't even bother to tell why she left the school before Trible-H was formed. Did the parents die at that point?

I also wouldn't say it failed to reveal anything. I also can no longer say the reason she was miraculously saved from her illness be the simply random chance of buying her that ridiculous penguin hat.

Now I can't help but wonder how much of The Princess of the Crystal is really Himari. She was best friends with a pair that eventually became very popular idols. I knew from the beginning of their flashback that the two would turn out to be the same idols used in chibi form for the train mottos. Perhaps the Princess of the Crystal isn't some external supernatural being, but is merely another variety of Himari. Her clothing is idol-like, her intro is over the top like some giant concert, and she does choreographed moves as she descends to harass and insult Kanba and Shouma.

When the 'librarian' put on her "veil" she remained very Himari-like, not the proud and rude personality we've gotten used to seeing. At the same time, she wasn't as passive as Himari usually is. To me, it is starting to feel like the Princess of the Crystal is the embodiment of who Himari wants to be. Loaded to the brim with the confidence she didn't have in the past, showy, and an idol. The incident with the koi may also explain some of the "Survival Strategy!" dialogue. It's certainly in no way as simple as, "they're both the same person." Something supernatural and crazy is definitely going on, but it has become more difficult to say that the two are entirely separate individuals now that we know Himari's past and her younger dreams and ambitions.

They never said who threw the eraser, but the two girls looked sad, not angry. We know that Himari's health declined very rapidly and it has been that way a long time, so that would probably explain why she didn't meet up with them again.

[Kraco]

A good theory about Himari, and you are right that it was long overdue that she needed some development of her own besides being cute and the obsession of the brothers. However, as long as the supernatural aspects of this show aren't shed any light on, I'm not sure if the dual personality of Himari/Princess can be explained to any significant extent, with the show being so concentrated on the goofy characters and less on the background story. I wouldn't even be surprised if we never learned anything. This is that sort of story.

Well, having calmed down I do agree this episode had it uses, but I was really looking forward to seeing if Ringo's opinion of Shouma changes at all after he sacrificed himself to save her life.

[Buffalobiian]

I've got a mixed view on Himari's attitude when she was younger. Was she simply a young girl who, in the heat of the moment to achieve a dream with her friends neglected the feelings of her mother, or did it stem from a deeper, darker desire?

The outline of the "soul mate" towards the end looked the most like Sho, but it can be Tabuki too I suppose. There's certainly an age difference between them judging by the height.

Notice that Himari's penguin already has the number 3 on its back, but Kanba was shown giving the penguins numbers back in the earlier episodes. Don't think it was specifically mentioned whether he only did it to 1 and 2.

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 10

[Kraco]

I overestimated Kanba. He was helplessly dancing to the enemy's tune from the beginning till the end in this episode, and he made it even worse by imagining he was in control at some point. I never expected anything from Shouma (except ending up with Ringo), so his role was fitting. Ringo seemingly having lost much of her vigor and dedication is somewhat sad to watch.

[Ryllharu]

I felt that Ringo had finally come to her senses. Her psychotic vigor is reduced, but her dedication hasn't suffered at all, only changed targets. She has been maddeningly attached to the diary this whole time. She wouldn't even let Shouma touch it, much less borrow it for even a single night. Still under the shock of him sacrificing his body for her safety, there was no way Ringo was going to allow him to get hurt again because of her.

She threw aside the other half of the diary (her absolute most prized possession and one of the last keepsakes of her late sister) without hesitation in order to save Shouma.

I do not want to think that it was out of guilt either. Shouma has been her ever present companion for the last few weeks, assisting on all of her batshit schemes (like getting roasted so a frog could lay eggs on his back). He respected her wishes and requested the diary time and time again, unlike what we know Kanba or anyone else would have done (simply steal it). Ringo was legitimately concerned about his safety this time.


As for everything else in this episode...wtf did I just watch? If all those things were gifts that Masako tried to give to Kanba, she might have been on par with Ringo in terms of being a psycho-stalker. The elaborate lunch boxes was fine. But a layer cake with wedding figures on it? A sweater with "Kamba" knitted into it? You'd figure someone obsessed with someone enough would at least know how to spell his/her name.

And let us not forgot Penguin #1 (Kanba's) using a temperature probe or whatever it was shoved all the way up nurse's skirts, and fishing for panties.
edit: I did like that the aftermath of #2 eating a thermometer was puking up mercury.

[shinta|hikari]

Kamba is not necessarily spelled wrong. Kanba is a literal transliteration of the hiragana, and Kamba is the correct pronunciation. "N" before any "B" character in Japanese is usually pronounced as "M."

Since we convert Japanese to English alphabet based on sound (because they have no other real common base), I think both are acceptable, much like Ganbatte vs Gambatte.

[Buffalobiian]

That boy with another penguin hat.. was in Himari's flashback/dream replacing the boy and his family who went "Mama, penguins!". I don't know what to think of that, especially when I thought that the new Kanba-obsessed girl was the idol who got dumped by him.

[shinta|hikari]

This show is 24 episodes.

SEIZON SENRYAKU!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ryllharu]

You just made my day shinta.


For everyone's information: Regarding subs for episode 11, gg is currently re-encoding after being given a better raw.

[Kraco]

No, they aren't. They finished encoding long ago:

Episode 11v2 - gg





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So, what is it that happened 16 years ago that set in motion this whole race now, 16 years later? Also, when exactly did Momoka die? This episode made it sound like she died those 16 years ago and Ringo was born to take her place, as well as Shouma and Kanba in some manner. Could they have that kind of age difference? That would make the teacher an old geezer as well, right? I must have misunderstood something from this episode.

[Buffalobiian]

Yeah, I could never quite understand how the teacher stayed almost exactly the same these last 16 years... Given how Shoma didn't seem to say those words just to lift the blame off Ringo's back, it almost sounds like Ringo's sister saved Shoma's mum or something so Kanba/Shoma could be born...

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 12


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Mary's an analogy for Kanba's parents? What's the tree?

[Kraco]

Yeah, what's the tree? Terrorism to support environment protection, if the Antarctica photo was of any indication. Although probably not because striking subways would be counter-productive... Dunno. This is too weird to try to guess it with this little information. Maybe they didn't even know themselves what they were exactly trying to achieve...