Mawaru Penguindrum

[Kraco]

It must be true what they say about psychopaths: They might outwardly appear like the everyday jovial neighbours. I wasn't expecting the teacher to harbour vengeance, but on the other hand, his attitude always seemed far more given up than Yuri's. So, it makes sense he would rather do something more commonplace, like avenge Momoka, than seek mystical diaries to bring her back to life. His speech to Yuri must have been to either keep her out of trouble or to keep her out of his way. Though it's not like we'd have already seen what exactly he is planning, and having Ringo present makes it even more strange considering she's Momoka's sister. It would be odd if he purposefully hurt her while doing something for Momoka (in his own opinion).

The penguins acquired a stable companion in the form of an octopus?

[Ryllharu]

From his speech, I'm almost wondering if Tabuki isn't going to take the direct route, but take the much more gut-wrenching route. Why kill a Takakura sibling, when you could increase their suffering countless times more? I mean that he will try to kill Ringo in front of Himari and tell her that it was the result of anyone getting involved with them. Far more cruel, especially since Tabuki and Yuri know that Ringo loves Shouma now, which must anger them him even more. It seemed odd the way he was addressing Ringo about what he said before. It could go either way with the tone he used, but it felt more like the last ominous words he would say to Ringo.

The family are already pariahs, and they do tend to keep to themselves and have next to no friends (well, Shouma does have a few). But Himari has thus far been insulated from all the treatment they face. Kanba and Shouma make sure of that.

Traumatizing Himari could take away the only light the Takakura family still has.

[Buffalobiian]

I has occurred to me that this show is mostly about people with screwed up care-takers.

gg - Episode 18










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^ I actually made that comment before watching that episode, while thinking that it's not 100% true since Tabuki was an exception. Turns out.. he wasn't. xD

Besides the fact that I'm baffled at how it's physically possible for Tabuki to have rescued Himari, or how exactly was Kanba preventing Himari from falling, brilliant episode.

[Kraco]

I guess Kanba was holding the last cable Tabuki released, thus supporting the combined weight of Himari, the... whatever it was she was in, and the cables. It's a mystery how Tabuki rescued her, but it's possible he was actually prepared to do that in case Kanba would have given up (called his dad) nearing the end and the dodgy cable contraption wouldn't have behaved. But who knows. I hope this will do something good to Shouma and Ringo's relationship, if nothing else.

But yeah, this is really a grand collection of miserable childhoods.

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 19

[Ryllharu]

Hmm, I can't say I saw that one coming. Now I'm really confused. Shouma and Ringo are the obvious pair, but Himari recognizes Shouma as her soulmate and he was the one who brought her into the family. Yet Kanba is the one in love with her, and now that Masako has revealed that Himari isn't blood related, Kanba's relationship isn't incest anymore. Shouma doesn't consider Himari romantically, he's just very protective of her, like one would be to a little sister. So what Himari wants all along is...

0_o

And Himari is still dying.

I have no idea where this will be going in the next few episodes.

[Kraco]

That indeed summed up very nicely the level of confusion this episode left behind. What does Shouma think about Ringo, though? Obviously he's not as Himari obsessed as Kanba, but it has been mainly Ringo who has shown interest in a relationship. Shouma was enough of a man to try to save Ringo back then but otherwise he's still quite cold. And now Himari could turn even colder than Shouma. She was already telling the magician doctor she would want to return to the three of them again, kicking Ringo out. As a result from regaining her memories she might view Ringo harmful not only passively but actively.

I have no idea how this is going to end. An everybody dies ending wouldn't surprise me anymore, not that I'd be expecting such.

[Buffalobiian]

The only person to have rescued anybody from the Child Broiler was the late Momoka. So Shouma has the power to change fat as well?

wtf is going on...

-You have the Dr and the Princess with their "game"
-The momoka-obsessed pair trying to bring her back
-Masako trying to bring back her brother and save Kanba at the same time
-Himari regaining her memories.. (whether she's still dying is yet to be confirmed)

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 20


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Mindrape..

So basically the Child Broiler that I thought was completely conceptual was actually a real place..

Masako mentioned "our" father to Kanba.. Not sure whether "our" referred to her's and her blond brother's, or whether it included Kanba..

And if Kanba's there listening to their speeches.. it shouldn't have been that surprising to hear their parent's acts on television.. Somewhere along the line it sounded like the entire group of three had a memory wipe. Momoka's doing?

[Ryllharu]

And if Kanba's there listening to their speeches.. it shouldn't have been that surprising to hear their parent's acts on television.. Somewhere along the line it sounded like the entire group of three had a memory wipe. Momoka's doing?

Kanba's known all along. The only thing that he was shocked about when the three of them were picked up by the government was that their family got found out. The other two (Shouma and Himari) learned what their parents had been up to this whole time.

So from what the doctor was discussing with Himari...she's contemplating challenging Ringo for Shouma? She's been "running away" all this time, and now she's thinking about chasing (while Shouma runs away?).

This series...[Ryllharu is lost for words].

[Kraco]

I certainly am not looking forward to Himari chasing Shouma. I believe Shouma considers her a sister, so I don't think it would even work (unlike with Kanba).

I'm still not sure what the Child Broiler is. This ep strongly suggested it's at least a physical place, but the other details beg to be taken metaphorically. Maybe it's some giant orphanage that will never produce noteworthy citizens?

[shinta|hikari]

Or maybe it is too graphic to be shown without caricature conversion.

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 21

[Kraco]

This wandered really deep into the blue zone of melancholy with the dead parents (and their ghosts), the family breaking, and Shouma browsing the album, looking quite given up. A very strong atmosphere all in all. The only thing bothering me was the journalist (or whatever he was, if he was anything considering the clock and everything) that appeared out of nowhere. Whether he was a traitor, a spy, or a man doomed to die for Kanba's (the remnant's) sake, his existence had no prior preparations made - at least that I can remember.

It somehow feels like Shouma would just sit alone at home and wither away, lost in memories, if it was up to him. I wonder if Ringo is going to save him.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm glad to see Himari giving up on Shouma and going to save Kanba. I guess all the sacrifices Kanba has made were not in vain.

[Kraco]

I'm glad to see Himari giving up on Shouma and going to save Kanba. I guess all the sacrifices Kanba has made were not in vain.

She was similarly saved in the past. I don't think she particularly gave up on Shouma, though; Kanba's problem is simply far more acute. Shouma's problem is... something he must figure out by himself above all. Unlike Kanba and Himari, Shouma can only stare into the past. Kanba and Himari are looking forward into the future, even if the circumstances forced Kanba to make the wrong choices and Himari's future prospects are extremely poor.

[shinta|hikari]

Himari bid farewell to her fated person. She gave up on him, knowing it is futile.

[Kraco]

Hmm... So, you interpreted it so that she wouldn't anymore care even if Shouma hanged himself in the bedroom?

She certainly did give up on him on some level, most likely romantic level or trying to maintain the fake family no matter what, but otherwise I can't think it would have been so final. But who knows, all the characters in this show seem to be broken in one way or another.

[Buffalobiian]

Hmm.. no (legal) romantic relationship between Kanba and Masako? That's a bit of a shame. The OP suddenly makes sense now, with each of the three penguins standing separately, but the black one siding much closer with #1.

And then we've got the bandaid on #1 as well..

The doctor's been very good about playing with words to bend their meaning yet remain truthful - but did he at any point promise that the medication would save Himari? If he did.. that's a pretty big breach there.

I can't remember the surnames of everybody, but is it possible for our pink haired friend to be Kanba's biological father?

I wouldn't say I totally dislike the new direction of the show, but we've all but completely diverged from our original goal of obtaining the Penguin Drum now. Medicine aside, wasn't that supposed to be the all-powerful cure for Himari? This show took a pretty hard left around the middle and turned itself from a survival show to one about people with dead/shitty parents/caretakers.

[shinta|hikari]

I think she gave up on him romantically, not in any other way.