Mawaru Penguindrum

[Buffalobiian]

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

I could never see (as in, identify points that) Himari was ever gunning for Shouma in a romantic way. Not since their parents were wanted criminals anyway.

There was the scene with Ringo washing dishes with Shouma, but her wish suggested she disliked Ringo for breaking the family dynamic overall rather than stealing Shouma from her.

[shinta|hikari]

Calling him her fated person is not enough proof?

[Kraco]

Yeah, it earlier looked like she would have just wanted to maintain the family of three, but after it was revealed how Shouma saved her and more, it seemed evident her feelings ran deeper - though I doubt Shouma's did. Fated persons and soulmates, when talking about the opposite sex, sound romantic enough by any reckoning.

[Buffalobiian]

Only the term sounded romantic. If she had never used the word, nothing else would have really indicated IMO.

Besides calling him her soulmate, Himari's done nothing (that isn't a flashback) to indicate that she has feelings for Shouma that transcends those for Kanba.

[shinta|hikari]

I think that was the point. Himari's feelings for Kanba grew a lot more while Shouma has been actively avoiding any romantic relationship with Himari because of his desire to be siblings.

[Buffalobiian]

I think that was the point. Himari's feelings for Kanba grew a lot more while Shouma has been actively avoiding any romantic relationship with Himari because of his desire to be siblings.

And until this episode, Kanba was also nothing more than a brother. That was the baseline for my comparison. They weren't equally considered as romantic interests. They were siblings... then BOOM, we're told they're actually a lot more.

[shinta|hikari]

That's because Himari forgot all about it. Naturally, she would not act like she has any romantic feelings because technically she lost them along with the memories.

[Buffalobiian]

Ah.. now that brings me to another part. The big "wtf memory loss" that everybody more or less had.

[shinta|hikari]

Only Himari had memory loss. Kanba and Shouma both remembered.

[Kraco]

I think Himari is a bit held back by the knowledge of her limited days as well. If you know you are going to die very soon, is it worth it to try to romance someone anymore? Especially if it also means it would risk losing what she already had. Now she has also the other goal of saving Kanba. It might feel a lot more worthy an objective than trying to get a boyfriend and then die the next day. Between those two choices, I think anybody decent would choose saving Kanba.

[Buffalobiian]

Only Himari had memory loss. Kanba and Shouma both remembered.

Kanba regained his memories when Masako led him through that maze/trail. I'm not 100% sure about Shouma right now, but I was under the impression that he remembered partway through as well.

[Ryllharu]

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.

They haven't forgotten about it, not completely. It's the plotline with Yuri and Tabuki. We know what the Penguindrum does now. It is the means by which Momoka warped reality, and Yuri (and maybe Tabuki as well, depending on which of them got stabbed), intend to use it again to bring her back.

It would have allowed one of the two "brothers" to sacrifice a part of their own life for Himari's, the similar way that Yuri intends to wipe out her own existence to bring Momoka back. Saving scores of lives at the same time is what led to Momoka's death, and Momoka is a god-like existence, so the weight must be similar. Perhaps saving one life isn't nearly so pricey (or two lives, Mario too).

I guess the real question is whether or not we'll see the Princess again.

If Himari gets saved at the end of this series, it's going to be because of a deus ex machina, something like Momoka's return.

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 22

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That grandpa must have had really high expectations, because all the kin of the Natsume clan are fucking boss. It would dearly suck for both women in Kanba's life to perish like that.

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 23

[Ryllharu]

What a frustrating cliffhanger!

At least we finally found out the true identity of the Princess. She was half of Momoka all along. The playful and arrogant half? I think someone (not me) guessed it a while back.

Poor Ringo, tries so hard, but everyone is against her. Hopefully she will get a happy ending despite it all.

It did leave a lingering question. If Kanba shot Shouma with one of Masako's paintballs, and he didn't forget Himari, what did Shouma forget?

[Buffalobiian]

It did leave a lingering question. If Kanba shot Shouma with one of Masako's paintballs, and he didn't forget Himari, what did Shouma forget?

We can't be sure it was a Forget ball, or a Remember ball. Red vs Blue.

It would seem strange for Shouma to awaken after "forgetting" something.

[Buffalobiian]

gg - episode 24

[Ryllharu]

That last episode was...bizarre to say the least.

Can't say I'm thrilled about the way it turned out, but I accept it.

Good series from start to finish. Even if the visual metaphors got to the point where we couldn't even figure out what they were supposed to be (exactly what was happening at the child broiler, the boxes).

[Buffalobiian]

Yeah.. I'm sure I'm not even close to understanding this show 100%.

----------------------------
Takakura's backstory

-Kanba was part of Masako's family. He followed his biological father into the terrorist organisation so his other siblings could live their rich life. Upon the death of his father, Kanba was accepted into the Takakura family.
-Shouma is the only blood-born of the Takakuras. He invited Himari into their family.
-Himari lived near the Takakura's meeting place. Her parents never took care of her. The Takakuras ended up taking her in.

Momoka & Co.'s backstory

-Momoka's been helping people with her spells.
-Yuri and the teacher were both saved by her.
-Momoka ran into Sanetoshi and was turned into 2 hats


Anime events
-Himari was dead from illness, but Momoka revived her and asked the Takakuras to obtain the Penguindrum.
-The Takakuras ran into various people trying to do so.
-Everybody believed the Penguindrum was Momoka's diary.
-Ringo wanted the diary to become Momoka
-Yuri wanted the diary to revive Momoka
-Masako wanted the diary to revive her brother.

Towards the end:
-Yuri no longer needed the diary because she found a new purpose.. and that reviving Momoka would be pointless
-Tabuki gave up on revenge against the Takakuras after finding the corpses
-Masako became more fixated with saving Kanba than saving her brother, ultimately got hurt and had the diary stolen/burnt.
-Kanba decided that helping Satenoshi was the only way to save Himari and prepared another terrorist attack
-Shouma wants to save Kanba and meets him on the train
-Ringo uses the diary to change fate instead of trying to be Momoka

What happened this episode:
-Ringo activated the spell
-Kanba died to transfer Himari to her new fate
-Shouma took the punishment for Ringo
-Kanba and Shouma were wiped from existence and everybody's memory. They are seemingly reincarnated
-Momoka is revived and leaves.

The confusing part:

-Why did Kanba have to die if Ringo was using the spell?
-What's with the two boxes locking Kanba and Shouma.. and the "penguindrum apple"? There has been no prior mention that these two were stuck in some life-threatening situation before.
-The apple can help them survive a little longer, but how did they get out?
-If Shouma returns his half of the Penguindrum to Kanba, how come Kanba still died? What's the point of that?
- What was that strange part in the aquarium where Himari goes into some hidden archive and meets Sanetoshi?

[Ryllharu]

What happened this episode:
-Momoka is revived and leaves.

The confusing part:

-Why did Kanba have to die if Ringo was using the spell?
-What's with the two boxes locking Kanba and Shouma.. and the "penguindrum apple"? There has been no prior mention that these two were stuck in some life-threatening situation before.
-The apple can help them survive a little longer, but how did they get out?
-If Shouma returns his half of the Penguindrum to Kanba, how come Kanba still died? What's the point of that?
- What was that strange part in the aquarium where Himari goes into some hidden archive and meets Sanetoshi?

Momoka did not get revived. Sanetoshi didn't get revived. He is still trapped in that world of his created in the library. His "haunt" so to speak. Momoka declared that neither of them would win, and that it was now impossible for Sanetoshi to win, so she was moving on. Probably to get reincarnated or whatever. Her goals were accomplished, and she is willing to let it go. Sanetoshi still isn't, but now he will lack the vessel to project his will to and tempt as he did with Kanba. It closes with Sanetoshi stating that another chance for him will come, but Momoka confidently doubting that. She leaves notably using, "sayonara" (and all the finality that word implies).

Ringo was converting all the dolls from bombs to toys to foil Sanetoshi's plans, hence his reaction. Shouma took the price of that, and gave his half of the apple. Kanba used his half of the apple plus Shouma's to revive Himari fully.

No idea what the boxes were, how they got out, or how the apple saved them from that trapped fate. That's one of those confusing metaphors that never got explained.

That was Himari entering Sanetoshi's "space." Recall that he lured her in as Himari dressed as the Princess of the Crystal (later determined to be Momoka), not the Princess herself. Just part of the setup. As for why Himari was searching for that oddly titled book? My guess is the writer was smoking crack.