Apr 24, 2014
STORY
Honestly, I feel that Ikuhara had many good ideas in terms of the plot. However, the end result is a clusterfuck of stories and themes mashed together. On their own, each arc stands up quite well, and a lot of ideas are well executed too. I liked the Child Broiler idea for one, ignoring the fact that it was a tad overused.
The plot is extremely convoluted and confusing. Unlike other anime that explain their convoluted storylines like, say, Kyousougiga, Mawaru Penguindrum does not make any attempt to do so. The viewer is left wondering what the fuck is going on as plot development after
...
plot development happens without any explanation whatsoever. In the last 8 or so episodes in the series, everything just goes completely apeshit, with characters suddenly changing personalities and sudden "twists". The viewer is not given any time to think about the twist or what the plot development means. Instead, the show simply shoves the ED in his face and tells him to deal with it and watch the next episode.
Don't even get me started on how pants-on-head retarded the ending was...
PRODUCTION QUALITY (ART+SOUND)
The art was very well done. Unlike some others I have no problem with the cardboard cutout background characters since a blurry or improportionate man would distract me from the show even more. The environments were all very colourful and varied. The vibrant use of colours was a major plus point for me too. Animation is smooth enough, and there aren't any noticeable drops in quality.
As for sound, voice acting was great. Nothing out of the ordinary though, but that's perfectly fine. I greatly enjoyed the soundtrack, although I got a bit bored of them playing the same tracks in the second half of the anime. The sound direction was very good too, with the tracks playing a prominent role in many scenes to create a bigger impact.
Production quality was definitely up to standard. However...
CHARACTER
I would suppose the characters in the show are just decent. I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable or interesting. They're kind of like background characters. Himari takes on a minor role of the damsel in distress. Kanba is your typical angsty teenage badass.
The only characters I liked were Shoma and Ringo. I feel that both had a significant amount of character development by the end of the series. They also have very good chemistry, and I enjoyed their scenes together.
ENJOYMENT
No, I did not enjoy it at all. Except Ringo x Shoma.
OVERALL
"Warning", Spoilers of the ending following this. I recommend you just read it and spoil yourself so you spare yourself the pain of watching this.
All in all, the show had some great ideas, but failed to execute them well. It would have been way better if the director didn't have such big visions for the show and fall short completely. Perhaps he should have used his ideas for different anime series. There is also a stunning lack of attention to detail, which is something that continuously broke immersion for me and annoyed me immensely. The ending was just shit too, why the fuck did Shoma and Kanba die and be revived? And why the fuck was Himari's penguin walking with Kanba and Shoma at the end(lack of attention to detail, see)?
Mawaru Penguindrum, like the Kyousougiga TV series and Kyoukai no Kanata, is a prime example of why every anime needs a solid plot, not just good production quality to be good.
Do yourself a favour and take this out of your backlog.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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