Re:cycle of the Penguindrum

If you're thinking about using this as an introduction to Penguindrum: don't.
These movies are, by necessity, an incredibly abridged version of the Penguindrum story. They took out a lot of the worst parts about the show, but they also took out a lot of the best parts as well. Part of the fun of Penguindrum is the slow descent into the story and detailed build-up followed by the satisfying pay-off, but these movies go at an absolutely breakneck speed the entire way through. It does not give the viewer room to ponder the questions which the story presents, before either shifting to an entirely ... different scene or immediately answering the question that was presented. If you want to watch it as an introduction, it will make almost as much sense as the original (which, to be clear, is not much!) however you will miss out on a lot of the emotional payoff of the show's format.

That being said, if you have seen Penguindrum in the past and want to re-watch some of the best moments of it without watching the entirety of the show again, the Penguindrum movie is for you. Some scenes are shifted around from the original, and there is a bit of added content, but at its core, it is mostly the same. Unfortunately it does not expand much on the source material, since so much of the movie is just a rehash of the original show with less emotional impact.

TL/DR: It is an inferior, but a lot faster, experience to the original show, overall.

I was expecting a movie similar to Adolescence of Utena, but unfortunately that is not what I got. Most of the movie is compiling the main plot of the series, along with a few new scenes (since this likely takes place inbetween the old and new universe), which are interesting but I dont feel that it is worth watching the whole movies for.

Additionally, I feel that putting them into this order ruins its pacing. The strength of an episodic series is that inbetween episodes, you are given time to digest what had just happened. However, this is not the case for a movie format. ... Even with the new scenes, I felt that there was not enough "rest" to understand what just happened. (Though I chalk it up to having watched this series twice, perhaps a new viewer would find it sufficient)

If there is one good thing I have to say about these films, Part 2 has a new opening which contains absolutely beautiful music by Etsuko Yakushimaru. And the other is the new scenes are good, as expected of Ikuni.

TLDR: Watch if you want to rewatch a condensed Penguindrum, but don't expect an Adolescence.