I won't lie. This was amazing. Absolutely beautiful. Stunning script, clean art, a unique plot line and music that wrenches at your gut in the most despairing moments of the series, whilst enhancing the humour and light-heartedness that this series needed as a preventative measure for hearts breaking and tears overflowing everywhere.
Where should I even start?
The story itself was...definitely unique. I heard the title of Penguindrum and passed it off as a simple family orientated fantasy adventure, but when I saw that it was categorised as 'psychological', my curiosity was piqued and I began to watch it. Boy, was I in for a journey. In typical Ikuhara-esque manner, the themes dealt with in this anime are at times questionable, offensive, immoral, philosophical; an all encompassing myriad of emotion and thought at the same time. I've actually had a friend I recommended this to, who refused to watch past the first episode as she found some of the themes unpalatable. Only a few directors are able to pull off such a jumble of themes as artfully as Ikuhara while retaining an appeal to a wider audience. Complicated, but watchable. I especially loved how all of the characters intertwined with each other, reminding the watcher of the underlying theme of 'fate'. Every character in this series is fated to meet in some way, to make an impact on another's life whether for better or for worse, and the sheer curiosity and interest behind the slow reveals and the twists in personalities are a joy to experience. Originally, I was going to drop the series as it started off so slowly. It was bizarre and it moved at a snail's pace, and the main characters did not seem to be going anywhere but in circles. It all changed around the halfway mark of the series, when the characters began to show their dark sides, their hidden personalities, their motives, the appearance of ghosts and the disappearance of logic and morals. Of course, the pace is uneven every here and there, but the variance in almost pointless humour and fast paced drama is a welcome contrast; it keeps you hooked and on edge, wondering what will happen next.
This isn't a story about just familial love. This is a story of revenge, passion, the futility and cruelty of humankind, of fate and of salvation.
The characters portrayed all of this beautifully. One of the most masterfully written scripts in terms of character development, characters whom you initially expected to be stereotypes found in anime (the playboy, the 'motherly' character, the girl with the crush, the beauty, the teacher, the Innocent) are all turned on their heads when the series comes to its climax and tapers to an end. Characters whom you initially thought unimportant are really the most important of all, and they are all linked so intricately together in a web that Ikuhara has spun to pull the story together, coupled with flashbacks of their pasts which explain their motives and their philosophies, creates such rich personalities. None of these characters are shallow. For example, when I first encountered Ringo Oginome I found her irritating and obsessive for what seemed like a schoolgirl's mere crush, but with her past tragedies being revealed as the story went on, as well as her understanding of her self and of others developing, I grew attached to her; I cried for her and I cried for her conflicting circumstances. The initial set up of all of these characters is for you to either hate them, then grow attached, or to love them and sympathise with them, then when the series hits its climax and their darker sides are revealed, it's hard to hate them, knowing what they've been through. Even the main villain, Sanetoshi, is charming and elegant, first shown as a miracle worker and slowly evolving into a darker entity, but even then I didn't hate him. Sure, I was angry at him, I was angry with what he had put our heroes through, but the initial charm still lingered and I couldn't bring myself to outright hate him (also because damn, smooth talking while attempting to break humanity? Let me have some of that).
The art as well. Oh, god the art. I've always been a fan of Lily Hoshino, so when I found she was doing the character designs I was immediately interested. The animation is smooth and fluid, with a clean style and bold colours. However, there are discrepancies within the animation at times, with one episode (the episode at the hospital where Natsume makes her debut) being horrendously animated in comparison to the rest of the series, but I can forgive this for the outstanding beauty that the rest of the series brings. It's not just the clean, pretty style that makes the animation stand out; its the symbolism. During the series, the backgrounds are often a plain colour, interspersed with small symbols such as penguin logos, apples or train signs. It's not until the end of the series when you recognise their significance that you fully appreciate the bizarre symbols. What you thought was artistic bloodshed, you realise to be a symbol of love and fate. What you thought was a strange, alien ritual, you realise to be a portrayal of sexual intimacy. You realise things, the second, the third, the fourth time around. You don't stop realising things even when you know the script off by heart. The art is so rich and intricate, that even small symbols and inconspicuous posters have a meaning to them That's part of the beauty that Mawaru Penguindrum has so carefully placed and has me rewatching to find all of these subtle nuances.
But really, what has me coming back to this series time and time again, to rewatch and analyse and have sudden epiphanies is the thematics that Ikuhara plays upon. The anime starts off with Shouma Takakura stating that he 'hates the word fate'. 'Okay,' you say to yourself. 'An anime about fate. Interesting. Goes along nicely with the family love theme.'
It's at the end of the series where you realise that you were so very wrong.
So very, very wrong.
You kind of wish that someone, a reviewer, a kind, hopefully non sadistic friend or a big caution sign had warned you of the emotional journey that you were about to embark on.
You see, this anime isn't just about fate. Okay, well maybe a large proportion of it is, but that's just the running theme. Fate is the cause; fate caused grief, passion, murder, revenge and sacrifice; in turn these caused each character's own unique motive. The futility that all of the characters feel in the face of their destinies is heart-rending, and their efforts to change their fates, and the fates of their loved ones is valiant and littered with tragedy.
When I finished watching this series, I cried. There is a sort of melancholy beauty that accompanies a bittersweet ending and this was no different. Some would call it a happy ending, some would not, but in each case the emotion behind the climax and the finale of the series was so utterly raw that you cannot help but grieve and rejoice at the same time.
Because when you finish watching, you realise that this wasn't an anime about the futility of the human race in the face of their destinies. This was about the hope, the courage, the unwavering love for another human, or the love for the entirety of humankind to FACE their destinies head on and sacrifice their being for someone to have a better fate.
This was a story about salvation through sacrifice.
You finish watching, and you think about the themes and subplots. You think about YOUR fate. You think about the sacrifices you would make, the extremes that you would go to to protect what you love. That's what makes this such a though provoking series, because really, as hard as it may be to imagine, all of these characters are like us (but hopefully without the tragic backstory). They just want normal lives, normal families, normal relationships and an unconditional love (unlike Sanetoshi, who was probably there to hate everything). I cried during the series out of laughter, but I also cried watching the gradual loss of innocence and hope that each character suffers. I cried because I grieved at the end, but I also cried because I sympathised with our heroes' final decision and I cried because I was overwhelmed by the lengths that they would go to to protect what they loved. In this series, you realise; sacrifice is the ultimate act of love.
Enjoy the music while you watch the series for the first time, because believe me, at the end of it, just one track will have you blubbering on the train during rush hour. The mood is set beautifully by each track, be it humorous, tense, sad or pensive, and enhances the emotion during these scenes. I can't listen to either 'Ash-Grey Wednesday' or 'I Love You, Sons of Destiny' without getting a lump in my throat anymore.
If you're wavering about this anime, don't be put off by the weirdness. Don't be put off by the somewhat bizarre relationships that each character has with each other, and don't be put off by the erratic pace and initial characterisation. It's a beautiful series, it really is. Art-wise, music-wise and story-wise, its a masterpiece in all fields. Watch a story unfold before your eyes and watch as secrets are revealed to you.
Most of all, don't be surprised when you finish, face damp with tears, that you begin to wonder about humanity, fate and salvation.
And I assure you, five months down the line, you'll watch it again for the fourth time and catch all of the symbols and hints that you missed the last three runs, and your newly gained knowledge won't soften the grief any more.
I applaud you Ikuhara. I applaud everyone on the production team. It truly was a work of art.
It truly was...'fabulous max'.
