*This review will be updated as more episodes are available, It is up to episode 14, also I have yet to watch Utena, so I can't make completely accurate comparisons to it*
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Now this one's a real head scratcher, is it a brilliant new story that's trying to break into new boundaries? Or is it just pure nonsense with a penchant for philosophical babble? Or a comedy about watching penguins do funny and out of the ordinary things?
What I'm talking about (If you haven't figured it out yet) is the latest bizarre anime that is causing a lot of buzz right now, Mawaru Penguindrum, a new anime by Kunihiko Ikuhara (Who has not been in the director's spot for more than ten years), the creator of a legendary (From the great things I have heard about this series to call it that) psychedelic anime series from the 1990's: Revolutionary Girl Utena.
Before the anime kicks itself into "Survival Strategy," it starts out to be a family tragedy drama story with an in-and-out-of-the-hospital younger sister of the twins Kanba and Shouma, Himari who's in poor health, who one day while at a family trip to an aquarium, suddenly collapses and seemingly dies later at a hospital only to miraculously revive, thanks to the power of a penguin hat... and soon insanity insures as penguins start doing chores around their house, but only the three main characters can see only them.
Here is when the story drops out of being something typical, and walks ambitiously into possible obscurity, now normally, I would be hesitant to jump into something as bizarre as this first episode shows it wants to become, but from what I hear about the director, I have no doubt that he isn't incompetent enough to just throw out something strange without wanting to show everyone something spectacular and fabulous.
But there is a lot of daring concepts that Mawaru Penguin is willing to dabble in, most noticeably right before the ending theme song starts to play: (Warning, spoilers coming up) *coughincestcough* and that is enough for anyone to want to avoid this show completely and there's enough philosophical speeches to make it seem arrogant or deep depending on how you take it, but I have enough curiosity and definitely enough interest to see where it wants to end up.
AFTER 14 EPISODES: And where it wants to end up... Is anyone's guess now, in a good way.
The brothers Kanba and Shouma have gone through quite a good bit of things as their quest for the Penguindrum continues and their only lead? A psycho of a stalker, (or maybe she's a normal stalker, I wouldn't know how a stalker operates) Ringo Oginome with a diary.
But that's not the only thing going on, other than hilarious penguin antics (One of them goes around peeping up girl's skirts), there are many things happening in the sidelines, but a good amount of focus goes to Ringo, with her motives for stalking, her sad past, and her attempts to date the one she obsessed with. And the way the anime ends off the whole thing with Ringo is done flawlessly, which all of that build up is used in continued use in the later part of the anime, with everything revolving around the "penguindrum" and a mysterious white haired man.
The anime also challenges the concept of forbidden love, which honestly can be very off putting, but none of it is shallow, and everything is used to great effect.
The anime constantly breathes creative animation, and drama to all who crave it, as this anime continues to keep you on the edge of your seat even as far as the show gotten so far, it is none the less impressive and shows that is the strongest to be best anime of 2011.
ANIMATION: I know what Revolutionary Girl Utena looks like, and Mawaru Penguindrum looks like an updated version of that show, in more of the lines of fitting in with the standards of current animation.
It has the look of shojo anime as the characters all look pretty (Both the girls and boys), and there is a lot of artistry in the back grounds, everything is very bright and colorful, nothing dull looking at all, especially with a certain scenes that involves the "survival strategy," it's nothing short of amazing.
And several episodes include very creative sequences going further than the previous episode, that are extremely reminisce of Utena.
SOUND: It's mostly the catchy pop back ground music that stands out, though the theme music is quite good.
The voice acting for the main characters is good and all, but I hope there isn't too many scenes with the sister yelling, it doesn't sound terrible and this is just a nit pick of mine but, the voice actor just doesn't sound capable to produce a yell, it sound like she's yawning actually.
OVERALL:
The Good:
+ This centuries' Revolutionary Girl Utena.
+ An anime that's willing to take risks right away with the story to try to be original.
+ Delightfully unpredictable.
Mixed:
+/- Dazzling and colorful animation. / Maybe too flashy and colorful much for some (Which is disappointing).
I'm willing to stick around to see what Mawaru Penguindrum is capable of doing, even if it falls flat on it's face, and hope others will be as enthusiastic as myself about this anime.
I strongly believe this to be very best of 2011, and hope the ending will blow me away.
