›The story:
Mawaru Penguindrum’s plot was quite ingenious, original, clever. It was good to see something different for once, Himari, one of the main character, is maintained alive thanks to a penguin-like hat that embodies a spirit which orders Shouma & Kanba Takakura to find what is called the PenguinDrum. In exchange their sister’s life would be spared. The story is very surprising as the producers made several episodes in order to get the viewers used to the Takakura family and then break everything down by revealing the Truth. The viewers are raised in illusions which makes the continuation of the anime all the more interesting and surprising, which is a good point. We never get tired of it and it makes us want to know more, the suspense is well-maintained.
›Quick analysis:
Furthermore the references made in the anime are quite interesting, with a strong religious connotation:
· The apple. The fruit of desire, of the Garden of Eden. The apple is the fruit which bounds everyone together in the anime, the fruit of Destiny. (Which is a substitute for the red string asian belief.) There’s also the “Mary had three little lambs” legend. (Reference to the “Mary had a little lamb” poem.), Mary, lambs, yes, religious connotations there, plus the mention of a goddess in the tales told by Shouma. Religion is mainly based on hope, and that’s why the anime is strongly linked to hope. Everything revolves around hope. There’s also the idea of resurrection, Himari dies but then she’s revived and taken back to life, as if by miracle. Miracle, resurrection, yes I’m alluding to the Christ. And if you watched the last episode it will make even more sense to you. (Also, this is only an interpretation, I PERFECTLY KNOW IT WAY, WAAAAY TOO FARFETCHED and you may have different povs, I’m an atheist, it’s just my strong literary reflexes taking over. OKAY.)
· Secondly, the color red plays a large role. Red. The most ambiguous color, the loveliest and yet the deadliest. Color of passion and love, of life. But it is also the color of blood and death as everybody knows. In the anime there are both. Death and love. Bad and good omens. The Death of Himari, Momoka… (and more later on), the passion of Masako, of Oginome… The color red is present through the apple, the roses petals when Masako appears, the balls/bullet or whatever she shots are red, the vanishment of memories is symbolized by red. The Penguindrum itself is red, representing life. The bed curtains of Himari are red, too, as to predict her death. When the anime begins, she sleeps, as if waiting for her prince (cf. Sleeping beauty) but it also points to her death. Sleep has a strong connotation in the world of literature and art.
· The different point of views on Fate are rather interesting, it reminded me a lot of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and XXX/Holic by CLAMP in which Fate is the main protagonist, if I can say that. Of course we can link it up with the religion part, Fate is the result of a transcending force, deity. That philosophy side about whether yes or not Fate exist was interesting too. Are you the master of your Fate? And if not, is it worth living? It raises many questions that nobody can really answer.
· The penguins: Penguins represent… Okay, no, I’m kidding. I don’t know why the hell penguins have been chosen. They’re just mascots, I think. At least thanks to this anime I’ve learnt to love penguins. But some parts were really poetics.
· Momoka’s diary: It’s what everyone is fighting for and what would enable one to master Fate. It was supposed to be the Penguindrum and that’s why it had a high value during all the anime, beacause of its power and what it represents too: Momoka. It’s a kind of grimoire which with Momoka could save Tabuki and Yuri. It transfers Fate but implies sacrifices. It’s the key, the way to the Penguindrum, containing the secret spell. But then it will be destroyed by fire, showing the rise of Evil in the anime.
· Art is present a lot during the anime. Art & destruction, including self-destruction. Art is mainly represented by Yuri and Tabuki. Yuri is an actress, a singer, she’s an artist. When she was little her father was a sculptor, he was mad, neurotic (as a lot of artist, actually.) so Yuri is strongly linked to art. Tabuki too, he plays piano, he likes music. But art destroys people, it’s creation and destruction. Tabuki broke his fingers on purpose, in order to get more attention from his mother but it led to nothing, as in the anime he’s a bird in a golden cage. Yuri’s father, obsessed with beauty, destroyed Yuri’s mother who he considered as “ugly” and he destroyed his daughter, mentally and physically. Yuri is a bit mentally disturbed too, love-seeking since Momoka’s death.
›Tone of the anime:
It was special, really. A tragi-comedy. Right from the beginning we can see it will be a tragedy: Fate. Fate is the meaning itself of the tragedy genre, always. And then, there’s the death of Himari, her life hangs by a thread and everything can get worse at any moment. Ghosts of the past are also present Kanba’s parents, Sanetoshi… It’s a time travel, ghosts of past involved in Fate transfers. Past - Present - Future. All the main elements are there. Though there’s a tragic side there’s also a humorous side, to make the anime more attractive, in a way. The three penguins represent their owner in a humorous way, sometimes even though the situation was dramatic the penguins put some fun into it. Personally I didn’t like it that much, I like dramatic situations and putting humor during those situations ruined everything for me. But, well, that’s my opinion, maybe people liked it. Apart from the penguin there were other funny situations, innuendos and all, which I liked. Those love-crushes/stalker situations were funny.
›Originality of the anime:
What makes it original and pretty interesting is that the author and the producers played with the Time by involving flashbacks to distort time a bit. That’s the first point, but what made it really interesting are the different dimensions. (Once again cf. TRC and XXX/Holic.) Himari’s dimension (“Seizon senryaku!” was very catchy. ), Sanetoshi’s secret library, the place where “useless children” are trashed and the dark train where everything ends. The train goes forward and never stops as Fate. A lot of scenes take place, indeed, in the Japanese underground. It was really original.
›Art style & references:
Art style was okay, sometimes I didn’t really like how the eyes were drawn but, well, it wasn’t bad but not exactly the type of art I prefer. But it was still good, sometimes, in some episode characters were better drawn. (SOMETIMES IT WAS JUST TOO HORRIBLE AND IT MADE ME LAUGH.) Sometimes Riyoko Ikeda’s style was used, as in a lot of manga, that woman is quite a reference herself! /laughs
Once I also heard that how the Triple-H are drown in the ending is a reminder of Alphonse Mucha’s style, which I think is true. (Especially for the hair and all.)
›Characters:
The characters themselves are quite standard. Pupils, a teacher, an actress… No special mannerism or such. But, there are catch-phrases such as “I must crush him soon.” or “Isn’t it electrifying?” (OR “WATCH OUT, MISTER PRESIDENT!”) and of course “Fabulous max” and it was great to add things like this, it made it very attractive. They’re not the most original characters but they’re likable anyway. Not much to say.
›Music & Original soundtrack:
I’m not going to lie, when I downloaded the OST I was a bit disappointed. I mean, some compositions are really good, brilliant and all (Especially those including chants.) but… I don’t like a major part of the soundtrack. There are a lot of composition including whistling, inspired by Western movies, it reminds me a bit of Ennio Morricone. (Except he was a genius. Ha.) Anyway, those are pleasant to listen too but too many of Hashimoto’s compositions are too common, she’s been inspired a lot, by the music in the James bond movies for example. “sexy ga kita!” is almost like “concert for one voice” when I heard it in the anime I even thought it was the same music. So yeah, she had been inspired a lot and we’re not really discovering things, it’s not innovator enough. I’m not saying her music is shit but I didn’t like it that much in the whole. (Far from Yuki Kajiura or Yasuharu Takanashi in my opinion.) Then, about the OP/ED… HELL. THEY WERE DAMN GREAT. At least it had two awesome OPs [1][2] and, damn, almost every ED had a different song, first time I see that, great idea. (gray wednesday and nyunyu thing oh nomnomnomnom. (´ε｀ )♡ )
›My rate:
Plot/Story: ★★★★★
Drawing style: ★★★☆☆
Characters: ★★★★☆
Soundtrack: ★★☆☆☆
›All in all:
It’s a must-see, because the story is incredibly beautiful, and some soundtrack of the OST are really great when they’re listened while watching the anime, it’s really worth it. Even though I’m a bit harsh with the soundtrack and the character Mawaru Penguindrum is a really good anime.
