Erin watches Mawaru Penguindrum, part 1 (episodes 1-7)

[erinptah]

The bad Utena video got me to take another shot at watching Mawaru Penguindrum, Ikuhara’s first series after a long post-SKU hiatus. Chasing each episode with the watchalong from the Imagine Me And Utena podcast.

The hosts are watching mostly-unspoiled, so there’s a lot of “wow, we have no idea where this is going either,” but they’ll dissect moments that I didn’t think that hard about, or go over cultural background I didn’t know. Which is cool and helpful.

At one point I figured I’d start watching the show once all the IMAU episodes were out? But they stopped cold after episode 17 (of 24), and that was 9 months ago. No idea if that was just Life Happening, or if the show did something so dramatic and off-putting they couldn’t keep watching.

Guess I’ll find out!

Writing this post as of episode 7. No spoilers, please — if I’m going to suffer, sit back and let me suffer.

(Screencap: this show winning an Oscar. /rimshot)

 

Only watched a few episodes when this originally aired, and don’t remember much, but at this point I think I’ve reconstructed why I bounced off this show the first time.

The hook in the first episode is, magic/alien/??? entity tells 2 brothers “I will save your sister Himari’s life if you bring me the Penguindrum.”

(Appreciate that, in lieu of the usual Vague Anime Heart Condition, Himari appears to have an inoperable brain tumor.)

Since then, the brothers have been on a series of side quests, supporting a whole other character (Ringo, the girl in the next screencap, picking up the book that isn’t the Death Note) in her goals. It’s not clear how this relates to finding the Penguindrum. Or even what the Penguindrum is supposed to be.

These guys aren’t asking the bossy alien penguin hat nearly enough questions!

Penguindrum/Utena parallels: all the kids in SKU get told “you will receive [miraculous thing you want] if you win the duels and possess the Rose Bride.” Utena doesn’t ask questions about how that works, either.

But her goal isn’t to pass the magic quest to earn a miracle in the first place — she just wants to help Anthy! She’s very active and focused about figuring out “what does Anthy need, and how do I get it to her?”

(It’s a more complicated question than she appreciates. That’s why it takes her the whole show to work on.)

Also: Himari herself keeps getting relegated to the background. Her brothers haven’t included her in the Penguindrum quest, or even let her know that it’s happening. Anthy got more screen time and plot involvement from the start, emphasizing her as a character in her own right, not just Sad Girl The Protagonist Wants To Help. So far, there’s not enough Himari in this show about saving Himari.

Bonus prediction: show has given us ominous references to a “project M.” Has teased, but not confirmed, what M stands for.

The “Mawaru” in the title means “spinning.”

Last Ikuhara show was about characters trying to bring the world “revolution.” This one’s about characters trying to execute Project Spinning.