“When shit finally got real”
Mawaru Penguindrum is about three siblings who gets revolved around by something they like to call “fate”. Himari died of sickness but was brought back to life by a penguin hat they bought at the aquarium. The penguin hat now demands that they obtain the “Penguindrum” so that Himari could live.
Of course this is like the easiest to understand what Penguindrum’s plot is. Frankly no one can probably really state how the plot of Penguindrum works (except Ikuhara I guess). What’s worse is, unlike Revolutionary Girl Utena who builds up on patterns, Penguindrum builds up on non-patterns (what?). Its very unconventional, unpredictable and unbalanced. For example, the transformation sequence was a weekly thing until Ringo varied it by defying the penguin queen (also almost killing Himari by accident). Then the whole show started revolving on Ringo and her “sister” which weirdly was the main plot of the first half. Then they started ignoring her to focus on some side characters. One time, it even seemed like Ringo was more important than Himari. The plot really went tipsy but the strange thing is. . . I LOVED IT. I love how unconventional, unpredictable and unbalanced it is. I love how they focused so much episodes on Ringo which was frankly the best episodes of the series. I love how the show always manages to bring something different to the table. In that sort of sense, this series rocks.
The series is also crazy awesome when it comes to its animation. They make wicked sets, varied background designs, and different art styles all together. This keeps changing in each episodes. In a weird way its like a Shaft animu that makes sense and no meguca derpmation.
The characters are good but they don’t have that touch that makes them lovable characters. There’s nothing in Kanba, Shouma or Himari that can make you say “oh I love them” especially when comparing it to character-centric anime like Steins;Gate or Anohana. Of course Ringo is an exception. All those episodes really paid off on her. She made me smile, made me freak out, made me question myself, and made me see a new side to stalkers. Also some of the side characters have really nice ante.
All in all, what can I say? Mawaru Penguindrum is definitely the best anime that aired all through summer; it had a lot of things I wish an anime would be. So with this review over, here comes my awesome rating scale!
Rating:
Execution: 38/40 (Almost flawless- in a very twisted way)
Engagement: 28/30 (Probably the only anime in Summer and Fall that made me download the night it aired)
Characters: 16/20 (Not the best but Ringo and a few side characters make up for it)
Production: 10/10 (Most creative this year.)
Overall: 92/100
Traveler on Revenge 