Mawaru Penguindrum
Animation Company: Brains Base
Genre: Comedy, Mystery, Drama, Psychological
Rating: R – 17+ (violence & profanity)
Summary: A cursed family finds themselves given a chance to save their beloved sister Himari by obtaining the Penguindrum.
Story & Plot: 9/10

Mawaru Penguindrum by far has the best plot of the Summer/Fall 2011 Season. It’s so unpredictable, but somehow manages to explain and give you the answers as the story progresses. The biggest flaw, (although it’s not exactly a flaw since it varies on who’s watching it, but for most people it is) is the constant confusion which may have caused some people to just give up watching it because they can’t keep up with what’s going on or understand what the hell is happening. However the story and plot is one of the three keys that makes this show so successful. You need to have great patience and be sure to watch this when you are not stressed out or not exactly paying attention. If you can’t focus on what’s going on during the episode you will find yourself lost for good. There are times that people, including myself had to re-watch the episode to review and see if we missed anything. The pace is very well done considering how many flashbacks (note this flashbacks are NOT BORING and are VERY IMPORTANT to what’s going on the present) it had and the amount of characters that were involved. 
Characters & Development: 9/10
I think out of all the characters, the one who lacked the most character development was Kanba. We only learned a little bit about him during the last few episodes during the major turning point. I didn’t quite feel that was enough, but overall most, if not every other character that played a major role in this story had a strong development and lots of backstory.
 
Animation Quality: 10/10
The animation was mindblowing as ever and had the signature art style of Revolutionary Girl Utena. This show involved a whole lot of symbolism which made this really enjoyable to watch/look at. The art is absolutely gorgeous, the colours were very rich and vibrant and the quality, despite some noticeable blown budgets, was top notch till the very end. One of the best parts was the most stunning CG I’ve seen yet of the twin bears which you see in the opening and throughout the show.
OST: 10/10
Dude how could anyone not like the OST? It’s like, holy shit- AMAZING, BREATHTAKING- heck it’s really Double-H that really hit the spot.

Recommendation:
This show is absolutely mindblowing. Be sure that whenever you are watching this that you aren’t in a half asleep state and devote complete focus to it. If you don’t, you’re going to find yourself lost.
For a long time there’s a billion of questions and major confusion and things don’t make sense, but rest assure everything is explained when the time comes. You cannot predict what the hell is going to happen, it’s impossible – maybe the minor and obvious stuff thanks to symbolism, but the major stuff, hahaha good luck with that.
I would HIGHLY advise anyone who watches this NOT watch this back to back.
Why? Well it would ruin the fun. The special thing about this show is that it makes you think! You wonder what the characters are going to do, what role do they play? What’s going to happen if so and so did this, why are they doing this? The psychological part of this show plays a significant role of making this successful.
Will I watch it again?
Absolutely and I’d love to watch it with someone who’s seeing it for the first time and observe their “WTF” reactions. That should be fun. Fufufufufu.

Famous Quotes from Mawaru Penguindrum: 
Frozen world
People who will never amount to anything 
Electrifying 
Fabulous Max!
DESTINYYYY~
Fate
Gosh I must crush them soon
Survival Strategy

 

Eva

Blogging Anime since Summer 2009, & Founder of AngryAnimeBitches Anime Blog ...I may or may not be addicted to writing

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. K-Al

    Can’t stop listening to “Rock Over Japan” because of this show. XDDD

    1. Eva

      I’m listening to that right now. XD

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