Summer 2011-Fall 2011: Mawaru Penguindrum – penultimate

It has come to this point. We are now one stop away from alighting the craziest train ride this year, if not of all time. Let us take a look from the station we departed last and see, how far we traveled, with our heads on our hands and our brains bullied, all the while watching it all unfold.

Invisible penguins, stalkers, terrorists and bad parents. Yep, Mawaru Penguindrum was by no means homogeneous; showcasing some of the most random interactions in the most unexpected situations. To some it may be too random, to others maybe not, but whatever the case may be, you can’t deny the fact that one of this show’s appeal is its unique flair that sets it apart from most shows this year.

I am, however, getting ahead of myself. Let us first talk about the series’ twenty third episode – The Destination of Fate.

We now learn a little more about Sanetoshi, as he shows his motive for organizing the first attack, sixteen years ago. He showed his hatred for the world and his discontent for people who could not get out of their own “box” (from what I take it, is some sort of complacent mentality that Sanetoshi wants to transcend) Momoka, with her fate diary tries to foil Sanetoshi’s plot, but instead they get caught in a deadlock with each other, which caused some sort of weakening to their capabilities as well as the emergence of the two penguinhats from Momoka, and the two black bunnies from Sanetoshi. There is also the talk of a curse, which could explain how Sanetoshi remained in the world even though he’s dead.

The “brothers” however, have long abandoned their familial ties with each other with the exception of Himari. Kanba has now become the leader of the PingGroup, and is unknowingly being manipulated by Sanetoshi. Shouma is in despair of everything that was happening around them, and takes the blame on himself for creating their “family” in the first place. He is, however, encouraged by Himari (through his thoughts) to save Kanba, as Shouma did with her.

Finally, Ringo decides to use the diary’s power to alter fate and save Himari, but having only half of the diary (given to her by Yuri) didn’t ensure her that the spell would work. Kanba lures her into meeting up with him, so they can both use their halves of the diary to save Himari. Of course, it was trap set by Sanetoshi to eliminate what he thinks is the final option to defeat him. A time bomb set by Kanba causes Ringo’s diary to catch fire. In a dire attempt to stop the fire, Ringo tries to use her body so as to smother the flames. To no avail, the diary crumbles to ash. Sanetoshi proceeds to ordering Kanba to burn the other half (since it was mentioned before that he couldn’t touch it) The fate diary was gone, and the events of sixteen years ago was being reenacted once more.

The stage is now set. The once “incestuous” but thought provoking series has now evolved into something (for me) note worthy and amazing. Bear in mind though, that there is only one episode left, and still some unanswered questions. I’m gonna stay positive on this one, and hope that they end this in Fabulous Max fashion.

10 thoughts on “Summer 2011-Fall 2011: Mawaru Penguindrum – penultimate

  1. Awwwwwwww, my mind, my eyes! This series is trying really hard to destroy what remains of our little soul with twists and FABULOUS MAX developments…>_<

  2. This show is really one of the best there is. It just keeps the train ride crazy throughout all those weeks. My eyes are probably turning round and round ever since I boarded this train, like this -> @.@. But we’ll all be arriving at the last stop this week. and I hope it will answer all the questions! It has to!

      • Episode 8, where the Ringo almost raped the teacher guy (also forgot his name). You can see why right? Except for Ringo and her obsession, nothing else happened in the story.

        • Ah, yeah, I guess the “Ringo needs Tabuki’s baby” arc lasted longer than it should, and yeah, normally, rape would’ve turned me off as well. I guess I kinda swallowed it since I accepted the possible incest.

          The story picked up around episode 13, so I guess it was still a long way to go in your case.

    • I hope and pray that he doesn’t mess it up. I’ve only started watching Utena recently, so I’ve yet to know how he ended that. If he does leave as hanging, I don’t think I would be able to handle it. >.<

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