Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 19

"I remember now...the person who shared the fruit of fate with me was..."

 “Am I not good enough?”

-Seiya Kou, Sailor Moon: SailorStars

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 18

ajthefourth: Please disregard a few of the speculations I made on Tabuki’s character last week. Although I still see him as partially representing that equalizing sort of attitude that I described from a few interviews in Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche, it goes a bit deeper for Tabuki personally. I was wrong in saying that he has completely shut down emotionally, for there was still one thing that could stir Tabuki’s heart: Momoka.

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 17

"The sins of the parent aren't shared by the children."

vucubcaquix: I was honestly a bit at a loss for words for last week’s post. I didn’t dislike it and found it quite funny, but the animation was a bit weak in places and there wasn’t much to visually parse amidst the gags and slapstick. That’s not so for this week. In fact, halfway through I had to remark to my partner how absolutely beautiful some of the compositions for the scenes were. It’s not just the beauty that struck me, but also what’s being communicated through the imagery.

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 14

"I wonder, I wonder, do you know what I wonder? Multiple choice. Which of the following three things is eternal? 1. A diary. 2. Momoka Oginome. 3. Canned peaches."

“The next day, she’d come out of the coffin, and there was something about the look in her eyes…however, I thought for sure that he must have shown her something eternal.”

-Kyouichi Saionji, Revolutionary Girl Utena

ajthefourth: What exactly in our lives is eternal?  With such a fleeting, time-bound existence, it’s no wonder that humanity constantly seeks for eternity.  The concept itself is a bit daunting to wrap one’s head around, since all one has to go on are their own limited experiences.  If something eternal does exist, then surely it would be outside of the worldly parameters of time and space as we know them.  In other words, surely, it would be God-like.

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 13

“It really was a day like any other
We had breakfast together in the morning.
The three of us went to school.
Our parents went to work.
We smiled by the door and waved.
But they never came back.
That was the last time we were together as a family.”

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 12

"Because punishment has to be the most unjust."

ajthefourth: In all honesty, in spite of the fact that I mulled over the idea last week, I did not expect for this series to make the Takakura parents higher-ups responsible for the subway attacks in the Mawaru Penguindrum universe.  In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that it had to be something else a bit more minor, that would make us sympathize even more with the protagonists.  I was wrong, and after having watched the series directly confront and portray the execution of the attacks through Kenzan Takakura, it’s becoming apparent (if it wasn’t already) that this series is afraid of nothing.

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 11

"Who would've thought the curse from 16 years ago would take this form? What drama, what a fate!" -Masako Natsume

ajthefourth:  Okay, now we’re going to need everyone to take a deep breath, scream, do whatever you need to in order to get over that “HOLY SHIT IKUHARA ACTUALLY WENT THERE ASDGHJKL#*#$^@!!” feeling.  We’ll wait, we had to get over it ourselves after all.

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 8

A Takakura brother falling.

ajthefourth: It was in episode five, when their parents were introduced, that the Takakura brothers really began to cement themselves as separate entities in viewers’ minds.  Kanba was the more active one.  He took after his father, who was also a man of action.  Shouma, on the other hand, took after his mother.  He was more domestic, emotionally messy, and a bit of a worrywart.  In this episode, Shouma takes action, although hardly in the same way as his brother would have.

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 6

"You've forgotten what it was like when you couldn't?"

ajthefourth:  If this episode made anything clear, it’s that some of its characters are alive, and some of them are dead.  The question, of course, is which characters are in which state of being?

Colloquium: “The Kiss” in Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 5

"I want to remain as Daddy's precious treasure, for now."

ajthefourth: One of the most enjoyable things that this current season’s series Mawaru Penguindrum brings to the table is its style.  From the opening moments of the first episode at Himari’s bedside, to the explosion of energy and attitude that is the “Rock Over Japan” transformation sequence, Penguindrum slickly bombards its audience with style.  Behind this presentation lie various allusions to art, literature, religion, philosophy, and various other thematic elements that tie in with the story.  It’s not necessary to know all of these to enjoy the series, but for people like me and my blogging partner, it allows us to geek out at the various references.  A prime example is the use of painter Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” as shown in a scene from the series above and, since there was no new episode this past week, we’re going to share some of that geekery with you.