In all likelihood, Masako will crash the party in search of the other half of the diary and inadvertently save Ringo from her horrible predicament. But even if she doesn’t, I’m rather disappointed by Mawaru Penguindrum‘s latest episode. How many times do we need to trot out the “date rape” scenario? On the one hand, I certainly do hope the story doesn’t condemn Ringo to such a horrible fate (I’m not even a Ringo fan) for the sake of shock value, but on the other hand, if someone does end up saving her (and Masako seems like the likeliest candidate), the plot would be spinning its wheels — too many coincidences, too many contrivances. I can’t find any solution out of this disgusting quagmire that the story has deliberately marched itself into. Do I find rape in my stories unsavory? Yes. Could you tell a powerful story about a rape victim’s experience? Sure. Is Mawaru Penguindrum that story? Sorry, but I’m going to have to start saying no.
The Ringo-Yuri interactions aren’t the only problems I have with this episode anyway. What happened to the rest of the cast? When did they all become such insufferable, self-pitying mopers? From Shoma’s pathetic “Woe is me” attitude to Himari’s teenage angst, the entire Takakura household has become quite unlikeable. Kanba is left being the coolest character in the family — at one point, he even pulls a Han Solo on Masako’s Greedo — until you remember that he has a sister complex. For the first time since the series started, the penguins and their antics are the only enjoyable elements in an episode. Honestly, #3 and Esmeralda saved Mawaru Penguindrum‘s ass this week.
And for about thirteen straight weeks, Mawaru Penguindrum separated itself from the pack of mediocre anime by pairing its plot with interesting, thought-provoking visuals. These same visuals, however, are strangely absent from this week’s episode. I’m not saying that the anime’s plot is bad; putting aside the latest developments, Mawaru Penguindrum has been a thrilling ride. Still, what distinguishes the show is its logic-defying, psychedelic universe that the characters often find themselves in. Being able to thus decode the visual mystery surrounding the show elevates the anime beyond its narrative limitations. Unfortunately, the fourteenth episode contains only crazy plot developments and none of the crazy graphics we’ve come to expect.
Oh well, maybe 2-cour series are just bound to lay a stinker every now and then, especially around the story’s midpoint. Whatever’s the case, I hope the ship rights itself soon ’cause it’s not like the fall season has much going for it.
Everything else
• Oh, I get it — Yuri is literally into yuri. Har har.
• Yuri’s jilted partner threatens, “Someone, somewhere might spread a rumor about your body’s secret.” Huh.
• I really don’t understand how a little girl like Momoka could have meant so much to both Tabuki and Yuri.
• I get the idea that many people have abandoned Shoma and his family in the past, but I just can’t tolerate his self-absorbed attitude this week. Maybe Ringo can’t get through to the guy unless she’s physically abusive. I’ll admit it is frustrating to see her act so demure and timid.
• What good is money to Sanetoshi anyway? He’s obviously testing Kanba in other ways, but what?
• Kanba says he’d never touch the Natsume clan’s money. Just something to keep in mind for later episodes seeing as how we really know nothing at the moment regarding Masako’s origins.
• Kanba tells Masako that he only wishes to save his precious family. Her reply: “So, it just can’t be me?” Oh, is Mario related to Masako then?
• Back to Yuri’s secret for just a moment — she tells us at the end of the episode that “Momoka was the only person who knew all about me, and still said I was beautiful.” Just how far did this relationship between two elementary schoolgirls go? Do kids play doctor much in Japan?
• Every time someone gets drugged in the show, their heart beat and breathing rate goes sky high. Ringo is even sweating buckets. What bizarre drug is this?
• Welp, this is certainly the shortest Mawaru Penguindrum post I’ve done in a long while. It’s alright though; according to WordPress, few people were reading the tomes I had been writing anyway.
Hey man, I’m still reading!
Oh, so you make up one fifth of my Mawaru Penguindrum readership?
I am also still reading, so I guess that’s another fifth?
It also made me sad to see that the same Ringo who withstood the Princess’s insults only to climb up out of a hole in the ground and snatch the hat off of Himari’s head in triumph is the same character who is now practicing lines to “attract a man.” I understand that this is Ringo’s first love, since Tabuki was more of a mission, but I’d love to see some of that chutzpah that I saw from her in earlier episodes; say, if she’d bitch-slapped Shouma after he tried to part with her. That would have been awesome…
I’d imagine she went with the soft approach since it’d work with most guys, but failed to account for the fact that Shoma’s a bit of a wimp unless push comes to shove.
It says in the credits that Mario’s last name is Natsume, so they are indeed related.
And am I the only one who finds it weird that Ringo’s already over Tabuki?
Shrug, I don’t think Ringo ever really cared for Tabuki. Her temporary obsession with him was just a side effect of wanting to become Momoka.
Every character felt off this week. Seriously, Shouma and Ringo just changed. And the plot is beginning to resolve around Momoko, whom I don’t care about, it’s starting to become too much as I’ve said a few weeks now. Please Pingudrum, tell me that this is the typical midway crisis/changes lots of shows seem to go through.
I agree, the Momoka storyline is starting to become very tired. I really want the story to get on with the Kanba/Masako sideplot already. They devoted episode ten to it and nothing since. What does Kanba have against the Natsume clan? Why does Sanetoshi help Masako find the other half of Momoka’s diary, but have Kanba running around getting money instead? Why don’t we know a damn thing about Mario yet?
I had exams and such the other week, so still reading! I don’t like how the attention seems to diverge more to the new season while Mawaru is still alive and kicking. Can’t be helped.
But still, this episode seems so off when I watched it. Ringo’s voice suddenly seems a notch higher (although that might just be me), while everyone else seems depressed. Like Marow said, every character felt off this week. The only thing that was normal was Kanba doing behind the scenes business as usual. Hope they go back to normal in the next episode.
I actually also thought Ringo’s voice had a slightly higher pitch! I, like you, though it was just my imagination…
Re: Ringo’s voice, I think she was just trying to be a girly girl to get Shoma, but he’s such a clod that meaner girls are probably better suited for him. And yeah, pretty much only Kanba and Masako didn’t have wild mood changes this week.
I…didn’t quite see the drugging and rape thing coming. And that Tabuki and Yuri care so much for Momoka confuses me too…She was only an elementary school girl. And she died 16 years ago when they were both her age…Shouldn’t they have forgotten and moved on? I dunno, maybe theres something strange about Momoka or else that doesn’t really make sense.
I wonder what Yuri’s “secret” is though.
Forgotten and moved on? Maybe, maybe not. Developed weird sexual obsessions as a result of their friendship? That’s what I find weird. Yuri’s secret must be something like a penis for all of this to make much sense.
I thought the exact same thing about Yuri’s secret <_<, especially since the actress person said she could "only share this feeling with another woman".
Also, I thought this episode was not as good as usual, but I don't think it was bad. The fact that this show keeps pulling crazy shit out of nowhere is part of its fun, for me anyway.
If it’s really a penis though, Tabuki must’ve known then. Unless, of course, they got married and never had sex but that’s not very probable in this day and age, right?
How many times do we need to trot out the “date rape” scenario?
I only recall it happening one other time in the series when Ringo tried to do exactly the same thing to Tabuki (as in a taste of her own medicine).
That being said I REALLY don’t like rape being used as a plot device and contrived or not I sincerely hope someone does save her.
I really don’t understand how a little girl like Momoka could have meant so much to both Tabuki and Yuri.
Well they were all little kids at the same time but I do think there is much more to Momoka than meets the eye.
As for Shouma’s change I fault the anime for not making this more clear. In the novel (which covers the 1st 9 episodes) it was very clear from the first chapter he had a dark/self loathing side. But I believe the anime wanted this to be more of a surprise (I do not think this was the right approach). It’s the same with Himari, the novel made it much clearer that she was very lonely. And well I actually really liked the twist of who the scarves were for. Himari isn’t looking for romantic love but the love of friendship.
I do at the very least expect Ringo WILL get through to Shouma in the future, just like he got through to her. But you are right Ringo needs to realize that she is the best person to help Shouma & not be so timid. Until that time I expect things to be overly dramatic for awhile.
You’re right — there was only one other time. Still, I think it’s one more time too many. I gave the date rape plot device a pass on the first go, but twice in the same story is too much for my liking.
I think the biggest issue here was how little screentime Shoma got. He almost felt like an afterthought this week. His angst thus had no room for development; he rejected Ringo and then wasn’t seen again for the rest of the episode. Y’know, with alter-ego Himari telling him that he can still save his sister by stopping “them,” one wonders what Shoma is actually up to these days now that he doesn’t have to babysit Ringo and his brother seems to be doing all the dirty work.
While I agreed with you that the way the prospect of rape, and the actuality of sexual molestation, was handled in Kamisama Dolls, was simply horrible (treating it as a fanservice laugh-riot basically), I’m not sure why the same elements bother you so much in Penguindrum given how drastically different the execution of those elements are.
The background music for the final two minutes of this MPD episode was pretty ominous, reflecting the seriousness of what’s going on here. Also, the anime did a great job, in my view, in showing just how psychologically disturbed Yuri is, and how that plays into her decision to attempt rape on the little sister of a girl she once loved. The anime is also showing (once more) how certain delusions and refusals to accept reality is causing characters to do things that they really shouldn’t.
With this in mind, you don’t see the incredible irony of yandere, stalker, attempted rapist Ringo now being on the receiving end of such actions by a woman with similar psychological issues to what she herself very recently had? I actually like Ringo a lot, as she has reformed herself I think, but this episode was so very rich in irony. This anime as a whole has done loads to invigorate some real life, depth, and dynamism into a character type (the yandere) that had become empty and shallow.
Rape exists in real life. While certain entertainment mediums do overuse it (comic books’ Frank Miller has become particularly infamous for this), I don’t see the point in fiction refusing to touch the topic at all. If it’s approached with the seriousness and sophistication that it deserves, then I don’t see the problem. And given the psychological pathologies that are put on bold display in this anime, and given how we’re shown how they lead into the decision to attempt rape, I think that this anime is approaching the topic with the seriousness and sophistication that it deserves.
Yes, I do. I also think using rape twice is distasteful. These are not and do not have to be mutually exclusive viewpoints. Plus, I don’t think this anime executes it very well either, especially with the lurid, lingering shots of Ringo’s underaged body. What does her potential rape say to us other than irony? What greater commentary is it providing? Are irony and psychology pathologies enough to justify the usage of rape?
I’d argue she was never really a yandere to begin with and yandere is used to described paper-thin characters with no real motivations for their actions other than “Bitch be crazy.”
When did I say it didn’t? But I’m willing to bet that you’d find very few rapists out there like Yuri so the anime is still in its own little fantasy land.
When did I say fiction should refuse to touch rape at all? I don’t remember complaining when Ringo was about to date rape Tabuki.
“Could you tell a powerful story about a rape victim’s experience? Sure.”
“Is Mawaru Penguindrum that story? Sorry, but I’m going to have to start saying no.”
I’ll just agree to disagree then.
Your blog is what I call a “Google Reader blog”, in that reading it in GR is even more enjoyable than reading it here, so maybe that’s why you don’t have many visitors
I have no clue what this even means. Besides, WordPress gives me the numbers on the syndicated views too and they’re still pretty low for Penguindrum. I don’t expect high views; this is not really a notable blog anyway. It’s just that… Christ, the last Horizon post beat Penguindrum. That’s just wrong.
I’m beginning to tire alittle of Mawaru Penguindrum’s crazy antics lately. Of course, it was never in the realm of believability in the first place, but the last few episodes imo have been losing their edge. Maybe I just don’t like the scattered storytelling or the exceedingly unhinged cast of characters. Too many cursory characters saying cryptic catchphrases (“I’ll crush it”, “I know, right?”, “we’re bound by fate”, yadda yadda). In any case, you can add Yuri to the list of “bitches be crazy” for the show. I’m still curious on what will happen next, but other than that, I’m not very emotionally invested in these unrelatable characters. Everyone’s connected through Momoka in some way but we still don’t even know who she is yet.
Yeah, I guess even Penguindrum can drag its feet. After a while, all these cliffhangers and major twists just numb you. After a while, the shock value is no longer there and then all you have is unsavory rape antics.
Yeah, all the implied rape in this anime is getting a little tiring. I wish we had more episodes like Himari’s trip down to the rabbit hole. Ah well, it’s still better than anything this season.
Hi, new commenter. I think that Penguindrum’s been building up it’s mysteries to the point where everything’s going to have to come together — or unravel — at a certain point. I’m waiting to see how they’re going to handle Yuri’s subplot in the next episode, but while I’m reserving judgment on the rape as drama bit, I also thought the pans up and down Ringo’s body were distasteful. It’s easy to let the viewer know what’s going on without resorting to that.
Didn’t think the Takakuras were particularly “off” here, but hey, YMMV.
Here’s another fifth of your readership.
I kind of liked how they used the date rape scenario a second time. Ringo tried to rape someone, now someone tries to rape Ringo in the same way. I see it as not that the creators couldn’t think of something else, but that time is cyclical and the universe repeats itself— a fate of sorts. The show has used the same kind of parallelism before, such as with Kanba and Himari’s descents into the labyrinth.
Sure, it’s distasteful how they make rape seem attractive. But, I don’t know, Yuno in Mirai Nikki makes murdering people look attractive. There’s no powerful message about how killing is wrong, either. Does that mean that Yuno is a bad character and that her distasteful murders should be stricken from the story? The main purpose of Penguindrum is entertainment, and I found Ringo’s attempted rape entertaining. Not every story that involves rape needs to tell a powerful message about it.
Also, have you seen Simoun? What did you think about the rape / incest story there?
I think this is our fundamental difference. Since I respect you as a blogger, let’s just leave it at that.
Mario’s surname is listed as ‘Natsume’ in official sources, so, yes, he is related to Masako, although its unclear whether he’s a sibling, a cousin, or what yet.
Momoka does seem to have meant more to Tabuki and Yuri than she possibly could’ve at that age… I figure they’re both just misremembering how things really were, that Momoka’s become this demi-god-like figure to them because she died so young and so long ago that its easy to attribute things to her that were never actually present. She’s a blank slate to some extent; I’m sure she had her own personality, but she wasn’t around long enough to disappoint either of them in some fashion.
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I don’t think anybody really had anything to say on this episode, I mean I sure didn’t. I like that the plot is starting to come together though, even if the contrivances are adding up. I mean at least it means the story’s going somewhere, compared to where it was somewhat stagnant in the past two or three episodes.
I wouldn’t say Shouma’s outburst was out of character, but it definitely did seem random for what we’ve seen before. I dunno, this wasn’t really the show’s strongest episode. It left off on a cliffhanger, but did little else to really excite… not to say that wasn’t exciting, of course.
I dunno, I groaned when it became obvious what Yuri was going to do. Not really my idea of exciting. I wouldn’t say Shoma was out of character, but more that… well, he’s just not likeable anymore. In fact, few of the characters on the show are really likeable anymore.
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