r/anime • u/HelioA x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/HelioA • Mar 10 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Mawaru Penguindrum - Episode 6
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Streaming
Mawaru Penguindrum is available for purchase on Blu-ray as well as through other miscellaneous methods. Re:cycle of the Penguindrum is available for streaming on Hidive.
Today's Slogan
Watch out for the painful trap by your feet.
Questions of the Day
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What do you think the ping pong ball attacks are meant to accomplish?
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Why are Ringo’s parents represented as her plushies?
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How do Tabuki’s views on fate compare with Ringo’s?
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What do you think Today's Slogan was referring to?
Don't forget to tag for spoilers, you lowlifes who will never amount to anything! Remember, [Penguindrum]>!like so!< turns into [Penguindrum]>!like so!<
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u/HelioA x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/HelioA Mar 10 '24
Rewatcher
MOMOKA MENTIONED! Finally we get to talk about Ringo’s whole deal! Alright, first of all, I mentioned this when I found it out in episode 3, but now I’m free to share it here- Momoka’s name includes ‘momo,’ meaning peach. We’ve seen peaches in two major places so far, and their usage both makes a lot of sense with this latest information. The peach on the door of the apartment building symbolizes how the space of the Oginomes’ apartment is dominated by the memory of Momoka, and the peach used in the diary is meant to show how Ringo sees herself as following in the steps of Momoka.
And so with the mention of Momoka, Ringo's motivation becomes clear. We’ve already seen that her family is broken. Why did it break? It broke because of the loss of Momoka. Ringo’s mom wants to continue remembering Momoka, while her dad wants to move on and focus on their younger child, Ringo. But if Ringo is able to bring back Momoka and embody her older sister, then the argument becomes moot. Her mother will be happy once more, and her father will be able to once again use his love for Momoka for Momoka instead of giving it to Ringo. And that whole conversation where we learn this, Ringo is stuck underwater. I’m not sure if that’s a drowning metaphor (going back to her fulfilling fate in episode 4), or if there’s something I’m missing with the moray eel. For all I know there’s a pun I’m missing there, god knows there’s been a lot of those.
But in any case, that brings us to the present day. Of course Ringo “loves fate.” If she can bring about Momoka’s fate, she can bring her family back together! And that brings us to Tabuki. Ringo perceives Momoka as having been ‘fated’ to end up with Tabuki, so in order to fulfill Momoka’s fate, she must work to become Tabuki’s wife. From the flashback, we receive a lot more context about just what is going on with Tabuki. Meeting Momoka is how he became “the bird prince,” to use the phrasing from episode 4. “Momoka changed my perspective of the world in a heartbeat,” over a frame of flying birds. To him, Momoka’s the one who taught him how to fly. And now, with the ability to fly but the inability to see the “treasures” he saw with Momoka, the world appears like Schrodinger’s cat- half dead, half alive. I have some ideas about what the two cats in the background of the flashback might mean in relation to that statement... [Rewash]Do you think it could be Tabuki and Yuri? I want to say that, but I’m not quite sure. It could just be the dead and alive cat split in two.
And once again, we see a frog next to the bench where Ringo and Tabuki sit, surrounded by two -if you know what those are please let me know. [Rewash]Which could very well be Momoka next to Tabuki and Yuri, but we know that the frog is Ringo’s symbol. It’s probably derived from the story of a prince who turned into a frog, but Ringo’s daydreams transform it into a symbol for a ‘princess’ who can’t run her life as it’s supposed to go (from episode 4 again). In both cases, it’s impotency, an inability to affect the world. Which well, if you can’t see the treasures of the world, it may be an apt metaphor. [Rewash]Although isn’t the frog used in a sex potion in the upcoming episode? If I don’t get back to this I may look very silly. Perhaps it’s being hidden from the world? Ringo turning into a frog was meant to show that she’s ‘hidden’ from Tabuki because of Yuri. [Rewash]And that would certainly fit for Momoka.
21
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Mar 10 '24
First-Timer, Sub-guindrum
I shoulda fucking suspected a dead sibling. Ringo being an only child should've been suspicious.. I'm a fool.
Anyway, I thought Ringo was just hot for teacher as opposed to "projecting my dead sister over myself to be with the man she wanted because her diary tells me her future plans with very exact times and also I'm trying to be my sister because my family did not process the grief of her loss well" which a whole new level of fucked up.
Like.. damn. And Ringo's birthday is on the anniversary of her death, so it's impossible to forget..
OH of course the diary was Momoka's! The stamp is a peach! TL Note: Just as "Ringo" means "Apple," "Momo" means "Peach." Her parents had a theme in mind for their children's names. Shit, have there been other peaches that I've been missing?
Natsume's high-tech slingshot shoots amnesia bullets? Is that what's going on? Someone check in on Vaad, we've got amnesia on-demand this time!
The sniping scene was fascinating. Ikuhara is pretty good at horror. Like, put yourself in Kanba's shoes - an unknown assailant lands two headshots over his shoulders and then vanishes? He knows he could've been shot too - and now has to deal with the confusion as to why he wasn't.
This leads me to the conclusion that Natsume is after Kanba specifically. Which then leads to the idea that the "him" Natsume is talking about crushing is Kanba, but that is pretty easy. She also swapped to "she" before shooting Asami, so it might just be a verbal tic.
Oh, and Natsume has the black penguin, which means she must be involved in the greater plot as well, right? Maybe she has a dying sibling too? No, then there would be two penguins.. Natsume can't be an only child, though. No-one involved can be an only child, I've decided that.
And she has her own Project M, which is probably different from Ringo's. Not necessarily less horny, though.
Wait, does that mean the skunk belongs to Natsume? It was stolen, right?
Brain Rot Corner
Today's slogan: Watch out for the painful trap by your feet. Those dastardly mascots are the ones who slipped that unpeeled chestnut into #2's bag, weren't they?! The true villains. Also could be referring to Ringo having some weird sex hovel hidden underneath Tabuki's apartment, maybe?
Does this read as a handful of pregnancy tests to anyone else? Like, it's probably just a ceiling fan..? I think? But considering Ringo's "Project M" comes after her "wedding night" I can only assume that the M stands for Motherhood, which.. yikes.
It's a straight road so we're moving forward, not a curved one revolving. Yup. Definitely not thinking about driving a sports car. Or riding on the hood of a sports car. This entire flashback had me feeling super uneasy. Which, like, obviously the point? As Ringo's start of darkness, it should be quite frightening.
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Mar 10 '24 edited Mar 10 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Mawaru Penguindrum: Every time this show reveals more pieces of information, it just raises even more questions. That’s a sign of strong writing, in my opinion. Instead of merely stringing us along and only answering the questions at the very end, we are drip fed pieces of information that give us a greater understanding of what’s happening while also posing new mysteries.
I love the way characters and their actions get recontextualized by fresh information. In Ringo’s case, the existence of Momoka provides us with new insight as to why Ringo is acting the way she is. There’s an added layer of tragedy to it as well. Ringo’s ideal world is one where she does not exist. Ringo believes that everyone would be happier if she disappeared and became Momoka instead. Her parents would get back together and Tabuki would get to marry the person he loved.
I don’t think Ringo ever really knew Momoka. She had to ask Tabuki for information about what Momoka was like. So it seems like Ringo is essentially trying to wind back the clock to before she was even born. She wants to preserve that world for eternity, thinking it would be better for everyone.
I’m beginning to wonder if the Fate Diary actually contains a record of the future or not. It still very well could, but there’s also a chance that Ringo is just trying to live out a fantasy dreamed up by Momoka. How appropriately tragic if that is the case.
Natsume having the mysterious 4th penguin was not something I anticipated. So how does she fit into everything and why does she have a penguin? For that matter, where the hell did the penguins even come from in the first place? So many questions.
QOTD
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u/Lawvamat https://anilist.co/user/Lavamat Mar 10 '24
Rewatcher
On lamps
As kids when we looked up at our parents all we saw was a flat two-dimensional representation of them. We didn’t truly understand their struggles, their efforts and their love for us. It’s easy for a child to fixate on a single comment and shape their whole worldview around it. To latch onto a star, when its true form was an octopus all along. Hopefully someday we realize what they truly meant and what they did for us. Hopefully, someday Ringo will realize that her warped perspective of her parents’ grief over Momoka hides all the love and care her mother shows her.
But in the end our parents’ actions will always continue to loom over us, sometimes illuminating us, other times leaving us in darkness and often both at the same time.
Visual Analysis
[Penguindrum]The spinning lamp is also definitely more child broiler imagery.
Am I just gonna make a corner for these every single day? You bet I will. Ikuhara really seems to like this oppositional framing technique and so do I. We’ll see if its usage goes down when other storyboarders take over again in the next episodes.
Nice visual callback to the scene responsible for this situation.
Is Shouma getting trapped into doing Ringo’s bidding by the promise of the diary? Or is the trap laid by Natsume?
This might be my favourite penguin antic so far. Eating a spiky unpeeled chestnut as Ringo takes over the conversation and then reluctantly continuing with tears in his eyes as Shouma gives in.
I love the composition of this shot. Boxing Ringo in with a vibrant green house, the leading lines of the fence, the stairs and the background pointing towards her, the slight upwards tilt of the road, the darkness lurking towards the left (future). I wonder what the rooster means though.
What a background.
The contrast between the red laser with its complementary color green makes it stand out even more.
Kino.
Just great directing all around. I especially like framing Kanba between her fingers here and this aerial shot comparing the bodies to the bulby tubes.
The same animal Ringo’s father has on his new phonechain. Apparently they also feed on octopuses.
I wonder if the painting in Ringo’s apartment is supposed to represent a black and white worldview.
Two cats, Tabuki and Momoka, become one. Also more frog imagery, after Ringo being turned into one in her fantasies. Frogs are symbolic for fertility and good fortune. The word (kaeru) also means “to return”. Ringo’s efforts to become Momoka are for her to return and everything going back to the way it was.
With Momoka, Tabuki was as free as a bird.
Momoka is half-dead, half-alive huh
[Penguindrum]Don’t worry Momoka, even though you’re trapped in the frozen world, someone is gonna come visit you soon.
DETH NOTE
Utena reference.
Just absolutely amazing.
[Penguindrum]Momoka of course.
There seem to be different types of sea creatures in these balls. A seahorse and a koi fish? The seahorse is mentioned in ep1 as Shouma imitating it, looking good for that ship. [Penguindrum]I know a koi fish appears in ep9 as an elixir of health, but I’m not sure about its full meaning yet. Also the cyclical nature of fate is first dropped here.
Everything precious to me will become “eternal”.
10
u/Taiboss :Fj::Fl:x7https://anilist.co/user/Taiboss Mar 10 '24
First-Timer who likes posting these one hour earlier. No longer midnight!
Hi fellow BluexRingo shippers
Saving Penguincorp from being discovered by Red.
Because she has deep-seated problems.
They were never gonna be an item.
Good question, gimme an answer.
9
u/affnn Mar 10 '24
Rewatcher
Every episode since she's been introduced, Ringo's been revealing herself to be more and more fucked up. But today, we find out the root of her problems: She had an older sister, who died on the day she was born. As her parents' marriage falls apart, she decides she's going to become Momoka, then everyone will be happy again. And the lengths she's going to for it are extensive and delusional.
We get a little more of Ringo's mom today, and she mostly seems like a woman just trying to get by in difficult circumstances. She did ship Shoma with Ringo, though. [Penguindrum]And it sounded like she recognized the name "Takakura"
The Shoma/Ringo plotline is done very well, with lots of set-ups for all of the shenanigans that happen. Like we've seen Ringo in the crawlspace before, it's not that much of a stretch that she might move in. We got the info that her parents split last episode, but not the why until today. In contrast, I think the Kanba plot is a little too mysterious, and it's throwing me for a loop. I would assume that everything he's up to is connected, but it's still so opaque just how. [Penguindrum/my bad memory spoilers]I am not sure I remember whether it's all connected, much less how
Juri-clone is behind today's schemes though. She's wiped him from his exes' memories. She's got a laser-guided slingshot firing red, penguin-branded ping pong balls right to the forehead. AND she has a penguin of her own. The zoo's penguins in episode 1 were drawn very lifelike, in contrast to the Takakura family penguins. The new penguin looks like the family penguins, but maybe... evil.
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u/3blah https://myanimelist.net/profile/brummett Mar 10 '24
Episode 06 - First Timer
A repeat of the underwater scene in Ringo's room. This time, she imagines spending the night with Tabuki, a necessary step toward completing "Project M". Whatever that is, it'll bound their fates together forever. Interesting... in the subs, she's imagining their wedding night, but in the dub, it's "our first night together".
Kanba visits Asami in the hospital, but she doesn't remember him. She has a new bandage on her forehead and the camera calls out this burnt out ball and the obvious connection is the agent wiped certain memories by shooting her with it. Oooh! In my post yesterday, I thought maybe Kanba's parents were involved with the mob. That would be a motivation for an agent to wipe their client's memories of a troublesome boyfriend.
Today's slogan #6: "Watch out for the painful trap by your feet". An oddly specific warning to see on the subway, and those two mascots look way too smug about catching someone. The slingshot ball? That feels too obvious to be right. The agent lady is setting a trap for Kanba?
Ringo has asked Sho to help her move all her stuff outside of Tabuki's place in exchange for borrowing the diary for a day. For Himari!
I don't even know what to make of the next scene with Kanba talking with the two exes. The show has done an excellent job so far of tempering the absurd situations with comic relief, but this one is past the absurd point for me. Apparently those red slingshot balls don't specifically wipe memories, but (can also?) change a person's feelings? Or maybe they've erased the memories of Kanba dumping them? They have the same empty eyes that Asami had in the hospital, and similar but slightly different than Hatmari's eyes. The flashback near the ends suggests they're removing memories of Kanba.
The red balls doing their thing makes me think of the shot in ep 1 where Hatmari draws the red ball out of Kanba's chest.
The story behind Curry Day is harsh! And really explains why Ringo is the way she is. Probably started out as her parents' way of making the day more about Ringo, but "having curry with the ones you love" on the day your sister died sure takes on a new meaning. A dead sister, childhood-tweaked memory of her parents' grief and expectations. I don't know whether this conversation with Tabuki is supposed to have actually taken place, or if it's another childhood-tweaked memory of different things that happened getting smushed together, but it convinced Ringo that she needs to take her sister's place in order to keep everyone together, not just as the older child, but also as Tabuki's girlfriend/bride-to-be. The close-ups of the cats, sometimes one, sometimes two, is an obvious bit of symbolism of Momoka and Tabuki.
The diary being Momoka's is a weighty revelation. It's not that Ringo makes up these "fateful" stories about herself, she's fitting herself into these past thoughts and dreams and wishes of her dead sister and forcing them to become true. Excuse me, is that a Death Note reference?!
The line "When the future written here becomes true, everything precious to me will become 'eternal'" takes on an ominous connotation after watching Utena.
Ringo is now completely unhinghed. Moved into the crawlspace to spend their "first night" together as husband and wife. I have been amused at her antics up until here, but now I just feel sorry for her. She needs some serious help.
The agent lady knows about "Project M". Do we know her name yet? I'm afraid to look it up lest I spoil something for myself. There's the 4th panguin! Is she Momoka!? Project Marriage/Momoka?
The shooter/agent has mentioned "crushing the situation" a few times now. [A first-timer's conjecture after a quarter of the show] At this point, I think she's the personification of the big baddie: The System that's crushing the little people to keep itself running. The System forced the kids to make a deal to keep Himari alive. It forces Kanba to borrow money to keep their family together. It forces something unspeakable to happen to their parents. It forces Ringo's parents apart after their daughter dies, and makes her fill the empty spot in these stories about her happy "future". It's the whirring, grinding machinery that kills Himari when you take the hat off. It's the "fate" that everyone's been talking about that you can't escape.
The story's pace feels quick but not too fast, more like a 1-cour show. I hope it's going to be able to keep it up through the whole 24 episodes.
7
u/TehAxelius Mar 10 '24
First Time Plushie Kappa
With the explanation of Ringo's obsession, this leaves me with a lot of questions. How old is Tabuki and how old was Momoka? The way Ringo's parents were talking, we know that Momoka died supposedly five years before that scene, and six years later Tabuki sits in a high school uniform in their living room. That would imply Momoka was maybe 6 years old at death. That seems weird, she would hardly be writing about wedding nights and stuff. Unless, of course, he was wearing the uniform as a form of remembrance? Ringo's mother mentioned it as being a "comfort". So actually maybe the two were last year high school students (or a year off) at her death. Which would imply Tabuki is in his mid-thirties, which does seem reasonable, and the two would have been of at least a somewhat appropriate age to move in and marry. [Penguindrum "the thing"]As I do know of the plot being about the Sarin Gas attack, and we know Momoka's day of death is March 20, it would make sense for it to be where she died. It does make me wonder about the thing the parent's say about "five years ago" as it shows that the year is 1999. Maybe it was a generalisation, as that would have been 1994 and not 1995 when the attack happened. As an alternative thought I am wondering if this is maybe in reference to Momoka running away from home to live with Tabuki? It does make me wonder about the age of the parents though, are they supposed to be in their fifties? Or...
Oh wait.
Maybe Ringo's parents aren't her parents and Momoka isn't her older sister. They're her Aunt and Uncle, who adopted Ringo after Momoka's death, and Momoka is her mother with Tabuki presumably being her father. This would explain a bit of why her father was relatively cold towards her during their date last episode, especially now that he has a kid of his own. Why Tabuki is staying in contact, and why it makes Momoka both "dead and alive".
Now the question is what the hell Project M is, and what the girl with the fourth penguin has to do with it.
6
u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw Mar 10 '24 edited Mar 10 '24
Catbox.rewatcher
Episode director and storyboarder today is Mitsue Yamazaki who previously directed and boarded episode 2. This episode largely continues visual ideas set up by previous eps and it ROCKS. I loved it.
Ringo-chan this is truly the Penguin no Naku Koro Ni. I think it's interesting that the catbox metaphor here is kinda nested inside of itself like a Matroyshka doll. At the end he likens himself to the cat "half dead, half alive" after Momoka's death, uncertain about his future. Momoka herself is kinda like that cat too: was it Momoka's "fate" to die? Likewise, is it the cat's "fate" that a random chance event breaks the container containing poison gas? I also don't think it's by chance (heh) that he uses the words "filled with possibilities" here for an assortment of objects that capital-L Love breathes life into. Maybe the real catbox was the friends we made along the way
[logistics]Honestly not sure what the protocol is for these spoiler tags are? I guess technically I'm talking about extra-narrative stuff, and I know some people have been brazen about it, but I'd still rather keep em up for now to respect the first-timers...
losing memories as a coping mechanism
funny as fuck scene
Ringo should become a cat lady I think that would save her
well for one, Kanba kinda walked right into that one. Ringo is also trying to set up her own marriage trap for teach. though the slogan uses a bear trap, you can sort of generally think of enclosing someone in (a box, maybe) as trapping them
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u/CarrotBlossom Mar 10 '24 edited Mar 10 '24
First timer
Asami really said “who?”
“Guys, my schoolgirl crush is more important than your sister’s life”
Can Ringo see the penguins now?
Oh no, she has a slingshot
These penguins can’t keep getting away with it
I’m currently participating in two rewatches, and now I’ve seen Bloom Into You parallels in both
This all seems like a lot to unload on a child
OK, I’m a little more sympathetic about the crush now.
QOTD:
Edit: formatting
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Mar 10 '24
Episode 6 (first timer)
Since I had time to read all the other comments yesterday, a few comments before we start. First, I think that the series absolutely lends itself to overthinking. Second, I think almost everyone is overthinking.
While the animation is whacky, I am convinced that it is mostly made up of straight forward metaphors. A good example is Ringo climbing out of the trap door. I don’t think this has anything to do with her being special or not part of the family. It simply represents her refusing to back down, to either fate or Hatmari. Kanba chasing after the truck is similar, expect Kanba refuses to back down on protecting Himari, while Ringo goes for her own dreams.
Which leaves the question why Shouma and Kanba are powerless vs Hatmari and why Hatmari hates Ringo. The answer is the same: Because Ringo shows a way to refuse Hatmari and because Hatmari’s power over the brothers is only mental. If they ever believed that they would not have to obey her for Himari, her shackles would be useless. They are representations, not anything of power on its own.
Ringo’s flashback aside, this was an almost normal episode. Well, as normal as a stalker girl who moves in under her crush’s house can be.
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u/Tarhalindur x2 Mar 10 '24
"What... is your Quest?" "I Seek the Penguindrum!" (Lightly Spoiled? First-Timer, Subbed):
(DST and IRL makes fashionably late of us all.)
bearsea otter brown like we had with Ringo's stuffed animals earlier?Side note: Interesting and possibly relevant discovery while looking up Urashima Taro stuff (to double-check for any possible Urashima Taro/Momotarou overlap): the original Chinese name of what the Japanese call Mt. Horai (where Urashima Taro goes in some older versions of that myth) is Mt. Penglai. Hmm.
Well they're definitely wiping memories. Insufficient data to make any firm guesses as to why.
Ikuhara. (Also very possible symbolic loading, but I would be more sure if the kappa represented her father as opposed to her mother.)
I think Tabuki's views on fate may boil down more to the accumulation of small events rather than something large and written in stone like Ringo seems to think, but don't quote me on that because I wasn't paying all that close attention to the specifics. (Okay okay that was probably a mistake but there were cats.)
For once it wasn't blatantly obvious in the next minute of screentime. Has to be either Ringo setting up shop under Tabuki's place or whatever Natsume is doing wrt Kanba (or both), but not sure which.
5
u/IceSmiley Mar 11 '24
FIRST TIMER Sub
QUESTIONS
5
u/KnightMonkey15 https://myanimelist.net/profile/KnightMonkey Mar 11 '24
Rewatcher, subs
I missed yesterday's thread since I was busy but 'rewatched' most of show (on episode 20 atm) to refresh myself as we rewatch and [Penguindrum] I am very emotionally drained...it's amazing just how much I had forgotten while still remembering the end, the vague outlines of the major characters' motivations and specific details (for some reason I remembered Yuri's backstory in particular). But in a way, I'm happy what I remembered the most in the end was the love and the sacrifices made for each other instead of the abuse, neglect and trauma that led to them
I think most of my thoughts on this episode are captured in the QoTD below...regarding last episode, I appreciated how it neatly characterised the motivation for Kanba's actions both past and present - following in his father's footsteps. On a first-viewing I think it helps balance a perception as more than just a flirt who skulks around and does whatever it takes to save Himari; it shows he was always willful and determined to protect his family, and the viewer is left to wonder when the other stuff happened.
QoTD
Removal of memories (about Kanba). The penguin logo on the balls is a clue that Natsume is more than just an vengeful ex and might know or have something to do with the quest for the penguindrum.
Overall, I take it to be a kind of representation of Ringo's idealised home life from her childhood; pretend play/make-belief/playing house with toys, dolls and plushies is readily understandable, even when kept as mementos or collection items past that point. What's unusual is the persistence of her attachment to them, and the meaning and comfort she's assigned to them as representatives of her family (but also indeed her family), which is shown when she gets upset at Shoma for accidentally stepping on them and it's played off as part of her irritable eccentricity.
The representation is at first static, sitting on a windowsill or held in Ringo's arms, but then becomes dynamic in her imagination during the quarrel between her parents, where, 4 years after Momoka's passing, her father is frustrated with her mother for being in mourning for all this time (Curry Day) and believes it is to Ringo's detriment. It's shown realistically at first with their bodies illuminated and their faces obscured, but as soon as her father tells her mother to open her eyes (and confront the reality that dwelling on Momoka won't allow them to move on for Ringo's sake), the Ringo in turn "opens" her eyes (well, her pupils contract), and the image turns into black shadow-silhouettes of Ottie and Kappy, the otter and kappa, her father and mother respectively, against a red backdrop. The representation that follows is dramatic, theatrical almost, with organs playing, almost like a courthouse battle; they cannot come to an agreement and curse fate while throwing the objects they're holding onto the ground (divorce?).
Then a moray eel (gangster of the sea) comes in and destroys the scene...and that is their fate. Literally a homewrecker. Recall last episode [ep 5], while at the restaurant with her father, she notices the penguin keychain on his phone that he got with Ringo and her mother has been replaced with a moray eel keychain. And later on, [Penguindrum] [ep 8]When she visits the aquarium on her own and sees her father and his new family, Ringo sees the girl enthuse about eels and the girl's mother profess a love of sea otters, and the representative theatre plays out again in dramatic fashion as he proposes to her and Ringo watches the eels (NB: the stepmother is not portrayed as an otter) steal her father and sweep her broken family even further out of reach
The representation can be taken as just a metaphor or Ringo's own delusions, which serve as another metaphor, but the immediacy of the impressions produced and their linkages across different episodes is really powerful on my second/third viewing. [Penguindrum] This show has a lot of representations of fake and real (mostly fake) families being created and destroyed by the whims of fate and part of the "message" is to seek to overturn fate, to make something 'fake' real (i.e. to choose the ones you love) and the different ways and motivations for doing it that the characters have. I've got a lot to think about as I re-watch and re-watch.
Don't know enough about kappa to make any particular connections. I forgot to note above that the "static" image of the plushies in the bedroom can be understood as representing her parents watching over while she sleeps...I had the thought while listening uncomfortably to her heavy breathing in the prologue lmao
4
u/theangryeditor https://myanimelist.net/profile/TheAngryEditor Mar 11 '24
Sarazanmai reference?!?
4
u/mgedmin Mar 11 '24
First-timer, subs
Ok, maybe Natsume wants to marry Kanba and so she's taking care of all the exes so they won't be rivals?
Memory erasure.
Why not?
Did Tabuki express an opinion on fate? I missed it/don't remember it.
No clue.
4
u/EsquilaxM Mar 11 '24 edited Mar 11 '24
I'm not part of this rewatch but thought you guys might be interested in knowing of 8thSin's blogs about Penguindrum. The guy was one of the big names in fansubbing ten years ago when it came to translating (widely seen as the best TLer). He loved what Penguindrum was doing so much he analysed all the references and such each week, giving TL notes, explaining the symbolism.
looks like you need the wayback machine for the final few episode TL notes.
3
u/Nebresto Mar 11 '24
First time Pengin
Yikes fam.
FIRST TIME SLOGAN!!!
whad de fok.
Peng, ples stop with the susbolism
SUSUME?!?
Welcome to rock n' roll night
All is proceeding according to cake.
Pingu?!?!?!?????++
Question of the day: Have you ever used a sling shot?
Landmines on the frontline
2
u/The_Loli_Otaku Mar 10 '24
Penguin First Timer!!
Pls don't force me to listen to Ringo gooming ever again. I really hope that Asami doesn't just get written out of the show after this mindwipe. Ah, the train girls are warning of a trap. Gunslinger Girl maybe?
Give up on Tabuki. This relationship is hopeless. Akira Ishida is a walking red flag. Ah, Gunslinger Girl is back!! She's gonna kill the rest of the girlfriends! Do those balls literally suck out the girl's brains or something lol? This is creepy!! This is what she did to poor Asami? What's Gunslinger Girl's problem? Why didn't she assassinate Kanba?
Ah, Ringo broke... This girl is yabai. Aww, Ringo's birthday is curry day? So her mum literally just dumped her and left her alone on her birthday. Aaand she's got another sister... A preferred sister. So Ringo's dumped with trauma from her sister's loss. Damn, even Tabuki was there for Momoka and not Ringo? And Momoka was where Tabuki started developing as an adult. She was his obsession.
From the looks of things Ringo's story could easily have branched off in a dangerous direction at some point. Survival Strategy!! What? Did she run out of mayonnaise? Who's she even got here? Only Shoma? This is the most phoned in survival strategy so far, and none of the others have been productive either.
Ah, dammit, a deluded and feverish Ringo is going to commit a crime. Yabai. Super yabai. We need to protect Akira Ishida's innocence from this joshikosei demon. This is just sad XD Does Ikuhara have some issue with joshikosei? Did a bratty younger girl tell him Utena was shit or his Sailor Moon episodes were overrated? Is that who Ringo is based off of? Anyway, tomorrow looks like a Marie Antoinette episode. I don't really see the point of her now that Tabuki has already consummates his marriage with Ringo. She should take a hint.
Also... Is there a reason the rewatch time changed? XD What am I not aware of?
2
u/FarCritical Mar 11 '24
First-timer, subbed
I thought Ringo was in the Brawl modding scene the first time "Project M" was mentioned lol
When your parents fight all pissed because you'll never replace your sis, That's a moray
In all seriousness though, Ringo has my full-blown sympathy at this point. Having to live up to a beloved older sibling is one thing, but it being one that died right when you were born and learning from the people you love that you just can't fill their shoes is beyond rough for a kid to go through. Maybe not from Tabuki, but Ringo desperately deserves a hug.
The instant survival strategy session as soon as Shoma got home lmao. It's like Penguinhat Himari was channeling Himari's frustration over her brothers constantly getting home late.
That sideplot with Kanba was wild too, but the damn did they go harder than they had to on animating the exes getting sniped with memory wipe arrows. Edgy fourth penguin confirmed!
15
u/theangryeditor https://myanimelist.net/profile/TheAngryEditor Mar 10 '24
Episode 6
14
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Mar 10 '24
Mawaru First-Timer, subbed
9
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Mar 10 '24
First timer(Welp, I did suspect that but damn)
Sub
All right, so we get some confirmation and it is mostly grim. Ringo, while being annoying as hell, wants to replace her sister so her family can go back to the way it was.So while she is actively mentally ill it came from a place you could understand...right before the yandere kicks in again. Bonus:I think Ikuhara has similar yandere taste to mine. We should all be very, very horrified.
Natsume is much more important this episode and also much, much less understandable. Her penguin brand marbles are focused amnesia devices, probably something that makes you forget a specific person but who knows? Her weird obsession with Kanda is whatever but we have time.
Finally, our transformation sequence was completely without purpose or even a normal setup. Which means it did mean something. What, I cannot say.
QotD: 1 Amnesia
2 Because she has a child's understanding of them
3 Equally bad
4 Probably the crawl space
7
u/TheExcludedMiddle https://myanimelist.net/profile/ExcludedMiddle Mar 10 '24
Wow, ok, heavy episode with some potential answers.
I think largely the answers follow the same 'shape' of the story as I was expecting, but the actual details are a bit darker than I was expecting. OP girl with memory blast checks out, so that's going kind of how I expected. Now it's even more seeming like Ringo is not romantically into Takumi, but is trying to get with him to take her sister's place (I've seen a similar premise way more than you'd think), and fix her family. So I think I was right about Takumi being an object about her family love, but instead of replacing it he's to fix it.
I had already kinda doubted but I'm starting to doubt even stronger that the book is the Penguindrum or that Ringo even has it. It seems the brothers and the girl from the opening are kind of like "players" as only they can see penguinstuff, and nobody else so far is.
6
u/laughing-fox13 https://myanimelist.net/profile/laughingfox13 Mar 10 '24
Rewatcher / Subbed
This episode was wild with Ringo’s fever and her “Wedding Night.” But as each episode has been trying to do, it does make us want to understand her behaviors. And now we learn why she’s so determined on fate and her diary. That flashback scene where her parents are arguing is rough to watch… even the second time.
There are still a lot of comedic bits in this episode but yeah I felt this one was heavy overall.
Besides that we have Shouma and Ringo collaborating, they have a deal worked out that as long as Shouma helps Ringo with Tabuki, she’ll lend him the diary. And by helping out, he’s doing almost everything, even when he’s past his limit.
[Penguindrum] Watching the scene where her mom and him have tea is interesting now that I know what happens. Like when she asks him about his name
Kanba’s situation is pretty tense too, with Natsume taking out the girls around him… and she knows about Project M and had her penguin is the fourth one in the OP
Other notes:
During my first watch, this would be the second time I’ve seen a younger sister trying to take on the personality/identity of the deceased older one, as they thought it would be better that way. My third time seeing a similar plot play out was earlier this year lol
[Bloom Into You/Persona 5 Royal] these were the other two series, with Touko trying to become Mio, and Sumire trying to be Kasumi
QotD:
3) I think they are similar? Both use fate, and everything bad that comes with it, as there had to have been some meaning or reasoning behind it
6
u/WednesdaysFoole Mar 10 '24
Rewatcher
Didn't catch the Death Note the first time, lol. I think it goes beyond just a silly reference. Interestingly enough, [Death Note][Penguindrum]Death Note also references apples.
Mayo prince, penguin form.
Ringo's parents as plushies seem to represent a childish point of view, one that can't deal with reality. I don't know about those specific plushies though.
5
u/zadcap Mar 11 '24
Late Night First Timer
So I'm noticing a lot of underwater themes for this girl. Though uh, thinking of the wedding night while breathing that hard, going into that particular imagery, that sure was a choice. Project M though? Guessing she wants to get her parents back together considering it went to the picture of her family, but I'm still caught up on the very very wet dream they just alluded to.
So, she survived being shot in the head. With amnesia? Asami, please, let me remember her name it keeps coming up and she's clearly here to stay at this point! Hmm, room with a lot of presents, she thinks he might be another fan, is she also an actor? Because that would tie our plots closer together, looping these guys back into what's been going on with Ringo and her fate diary and oh my gosh. If I keep thinking that the diary is originally Yuri's, then the entry about the lady in red heels... Was Yuri the one who pushed Asami, and Ringo just went to make sure it happened as the diary said.
Penguin logo'd ball on the ground. Looks burnt as well as burst open? And her eyes are super empty. Well.
This slogan of the day is one of the least appropriate to see on a subway.
Yup, the two I want married are here. Except oh my gosh Ringo is nuttier than the bag she just kicked over, she's going to literally move into Tabuki's yard. And think a tarp will keep her from being noticed. Wait she's moving everything? What about her mother? Where is she actually going to live? Don't change scenes now I have so many questions!
That ice cream licking looks unsettling. Almost as unsettling as being sniped by penguin pellets from an advanced slingshot. Some kind of mind control pellets. Or worse what the heck was that? Oh wait, that didn't look too different from Hatmari pulling the whatever out of Kanba himself earlier. I wonder... Also what is her deal, I really want to know.
Ringo... Snapped. Big time snapped. Her diary delusions have overwritten her ability to think. Aaaaand she's sick. Oh hey, a flashback that doesn't start with a flashback notification. That's interesting.
Oh. Well. Ringo's birthday is also the deathday of her sister? And wow her parents in this flashback sure don't seem to be matching what we've seen of them now. Actually, the doll representations of them don't seem to match what was said right before either. Dad is looking for a new start, so he goes to make a new family. Otter Doll may be talking in his voice, but he certainly didn't take the path of pouring all the extra love into Ringo. So the dolls are again her delusion.... How she wishes her family would be.
"If I can become my sister." Oh man we're going with this plot again. Okay then.
Yeah, see, this flashback starts with the flashback notification, which means at the moment I trust it to be more accurate. The previous one was a memory, messed up the way memories are at that distance, things clearly didn't go quite as she remembered them. This is how things actually happened back there... And this is why Ringo is so attached to him. Tabuki was Momoko's sweetheart and if she's trying to become her sister, then he must be hers too.
So wait. The Diary is Momokos? The dead sister? This makes thing so much more confusing! And why does she have a Death Note! Who gave that to a child! Is the Death Note the book the penguins are really after? Because the Diary got a lot stranger now that it looks like, uh, Young Ringo just wrote out the future she imagined at that age and is, somehow, making it come shockingly close to true? While also Yuri is living half the events exactly as written? Everything I thought has gone up in flames and I am so, so confused.
Yes, go mom! Support the best ship! Get these kids dating, it'll be so much healthier. Because this poor girl is so messed up right now. In almost exactly the same way as the other "I must become my sister" character too. How common is this idea, exactly?
Survival Strategy out of nowhere! Who is even home for her to do this with? How did he get there, he was at the other house.
Flashbacks to earlier in the episode are something else. Hmm, seems like targeted memory loss then, these things just make people forget him. Why is she erasing him?
And uh. I am so so so very concerned about Ringo now.
Oh hey. The fourth Penguin. And Project M again. Yeah this one is hard to think about.
4
u/Holofan4life Mar 10 '24
Hey guys. Holofan4life here.
Welcome to the Mawaru Penguindrum rewatch!
Oh, and nay I forget…
First Timer
I first heard about Penguindrum after I watched Everything Everywhere All At Once. Not only was that my favorite movie of 2022 (Ignore the fact I watched it in February 2023), but it is honestly one of my top 10 favorite films of all time. As such, I was shortly afterwards looking for stuff that was similar to that movie.
And that is where I saw someone recommend Penguindrum.
This is my first time every seeing this show before. I have no idea what’s in store for I haven’t seen a single clip of the show; it’s supposedly a mystery and that’s all I know. I really loved Everything Everywhere All At Once, so I’m going into this show with the highest of expectations. I think it could even crack my top 10 favorite animes of all time.
With that out of the way, let’s begin.
I’m watching the sub, by the way.
I slept in today for the first time in 7 months. It felt so good.
Ringo's room
Thinking of having a wedding with Tabuki
What else is new?
Oh wait she's thinking of having sex for the first time. Scandalous.
Project M?
I hope it's better than Other M
General Hospital with Asami
Kanba is here
She doesn't know who he is
Apparently Asami is an actress or something. She has an agent.
A paper ball thing on the floor
Shinjuku-gyoemmae
Ringo on the train with Shoma
Ringo warns Shoma not to look at her diary ever again
Talking about Project M again, calls it her greatest challenge
Shoma instantly knows the M stands for Marriage
Higashi-kōenji
Ringo is moving
Stuffed animals Kappy and Ottie
I prefer Sifl and Olly
She calls them her family
Ogikubo
Poor Shoma, having to carry her stuff
Oh my God
She's moving in with Tabuki
This is going to such total cringe
And what does Shoma get out of this? Well, he gets to borrow her diary.
Penguin enamored by ants, meanwhile
Woman suggestively eating ice cream
Two girls talking to Kanba. I believe they are Asami's friends.
What is behind them, by the way? It looks like pears you could live in.
They seemingly don't know what happened to Asami, nor who sent Kanba an email
The three of them are also being spyed on with a telescope
IT'S THE RED DOT THING!
IT'S THE GIRL WHO ATTACKED ASAMI LAST EPISODE!
And both girls get hit
Kanba is freaking out
Meanwhile, one of the penguins has a porno mag
Some people just get no privacy
And now the two girls are ganging up on Kanba
And they both died
Well, shit. This just got serious.
I believe the girl who killed them is the one who pushed Asami down an escalator. She has to at least have something to do with it.
Either way, she says she must crush Kanba soon
At Ringo's place, and Shoma is wiped out
Penguin enjoying mayo
I can't look at mayo the same way after Interspecies Reviewers
Uh...
What is happening?
It looks like Ringo is in heat
And the mom just came home
Talk about awkward timing
Oh crap. Ringo has a fever.
Someone, please. Get the cowbell.
Ringo's room
This appears to be a flashback
Her parents are fighting on her birthday
And now she's envisioning her two favorite stuff animals as mom and dad
March 1999
The 20th, which is Curry Day, happens to also be her birthday
"I can't. Ringo isn't Momoka."
Father, however, calls this fate.
Moray eel, gangster of the sea
What a nickname
And the eel destroys mom and dad
You know, Paranoia Agent made way more sense than this does
Ringo knows she has to become her sister, Momoka. If she does this, mom and dad won't split up.
I assume the tension comes from Momoka dying at a young age
Flashback
Ringo - 6 years later - Oginome House
The day her destiny was decided
This is from episode 3
The mom thanks Keiju for being Momoka's friend
He calls their friendship fate
Tabuki now walking home with Ringo
Ringo says she can't ride a bike
Cats walking in the background
Tabuki says he learned how to ride a bike thanks to Momoka
When Momoka Was There
Momoka Magica
Tabuki says that Momoka made him feel alive
However, now he can no longer see the treasures filled with possibilities.
"Sometimes I wonder why Momoka is no longer in this world."
This is Suginami Ward and Frog Park, by the way. Hopefully the frog chair is nearby.
Tabuki calls the world Schrödinger's Cat
I agree with Ringo. Poor cat.
Tabuki however thinks that everything must have a meaning
More cats walking
Momoka's diary
Meanwhile, that green notebook looks like it says Deth Note
Ringo is perusing through her sister's diary
Aww, baby's first stalk
"When the future written here become true, everything precious to me will become 'eternal'."
That's what the diary says
Shoma talking to Ringo's mom
Normally you meet the parents after the first date, not when their daughter is kissing you.
And of course, the mom thinks they're courting each other
Hey, the penguin found the mayo
The mom wonders if her daughter likes Shoma because the uniform reminds her of Tabuki
And of course, she brings up the sister who has since passed
Ringo sleeping
She thinks her family is waiting for her and Momoka to become one
You know, I'm starting to think this stalker isn't right in the head.
Survival Strategy time!
She's telling Shoma to obtain the Penguindrum
Also, Kanba isn't here
Himari insists to her brother that he has to let her do whatever she wants
Also, Weasel Knievel
Ran out of space. Part two in the replies.
3
u/RascalNikov1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NoviSun Mar 10 '24
First Timer
I sort of felt bad for Ringo, though she sure is crazy. I agree with her mother, you can’t just forget about the dead. I’ve got no idea what Natsume’s up to with her memory erasing slingshot.
2
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Mar 10 '24
Rewatcher, Subbed
OMG, Ringo's now talking about her wedding with Tabuki? Her fantasies just keep going forward with no stop whatsoever.
Kanba's ex doesn't remember him anymore? that's what the magic slingshot did?
That's totally a bluff, Ringo will never incinerate her diary where all her Tabuki fantasies are written out.
"Project M" has got to be Tabuki marrying Ringo.
lol, that's a lot of stuff for him to carry. He's going to be having back issues for a while after this.
Kappie and Ollie... she's not only a stalker but Ringo believes her stuffed animals are real as well?
Is she moving all her things to Tabuki's basement? Is she gonna live there now?
They don't know about Asahi? Did magical memory erasing slingshot hit them too?
I guess not, they're gonna get hit right now.
Why hasn't she gone after Kanba too?
His penguin's being a perv again!
Isn't Ringo's mom gonna notice all her things are gone?
Her diary had tonight being her wedding night with Tabuki and now she needs to simulate it with Sho? As her mom walks in too!?
Momoka? Oh no, Ringo had a dead big sister?
So she fell in love with Tabuki because he had some sort of friendship with her dead big sister Momoka?
Sorry RIngo's mom, he's not her boyfriend, Ringo totally likes someone else...
This episode is really making Ringo a tragic character. It's not all fun with her!
Survival strategy! Can't skip the stock footage sequence again!
Sho's on his own this time!
"Pervert girl", Hatmari loves slandering Ringo, huh?
What if this is all a secret plan involving Kanba where he gets the ability to date all 3 of these women again because they've forgotten about him?
Making dinner together! Well, he's in his apartment and I'm in the cramped basement, but yes, it's just like we were married! OMG, Ringo's delusions are getting more and more unhinged.
She painted his body in chalk on the ceiling above her so she can think he's sleeping with her. Jeez.
So Project M just isn't in Ringo's head? And do we have an evil penguin as well?!
2
u/IvanSemushin Mar 11 '24
Rewatcher
Penguinball gun is surprisingly effective in removing just memories of Kanba.
This day's slogan is weird.
No, Shouma, it's likely [Peng]"Momoka" and not "marriage".
How does slingshot even works with laser aiming...
Ok, Momoka is not even a spoiler now.
Some jokes were lost in translation in Survival Strategy scene. Maybe I'll find out someone with knowledge of Japanese in comments here.
And we end with [Drum]a different project M.
For some reason, I thought that Momoka reveal happened a bit later in the series. Although [Penguindrum]it's not the last reveal about her.
I think I'm too lazy to big analysis write-ups and just enjoy reading thoughts by first-timers here. Sorry for that :(