Mawaru Penguindrum – 11

16 Years Ago, On That Fateful Day

Uwah, I’ve finally been given the honor to catch the Penguindrum tag-team train after having to cancel my trip last week due to some serious Usagi Drop business. While my hands are again filled with more pressing work this week, I was determined to make this train, even if I’d be a bit late (sorry Conductor Jrow)! Anyways, I’m definitely happy to be tag teaming with Jrow this week as episode 11 just unlocked another clue to the past for us that includes my dear Shouma. Was it fate for me to miss last week then? *lamepun*

Hoshi, it is a pleasure to have you join me this week! And I really love the Conductor title! :)Where was I 16 years ago on March 20th, 1995? I was 10 years old, probably outside playing baseball after school. I still have a clear memory of my classroom & me and a friend taking shortcuts through peoples’ yards while walking to school. Where were the Penguindrum characters at? Well, it is an interesting story…

Kanba visits Natsume at her house in hopes of getting the diary back. After painting a picture of Kan, Masako compares their relationship to a hunter and prey and that she thinks of it as a love hunt. Kanba asks about the bullet he kept from when Asami got shot, and after asking for the diary back, Mario appears and Masako says that she needs it to save Mario. Afterwards, Masako talks to someone on the phone and confirms that she only has half of the diary and instructs the person on the other line to get the second half.

On the train, Shouma is disappointed in Ringo for giving up her half of the diary because of a mere threat. After Ringo drops some verbal and physical abuse on him, she decides to continue Project M based off of what memory she has of it, with tonight’s plan being her and Tabuki spending a night together. Shouma refuses to help, so Ringo goes on her own.

Shouma fangirls are loading their guns now

Giving it another try after episode 7’s failure,  Ringo revisits the frog enchanting method. This time she has a lady chanting frog, which is a rare find (once every 16 years), and puts herself on the table and smushes it against her face as she screams icky icky! But, it’s all for him. He’ll fall head over heels for her!

She meets up with Tabuki later and gets on a ferris wheel cart with him. She offers him some gamey-smelling “coffee” with special water, which shows some immediate effects; he goes “gero” like a frog and loudly professes his love for Ringo. It would seem like Ringo has gotten the desired effect. In fantasy, Tabuki takes her up into space and shows the many signs of him being in love with her. At the condo, he carries her into the bedroom and Ringo starts to tear up because she had been yearning for this moment. As Tabuki goes to kiss her…

At the Takakura house, Sho is spacing out while cooking at the oven. Himari turns off the stove as the pot is boiling over, and analyzing the reason for him cooking stuffed cabbage, she correctly assumes that he and Ringo got into a fight and that people usually make stuffed cabbage to make up with someone. “Little Sister’s Orders” hope that Ringo likes stuffed cabbage.

Her forehead glows with an awesome power!

Back to Ringo and Tabuki, she stops his advance and questions if she really loves him. She goes to walk away, and Tabuki ribbits again and is furiously banging on the door asking Ringo to open up. Yuri comes home to see this happening, and Ringo asks her to break up with him. Yuri agrees to it, but wonders if that will actually make her happy, and also thought that she loved Shouma. Ringo was clearly caught off guard with that line, and leaves.

Waiting for Ringo to come back to her apartment, Himari and Shouma welcome her with the stuffed curry cabbage they made. Upset that Shouma is getting in the way of her fate and for saying the line, “You are you,” Ringo smacks the bowl out of his hands and repeats the abuse from the train. Before they discuss more about what their relationship is, Survival Strategy is initiated. (omitting the Triple H song and most of the animation sequence)

“Cry, Monkey Bitch!” Himari tells Ringo. Ringo begins to talk about the significance of Curry Day. On that day 16 years ago, Momoka died and Ringo was born. Saying her sister was a victim of that incident, Shouma takes blame for messing up her fate. You see, he and Kanba were also born on that day 16 years ago, which leads him to take blame for Momoka’s death.

Fate is a vicious circle

Weekly Marching of the Penguins:

Today’s Slogan: Those Words Changed Everything

Esmeralda is a fantasy version of what Masako wants to do to Kanba

#2 can heat onion buns with his butt and blast off with his farts. U jelly?

Threetie’s reaction is hilarious. “You can’t just put that piece back in!”

“Gosh, it must be crushed soon.” One more friggin time, so help me. Getting a bit sick of that line.

Though that phrase now has the feeling of being peppered in just for the sake of it, like Hoshi below, I loved this episode and its direction towards piecing things together such as the tie between Ringo and the Takakura brothers. It’s quite a stunning surprise that both Shouma and Kanba were also born on the same day as Ringo (which was also Momoka’s date of death) and Shouma’s realization that they are to blame for what happened. I’ve mentioned the 95 Saren Gas attacks in the past, which definitely seems more out there now that 95’s are all over a train and the kids referring to that “incident”. How they are to blame is certainly the next item of interest; surely it’s something involving the Takakura parents?

I might be repeating thoughts from episode 10, but Masako does seem like an obsessive stalker when it comes to Kanba. Whatever he said in the past must have really stuck with her, but her quest for love is unusual since she merely aims to possess, and she seems to be using some secret Kanba has as leverage.

One thing I still have interest in is back from episode 8, who has the other half of the diary? We saw somebody (presumedly a woman by many commenters) on a motorcycle grab the back end of the diary. In episode 10, Masako is holding Shouma and forcing them to turn over the diary as ransom, and we see another unknown person pick up the diary as Ringo drops it. Some have suspected Yuri of being the person to take the diart, and I’ve been wondering for some time if Masako and Yuri are involved in something together. Now I’m not really sure. Yuri saying to Ringo, “Yes, silly girl. You haven’t even realized your true feelings yet.” when referring to Ringo’s love of Shouma could have been a dropped hint that she had the back end of the diary and read it. She was weirdly, but not surprisingly relaxed over her fiance banging on the door furiously yelling out his love of Ringo, but then again, she’s known about Ringo ever since episode 4 when they were bird watching together.

After episode 2 when the penguins were the center of attention, they basically have been relegated to the role of being symbolic of the conversations that the human characters are having and there own desires, like #2 being such a glutton. I’ve only talked about them a bit sense maybe episode 4, but I thought the Pengis were both really funny to watch and also effective in playing the roles of their human counterparts. #1 wearing a Samurai outfit for no reason was really funny, as if he was on the attack even though Esmeralda eventually got its clothes off not just in art form, but basically by sexual assault. #2 was also hilarious using his farts to fly and Threetie finally had a genuinely funny moment when she basically clubbed #2 when it tried to put a “cooked” piece of food back into the bowl. The penguins have been awesome, but I feel like this was the best combo of symbolism and humor when it comes to Pengis #1, #2 and Threetie (and also Esmeralda).

Oh, how I love it when pasts cross each other like this~ I’ve always been a sucker for crossed paths, stories, and pasts (a fan of ‘fateful’ encounters, you can say). There are so many hidden pieces that are being uncovered and connected lately in Penguindrum, and I’m absolutely loving it. This sudden development of Momoko’s death being supposedly caused by Shouma and Kanba has got me rocking in my chair anxiously awaiting next week’s episode. I mean, what could them being born have to do with that incident? I also really loved the animation to the reveal, with the subway they’re on dark with 95 circles all around them; just brilliant.

So I’m assuming Natsume and Kanba knew each other in the past? And this Mario boy is freaking me out…I’m wondering if he might be a relative of Natsume’s, like a little brother or something, which can explain why she’d want to get the diary as well. But since this is Penguidrum, that assumption seems too ordinary, too easy. It’s got to be something more unexpected, more twisted, more suspicious. I would like to think though that maybe Mario might be the little boy in the end of episode 9, where Himari mentioned her soul mate…

Ringo ACTUALLY pulling of her little toad-ritual thing with Tabuki totally caught me off guard. I knew something like that would happen eventually, but it was so fast, so easy, I was a bit disappointed. It was quite hysterical though~ As for Yuri, I think she only told Ringo that she loves Shouma because she knows how easily she can trick her into getting away from Tabuki. She looked completely unfazed by what crazy-toad Tabuki was calling out from behind the door, and probably knew Ringo couldn’t go through with her plan.

Episode 11 has become one of my favorite episodes so far despite the fact my poor fangirl heart is crushed that Shouma and Ringo are being put together more and more. Yet it’s their scenes together that actually make the episode my favorite. I can’t deny how cute Shouma was making the stuffed cabbage as in an apology to her, and telling her how she’s herself, and no one else. Ringo smacking Shouma around had me laughing quite a lot actually. Poor Sho though; he’s always getting smacked around by somebody -sigh-. Anyways, someone needs to bring Penguindrum Thursday around faster; the suspense is having me chew away at my pretty nails…~

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