Mawaru Penguindrum - Episode 2

Pfft! As if I'll miss this:

As if horsies can escape my radar, LOLz

I'm not sure how it got connected to lingerie though o_O Will look that up next time.

Whereas Star Driver was less serious than it actually seemed at first, Penguin Drum is more serious than it actually seems.~ Psgels

THAT is one of the main reasons why I'm so madly in love with this series. I love shows that appear silly but are actually deeper if you look into it more carefully. Like in this episode, it seemed that it was more about perverted "spy penguins" fooling around yet we got more plot and character development, and it still didn't un out of symbolisms, references, and themes.

animekritik has looked into the names of the places, more connections of the train names, and even the historical notes in the blackboard. Jojobees saw the new character who appears to be just some ordinary high school girl with fairy tale-ish fantasies at first but later turns out to be someone... bizarre.

(Oh I knew there are occult references in this xD There are more in the ending theme~)

This show is crazy... and having a stalker character made that fact even more obvious, haha! But like the stalker in Durarara!, she isn't just part of the cast to creep the audience out... but she would also be having an important role in the main plot. I really loved it that this series got me fooled into thinking that the new character was just some innocent and naive girl turned out to be really really twisted xD What's more, her "idealistic" take on fate/destiny started to make a lot of sense when we figure out her "special ability".

Could that have been the Penguindrum? If so, what could the power of seeing the future have any connection to the survival of those beings? And could Ringo be connected to them? She illustrates penguins in that diary as well, after all. Was the diary hers in the first place? It could've been something she just picked like Light in Death Note.

Oh this series is getting more and more interesting~

If the previous episode ranted about fate, this one did the opposite. Yay to various opinions! (Well, it would be boring if this will simply be an anti-fate show o_O) And I think Himari herself will be part of the pro-fate party as well, haha.

Speaking of Himari, the scene when The Hat talks to the boys in another dimension seems like a repeat... but the discussions were different (and the boys were even wearing different clothes) so it didn't feel like a total repeat. But I hope that they'll cut the rocket scene whenever they go to that other dimension.... seeing the same thing often, no matter how cool or cute it is, would bore me x_x

Oh, about the boys, (their voice actors have the same surname... brothers too??? O_O) I only realized that they were twins a little recently, ahaha! *a sucker for twin boys in fiction btw* I don't see fraternal twins (both male) that often (or maybe because I had focused on stories which have identical ones, ehehe). I'm having fun in noting their similarities and differences:

• With their parents gone, Kanba acts as the head of the family (wouldn't be surprised if he at times does part time jobs for more income); Shouma acts as the "housewife" (does the cooking, and most of the household chores. He's even the one more concerned on the budget.)
• Kanba doesn't care on what method he'll use to do what he needs to do; Shouma considers morality and other people's ethical rights.
• Kanba is good in lying, and that had helped him in getting out of trouble; Shouma's too honest and if he can't tell the truth, he'd either shut up, or make obvious lies, or blurt out the truth.
• Kanba is better in noticing when people are in love; Shouma doesn't get it. (yeah, as Kanba said, he's dense when it comes to these matters~)
• Kanba has flowers appearing around him knows how to seduce women; Shouma won't even bother... and is a little disgusted when Kanba does his thing.
• Kanba had a lot of girlfriends; Shouma never seemed to have had one.
• Kanba has a lot of connections (possibly more other than his girlfriends); Shouma seems to have only friend... who sorta has a one-sided relationship with him.
• Kanba is perverted, and is pretty knowledgeable on female underwear; Shouma is easily embarassed and disturbed on perverted stuff, and couldn't even look.
• Kanba is more attached to Himari compare to his brother; but Himari seems closer to Shouma (she's the one she calls, hangs out with more, etc.)
• When it comes to watching over someone, Kanba is the better guard; Shouma can neglect things when distracted.
• If something unreasonable is going on ("you should find the penguin drum"), Kanba just sighs or shrugs it off; Shouma voices out his opinion/comment/reaction/complain.
• If something confusing is going on ("why is the girl we're following doing that?"), Kanba is the one who thinks up of theories to explain the situation... or decides on what to do; Shouma seeks for and relies on his big brother's wisdom/advice.
• If something unacceptable was told to them ("your sister will die"), Kanba is the one who does most of the reaction... and do something to make the impossible possible; Shouma would just accept things they can't do anything about.
• If something unacceptable has happened to them ("our sister died"), Kanba would do the acceptance (though negatively); Shouma expresses the emotions and won't accept ideas like "it has to turn out this way"

Kanba and Shouma are very different from each other; Kanba's quite naughty while Shouma's pretty conservative. But despite the differences, they often agree or decide on the same thing in the end anyway (like about spying on Ringo: Kanba says it's okay, Shouma thinks otherwise, but they do it anyway because they both would do anything for Himari's sake). At times they could even switch roles (like who's more emotional depending on the situation). It's cool when opposites not only balance each other out, but could also complement each other... and they aren't complete opposites either.

I almost feared that the two brothers only dote and adore their sister, but too selfish and jealous to care about each other. But it doesn't seem to be like that. Kanba helps out his brother when the boy's in a pinch, and isn't annoyed to explain what he knows if Shouma's lost and confused. He was even the one who ordered #2 to bring Shouma an umbrella... and he had most likely anticipated Shouma to lose his card and be late in shopping.

Shouma, on the other hand, might be disgusted with some of his brother's hobbies and opposes on some of his brothers methods (like the hacking)... but he highly relies on his brother and is obedient when Kanba tells him to do something. He also admires Kanba when his brother suggests a good idea or does something awesome. Shouma looks up to Kanba, no doubt. I wouldn't be surprised if he used to (or until now) wished that he'll become like his brother in the future.

As for Himari, not much about her in this episode. We just saw her scolding her brothers... then feeling bad that they might've become delinquents. That's cute and quite motherly of her, hehe.

Now about other characters, we finally get to know the name of Shouma's friend in school: Yamashita. His face is still not shown though (I kne wit that it was intentional).. and that just made me even more curious about him! I wonder if he'll be a significant later.... like the teacher in the episode. At first he seems to be "just the protagonist's teacher"... then he turns out to be a stalker victim... then later I realized he looks like the dude in the OP:

(Oooooooo~)

Makes me more excited to see the rest of the cast *_* Especially the chick with a gun in the OP, hehe.

RANDOM LOLz:

• K3 has mentioned to me that the two other girls in the ED are the Takakura brother as females... that's cool and disturbing at the same time xD So these girls that appear in advertisements and whose merchandise that the Takakura family seem to be collecting could be the brothers in the future? LOLz
• The books that the brother picked in the bookstore were different.... Kanba's was hilarious, LOLz
• BOSHI-SAMA!!! LOLz
• There were sure a lot of companies in the series with penguin logos o_O Like PING SEVEN!! LOLz
• Why was the shoe stuck on the penguin's head, LOLz
• The numbers aren't really necessary to differentiate the penguins though: Kanba's has thick eyebrows + bandaid, Himari's has a ribbon, while Shouma's the stupid-looking one. They even sound different, LOLz

(w00t! LOLz)