Spinning PenguinDrum #09 — Rats Within Rats

September 8th, 2011

 

"…Which was also my dinner last night."

Impressions:

Jesus, Japan. Do you know what I would give at this point for you to manage to go a week without a goddamned flashback? It’s particularly godawful here because Himari is barely even part of the show. She’s at best a thinly veiled (if at all) plot device that hasn’t even been used. All she’s done so far is collapsed dead, provide about 45 seconds total of comic relief, and been host to a hat whose screen time has been 90% recycled footage and… oh yeah, its mission has been trivialized since the characters just stand around and stare at each other instead of trying to do it.

So here we are, instead of viewing whatever boo boo Shouma got from being plowed over by a car in the cliffhanger, that gets a giant pause button to cut away to something completely unrelated with what barely qualifies as a side character having a flashback trip inside a magical library. Then what happens? Flashbacks within a flashback. Of their mother being grievously wounded because Himari threw a temper tantrum and knocked a mirror over. This is some kind of magical vortex of sucking. The only thing I found even vaguely intriguing about this episode was the part of the third flashback within a flashback where Himari trying to take a bat to a koi, and that’s probably mostly because that was the main theme of the first episode that intrigued me. Also, a psychotic that might kill the entire cast under some mistaken childish belief could do nothing but improve this show. Man-Utena as some random demigoddish librarian handing out magical hats is moving in the opposite direction of that.

Posted in Penguindrum | 7 Comments »

7 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • Takebou says:

    So you think you’ll drop “seizon senryaku!” ?

    It’s pretty freaking slow.

    • Aroduc says:

      We’ll see what the new season has to offer. So far, I believe that there’s the two noitaminA shows (although I never really have any hope for noitaminA and my low expectations haven’t really been betrayed yet), and Persona 4 which, like TotA, I know has no actual chance of being good, but I have to watch it anyway. And that fanservice thing which appears to be even dumber than Mayo Chiki.
      Hopefully they’ll either instill the belief in me that things could be worse or just be significantly better than what Pengydrum has become, which is not a terribly hard feat.

  • jelly says:

    I watched this after reading your post. I was expecting worse….

    • sage says:

      He tends to nitpick and exaggerate.

      While Himari has barely had any screentime, this episode showed that she is the “key” for a few plot threads. She is, after all, the reason why the brothers are trying to acquire the Penguindrum (on her own orders, even). Now we learn that her involvement with the Penguins might even predate the events of this show, so… It’s something to look forward to.

      I do agree that the show has been horribly slow and can’t focus on it’s main plot thread. And Ringo’s delusions have gone from being only slightly amusing to just instill pity (or contempt, your coice) on you. Here’s hoping that the plot starts moving forward in the next episode.

  • Yyi says:

    3 episodes left and they introduce a new character which mindfucks the hell out of everyone…and the only thing I felt they explained properly was the ED.

    • Aroduc says:

      It’s continuing into the next season, which still isn’t an excuse for meandering all over the place except for the central plot.

  • Stuff says:

    I dont know how you found this to be a terrible episode, as I thought this was an amazing one. There was just so much going on in this episode, and the episode itself was just visually stunning.
    Although the scene was rather corny, the situation with the mother getting into the accident clearly connects with what had happened earlier in the series, with the father getting hurt to protect kanba. And that scene with the koi fish? That was wonderfully dark, and they even coupled it with cheerful music.
    Also, I highly doubt that the show ignored himari this whole time was by accident. So far this show only portrayed her as a thinly built mary sue who’s absolutely clueless about her surroundings, without worries or concerns. However, this episode just threw that idea out of the water. Although Ringo brought up something very interesting about himari towards the end of episode 8. She has flaws, she has worries, and shes not as clueless as she has been presented as. Its also implied that the princess that “possesses” her, and the normal himari may not be two completely different beings after all.
    Theres also meaning to the book she was looking for, the return date that appears in the library at the beginnig of the episode, the door with numbers on it, the conveyer belt, the fact that the penguin had a 3 on the back of it even though thats not supposed to be possible, the child broiler, etc.

    tl;dr
    I liked this episode. I dont believe this episode was poorly developed, and if youre peeved about this episode showing up after a cliff hanger, then you might be angry with the next episode as well. Theres a chance the next episode will focus on kanba, based on the previews.