This is a funny sort of post to write, because after twenty-four episode posts and some side posts, I almost feel as if everything there is to say about Mawaru Penguin Drum has already been said. This series reminds me of Madoka Magica in some ways, because I think it’s […] Read more
I almost feel lost even trying to begin this post, because there’s so much happening both intellectually and emotionally that I’m trying to sort out. No other series this season has been able to do that to me, for better or worse. In the end, it seems that Kanba and […] Read more
Oh, Mawaru Penguin Drum – how is it that you can make me so angry and yet totally captivate me a the same time? Why can’t I quit you, Ikuhara? If I cared to, I could rattle off a laundry list of major – major – issues I have with […] Read more
One of my favorite sitcoms back when I was a little kid was “The John Laroquette Show” (as with most of the shows I loved, it was a ratings failure and flared out like a supernova). Laroquette is a very funny man who’s lived a very hard and painful life, […] Read more
It’s ironic that for most of this series’ run, I’ve admired Mawaru Penguin Drum technically and felt somewhat detached emotionally. Because as we enter the final arc, Ikuhara has thoroughly captured my emotions, but I can’t help but think that the show has gone slightly off the rails from a […] Read more
Episode 20 of Mawaru Penguin Drum was cryptic and full of mysteries, and as always raised new questions with every one it answered. But as a whole, the emotional impact was as powerful as any episode in the series’ entire run. Maybe it’s my tryptophan and wine-addled mind that’s the […] Read more
Mawaru Penguin Drum is certainly bringing its “A” game in terms of emotional impact and suspense, but Ikuhara still isn’t making it easy to feel comfortable in knowing just what’s going on. Let’s review a few items of import that were revealed tonight: Sanetoshi feels the diary is his enemy. […] Read more
Whatever else you may say about Mawaru Penguin Drum, you could never say it was boring. But when it’s firing on all cylinders as it was this week, it moves beyond the realms of merely fascinating to become truly special. There was an awful lot of interesting stuff happening in […] Read more
I don’t know just what to make out of this week’s Mawaru Penguin Drum – it was almost… Linear. Ironic for the episode when the subway line takes a sharp bend to the left. I enjoyed this episode a lot, I guess in part because it’s very balance and conventionality […] Read more
Here’s a case where the new ED fit the episode content perfectly – “Everybody went nutso”. I’ve more or less given up on trying to figure MPD out at this point, because I’m not convinced Ikuhara wants it to be figured out and, for that reason, I’m not convinced he’ll even […] Read more