Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
starfirexi
This is my first review on MAL and normally, I wouldn't be too interested in writing reviews, because honestly, I'm not very good at it, but in the case of Mawaru Penguindrum, it was inevitable.
I felt like if I did not write what I'm feeling after watching this anime, then something inside my mind will definitely break...
So here I go.
I found out about the famous ''mawaru penguindrum'', when I overheard two girls in my school talking about how mindblowingly amazing it is. Perhaps , it was then, that i made a mental note to maybe check it out.
When I came home that day, I searched it up:
"Best anime ever"
"I can't believe something as good as this anime exists"
"Amazing"
"10/10"
I was super excited. I couldn't wait to watch it.
I waited until my exams were over and cleaned my room an…
Read at the sourceKerrgai
In order to best understand my review I feel it would be best if I divulge a bit of my personal history. I am not on any drugs, hallucinogens, or medications. I have never been in a mental hospital. I have always done well in school, overall those around me consider me as a “pretty smart guy”. With all that in mind can someone explain to me two things; one what the hell did I just watch and two why is this anime ranked so high.
This anime is confusing as hell and it makes no sense. For every question answered at least three more are raised. It’s going to be a difficult task but I will try to keep my review spoiler free. Forget about all the so called facts you read in the synopsis. Just about every “truth” is impugn. My biggest issue with this anime is that it fails to establish definite…
Read at the sourceLink_of_Hyrule
**SPOILER FREE REVIEW**
“What is Mawaru Penguindrum?“ If ever there was a more loaded question in the realm of anime, I’m not sure I’ve heard of it, because this show is an absolute enigma. Adequately reviewing this show is a daunting task for reasons that will soon be clear, but let’s give it a shot: First of all, what is this show? Well, it’s a lot of things. A moving story about the importance of love. A detailed commentary on the way society treats children. A unique perspective on mental health issues. An insightful interpretation about the concepts of fate and destiny. Etcetera etcetera etcetera. While the vast majority of anime are driven by their plot or by their characters, Penguindrum is instead driven by its themes, style, and the artistic messages that lurk in the 2nd, 3rd, an…
Read at the sourceorionator
Mawaru Penguindrum; also entitled 'I Have a Lot of Feelings'
I won't lie. This was amazing. Absolutely beautiful. Stunning script, clean art, a unique plot line and music that wrenches at your gut in the most despairing moments of the series, whilst enhancing the humour and light-heartedness that this series needed as a preventative measure for hearts breaking and tears overflowing everywhere.
Where should I even start?
The story itself was...definitely unique. I heard the title of Penguindrum and passed it off as a simple family orientated fantasy adventure, but when I saw that it was categorised as 'psychological', my curiosity was piqued and I began to watch it. Boy, was I in for a journey. In typical Ikuhara-esque manner, the themes dealt with in this anime are at times questionable…
Read at the sourcenanominarai
Can children live a fate separate from their parents? Or must they inherit the will of the past generation?
Penguindrum is another show from Kunihiko Ikuhara, the director of Sailor Moon S and Revolutionary Girl Utena. If you’re familiar with Ikuhara, you probably know his directing style is incredibly theatrical, expressive, and abstract. However, there’s enough in Penguindrum that makes it hold something new for both Ikuhara fans and new watchers.
One thing should be clear: Ikuhara shows can be very daunting for many anime fans to watch. This is mostly because his shows are dripping in symbolic imagery that is meant to provoke an emotional response from the viewer. And that might not work out for everyone. He also loves developing his characters through repetition, something that migh…
Read at the sourcehisoka_kanjou
Okay. The first thing to say about this anime: It's strange. It's definitely the strangest anime I ever watched - and that means something when you talk about anime. But it's great in its own way.
I don't know if I really understood everything, because I think it was somewhat confusing and I watched it over a long period of time, so maybe that's also a reason why I was so confused by this anime. When I started it, I thought it would be a light-hearted show you can watch to relax but that's wrong. I watched it with complete wrong expectations and I was sometimes unsure if I should take serious what was happening there or not. The mood in this anime is not dark, but the producers definitely have black humor.
I'll start with the story:
The story develops rather slow-paced, but that's okay.…
Read at the sourceChrolloDevJS
I've seen many people compare this anime to a novel or another work of literary art. In a sense, they are correct. I found this anime to be very reminiscent of some of the books my english class had assigned in high school: well-written, full of symbolism and poetic imagery, but not engaging/captivating.
Story - My biggest issue with this show is the story. The basic plot (which you can read in the above synopsis) seems simple enough. However, there are many side stories, background stories, and things that are hinted at that are never resolved, explored, nor explained. Many times an episode would end with a very interesting turn of events, only to have the next episode hand-wave it away and pretend that nothing had happened, in favor of focusing on the "main story".
The story in general…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Mawaru Penguindrum is one of those rare anime that doesn't have some form of source material. It was created by Brain's Base, the same studio behind Durarara & Baccano. The co-writer and director was Ikuhara Kunihiko. You may not know his name but you probably recognise his other works. He created and directed Revolutionary Girl Utena and served as the director for large segments of the Sailor Moon anime. I have to say, this sounds promising. So far, the two anime I've seen from Brain's Base have been at least decent and Ikuhara does amazing work. If they screw this up I'm going to be sorely disappointed. So, let's proceed with cautious optimism.
Story:
Our tale opens with three siblings, Shouma, Kanba and Himari. The three are living on their own since their parents went missing and thi…
Read at the sourcecumsussertodd
STORY
Honestly, I feel that Ikuhara had many good ideas in terms of the plot. However, the end result is a clusterfuck of stories and themes mashed together. On their own, each arc stands up quite well, and a lot of ideas are well executed too. I liked the Child Broiler idea for one, ignoring the fact that it was a tad overused.
The plot is extremely convoluted and confusing. Unlike other anime that explain their convoluted storylines like, say, Kyousougiga, Mawaru Penguindrum does not make any attempt to do so. The viewer is left wondering what the fuck is going on as plot development after plot development happens without any explanation whatsoever. In the last 8 or so episodes in the series, everything just goes completely apeshit, with characters suddenly changing personalities and…
Read at the sourcedrearyrain
Mawaru Penguindrum is an anime unafraid to break conventional rules. Its story is lucrative and all over the place, and is hilarious yet profound. It has an extensive use of symbolism to convey its morals and message, similar to Kunihiko Ikuhara’s other piece, Revolutionary Girl Utena. It has a nice set of characters each with their own quirks that make them interesting and diverse. The animation is well-done and the soundtrack is stunning. But most importantly, it has irresistibly adorable penguins that you just can’t help but feel like hugging. Such qualities should make Penguindrum an outstanding anime. Unfortunately, various problems, such as its abuse of drama and its messy form of narrative, plague the anime and bring it down from what it could have been.
Immediately in the first ep…
Read at the sourceLuckyKrystal
Mawaru Penguindrum is a zany, wacky, twisted, messed up jumble of an anime that is so absolutely insane, yet it surprisingly turns out to be an interesting and compelling story in the end.
Penguindrum is the brainchild of Kunihiko Ikuhara, who also conceived Revolutionary Girl Utena over a decade earlier. Penguindrum bears many similarities to Utena: the repetition, the odd humor, the heavy handed symbolism, and the silly yet loveable characters are all here. Fans of Utena will definitely feel right at home with Penguindrum.
The story goes a little bit like this: Two brothers, Shouma and Kanba Takakura, have a sweet little sister, Himari, who is unfortunately dying from a terminal illness. On a trip to the aquarium, Himari collapses and dies. But she is oddly revived by the penguin hat t…
Read at the sourceDandey
After watching Mawaru Penguindrum, if I ever see another penguin, or penguin related products/logos I will probably kill myself.
Moving on, this show is a prime example of 'more' isn't always more. Mawaru Penguindrum had so much potential, however unlike many anime shows it actually delivered... But the issue I had with this, is that it also added SO MANY unnecessary plot twists and issues that simply were not needed. It made the story hard to follow and i was finding myself questioning what the main plot of the story was, which for me wasn't pleasant to watch at certain scenes. At times it seemed like the creators were just trying to fill in time with random scenes that had no relevance to the story.
Which is why i have no idea why i loved this show as much as I did. There was so much…
Read at the sourceWickedMind
Remember during an English/Literature class and your teacher would recommend you a book to read for an important exam/lesson? Some of the contexts contain what you may think as a simple room painted in "red" actually hides a message of violence and anger. Another example is the book "The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry" shares many symbols such as the rose being a symbol of vanity. Mawaru Penguindrum is definitely like a classic book. A classic book that uses objects as symbols.
Practically, the whole anime in itself is a pure symbol of what you may think is a child's play is actually much more than that.
The thing that made me drawn into the anime was pretty simple, the cute little blue penguins. I barely took the anime that seriously because I don't really check out the summa…
Read at the sourcechancellor
Mawaru Penguindrum is a beautiful piece of art. It can inspire either much love or hate, and new details are discovered with each viewing. Intelligent symbolism and heavy themes span all of Penguindrum's 24 episodes. Despite its surreal delivery, Penguindrum remains very real.
The story of Mawaru Penguindrum is completely absurd. Not absurd because of the surreal elements, but how it makes something so imaginative and implausible seem real. We start off with a dying sister, her revival, and eventual search for a mysterious object, called the "penguin drum". Yet, somewhere along the way, the story becomes a situation of life, death, and existence itself.
The plot takes a while to reach its climax. Half of the show is spent on character development, craziness, humor, and seemingly random…
Read at the sourcePoeticJustice
Mawaru Penguindrum. What can I possibly say about it that hasn't already been said? Pretentious. Confusing. Beautiful. Terrible. A Masterpiece. Overrated. Genius. You could say anything of these things and you would be correct. But, in my eyes, Mawaru Penguindrum is an anime unlike any I have ever seen. It pushes the boundaries of the medium in a way that hasn't been done since the End of Evangelion movie.
Story(9/10)- Penguindrum's story is one wrapped in what seems to be endless layers of symbolism. One can easily be overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of it. Everything from a single line of dialogue to an unusual camera angle is there for a reason. It will probably take many years for this show to be fully deciphered, it goes to show us that A LOT of effort was put into this story. The r…
Read at the sourcePurjoloek
Mawaru Penguindrum to me is a show that had lots of potential, but ultimately fell flat towards the end, due to a convoluted plot and wonky character development. Let me tell you why (I'll try to keep it as spoiler-free as possible):
The Story:
The show starts with our main characters in a state not that unusual in anime: orphaned teens living on their own, doing alright. The little sister is sickly, but is miraculously saved by a hat. While being possessed by the hat, she tells her two brothers that they must find the "Penguindrum", and that's our set-up.
The story follows our heroes as they try their best to find this Penguindrum and with it, solve all their problems. The story is all over the place in the beginning, with some seemingly random events and flashbacks here and there. Tow…
Read at the sourceShiiKatsu
Before I started watching this anime, even before I knew what it was called, I already had a feeling it was going to be special.
After watching the first episode, I said aloud: "This is the weirdest anime...!" But despite that, I was very drawn to it and kept watching. I wasn't disappointed.
Mawaru Penguindrum has made me both laugh and cry more than once, and after episode 8 I could hardly wait to watch more, putting all the other anime I had been watching on hold for this.
The story is very touching, and the Takakura family's close bonds with each other was something I really loved. I was rather surprised at the plot twists(I won't give anything away, but beware- Penguindrum isn't all sweetness and light), but I do like anime that's darker than it first appears to be. The story also…
Read at the sourceUriel1988
When someone on the Internet describes a work of fiction as 'visionary', it's usually meant as a form of praise, referring to a willingness to defy convention in favor of something more thought-provoking and enticing. As defined by a dictionary, 'visionary' refers to embracing fanciful and often impractical ideas.
Mawaru Penguindrum falls under both definitions.
What Kunihiko Ikuhara of Utena-fame has created here is a show that takes philosophical musings on themes such as fate, love and death; and combines them with slapstick antics involving ghost penguins and ping-pong balls that erase people's memories.
If that sounds difficult to take seriously to you, don't bother watching this show. It's going to get a lot weirder.
The overall product is audacious, if nothing else; presenting t…
Read at the sourceSkyGel
Mawaru Penguindrum is not a show for everybody, but for those who are able to appreciate what this show has to offer, it is truly a treat.
This series, first and foremost, focuses on the messages that it wants to convey, and then weaves the plot around it. The show approaches things quite differently than most animes, and leaves us with a thematically tight, but quite confusing show. The premise is basically two brothers trying to save their younger sister from a terminal illness. She dies, but a mysterious penguinhat revives her and commands them to obtain the penguindrum if they truly wish to save her. Mysterious penguins are also dropped onto their doorway. The first half of the series presents itself as a comedic slice of life with some supernatural elements, however the second half s…
Read at the source8thSin
I love the word "fate".
You know how everyone talks about this anime called Mawaru Penguindrum?
Just one single show can completely change your landscape.
Such a thought-provoking series is not made by mere coincidence.
It's definitely... fate.
Of course, it's not for everyone.
There are many mysterious, seemingly pointless story developments.
It's hard to accept abstract ideas that start with nothing but confusion.
But I think... Every line of dialogue, every object drawn in the show exist for a reason.
Nothing in this show is pointless. What if I asked viewers what anime was like before they have seen Mawaru Penguindrum?
They've forgotten what it was like when they didn't?
You could say anime today isn't hopeless thanks to this show.
The feeling of noticing perplexing symbolism.
Hearing…
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