That boy!! I should have known!
This episode played some delicious mind game son Kanba (or Kamba… I’m not sure whether that’s his official spelling or the creators wanted to show that a certain character is a bad speller…). The second half of this episode rocked in particular because of how well it used all of the build-up in the first half. Things that just seemed completely random actually got a whole deeper meaning as the episode went on. It all came together in a greatly addictive climax.
Every character in this show has his or her flaws: Himari’s we got to see last week, Shouma is way too damn nice, the penguins are just complete scum bags and Ringo is an obsessive stalker, but the most interesting is the womanizer Kanba, simply because we hardly ever get to see characters like that in a main role. The last time we had a major character of his caliber was with White Album. The women in this series are obsessive, but this guy also deserves points in the asshole department by not caring at all about his past dates. And again the reasoning behind it seems deep. That speech of Kanba about the things he hates to get from a female sounded very deep seated. Something happened between the two of them…
Also, watching the penguins in the background was as hilarious as ever.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
I doubt Kanba and Masako have dated. I rather think Masako has the memories she stole from the trio of Kanba’s former girlfriends.
If they had met before there would be no reason for her to hide her face.
That’s an interesting idea hurin. It would mean as I assumed initially that Kanba was telling Himari about gifts from various girls. However, why would Natsume then repeatedly ask if Kanba remembers (she’d effectively be asking on the other girls behalf), or be jealous of how close she thinks Shouma and Ringo are? Kanba then seems to recognise her when she finally does make her appearance.
It seems Princess Himari doesn’t have a monopoly on illusions – the illusionary hospital that was still rooted in reality has to have been Mario’s work. It would seem he’s taking a more active role in his survival strategy.
And Ringo acting dere to Shouma and being concerned for him throughout the episode? Wonderful.
About Kanba’s name: Pretty sure you know that, but an n before a before can be romanized as an m instead. Perhaps that’s just the way the creators decided to spell his name in English, which would be far from the first time in which the more traditional romanization conventions aren’t followed.
is it just me or will this show use a new version of “Dear Future” for every episode’s ending from now on? (there are a ton of official remixes – but from what I’ve listened, none even coming close to the awesomeness of the original).
Well, I’ve just started Penguin Drum last week. Ran out of episodes today. What an exceptional show… It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to see how a particular show develops. Also, question for the Utena buffs : should I see that show as well because of my enjoyment of MPD? It seems a bit too “shoujo” for me, even with the symbolism and creative camerawork.
I’m not so sure that Kanba and Masako have dated either…I mean, sure it’s possible. But I see Masako as being more of the “fighting against injustice to women” type. And Kanba, being the womanizer he is, would most certainly be her archenemy if that really is the case.
I also like that we saw some serious character growth in Ringo. For the first time, she cared about Shoma more than she did about herself. And she was actually genuinely happy when she was doing things to help him out…
Did anybody else think that the animation was a bit…weird…in this episode? I’m not talking the usual weird abstract scenes…but the characters themselves just seemed…off…for some reason in this episode. Wasn’t sure if that was intentional or just laziness…
Wonder if Natsume is indebted to Mario’s hata since Natsume seems to be working willingly for his survival strategy. And EsmereldaX1, lol ship that if you can!
@Whisperer: You should try watching at least 3 three episodes of Utena, and see if it is too shoujo for you. The thing that drives off most people is the repetitiveness really, and even I as a fan really don’t recommend marathoning through it.
I am wondering though… Considering that the fate diary is about getting Project M – if it is maternity – to happen. Ringo was the one who interpreted it as her being the one needing to get pregnant via Tabuki now that Natsume has it I wonder as to whose interpretation she’ll be scheming? I mean it seems they want Project M to complete itself so as to acquire the Penguin Drum which would possibly grant that miracle noted in the diary.
My guess is Natsume’s project M involves Yuri instead of Ringo D: That Yuri’s luck with Tabuki is the fate being manipulated by the people on Natsume’s side. Though it does beg the question as to why Tabuki seems so vital to both sides, he’s the only one whom the diary really makes a distinction of from what I can tell rest are pretty vague.
@Whisperer: I don’t think Utena is shoujo at all. It does deal with human relationships, but I don’t think it does so in a traditional shoujo way (most disagreements are settled with a sword-fight, after all). One could argue that Utena is a very atypical mahou shoujo, I suppose, but that genre is quite different from shoujo. I would call it a psychological battle anime.
@Joojoobees It was still serialized in Ciao. Therefore it should be considered shoujo.
This was the weakest episode so far. I’m disappointed. Not much to say about this episode, really.
@Joojoobees, I wouldn’t know. I haven’t watched it yet. But the character designs at least seem shoujo-ish to me – something an episode of “Sket Dance” would parody, for example.
@Machi, who knows. For a moment there, I though the drum with the penguin “logo” we saw in the flashback involving Triple-H in episode 9 was THE titular Penguindrum. (Of course, it could be and it probably is a red herring, as we see that penguin drawing everywhere in the show, including on the hospital floors in episode 10 :D). I like to think that the Penguindrum is…well, you know, a drum, and that we’re overanalyzing the hell out of this show. But this “Mario” does complicate things in a way.