Episode 1
One of my all time favorite anime's, thought I'd share the love I have for it as I re-watch it with you guys. Get ready for the wonders and laughs of Penguindrum...
***SPOILERS***
It starts talking about fate, a philosophical look at fate. Quite a depressing and sad start to a series really.
We are introduced to three siblings, two brothers and a sister their names are Kanba, Himari and Shouma. Shouma has made breakfast and it seems that it has all gone well but something seems to be troubling the brothers.
We then go to a flashback of the two brothers in hospital being told that their sister only has months to live. Kanba begs the doctor to help his sister in anyway possible, but it really looks like the doctor can't do anything.
Back to the present and Himari has announced it is Himari day and everyone has to do what she wants which just happens to be going to see the penguins. So they take her to see the penguins.
Whilst Sho and Himari walk to get souveniors three weird looking penguins pop out of bins watching the two of them.
Himari chooses a penguin hat and whilst Sho buys it Himari wanders off, the brothers find her surrounded by people after she had fainted on the floor. She is rushed to hospital but dies....
But she isn't... Somehow whilst Sho and Kanba are arguing about Kanba's cold attitude the hat that Sho was buying Himari ends up on her head and she sits up shouting "Survival Strategy". We find out that the hat is possessed and that whatever is possessing the hat has decided to keep Himari alive for a little longer. Whilst Sho is just happy Himari is alive Kanba stares at the hat in disbelief.
Another flashback (after a scene mimicking the first scene) and the doctor is telling the brothers that not only is she better but she's stable as well.
The flashback ends and we join them again with a package that has just been delivered. Unforuntately Sho has no time for the package as he has to run to school.
Whilst he walks home from school he gets attacked by one of Kanba's friends who seems to be obsessed with girls. Sho walks to the train station just to find out that he's left his pass at school just then he gets a tap on his leg and suddenly there is a penguin handing him his pass. In the shop there is no cabbage but there is a penguin with cabbage. It is raining outside and he has no umbrella... Yeah you guessed it a penguin with an umbrella shows up. He asks a girl and her mother if she can see the penguin but they can't and call him mental. He runs away but the penguin is chasing him. What is going on?!
He walks into the house and there are two other penguins, a mean looking one and a girl one. Kanba had sent out the other with a umbrella for Sho. It turns out they were the things in the package. Kanba and Himari seem to be taking it quite well, Sho is still confused when the penguin hat ends up on Himari's head again and the boys are transported (quite cool little montage) to some other plain.
The person controlling Himari tells the brothers to bring her the penguin drum. For some reason she starts losing her clothes as well. After questioning the person possessing Himari the penguin shoots Sho away and it seems that the person rips something out of Kanba. Really strange sequence of events and then we are back into the house listening to more philosophical stuff on fate and god.
Kanba for some reason then kisses Himari and we end.
So my first impressions of this series?
I watched a clip of it, the one were Sho was being stalked by a penguin at a anime group and fell in love with it. When I sat down to watch the whole episode though I guess I was a bit confused. Unlike many anime's that I watch to be honest the story was quite simple to understand until the whole survival strategy stuff happened.
Now something you need to know about me, I adore penguins. So having three adorably cute little penguins running around the place makes this for me before we factor anything else into the equation. The penguins that end up living with the siblings don't look like normal penguins, they are short fat and blue. Really cute and really funny.
The characters were actually brilliant from the start, you feel that there will be reason to love these guys as the season continues. They just seemed normal and you felt sorry for them and their plight. There are unanswered questions. Why are three teenagers on their own? Where are their parents? What is actually wrong with Himari? And so on. And this is before all the crazy stuff happens.
Then we get into the penguins, the hat, being possessed and what the hell is survival strategy? And why the heck did it look like Kanba was passionately kissing Himari at the end?
The series looks to be quite a rollercoaster of weirdness if I'm honest but it also seems like it is going to be a lot of fun.
Something I love about it is that it is very bright, there is a lot of white and they don't draw every background character, the background characters that don't interact with Sho, Kanba and Himari are all white and like the chunky people you get on bathroom doors. I like this as it makes the characters that are important stand out. It also keeps it bright at all times having bright white background peoples hopping about the place.
So yes a good opening episode and I guess this is the start of 20 odd weeks of Penguin Tuesdays!
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