The Magic of Mawaru Penguindrum

Discussion, ,

I came across this passage the other day, and had to share it:

I believe in the practice and philosophy of what we have agreed to call magic, in what I must call the evocation of spirits, though I do not know what they are, in the power of creating magical illusions, in the visions of truth in the depths of the mind when the eyes are closed; and I believe in three doctrines, which have, as I think, been handed down from early times, and been the foundations of nearly all magical practices. These doctrines are—
(1) That the borders of our minds are ever shifting, and that many minds can flow into one another, as it were, and create or reveal a single mind, a single energy.

(2) That the borders of our memories are as shifting, and that our memories are a part of one great memory, the memory of Nature herself.

(3) That this great mind and great memory can be evoked by symbols.
— William Butler Yeats, Ideas of Good and Evil

It goes without saying that Mawaru Penguindrum is chock full of symbolism. The symbols are drawn from countless sources: some from Christian myth, some from Japanese folklore, some from the works of Murakami, and others directly from the mind of Ikuhara. Regardless of their source, symbols are powerful; indeed, magical. They link us with the cosmic mind and memory, and communicate ideas we may not even be consciously aware of.

This is part of the reason I enjoy watching Mawaru Penguindrum so much. The symbols add a depth to the show which we may not even fully understand with our waking minds. Interpreting symbols is a mystic art, dependent on leaps of faith and flashes of insight.

That’s why when I write about Penguindrum, I tend not to focus on what happened in the episode, but on symbols. The symbols may actually tell us more than the words and actions of the characters.

Agree? Disagree? Have some crazy idea about what something symbolizes in Penguindrum? Then I want to hear it. Feel free to share below.

Liked this post? Leave a comment, subscribe to our RSS feed, and follow us on Twitter!

Mirai Nikki 03 — Skeletons in the Closet

Mirai Nikki,

This is more like it. We took a step back, slowed down and fleshed out both Yukiteru and Yuno some more.

A Date

I liked how the creators used the trip to the amusement park. They took time to slow down and flesh out the two leads. Here are some things we learned about them:

  • Yukiteru isn’t quite as innocent as he appears. In his monologue at the beginning, while waiting for Yuno to come back with ice cream, he imagines all the people on the ride falling to the ground and going “splat.”
  • He is pretty cowardly though. Afraid of roller coasters and haunted houses. He’s even afraid to go out with his swimsuit on.
  • But he does have a sense of adventure. When Four says that he has a mission for them, Yuki says “A mission?! Cool!” enthusiastically. Of course his excitement wears thins when he discovers what the mission is, and gets dragged around unwillingly by Yuno, but still…
  • His inexperience dealing with people leaves him quite awkward, for example when he told Yuno in the pool “lots of people pee in places like this!”
  • We already knew this, but Yuno is trying to seduce him quite actively. Losing her swimsuit, clinging to him in the haunted house, and more.

We also have some idea of why Yuno is interested in Yukiteru (although as Yuno says, this isn’t the whole story). I can’t believe Yukiteru actually agreed to marry her though. Bad decision.

Into the Closet

This was where the shit really hit the fan in the manga too, and the animated version didn’t disappoint. We spent half the episode making Yuno appear all innocent and girly, so when Yuki opens the closet it’s even more shocking. The chase back home is exhilarating, and it looks like he’s lost Yuno. But when that mail slot opens… that was well done, I jumped even though I knew it was coming.

Minene’s Troubles

Again, this was pretty creepy. The eyeball was gross, even though fortunately they didn’t show the worst part. I never want to get a dart thrown in my eye.  Or have my eyeballs removed from their sockets.

The way they revealed Minene’s drug induced state was nice as well. 1, 2, 3 and a snap of the fingers, and her cellphone transforms into a piece of wood.

Anyway, this episode did well at building up the atmosphere: the more innocent scenes at the amusement park, although with an undercurrent of something being horribly wrong, juxtaposed with sheer terror.

Liked this post? Leave a comment, subscribe to our RSS feed, and follow us on Twitter!

Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing 02 — Moons of Mass Destruction

Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing,

Now this is more like it! It seems that the fears of excessive fanservice were misplaced.

Fam Fan Fan

I’m starting to really like her. She’s earnest and straightforward, and just a little bit full of herself. I like this scene in particular, where they are talking about the older sister and how she chose Fam to go to the capital:

Ya’ think so? I love how Fam says it with such a straight face, as if she’s complimenting the princess and not herself.

You can see more of this with how she decides to rename the captured ship after herself. I agree with Milia though: Fam Fan Fan is a terrible name.

Even though she’s a tad full of herself, Fam isn’t self-centered by any means. She relies and trusts Giselle completely, and is willing to go out of her way to help Milia. So quite a likable character, with a flaw, but not a crippling one.

Epic Battles

The battle this episode was a lot of fun. I love the animation, how they make the ships only in CG, like they did with the original Last Exile. Coupled with the clouds, lighting effects and animated characters, the animation is stunning.

It’s not like the battles have brilliant strategies or anything, but there’s just a little bit of planning that you can tell went into it. All the beam spam and explosions are fun as well. I liked how the plan failed, because of a single person who massacred the entire flagship’s crew from the inside. How’d he do that? I feel like I should remember from the original Last Exile, but it’s been a long time since I watched it.

I liked the flight into the belly of the ship as well. Fam and Giselle are putting Luke Skywalker to shame.

Liked this post? Leave a comment, subscribe to our RSS feed, and follow us on Twitter!

Fate / Zero 04 — Arrival of the King

Fate / Zero,

This sure looks pretty.

 

Plotting

So let me get this straight. The heroic spirit Assassin, who is pretending to be dead, is sent to observe the battle. And he is spotted by a human, without a disguise or anything. To make things even better, Assassin doesn’t spot the other human watching from the roof below him.

I think this goes to show that a) the spirit of the future Kiritsugu should enter the Holy Grail War as the heroic spirit Assassin, and b) Kirei’s servant is grossly incompetent. Their entire trick was blown before the first battle even started? This is not what I would consider a legendary quality of assassin.

Rider

I complained before about Rider and Waver, but really, they’ve been carrying the show for two weeks now. Rider is worried about his opponents losing because he wants to face them himself? He stops right in the middle of the battle with his chariot, and announces his true name to everyone.  Normally a character as pathetic as Waver would be annoying, but it works quite well when he’s paired with someone as outlandish as Rider. Him getting dragged along on top of the bridge was the icing on the cake.

The Battle

The battle between Saber and Lancer really was gorgeous. This is probably one of the nicest looking TV anime I’ve ever seen. I love how they handle the lighting.

The true identity of Lancer was revealed, as Diarmuid of the love spot.

One thing that’s kind of odd about Fate / zero is how the characters talk about things like it’s an RPG. Saber has “all A-level abilities”, Lancer has the “charm ability”, and so on. I can’t really think of why they’d want to do that. For me, at least, it breaks the atmosphere.

Liked this post? Leave a comment, subscribe to our RSS feed, and follow us on Twitter!

Mawaru Penguindrum 15 — Transferring Trains

Mawaru Penguindrum,

Um… what just happened?

Daddy Issues

So Yuri’s past was overshadowed by the specter of her father (quite literally). I’m not the biggest fan of ascribing all of peoples’ problems to their parents. And Yuri’s father is pretty messed up, even to the extent of physically mutilating his own daughter with chisels.

On the bright side: little Yuri is pretty damn cute.

The Knight in Shining Armor

A few things to mention: first, Ringo is the one to call Shouma. This is clearly a call for attention.

Conveniently, Ringo’s room is right next door to Shouma’s. Or is this a coincidence? Perhaps it is the result of Yuri’s meddling.  She doesn’t seem to be in that much of a hurry to get started with Ringo, for one thing. When Shouma trips on the bottle and loses consciousness, she comments on how jealous she is of them.

The Great Escape

Shouma just happens to be next door to Ringo. Masako disguises herself as a maid, has a conversation with herself, strips to a swimsuit, and jumps out the window with Yuri. They have a naked ping pong match, in the dark, with Masako’s slingshot balls in the hot tub. Masako makes her escape with scuba gear. And after all that, the diary turns out to be a fake.

I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry at this point. It was certainly… unexpected, to say the least. There’s being filled with surprises, and then there’s being ridiculous.

The Diary

I hadn’t thought about it until this week, but what do the symbols on Momoka’s diary represent? On the front we have two entwined serpents, opening up to surround a pagoda with their heads. On the back is a tortoise.

The twin snakes are reminiscent of Hermes’ Caduceus. Hermes gave his lyre, made of a tortoise shell, to his brother Apollo to make up for the cattle he stole. In return, Apollo gifted Hermes with the Caduceus. The Caduceus is a symbol of balance and reciprocity, so it is fitting for the cover of Momoka’s diary, where transferring between fates comes at a cost.

Next, note when the diary is torn in two, who has each half. Masako has the side with the two snakes, the Caduceus that belongs to Hermes, the cunning trickster and messenger of the Gods. As Mario’s hat’s / Sanetoshi’s agent, Masako is indeed the messenger of the Gods. And her theft this episode and earlier kiss with Kanba certainly appear to be the work of a trickster.

On the other hand, Yuri has the half with the tortoise, Apollo’s lyre. Apollo is the god of music and poetry, things that are beautiful. Yuri is a beautiful actress and singer. Furthermore, Apollo had plenty of lovers, both male and female (although I don’t think this was particularly unique among the Greek gods).

Savior of the World

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
— John 15:13

Last week’s title was “Princess of Lies,” and this week follows up with “Savior of the World.” It’s a pretty easy connection to make between the title and Momoka. For Momoka loved Yuri so much, that she gave her only life, so that Yuri would not perish but have eternal life. Of course, given that this is Penguindrum, I doubt that it’s this simple: Momoka probably has some dark secret as well.

But let’s run with it for a bit. If Momoka is the Christ, and Yuri is Satan, where does that leave us? The situation is quite similar to Victor Hugo’s incomplete work La fin de Satan. Unfortunately, this isn’t readily available in English, so here’s a summary:

…God is trapped by Satan in his own creation, which God therefore repeatedly tries to destroy, without success. God is clearly not almighty, yet his Opponent cannot unseat him for one unexpected reason: As a former Angel, Satan is desperately in love with God and detests the fetid darkness in which he is compelled to abide, which is tantamount to saying that he hates himself as much as he cherishes his enemy. Eventually the two must come to terms, lest God’s creation be irremediably spoiled and Satan altogether disgusted with himself and his foul surroundings. Strangely enough, the stakes of the final reconciliation of the two mighty opponents is the destruction of the world, envisioned as a positive outcome.
— The Tree of Gnosis, p. 255, Ioan Couliano

That could fit our story so far perfectly. Momoka is trapped by Yuri through her own choice to mess with fate for Yuri’s sake. Yuri desperately loves Momoka, and hates the fetid world she has been left behind in, where nothing is beautiful, almost as much as she despises herself. This leads her to oppose the world Momoka has chosen. Let’s see if the endings match up.

I’ll also note that this fits in well with the association of Ringo with Eve in the gnostic narrative. Eve is given the breath of God, and becomes a divine being trapped in a body of matter. Likewise, Ringo inherits a portion of Momoka’s spirit (through reincarnation). The snake leads Eve to remember her divine roots, as Yuri leads Ringo to abandon her quest to become Momoka and become more fully herself. Alternatively, the archons (Yuri) lust after the reflection of the divine they glimpsed, see the same thing in Eve (Ringo) and rape her. Take your pick.

Random Thoughts

  • I just realized Masako’s catchphrase “I want to crush it” seems awfully familiar in the context of the Eden story. God curses man and the snake: “He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
  • I wonder what this banana could possibly symbolize…? Poor Shouma.

Liked this post? Leave a comment, subscribe to our RSS feed, and follow us on Twitter!