#Re cycle of the Penguindrum

[ydotome]

Re:cycle of the Penguindrum - Dir: Kunihiko Ikuhara - Jul 22, 2022

[houkagokappa]

Visual for the second Mawaru Penguindrum movie, RE:cycle of the PENGUINDRUM titled “I love you”.

[penguindrumchronicler]

Slight introduction: I'm not a nuclear brain linguist, or Japanese, or acquainted with all the nuances of other works of artists mentioned here

What I wanted to write as a lengthy post turns out to have already been written down by someone much more literate and knowledgeable about this issue. I like viewing Penguindrum as a work of art dealing with Japanese national trauma, and seeing it from this perspective gives a fresh view of the story as a whole.

I can't bring myself to disagree with any of the mentioned parts, such as characters being personifications of a way of dealing with the tragedy.

One thing I really want to see asked though is - why? What is it meant to accomplish?

The closest neighbor to Penguindrum in this matter that I can think of is Murakami's Underground. And it had a very clear purpose - to revive the thought about the tragedy, to give birth to the analysis of not who did this or how, or even how to stop it. No, the primary point was *who* did that. And the results were shocking because it wasn't anything that's guaranteed to never happen again. Even more so, it's difficult to imagine the same events not happening over and over again, as loneliness spreads among the most normal, unassuming, everyday people.

I feel like Penguindrum serves as a reminder. A cautionary tale, almost - here, look what happened sixteen years ago. Have we learned anything? Have we done anything? Has anything improved?

In the final episode, the story goes on and makes a full circle. None of the characters were evil. None of them had some inherent will to destroy that made them stand out in a crowd. Ikuhara goes out of his way to portray Kenzan and Chiemi as great parents who risked their lives for their children. Sanetoshi still sends Double H Himari's scarves. We get to watch Kanba, Shoma, and Ringo grow as people, and yet everything still goes on. The attack still has to be stopped by one person's sacrifice, as if Ikuhara was giving a big middle finger to the Japanese myth of exceptionalism, and a silent nod to the unsung heroes that paid with their lives on the 25th of March 1995.

Great, Momoka stopped the attack by paying with her life. What will happen when she's gone again? Next time, there might not be anybody sacrificing themselves for the bigger good. It's like some inherent fight between good and evil, but the evil is here, it is between us, and it isn't leaving if we don't deal with it., and approaching the trauma is the way to do it, and will do more than banning trash bins in public spaces

One difference I would like to point out between the real story and anime is the omission of Asahara. I fully believe it was intentional, as in not to dilute the message. Imagine Penguindrum, but instead of trying to find the Penguindrum, you end up trying to track down this omnipresent fat-ass cultist who's plotting the downfall of the world. Yay, we stopped him! And we will all live forever... yea nah, this was very clearly not the focus.

And what brings me down the most is the realization that nothing has gone away, and nothing has changed. You can argue that Sanetoshi is no longer even a ghost, and the Takakuras have basically been reborn, but why wouldn't the Kiga group be born again?

And it will. I'm terrified because any day it could be me on the train. Or, if it were you, I don't know if I could be the hero. I shouldn't need to be.

slight plug:

And yes, the image is AI-generated. It's hilarious

[5-pp-man]

Required reading for Penguindrum; Night on the Galactic Railroad, history of a post WW2 Japan, history of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyou (mainly their domestic terrorist attacks on Japan), The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, Adam and Eve (the Bible)

[ianime0]

Re:cycle of the Penguindrum | Dir. Kunihiko Ikuhara  (April 29, 2022)

[piosplayhouse]

Goes insanely hard btw

[penguindrumblr]

re: cycle of the penguindrum part 2 promo

[moonybadger]

Finally got to watch the Re: Cycle Penguindrum movies....

Shoma and Himari’s first meeting as children always kills me

[animemakeblog]

“Re: cycle of the Penguindrum” The April 2022 Premiere

The Mawaru Penguindrum anime series' official 10th-anniversary website revealed new cast members, the first key image (above), and a teaser trailer for the Re: cycle of the Penguindrum recap film. On April 29, 2022, the first of two parts, named Kimi no Ressha wa Seizon Senryaku, will be released in Japanese theatres. The second installment is set to premiere in 2022.

[ydotome]

Re:cycle of the Penguindrum - Dir: Kunihiko Ikuhara - Jul 22, 2022

[houkagokappa]

I watched the first Re:cycle of the Penguindrum movie!!!! Yes! It’s out now, although only in Japanese with no subs

This will contain spoilers

The movie opens with a shot of Tokyo and my first thought was how beautiful it looked. My second thought was - wait, that’s not drawn!!? Ikuhara got Tao Tajima, the person responsible for the first Sarazanmai trailer and ending working on the opening credits for this movie and it looks really good! It’s a pretty exciting sequence for containing new material, depicting a young Shouma and Kanba wandering around the Sunshine City Aquarium at night and then shifting over to them watching how Himari visits the Aquarium in the first episode of the tv anime. They don’t seem to remember who they are or why they’re there and are lured into an elevator leading to the same library where Himari met Sanetoshi in episode 9 by Princhupenguin; a new penguin character. The brothers actions match Himari’s as they meet Momoka, dressed in a Princess of the Crystal outfit at the library’s Hole in the Sky Annex. We get some really neat parallels (that I reblogged earlier today) between the tv and movie versions.

I loved how they introduce the retelling of the story in movie format by having Momoka remind the brothers of who they are by having them read their own story, since they can’t remember it themselves. Momoka’s introduction feels magical and mysterious and the boys are insanely cute so it’s a great start.

The movie continues as a speed-run trough the first 12 episodes, but with another live-action sequence and Momoka talking to young Shouma and Kanba halfway through the movie instead of the scenes with Himari and Sanetoshi from episode 9, as well as a few new scenes at the end. A lot of scenes get cut, naturally, and some have switched places to make the story flow better by focusing more on a single character at a time. A funny result from the more condensed story is seeing just how often poor Shouma gets drugged and passes out and collapses over his food or the Takakura’s have glass shatter and fall on them. There was always a lot going on, but it got spaced out between funny and more lighthearted moments, while this is more of a highlight reel of the worst parts, not just with accidents but all kinds of unhinged moments.

With more than half the material gone, I don’t think the movie works that well as someone's first introduction to Penguindrum since there’ll be too much context and characterization missing. In a way I don’t think this movie was necessary at all, since there’s so much the tv show did better, but the fact that it’s been 10 years and I get to be an active fan, waiting for new material to come out for my favourite anime is more than enough reason for me to support it regardless.

One notable difference is the music. I’ve spent the last few months curious at how much new music they’ve been producing for the movies and how they’d be able to fit it all in. I think they did a good job at adding them to the new scenes and replacing some for old ones. Since it’s by the same creators I don’t miss the old tracks and it’s simply exciting and fun to hear the new ones. I love the Triple H tracks in particular and can’t wait to hear their full versions. I’ve actually been so impatient I’ve gone and listened to the original ARG versions! I didn’t use to like them, but now I do :D

Besides the music my favourite thing in the movie is the live-action sequence in the middle of it. When I first watched Penguindrum all the way back in 2014 I didn’t realize or think about how almost all the locations are based on real-life locations. Some of those statues and playgrounds look so weird, it’s a shock to see how they actually exist in real life. Part of this is me weebing-out since I’ve gotten more familiar with Japan and I know they’re real now - I’ve seen some of them myself, part of this is me considering the importance of those real-life locations for a story that’s ultimately about a tragedy that took place there. Next time I visit Tokyo I’ll have to take my own photos of them as seen in this movie! In addition to this, the live-action sequence is accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack, it adds and mixes in character animations flawlessly and reminds me of the joy and excitement I felt when I first encountered it in the Sarazanmai trailer, so I had a good time watching it for multiple reasons.

My least favourite things about the movie is that we’re missing out on how powerful the repeated and similar yet different narrations by the different main characters at the start and end of episodes. The speeches are included, but it doesn’t hit the same way in the middle of a movie as it does as an introduction or ending. They’ve cut a lot of scenes with Himari, probably since they’re less essential to the story moving forward, but instead we don’t get to see as much of the strong sibling bonds, which is what drives both Shouma and Kanba, which in turn does drive the story forward. While the new scenes with Momoka and the brothers are cool, I’m also sad we don’t get to see much of Sanetoshi at all, as he’s one of my favourite characters. At least he got a cool entrance, even if that’s all he got. 

I’m cautiously excited for the second movie. I’m scared Ikuhara might change the ending, and while I feel like he’d allow everyone to get a happier ending, any sort of change scares me, since I love Penguindrum so dearly for what it is already. I’m also worried there’ll be more focus on the romances that familiar love, because I prefer it the other way around. At least I can always watch it once and then go back to rewatching the tv anime, time and time again.

[nissakii]

Interesting 5 Summer-Feeling Anime to Warm You up This June/July!

Interesting 5 Summer-Feeling Anime to Warm You up This June/July!

Art by: https://mobile.twitter.com/matchach Summer is coming up! After some long and cold months you might feel the warm breeze brushing through and blessing us with some powerful sunshine these days! Wherever you may be and however the sun might treat you, these two months of June and July are perfect to find some new fresh anime. As usual, we are showing you what anime are on the “coming…

[1x3equalslove]

Happy 10th Anniversary, Penguindrum!! A new movie called  RE: cycle of the PENGUINDRUM is in the works!  I’m not sure if it will just be a recap movie or something completely new, but it sounds exciting!

[hkulssss]

RE: cycle of the PENGUINDRUM 2-Part Anime Movie Obtains Mystical New Intro Visual

  In the spirit of the PENGUINDRUM television anime collection, the very first intro aesthetic for the…

The post RE: cycle of the PENGUINDRUM 2-Part Anime Movie Obtains Mystical New Intro Visual first appeared on Dumb Otaku. from Dumb Otaku https://dumbotaku.com/info/5775

[ianime0]

Re:cycle of the Penguindrum | Dir. Kunihiko Ikuhara  (April 29, 2022)

[ydotome]

Re:cycle of the Penguindrum - Dir: Kunihiko Ikuhara - Apr 29, 2022